Prayers for the Week of February 11, 2024

Please feel free to join us in the prayers prayed in worship Sunday, February 11, 2024:

Holy, loving God,

you have created all that is,

you love every bit of your creation,

and you accompany your creation in every bit of life.

In the wreckage we have made of this world,

you have always desired justice, healing, and peace,

you always seek the well-being of the world,

and you call us to be part of that work.

Help us listen to you.

We pray for peace with justice.

We pray for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza,

for an end to senseless killing, particularly indiscriminate killing of noncombatants,

for adherence to international law and the Geneva conventions,

for an end to apartheid systems that treat people as less than fully human.

We pray for all who have been harmed, injured, and displaced.

We pray that sources of humanitarian relief will soon flow again,

with all that is needed.

We pray for the safe return of hostages.

We pray for all that is beyond our ability to comprehend,

that in the midst of it, you will show us the work that is ours to do.

We pray for the dismantling and rebuilding of oppressive systems everywhere,

and particularly American systems of racism.

We pray healing for the destruction we have done to this world,

for just and sustainable ways of living in a time of climate unravelling.

And as we pray for the needs of the world,

we also lift up prayers for the needs we see close to home.

We pray for all who are unhoused, for safe shelter.

For those who are hungry, food enough and more.

For those who are grieving, comfort.

For those who are ailing in body or spirit, healing.

For those who are lonely

Holy Loving God,

you are above, around, and abiding within all creation,

you are bigger than the biggest problems we face,

stronger than every power.

Be with us now, in love and grace,

for the living of these days:

Our Father/Mother, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our sins, as we forgive those who sin against us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory forever. Amen.

Photo credit: Mohammed Ibrahim, used with permission via Unsplash