Prayers for the Week of January 28, 2024

Please feel free to join us in the prayers prayed in worship Sunday, January 28, 2024:

Loving God, with your Word

you spoke everything that is

into being.

With your Word,

you call us into community,

you call us into freedom,

you call us into ways of living that lead to more life.

Help us to be more fully present with you,

attentive to the needs of this world.

Knowing that you listen to our prayers,

we bring you the concerns of our heart this day.

We pray for the people of Gaza,

for a cease fire, and for an end of violence,

for a full stop to the indiscriminate killing of noncombatants,

for an end to the indifference to basic human needs,

that supply lines might open

with free-flowing food and water and medical supplies,

for a reordering of life there that reflects your justice

and the full dignity and humanity of all people.

We pray for an end to injustice in our own nation,

and particularly for an end to systemic racism.

May our ears and conscience tingle,

so that we might be moved to action,

to dismantle what needs to come to an end,

and to rebuild and reshape a word where all can thrive.

We hear the groaning of all creation,

and we pray for the healing of the Earth,

for an end to our wasting ways,

for wisdom to live in these days of unraveling

with love and compassion for all creation.

We pray for those who are hungry, for food enough and more.

For those who are unhoused, shelter.

For those who are lonely, companionship.

For those who grieve comfort.

For those who are ailing and hurting,

we pray for healing

we pray your healing for all our broken places.

We thank you for the gift of each other

and for life in community with all creation.

We join our voices, with the voices of all who have ever called on you,

praying the prayer that Jesus taught:

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: Max Bender, used with permission via Unsplash