Prayers for the Week of June 21

Please feel free to join us this week in the prayers we prayed this Sunday, June 21:

Creator of all that is,

Heavenly Father, Mothering God,

you have given us this day,

full of sunlight and life,

you’ve blessed us with community,

with a sense of our place in creation,

we give you thanks and praise.

We give you thanks for

the movement toward justice that we have seen this week

even as so much injustice abounds.

We give you thanks for hope

and for the opportunity we have

to work with you for a better day.

We give you thanks this day for fathers,

and for all who do the challenging and worthy work of parenting.

Thank you for all the ways they love,

for their humble, loving, strength,

for their wisdom, and their laughter, and their hope.

We pray for a world still moving through pandemic,

as cases of COVID19 continue to rise.

We pray for healing,

for nurses and doctors and all who work in healthcare,

give them strength, keep them safe.

We give you thanks

for their steadfast care through these many months.

We pray for local public health officials,

and for better care and attention from our national leaders.

We pray for an end to pandemic.

We pray for an end to systemic racism.

As so many celebrate Juneteenth,

and the promise of freedom announced so many years ago,

may we have the humility and wisdom and courage,

to work to help make that promise a reality.

We pray for a world suffering in climate emergency.

Show us better more faithful ways of living,

that lead to the healing of the planet,

and the sustainability of every type of life

that inhabits the Earth.

We pray for the deep concerns of our heart

for healing for illness,

for comfort in suffering,

for food for those who are hungry,

for shelter for those living outside,

for a hand to hold in all the places we are lonely.

Even in these days of distancing,

we know that you are near.

Thank you for your constant,

faithful presence with us.

Gathered here, with you and the family of faith,

we join our voices, with the voices of all

who have every prayed the prayer that Jesus taught, praying:

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.