Prayers for the Week of March 16, 2025

Please feel free to join us in the prayers prayed in worship Sunday, March 16, 2025:

Loving God, you created all that is,

and we are in awe of your creation.

As the Earth turns on its axis,

you give us day and night –

the promise of dawn,

and then rest at the dimming of the day.

As the planets turn round the sun,

from the quiet of winter,

we see a springing to new life.

In every season of our life, you are near.

And so we draw near to you

and give you thanks.

When we lament, you listen.

You let us say words that are hard to hear.

You let us say to you, with candor:

“This is what it is like to be me to day.”

In Jesus, you draw near to the world’s worry and pain,

and through your Spirit, when we don’t know what to pray

you pray with us, in sighs – in groans –  too deep for words.

These are the words we can muster today.

Loving God, do not be far off. Help.

Where there is war, help us bring peace.

Where there is hurt, help us bring healing.

For the hungry, food enough and more.

For the unhoused and the refugee, safe shelter.

For those who are lonely, companionship.

For those who mourn, comfort and hope for a new day.

Draw us near to you and to each other

in a company of kindred spirits,

reaching out to embrace the whole world.

When the world feels full of too much turning,

help us turn to the steady ground

of your steadfast love.

In communion with everyone who has ever cried out to you,

we join our voices with theirs, 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: Jake Blucker, used with permission via Unsplash