Prayers for the Week of September 13, 2020

Please feel free to join us in the prayers we prayed in worship Sunday, September 13, 2020:

Holy, Loving God,

you have created all that is,

sky, and sea, and stars, and moon,

trees and grass, and fish and birds,

and us.

You created all that is, and named it good;

we thank you and we give you praise.

We gather, part of your creation,

in these days,

in the midst of the Earth’s howling

in climate emergency,

as fires burn, and smoke chokes the air.

We acknowledge our collective part

in placing the Earth in jeopardy.

We pray for the healing of creation,

and for the backbone radically to change our ways of living,

in ways that repair and sustain our global life.

In the midst of fires, we pray for all those in harm’s way.

We pray for those displaced from homes,

for all life that has been lost.

We pray for firefighters, and first-responders,

as they work sacrificially and round the clock

to rescue and to contain.

We pray for all those breathing toxic air.

We pray for a break in weather

that will enable fire suppression,

and enable clearer breathing.

In the midst of the groans of pandemic,

we pray for healing.

We pray for all those who are sick,

all those who are recovering,

all who are grieving.

We pray for medical professionals,

and for health officials,

strengthen them in their steady, life-saving work.

We pray for better national leaders,

who will take pandemic seriously,

and who will lead a people

with compassion, and honesty, and courage.

We pray for the self-discipline

to embrace ways of life

that protect the health safety and health of others.

In the midst of protest-shouts against

persistent systemic American racism,

we pray for a transformation in our national life,

for the dismantling of what needs to be taken down,

and for the repair and rebuilding of systems and structures

that work for human dignity.

We pray that you will help us

find the work that is ours to do.

God, you are our refuge and our strength,

and ever-present help in times of trouble.

Therefore, we will not fear,

though it feel at times,

like the earth is giving way around us.

We are still, and we know that you are God,

and so we pray for

shelter for all who are living outside,

food for those who are hungry,

healing for those who sick,

comfort for those nearing the end of life,

peace for all our weary spirits.

In connection with you and all creation,

we join our voices with the voices

of everyone who has ever called your name,

as we pray the prayer that Jesus taught, saying:

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.