Prayers for the Week of September 17, 2023

Please feel free to join us in the prayers prayed in worship Sunday, September 17, 2023:

Creating, accompanying God,

you have created all that is in love,

and in love, you accompany all that you have made.

You journey with your people

in every displacement and sojourning,

and you welcome your people

in all the ways we welcome each other

and make a home together.

For your abiding presence and love,

we thank you, and we give you praise.

We pray that you will open our hearts

and give us the courage and compassion

to walk toward the trouble in the world,

with a willingness to be a part of your healing work.

We pray for the people of Ukraine, Sudan, and South Sudan,

and all who are living lives in the midst of war –

We pray for the people of Central America,

and anyone, anywhere, living in communities wracked by violence,

we pray for peace, for healing from trauma,

and for just systems – global and local –

that equitably and sustainably allocate the resources of the world.

We pray for the people of Libya, in the wake of this week’s tragic flooding,

and for all who bear the burden and feel the pain

of climate crisis and collapse –

be with them in their need and suffering,

and change us, that we might change our wasting ways,

and find ways of living that repair and sustain the Earth.

We pray for all who are harmed by systems that oppress –

in our own nation, those harmed by systemic American racism,

and those arriving in this nation into our broken immigration systems.

Dismantle what needs to come down,

and help us reform and repair and rebuild systems where all can live and thrive.

We pray for the needs of those who hurt or ache,

for those who are ailing in body or spirit, we pray for healing,

for those who hunger, food enough and more,

for those who are unhoused, safe shelter and a home,

for those who mourn, comfort,

for those who are lonely, companions on the way.

Help us to be the Body of Christ in the world,

loving as you love,

embodying, together, your justice, healing, and love.

Accompanied by you, and companions to each other,

we join our voices with the voices of all who have ever called your name,

praying 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.

Photo credit: Kyle Glenn, used with permission via Unsplash