Prayers for the Week of September 27, 2020

Please feel free to join us in prayer this week with the prayers we prayed in worship, Sunday, September 27, 2020:

Holy God,

we lift our eyes to the mountains;

you are our help –

help for the weary,

help for the hurting,

help for those who feel

the blunt edge of oppression,

help for those who must

undo what we have done,

help for all those on a journey.

You are our help in ages past;

you are our hope in days to come;

we give you thanks and praise.

We pray for your help for a world

reeling in climate emergency.

You created everything that is,

named it good,

and filled the world with beauty.

We have put the world in peril.

We pray for your help in finding our way

to healing, sustainable ways of living

that repair the harm that we have done.

We pray for a world in pandemic,

for healing and for an end to pandemic,

for health officials and all who labor in the healing professions.

for help to sustain them in their work,

for the self-discipline to live our lives

in ways that protect and honor the lives of others.

We pray for all nations, and for our nation,

particularly in this election year.

We pray for better leaders,

for leaders who are honest, compassionate, and just,

for leaders who honor the most vulnerable in our midst.

May our voting be guided by wisdom, integrity, and truth.

Help us to eliminate obstacles to voting,

so that everyone’s vote is counted,

everyone’s voice is heard.

We pray for an end to our nation’s systemic racism,

and an end to all the ways it is at work in the world.

This morning, we pray especially for Breonna Taylor,

for her family, and for all communities and people

who rightly rage and lament and protest

at yet another grand jury and prosecutor

who have rendered inadequate justice.

We give thanks for the vibrant life of Breonna Taylor,

for all the ways she blessed the world,

for her hopes and her dreams.

We pray for a world where Black women, men, and children,

can move through the world,

and rest in their homes,

and sleep

in safety,

and live and thrive.

With the prophets, we pray that you will tear down

everything that stands in the way of that,

and show us together how to build a world

that respects each person’s humanity and dignity.

We pray for your help in the daily needs of the world,

healing for the hurting,

tender mercy for the brokenhearted,

release for the captive,

shelter for those who are living outside,

and a gracious plenty for all people.

United in our humanity and in your love for us all,

we join our voices with the voices

of everyone who has ever called upon your name,

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.