“Consider and answer (us), O LORD (our) God; Enlighten (our) eyes, or (we) will sleep the sleep of death” (Psalm 13: 3). You, O God, see the good in us. Forgive us when we just can’t see or hear You. We don’t want to have a heavy mind holding on to thoughts that pull us away from You. So provoke us, and call on us to continue on this search for truth. Give us a willingness to look beyond our own perspective and to look humanity in the eye so that we can unlearn intolerance and fear. Teach us to learn what being human is, and what your vision is so that we can help each other experience the possibilities of God.
“When there is a mighty movement of God, nobody can stop it” (Pastor James Phillips). We pray, Almighty One, that you would give us the strength and the tenacity to stand up, take a breath, and speak the truth that God is love and that Love is for all. For “nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 8:39).
Lord God, You are “our light and our salvation” (Psalm 27:1). Strengthen us by “reviving whatever peace and love has died within us” (Christian Today) so that we can see as you see. Open our eyes to see a world that needs so much more than us. Show us a world that needs You. Shift our minds to experience how love works and how love never fails. See, we don’t know You but we want to know you…because You know us, and “to be known is to be loved and to be loved is to be known” (Chris Kinsley & Drew Francis). Help us to know You, Lord. We need to know You.
“Christ has no hands or feet on earth but ours” (Teresa of Avila). So let us be His body and feed those who are hungry. Not with bread alone but with the Love of God. Break down the walls of fear and hatred with the realness of looking at one another, straight in the eye, and seeing a child of God; someone who is in need of as much grace and forgiveness as we are. In the end, “Love does no harm to its neighbor. Therefore love is the fulfillment of the law” (Romans 13:10).
We come here today to receive not what we want, but what we need. We need the love of God. We give You, oh Lord, our time and our hearts because You so loved us, that You gave Your only Son so that we would never be separated from the love of God.
The most important work that we will do is to break down the walls of our hearts, and just love others as God loves us. It is the Word made flesh that heals us of the ugliness of this world, and brings us forward into our function as beloved children of God.
“Christ has no body but ours, no hands, no feet on earth but ours. Our eyes are those with which He looks compassion on this world, Our feet are those with which He walks to do good, Our hands, are those with which He blesses all the world” (Teresa of Avila) with love. And “love does no harm to its neighbor. Therefore, love is the fulfillment of the law” (Romans 13:10).
Architect of life, shift the universe and align us with Your message to love beyond our limitations. Mend and resolve what is broken in our lives so that we can experience the fullness of these moments that You gift us.
Thank You for being faithful, consistent, constant and always with us. Impact our attitudes as we remember the saints that have gone before us, so that we can trust in the resurrecting power of Almighty God; that in Christ there is no good bye and there is no end. There is only oneness with the love of the One who created us.
We pray for many things. But the prayer that is answered into our being, is that God is always with us, goes with us, and stands alongside us as we face the many obstacles and mazes of this life. We are never without God. Ever.
Search us, O God, and fan the flame of Your love in all of us. May our eyes be open to the beautiful things that are happening because of the love of God. Wrap our heads and hearts around the complexity of this love. May we remember and learn from what love is, and let go of what love is not. Love doesn’t boast. Love doesn’t destroy. Love doesn’t lie or gossip. Love builds up. Love protects. And love unites because God is LOVE. And anything that is not of Love is not of God.
“May we let Love lead us. May we stand for what Christ stood for or rather stand with those whom Christ stands with. May we be the blessing and not the curse” (Pastor Melissa Greene, Gracepointe Church, Tenessee).
Author of life, speak hope into the darkness and impact the things that we think about. Remove our blind spots, so that we can find solidarity with all and not some. Compel us to realize that we are all just discovering God here even if it’s only just in pieces. Build and rebuild the trust in this community so that we can come together, find common ground, and find You.
You, O Lord, are the source of the strength that gives us hope. And this hope is what allows us to “stand up, take a breath, and tell our truth” (Dane Chalfin).
Author of Life, speak so that we can hear. Illuminate so that we can see that “our Lord has written the promise of resurrection, not in books alone, but in every leaf in spring time” (Martin Luther). “Bring clarity to replace our confusion. Reveal possibilities to replace our pessimism” (Pr. James Phillips). Resurrect us from the graveyard of no expectations and the status quo. Instead, raise our expectations of ourselves, of each other and of this faith community so that we can share in the movement of the Holy Spirit, here on earth, as it is in heaven.
“When there is a mighty movement of God, no one can stop it” (Pr. James Phillips) and we need not fear, for “nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the Love of God” (Romans 8:39). Faith isn’t stagnant. Faith moves. And as we move forward together, with God and with each other, let us seek Love. Let us seek Grace. Let us seek God in every divine expression.
God of comfort, envelop us in Your truth. Stop us from pointing fingers and remind us that we are unified by our humanity. Lead our hearts into Your presence. Forgive us when we forget You and each other. Instead, create a community of grace and action. Send us out there, outside of what is familiar, to the places that need grace the most, so that we can be part of building Your kingdom here in this place and in our hearts.
“When something bad happens, we have three choices: we let it define us, we let it destroy us, or we let it strengthen us,” (Frank Langela). Strengthen us, O Lord, to see and hear the needs of Your people. So many lives that we need to see, remember and honor. Don’t let us ever forget. Don’t let us forget.
Guide us now, oh Great Redeemer, to a place of community with You and with each other. Engage us with a needy world, so that when we see each other, we see God in every expression. Equip us with the understanding that, “it doesn’t matter if we’re right, it matters if we are in relationship” (Pastor Leila Ortiz) with each other and with our Creator. Give us the strength to let go and let God, so that we can invite those who are thirsty and hungry for more than what this world can offer.
Other’s might laugh and gossip, but God knows and walks with each and everyone us. So let’s walk with each other, not against each other, and let’s do what God does; care about those that the world does not.
Creator God, rebuild every good thing that has been destroyed. Teacher, call to us and draw us into Your story. Make us active players in Your narrative and in this community. Clear our eyes to see those who are not safe. Tear down the walls so that we can reach out to those living in the margins. Unbind us from fear so that we can be Your hands and feet. Meet us where our condemnation and our limitations collapse. Meet us.
You invited us to Your table by taking the lowest place in ours. You humbled Yourself and gave Your life so that we could live. Give us the courage to receive the Holy Gospel and make us alive. Begin the healing now so that we can be the Church that invites all and sees all. Let us not leave this place as we came, but with changed hearts and minds that have seen and experienced the risen Lord. Let us be the Church again. Let us be the Church.
“Consider and answer (us), O LORD (our) God; Enlighten (our) eyes, or (we) will sleep the sleep of death” (Psalm 13: 3). You, O God, see the good in us. Forgive us when we just can’t see or hear You. We don’t want to have a heavy mind holding on to thoughts that pull us away from You. So provoke us, and call on us to continue on this search for truth. Give us a willingness to look beyond our own perspective and to look humanity in the eye so that we can unlearn intolerance and fear. Teach us to learn what being human is, and what your vision is so that we can help each other experience the possibilities of God.
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