God of love, you speak worlds into being,
your word fills us,
your breath gives us life.
We give you thanks for your story,
from before time began to long past our imaginations
you have been spinning the greatest story every told.
Help us to see your creative hand at work,
and to join our stories to yours.
We give you thanks for your presence with us,
and for your grace that makes all things new.
We give you thanks for your love that lights our way,
and for your peace that passes all understanding.
…
Though we do not always feel grateful,
we continue to give you thanks and praise, O Lord,
even as we pray for your world in need.
Break our hearts for what breaks yours, O God,
that your word may enter in and take root,
growing and bearing fruit for your kingdom.
We bring before you those who are grieving,
and we pray for your comfort that wipes away every tear.
We bring before you those who despair,
and pray for your hope that illumines possibility.
We bring before you those who are sick,
and pray for your healing of body, mind, and spirit.
We bring before you a world of violence and war,
and pray for your spirit of peace to enter all our hearts.
We lift up to you this, your church,
and pray for your light of love to fill us,
heal our divisions, help us to trust and follow you,
guide us in your way,
that the story we tell with our lives may be a story of grace.
…
God, you created in love, you redeem for love, you sustain with love.
Help us to love in the same way that you love us—
with passion, with fierce hope, with challenge as with comfort.
May our encounter with you transform us into the people you call us to be,
loving, serving, and caring for the world.
We pray these and all things in the name of the One who loved all the way to the cross and beyond the tomb, Jesus the Christ, who taught us to pray together…
Submitted by Rev. Teri Peterson, the Presbyterian Church of Palatine, IL.
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