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Ordinary Time

Prayer: Mercy and Justice

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written for National Day of Prayer, for the government.
Lord, as we delicately balance a relationship between mercy and justice
Give us a prudence for Good News when only Sheol surrounds us.
Suffering is real, death is real, this pandemic is real, and you are real.
Those who discern their power in the midst of crisis through wisdom
comfort the poor, shepherd the vulnerable, feed the hungry, and heal sick.
May their work translate from the language of illness to the celebration of wholeness.
Those who discern their power in the midst of crisis through foolishness
ignore the poor, endanger the vulnerable, hoard from hunger, and heal only some.
We know now that you show no partiality and we search to find you in all creatures.
Make our leaders grow as people worthy of their civic calling.
Make us uneasy when they act with injustice, and proud when they pursue peace.
Dissuade any political entity or party from propaganda, misinformation, & scapegoating.
Bring forward in our government the best of who we are when we are fully human
And actively decide to love our neighbor as ourselves.
We do this because you first loved us.
In Jesus Name.
submitted by Brian Merritt, First Presbyterian Church of Hackettstown, NJ 

POP: Pandemic Hope on Earth Day

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Based on Luke 24:13-35 and 50 years of Earth Day   

God of resurrection, of miracles beyond our understanding, hear us now as we come to you with the prayers and burdens of our hearts…

We pray for your church throughout the world. May we truly be the body of our Risen Lord, the Body of Christ in and for the world. May we see where you are leading us and be bold enough to follow after, even in our uncomfortableness.

We pray for our community, for essential workers, those working at home, those without work. We pray for the children home from school or doing school at home, we pray for those who don’t understand and those who are anxious in their understanding. We pray for those who are lonely and those who wish they had some more space from those they love. We pray for those who are struggling with mental health, with addiction, in pain awaiting needed surgeries or medical treatment they are not currently able to get. O Lord, make your presence be known to each to remind them you continue to walk with us even on this difficult road of grief and unknown.

We pray for your good and very good creation. While we weren’t able to gather for earth day like 50 years ago, may what is happening in creation around the world stir in our hearts what a different way of living, what a new world, a healed and restored world can and will look like. Help us to better care for your creation, living into this command first given in Genesis, to make a way for healing and restoration for all.

We pray for those who had already given up hope even before this time of pandemic due to economic hardship, stuck in generations of poverty, oppression, and marginalization. May we learn to love them as Jesus loved, lifting up the ones often forgotten and restoring them to life abundant. We pray for the leaders of our nation and the leaders of our world. May they resist corruption of sin and greed, let their eyes be opened to you and be guided by your righteousness and justice.

O God, we thank you for this day and all our days. May we never cease to be amazed how you walk with us, guide us, and reveal yourself to us, especially in our times of grief and pain offering us what we need. We lift up these prayers and those on our hearts to you as we pray together the prayer our Lord Jesus Christ taught us, Our Father… 

submitted by Rev. Erin Moore, First Presbyterian Church of Chester, NY

 

POP: Let Our Mouths Be Filled

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We will bless you, O Lord, forever;
let our mouths always be filled with your praises.
We tell your greatness, because you have answered us
and saved us from every fear.
Give us the ability to see you in our hearts,
so we can recognize your radiant beauty in our lives.
Teach us to share your goodness with others,
so everyone can taste and see that you, O Lord, are good.

In your goodness, your people lack nothing that is good.
Therefore, we pray for those who suffer hunger,
for those who are in trouble,
for those who protest injustice.
We pray for those we have remembered by name today…
You want all your people to have pleasure and plenty.
Turn your eyes to the righteous and the needy.
Come near to the brokenhearted.
Heal the sick and injured, in body and in soul.

Help us listen to you with reverence;
help us speak truth and goodness;
help us turn from evil and do good.
help us seek peace and pursue it.
O Lord, you redeem our lives.
We put our trust in you,
praying in Jesus’ name the prayer that Jesus taught…

submitted by Rev. Nathan Williams (he/him), Covenant Presbyterian Church, West Des Moines, IA

Communion: Psalm 46

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We praise you, O God, our refuge and strength,
for you are always present to help and give hope.
In the beginning, you moved the earth
and shook the mountains loose from the depths of the sea.
You quieted the raging tumult,
and you watered the earth with your life-giving rivers.
You created humanity in your image
and charged us with stewardship of your creation.When the time was right, your Beloved came to dwell in our midst,
so that we might become your holy habitation.
Jesus taught, healed, and fed
to show us the way of life.
The powers of death plunged him into night,
but your life prevailed at the break of day.
The world’s powers raged and shook;
you spoke your vindication, and the tomb melted away.You are yet with us, Lord of hosts;
O God of Jacob, you are our stronghold.
Pour out your Holy Spirit upon us
and upon this bread and cup,
so we may share this meal with Christ
and become one with him.
Give your church power and grace
to do the works of the Lord upon the earth;
to make war to cease in all the world;
to break the weapons of hatred, and shatter the tools of division,
and burn away all defensiveness.

Still us, that we may know you are God;
In all that we do let us exalt your name;
in all that we do let us serve your reign upon earth.
Join us at this table, Lord of hosts;
be our stronghold, God of Jacob;
we pray in the name of the one who was and is and is to come.

As Christ’s people, we join together in the prayer he taught…

Submitted by Rev. Nathan Williams, Covenant Presbyterian Church, West Des Moines, IA