music appreciation
prayers of the people–tune our hearts…
We praise you, O God, with our words and our bodies,
With bells and horns, organs and flutes,
With voices tuned to one another
With hearts and mind tuned to yours.
You give us new songs to sing,
As all creation sings praise to your name
The cry of the eagle, the howl of the desert wind
The thrum of the bullfrog, the creaking of melting glacier
You call forth musicians and dancers to lead us
Like Joshua when he brought down the walls of Jericho
And David as he led the ark into the city
You hear our songs of delight
As sweet as Elizabeth or Mary
As powerful as Miriam and Deborah
You hear our songs of lament
Rising from broken hearts
From captives and exiles
From the left behind and forgotten
From the injured, scared, sick or dying
When words won’t come, your Spirit sings in groans for us
When our hearts are too heavy,
you sing over us, quieting us with your love,
Sing over these, your children, whose names we bring before you today. <mention needs by name>
We trust that you know their needs.
We trust that your will is best.
Give us the faith to praise you
even in our moments of doubt and fear.
Plant your hope down deep in us,
so that we might offer true hope to others.
Around the world today, the drums of war beat loudly
Threatening to drown out the peace we long for
We lift up the leaders in this world,
Of governments at every level
In education and business
In entertainments and charitable work
And in your church
Tune their hearts to hear your song
of love, mercy and compassion
Give us eyes to see your work among us
Give us voice to speak truth
Give us feet willing to go, hands willing to serve.
And ears willing to hear your music so that we may join the dance
Send your Spirit, whispering and roaring
And give us the faith of your son, Jesus, in whose name we pray the prayer that he taught us,
saying Our Father, who art in heaven…
Submitted by Laura Viau.
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