Heavenly Father,
We rejoice in you. Thank you for bringing us into your communion — the communion of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. We rest assured that You are a refuge in the greatest storms.
Our hope is in You. Our comfort is in You. Our peace is in You.
By Your Spirit the impulse of our lives is to love.
Yet we need Your grace for we have many malformed affections.
We need Your power to uphold us through many griefs.
We need Your promise as the living hope to which we cling.
So Lord speak to us.
We open our ears to your Word.
We open our hearts to your Presence.
We open our ambitions and dreams to your holiness.
You are faithful even when the struggles of the day cloud our sight.
So we lift up to you and ask that you would meet our friends and family who are grieving.
(Pause)
We lift up to you those who are suffering through the frailties of their bodies and pain.
(Pause)
We lift up to you those who are pressed down by anxieties and even depression.
(Pause)
Come Lord Jesus and shine the light of the Father’s glory and love among us. Bring healing, hope, and the joy of your salvation. We wait on you. And so we pray as you taught us.
Please join me in the Lord’s Prayer:
Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name,
your kingdom come,
your will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us today our daily bread.
And forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven our debtors.
And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from the evil one;
for yours is the kingdom,
and the power, and the glory,
forever. Amen