Prayer

Saving God,

This season is cause for celebration, joy, and anticipation. We look forward to warm gatherings over the holidays. As we prepare for such joyful occasions, help us prepare our hearts to make room for you amid all the busyness of our lives. Lead us to take advantage of moments away from the frenzy and festivity, that we might welcome your presence and be filled with your spirit. May we be mindful to share your grace with neighbors near and far, spreading peace and goodwill with a world in need. Amen.

Prayer

God of wisdom and knowledge,

We have access to more knowledge about our world than in any previous generation. In an “information society” stuffed with so much learning, help us remember that knowledge is only as good as the actions it determines. Let knowledge come alive as we use it for the sake of love above all else, building up each other and working towards the common good. May we in this ministry steward our knowledge carefully, pursuing the kind of learning that helps us bring good help to those in need. Amen.

Prayer

All-Good Creator,

Today we are humbled by the courage, tenacity, and passion displayed by those persons among us, who have refused to let any perceived limitation or diagnosis define their life’s possibilities. May the rest of us—we who are so unconsciously abled—be forgiven, for all the times we have failed to recognize the full humanity of all our brothers and sisters. In pursuit of healing and inclusion, lead us to listen more to the lived experience of those with disabilities. Keep us alert to the fact that much of the disadvantage implied by “disability” is our own fault, as we continue constructing spaces that make a challenged life only that much more challenging. Inspire us all, God, as one human family, to overcome prejudice and discrimination and to build a world hospitable for everyone. Amen.

Prayer

Merciful God,

We wake again with a new day before us. Sometimes, though, we must admit it all feels the same. Days upon end stack on top of each other and we feel our hearts growing numb: waking and sleeping, working and playing, driving here, eating there, cleaning house and paying bills and preparing just enough for the next day so as to avoid disaster. Oh God bring us closer to you. Open our hearts to believe in the adventure of a new day. For in your great goodness you have promised: every morning is waiting for us with fresh mercies from you. Renew our sense of expectation, and may we give thanks to you for your unending faithfulness, day after day. Amen.

Prayer

Healing God,

Today we devote our attention to the many victims, past and present, of HIV and AIDS, like Ryan White. May we honor them by uniting with their cause and sharing their struggle together, to fight this awful disease and the stigma that still surrounds it. On this first ever global health day, we ask to be renewed in our commitment to work towards prevention, finding a cure, and surrounding all those affected with compassionate care, for those who are ill as well as their family and friends. Amen.

Prayer

God of Work,

Today we cherish the memory of St. Andrew the Apostle. Just like Andrew, you have called us each by name and invite us to follow you into new life. In so doing, we pray that we, like Andrew—who dropped his nets and yet became a new kind of fisherman—we pray that we might also discover how you will use our ordinary work to transform the world in extraordinary ways. In the confidence of such a calling, let us be grateful for the work you have given each of us to do today. May we approach whatever we do as an invitation to do good, uplift each other, and glorify you. Amen.

Prayer

Holy Creator,

The writing has been on the wall for some time: we have not stewarded your creation wisely. We have not loved earth our mother with appropriate devotion. Instead we have pilfered the world’s resources for the sake of our own dreams and visions. Nightmares often have followed. Forgive us, God, for the mess we have made of your beautiful world. Heal our hearts above all, that we might love the world as a sign of our devotion to you. Maker of heaven and earth renew our sense of urgency for the calling before us, to cultivate a world worth inheriting for generations to come. Amen.