Prayer

Spirit of truth,

We know and believe you are the way, the truth, and the life. Yet this is just the beginning of a life spent seeking, striving, and continuing to follow your way. Give us courage always to remain seekers, and never to settle for the partial realities we’ve grasped. Make us tenacious in our pursuit of your will for us and this ministry, as we continue to serve those you send our way. For the sake of your life-giving love for all, we pray. Amen.

Prayer

Spirit within,

We should be more open to the mystery of your Spirit’s working within us. After all, you know us better than we know ourselves! Help us learn to trust you more than we do, especially in the quiet of our hearts, where our deepest longings dwell and where you promise to meet us and help us with the prayers that we most need to pray. As we trust ourselves to your plans, we are grateful that you promise to intercede with and for us. Amen.

Prayer

Solid ground,

Fill us today with your perfect love, which drives away fear and keeps us anchored in the things that matter. Help us as leaders to stand on the values that invite others into healthy ways of being in the world. May we lead our neighbors and communities to wholeness, by transforming the places we share together into spaces defined by trust, hope, and faith. Amen.

Prayer

God with us,

The challenges we face today cannot be surmounted so long as we remain mired in division and self-interest, as people and as nations. Transform us into advocates of solidarity, willing to cooperate across borders for the sake of those issues affecting the well-being of all people. As we bear witness in our communities and across the world to the effects of climate change especially, help us respond with sympathy and compassion to neighbors near and far, and to implement policies respecting the limits of the world you have given. With faith, hope, and love for a future worthy of our children, we pray. Amen.

Prayer

Gentle listener,

It is such a gift to engage people who truly know how to listen. For we all can be consumed at times with our own sense of ego, such that we struggle to put someone else first and give them our ears. Yet your ears are always turned towards us, ready to hear the cry of our hearts. Help us to trust you with our needs, and to become trustworthy intercessors for the needs of our neighbors. May we become listeners like you so we can more effectively extend your compassion, especially for those who are poor, dying, and underserved. Amen.

Prayer

God who calls,

As our Muslim colleagues begin celebrating a new year today, we give thanks for the invitation present at the start of each day. You invite us to come, just as we are, to receive the new mercies you so faithfully lay out for us every new day. Today and each day. We ought to be the most grateful and joyous of people, for every day you invite us to come as we are and renew our commitment to follow your life-giving ways. Beyond all sense of judgment or guilt, help us answer your call with joy and thanksgiving. Amen.

Prayer

God in the depths,

So many people are struggling in places that feel like rock bottom. We pray especially for them today. For all those who are suffering, sick, or otherwise vulnerable. As we work together to help them through their trials, we ask you to fill them with hope. May they be given a new experience of your loving accompaniment that goes deeper than their struggles. By your great kindness, answer their prayers and use us to bring them your healing. Amen.