MIDWEEK PRAYER

This basic prayer comes from the United Church of Canada.  My edit to fit the times.  It was written in 2016

Creator God, be with us in these times of trouble.

We are surrounded by images of violence in our streets

and to heartbreaking disregard for law.

We are called to wrestle with how to respond to it and

to all hatred around us with compassion and prophetic love.

We grieve for a stop to this cycle of violence which seems never-ending

and pray for this world that wrongly values some lives more than others.

We grieve for the dead and stand in prayer and love with those

who mourn the loss of life and security.

We confess that we who follow Jesus have been unable or unwilling

to wholeheartedly obey the command to love one another.

We acknowledge that we have failed to break down systems

that oppress and marginalize because of race or ethnicity.

We lift up the voices of all who experience 

oppression, discrimination and hatred.

We listen carefully to hear from you the changes that we need to make

in our own lives and institutions so that we include rather than exclude.

We give thanks for those faithful witnesses who speak truth 

and call for conversion to the love Jesus taught.

Help us to imagine what this world might look like 

if not filled with violence and fear and then to seek that end.  

Creator God, be with us in these times of trouble.

✟