The Prayer That Won't Write Itself
Written for worship at Decatur First UMC
Oh God we come this morning from all kinds of different weeks, some of us had winter break and enjoyed time off, some of us are exhausted from a week of extra work and expectations. Some of us are looking forward to spring and warmer weather, and some of us wish time would slow down. Some of us are feeling lost, and some of us are feeling found.
All of us showed up looking for you. Hoping to find you here and feel your presence. Open our hearts and minds to you now, and keep them open - awaken us to your constant presence with us - each shiver down our spine, each tear down our cheek, each inhale and exhale, you are with us.
Oh God we know that all things work for good, and with you nothing is wasted*. We know that. It is sometimes hard to see it, though. How can anything blessed ever come from an earthquake? How can war ever be redeemed? What can you possibly do with cancer? With poverty? With death?
And yet, you just keep showing up. We see it in the radical, practical love of disaster response through the United Methodist Committee on Relief. We see it in every meal train, every casserole or take out delivery to a family in crisis. We see it in the warming shelter. We see it in prayer shawls and prayer emails. We see it in the flowers and trees showing signs that life perseveres even in the winter. Thank you for never giving up on us, and for making us a part of your transformation of the world, through relentless love.
We offer our prayers for everyone suffering today - those in the midst of war and those struggling to survive after natural disasters, those facing death or the death of a loved one, those who grieve, those whose anger threatens to overwhelm them, those who think they face this life alone. Give them the comfort of your presence, and help us to put our prayers into action to remind them that you never leave us or forsake us. Never.
We ask these things in the name of Christ, who taught us to pray by saying,Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our tresspasses as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil, for thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.
* The phrase “Nothing is wasted” is borrowed from Father Richard Rohr. He’s used it many places. I first encountered it in Everything Belongs: The Gift of Contemplative Prayer.
