Today's Prayer:
Christ Our King,
Our world is overtaken
by unexpected calamity,
and by a host of attending
fears, worries, and insecurities.
We witness suffering, confusion,
and hardship multiplied around us,
and we find ourselves swept up
in these same anxieties and troubles,
dismayed by so many uncertainties.
Now we turn to you, O God,
in this season of our common distress.
Be merciful, O Christ, to those who suffer,
to those who worry, to those who grieve,
to those who are threatened or harmed
in any way by this upheaval.
Let your holy compassions be active
throughout the world even now—
tending the afflicted, comforting the brokenhearted,
and bringing hope to many who are hopeless.
Use even these hardships to woo our hearts
nearer to you, O God.
Indeed, O Father, may these days of disquiet
become a catalyst for conviction and repentance,
for the tendering of our affections, for the stirring
of our sympathies, for the refining of our love.
We are your people, who are called by you,
We need not be troubled or alarmed.
Indeed, O Lord, let us love now more fearlessly,
remembering that you created us, and appointed us
to live in these very places,
in the midst of these unsettled times.
It is no surprise to you that we are here now,
sharing in this turmoil along with the rest of our society,
for you have called your children to live as salt
and light among the nations, praying and laboring
for the flourishing of the communities where we dwell,
acting as agents of your forgiveness, salvation,
healing, reconciliation, and hope,
in the very midst of an often-troubled world.
And in these holy vocations
you have not left us helpless, O Lord,
because you have not left us at all.
Your Spirit remains among us.
Inhabit now your church, O Spirit of the Risen Christ.
Unite and equip your people for the work before them.
Let us be willing to share in your suffering, serving
as your visible witnesses in this broken world.
For thine is the Kingdom, and the power, and the glory forever…AMEN.
NOTES & LINKS:
Episode 19