Devotional 2-17-12

Our Prayer

Our creator God, hear our prayer.
Holy, holy, holy, we lift our prayer to you.
You live in heaven,
you live among us.
We pray for the change that will bring
heaven to earth.
We pray for reality to be shaped by your will,
instead of our own.

The hope of our church
is that you will come among us.
Heal our families.
Surround our friends with your grace.
Tune our ears to your word
so that we will hear you,
and follow you.
Walk with us, so that justice will flow
and rightousness will stream like living water
in your world.
We pray that your church
will be brought together in unity.
Hear our prayers.

We pray that you will give us
what we need to live.
To live this life, alive.
Hear our cries for forgiveness
and for the ability to forgive.
Give us the strength to resist the
lure of sin.
Give us the courage to repent,
and to turn back to you.

Hear our secret hopes
Our unspoken worries
that move silently
through the crevices of our souls.
Hear these breathless, silent prayers,
unheard by others,
sometimes ignored by our hearts,
sometimes our hearts' deepest desires,
sometimes silenced by our pain or shame.
The echoes of these silent prayers
can be deafening in our lives.
Hear our groaning of our souls.

For the universe is yours,
the power is yours,
and we live our lives,
in your glory.
Amen.

Kim Matthews