A new year has begun, and with it the hopes and aspirations of people rise. But throughout the world, including the United States, there are many millions of people in their twenties and thirties who either have no job at all or very unsatisfying jobs. Today we shall contemplate their dilemma, asking for God’s guidance in how we may better understand their plight and how we can help them. Let us therefore worship with confidence the God of each new year and of all new beginnings.
Pastoral Prayer
We turn to Thee in prayer, O God, thanking Thee that Thou art a God of goodness rather than malevolence, and that we can trust in Thee, especially when we find it hard to trust in ourselves or in others. When life goes smoothly, Thou art there. When times are hard, Thou art there. When we feel isolated or alone, or when the way ahead for us seems very unclear, Thou art there. Help us always to stay close to Thee, lest we create our own roadblocks by trying to be too independent of Thy presence and power. Show us our limitations, Lord God, and show us also Thine infinite capacity to be with us and to lead and love us.
We pray on this day for the countless numbers of young people around the world who find themselves overlooked in the employment opportunities of the nations in which they live. Through no fault of their own, they have found themselves frozen out of the job market, simply because they are young. Be with them in the inevitable frustration they feel from no longer being youths but they also have been prevented from becoming independent adults. Speak to leaders of business and government who have the power to improve the lot of the young but so far seem unwilling to do so. We earnestly ask Thee to prevent a whole generation of young people from becoming cynical about the world, especially since it is they who presumably shall soon be called upon to lead the world.
We pray also for all who are very elderly, who believe that they have lived their lives and who want life to end, but it does not. As we pray for the young who impatiently wait for employment, we pray also for old people who wait impatiently for death. Uphold all of us in our particular situations, particularly when we find those situations uncertain or difficult. Grant us faith for the journey, however long and in whatever direction it may lead us. These things we pray in Jesus’ name, now joining together in the prayer he taught, us, saying together, Our Father….