We gather in worship, thankful that we personally are not facing another hurricane. But we have become painfully aware of people in Mexico and the Caribbean and Puerto Rico whose lives have been devastated by natural disasters, and we cannot erase from our minds their suffering and hardships. God is a God of mercy, and we implore his loving kindness to be felt by people who desperately need His strength in their weakened state. Therefore let us turn to God in worship, trusting that despite all, this is still our Father’s world.
Pastoral Prayer
Lord God, we regularly address Thee as a gracious God, and we trust that even in the midst of much devastation Thou art still gracious. We pray for people in the Caribbean islands, Puerto Rico, and Mexico whose lives have literally been turned upside down by a terrible hurricane and earthquake. There is so little we can do for them except mainly to pray to Thee on their behalf. Undergird those who feel that life will never be worth living again. Give added strength of purpose to those who are determined to rebuild their lives, but who need additional resolve to attain their goals. Especially we pray for people who have concluded that because of these disasters Thou dost not exist or that Thou art completely unmoved by natural disasters and therefore art no longer worthy to be worshiped.
Loving God, we are struck by how much of the time our lives go along smoothly, and we take Thy love for granted. Then something like the headlines of the past several weeks confront us, or we ourselves are felled by a personal calamity, and we are forced to wonder whether or if Thou art involved in the disasters which inevitably assault this planet. Be with us in our questionings, our doubts, our darkness, and our feelings of helplessness. O God, our help in ages past, be Thou our help in present crises and in whatever future calamities shall befall other people or ourselves.
Once again we pray for rescue workers in Puerto Rico and Mexico, asking Thee to give them the necessary strength and tenacity to finish their work until they know they have done all they can do, and that they must leave undiscovered victims in Thine eternal care. Loving God, give to us who are mortal an intimation of immortality, so that we may face life with the sobriety of a divinely-inspired confidence in the midst of so many unknowns. All these things we pray in the name of Jesus, whose prayers to Thee transformed a needy world. Now we join in the prayer Jesus taught us, saying, Our Father….