The Church of Jesus Christ is an amazing institution. Not everyone thinks the same things, or believes the same things, or acts in the same way. Yet all of us are included in the community of faith, and from it we derive nurture, knowledge, and growth in the things of the spirit. We gather in praise of the God who draws us here, thanking Him for including us among those who seek to be wisely faithful to Him. Therefore let us, with confidence, worship God.
Pastoral Prayer
O Thou who created the world and everything in it, the planets and stars and the truly inconceivable reaches of space, we confess both our humility and our hubris as we come unto Thee in prayer. We realize how insignificant we are in the immense scheme of all things, yet we do not hesitate for one moment to approach Thee. In doing so, we also realize how bold and brazen we are to imagine that we come even close to grasping Thy true nature, yet we turn to Thee in child-like trust, whom we can never come close to comprehending fully nor fully come close to appreciating Thee as we should. We cannot ask Thee to forgive our humanity, O God, since that is who we and what are, but we ask Thee to expand our humanity into what we can best become.
We pray Thy blessing to be with those who have so little inquisitiveness that nothing ever seems to bother them. We pray Thy blessing to be with those who make everybody’s business their business, and who are thus bothered by everything. We pray for those who live in ignorance and love living there, for those who are ignorant and despise their limited knowledge, for those who lead, even if with the wrong thoughts and beliefs, and for those who lead as Thou wouldst have them lead. Loving Father, we need Thy constant care and guidance, and we pray that we may sense our inextricable interdependence with Thee as well as our necessary independence from Thee. Give us eyes to see the unavoidable delicacy of our lives, as well as our potential to turn Thy will into our own will.
We pray for the sick and the grieving, and for the broken of heart and spirit. Where any have been pushed to the sidelines who once made the headlines, and who now long for what was to replace what is, be Thou their strength and stay. Where those who once had bodies which functioned like well-oiled machines and now have bodies which scarcely operate at all, grant a special measure of Thy grace to them in their sorrow over what has befallen them. Enter in where certainty has been overcome by uncertainty or trust has been deposed by despair. Lord God, our needs are great, but Thy grace is greater still. Heal and uphold us by that grace. All these things we pray in Jesus’ name, now praying as he taught his disciples, saying, Our Father….