​O God, our Fortress and our Rock,
your children are terrified!
The gut-wrenching fear
that silences the stories
that leave us shaking in our shoes
is threatening to tear us apart.
The politics of superiority
damage the psyche
and intimidate the child in us
who is longing to be safe.
We have donned our sackcloth --
our mourning clothes --
and shut ourselves away from the world
to hide the pain on our faces,
to cover our socially unacceptable tears.
Angry and aching,
we relive the attacks made on our physcial beings
and our character
even as we are dismissed as unimportant ...
non-essential ...
unworthy.
Lord, in your mercy, hear our prayers!
Depressed and disturbed,
dismayed and disgusted,
exhausted and enraged,
we come to you in fervent hope
that you will erase the ugliness that rears its giant head
before us.
Hear our desperate prayers for healing
and wholeness,
for compassion
and justice
and peace of mind, body, and spirit.
Grant wisdom, O God,
to those in power,
that they might hear and be moved to act appropriately.
Grant discernment, Source of all Truth,
that all who seek your guidance
will be strengthened and encouraged
even in the darkest days,
to lift their voice
in the name of all that is holy
to preserve the lives of those who stand
in harm's way.
Rescue your people,
we pray,
from destructive ambition
and greed
and from self-identifying bias.
Lord, in your mercy,
hear our prayers.

​Give thanks to the Lord,
for God is good!
God hears the voices
of the marginalized,
the oppressed,
and the fearful,
and answers!
Thanks be to God!
Let us worship the God
of our salvation!

​For those in committed relationships
who find their covenants difficult to keep,
for those who keep them
and for those who determine they cannot,
Lord, in your mercy, hear our prayers.

For families of every size and shape,
of every color and constitution,
who strive to love one another
in spite of differences and challenges,
in spite of distance and pain,
and for those who find it easy,
Lord, in your mercy, hear our prayers.

For merchants and for farmers,
for business owners and for workers,
as they labor for their living,
sensing the worth of their efforts,
even if they are not valued by others,
Lord, in your mercy, hear our prayers.

For those who have plenty
and those who struggle to make ends meet;
for those who give generously
and those who hoard their resources,
and for those in position to use their authority
to make a difference,
Lord, in your mercy, hear our prayers.

For the homemakers and the parents
whose tasks are endless
and whose passion is as well,
even when their patience wains
and their fatigue is overwhelming,
Lord, in your mercy, hear our prayers.

For those who strive for perfection
knowing perfection is permanently out of reach,
and for those who have come close to giving up;
For those who have known the freedom
of grace-filled love in human relationship,
and for those who are imprisoned by judgement --
their own and that of those around them,
Lord, in your mercy, hear our prayers.

Move your Spirit in and through and among us,
we pray,
that all our attempts at living our best lives
will be guided by your wisdom
and your covered in your grace.

Call to Confession
 
The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge; fools despise wisdom and instruction. (Proverbs 1:7) Let us confess our foolishness before the Lord, and see the Lord’s mercy.

Prayer of Confession, OT25B
 
For all the times
we have betrayed the trust
you have in us,
and the trust that those we promised to love
have placed in us,
forgive us.
For all the times
we have given less than our best,
failed to live our call,
calculated the risk and decided
not to trust in you,
forgive us.
For all the times
we have taken ourselves too seriously,
hoarded our resources,
and cared only for ourselves,
forgive us.
Open our hearts
to a new way of being,
to a new ideal,
to the promise of perfection
that comes through Christ alone.
Cover us in your grace,
we pray,
and in your righteousness,
redeem our sinful selves.
 
 
Assurance of God’s Grace
 
The Lord takes pleasure in those who fear him, in those who hope in his steadfast love. Psalm 147:11 In the name of Jesus Christ, we are forgiven. Thanks be to God!


Since God has forgiven us in Christ, let us also forgive one another. The peace of Christ be with you.
Please extend the peace of Christ to all whom you encounter this day.


Connect with me on LinkedIn for weekly references to the monthly spiritual practice.

The Lord calls
the courageous
and the timid,
the confident
and the anxious,
the equipped
and the unprepared,
the powerful
and the vulnerable,
the wise
and the wandering.
Everyone is welcome
in God's family.
Everyone
is fearfully
and wonderfully
God's child.


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​

​Creator of the Universe,
Mother Nature,
Sovereign God,
the storm rails against us,
and your people cry out in fear
and frustration
and grief,
as the wind and the water
that have given us life
threaten to take it away.
Lord, in your mercy, hear our prayers.

Comforter-in-Chief,
Rescuer,
Redeemer,
tragedies break out indiscriminately
in gaseous explosions
injuring,
killing,
destroying,
as the fire that is meant to refine us
swallows up shelter
and safety.
Lord, in your mercy, hear our prayers.

Eternal Hope,
Spirit of Wisdom,
Peacemaker,
violence reigns
in city streets,
and family homes
and between nations who refuse
to heed your call;
in angry,
selfish,
inciting recitations
and behaviors
where people refuse to listen
to those who are pleading
to be heard.
Lord, in your mercy, hear our prayers.

Send aid, we pray!
Save your people
from this time of trial,
from the path of destruction,
from devastation!
Calm the storm.
Protect the innocent.
Speak wisdom to all who will hear it,
and inspire action
in the name of justice
and of love.

Call to Confession

“Seek the Lord while he may be found,
call upon him while he is near;
let the wicked forsake their way,
and the unrighteous their thoughts;
let them return to the Lord, that he may have mercy on them,
and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon."
(Isaiah 55:6-7) Let us turn to God and confess our sin.

Prayer of Confession, OT24B

We are the simple who insist
on wallowing in ignorance,
the cynics who feed on cynicism,
the fools who refuse to learn.
We are the ones who have ignored
God's blatant offerings of guidance,
who have laughed at God's counsel,
and joked about the consequences.
We are the ones who have chosen
not to accept training,
but to continue on paths of carelessness
and complacency ...
paths of destruction ...
for ourselves
and others.
We do not deserve the grace
that God offers in Christ,
the grace we cannot find it in our own hearts
to offer our neighbor,
yet we seek it
fervently.
Pour out your spirit upon us.
Open our hearts,
we pray,
that we might hear and understand,
and heed the call to love
as we have been loved.

Assurance of God's Grace

For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 8:38-49) In the name of Jesus Christ, we are forgiven! Thanks be to God!

Since we have been forgiven in Christ, let us also forgive one another. The peace of Christ be with you.
Please extend the peace of Christ to all whom you encounter today.


​Click here to join in conversation about this week's passages.

Lady Wisdom calls.
Sophia herself urgently pleads,
"STOP! Listen!"
Take a moment,
she implores,
and sit with me.
Be still,
and know that God
is God of all.
Stop.
Listen.
Worship.

​
Click here to engage in conversation about this week's passages!

​Your people hide behind generosity, Lord,
afraid to let insecurities,
failures
and weaknesses
be known.
We are sure our friends and family members
wouldn't love us
if they knew.
Lord, in your mercy, hear our prayers.
Help us to be authentic.
Help us to be real.

Day after day,
week after week,
month after month,
year after year, Lord,
you have children who are struggling
to make ends meet:
children who are working tirelessly
for less than a living wage,
children who are at a disadvantage
because they come from schools
improperly funded,
if they come from school at all,
children who have fallen
into difficult circiumstances
beyond their control ....
illness
and injury
and tragedy.
Lord, in your mercy, hear our prayers.
Help us to lift one another up
from the depths of despair,
to support and to encourage,
to listen,
and to be voices for justice
in a world where the poor
and marginalized
are too often unheard.

Stir us from our comfort seats,
O God.
Open our hearts to your Word.
Grant us wisdom
and compassion.
Lord, in your mercy,
grant us compassion,
and boldness,
and teach us to love our neighbor
as much as --
or more than --
we love ourselves.