Prayers of the People, Lent 5C

​So many of your children, Lord,
are still stuck in Egypt,
mourning losses,
enslaved by fear,
fatigued from fighting demons
they cannot fully identify.
Their past has formed their present
and the future looks impossible.
Hopelessness overtakes them,
and they feel so betrayed
they dare not put their trust in you.
Surround them with your love, O God.
Grant them a community with patience
and strength enough to carry them
through the darkest of their days
until they can see the path you have made
that leads them to newness of life.

So many of your children, Lord,
are poisoned by the water they drink,
water unfit for human consumption,
water contaminated by pollutants of all kinds.
Disease is rampant.
People are dying.
Creatures are dying.
Governments are failing to provide
what you called good
at the beginning of time.
Empower your people to speak out against
greed and neglect
and raise up from among us
leaders who will protect that which has been
gifted to us
and placed in our charge.

So many of your children
are longing to see the new thing
you have promised.
Some can envision it,
but there is much disagreement
about how it is accomplished.
Remind us to listen, Lord,
to you and to each other.
Calm our anxious spirits,
and help us sit with one another
in openness and compassion,
and look for the ways in which
your will might be done
for the manifestation of the common good.