You who do not need anything,
you who are our everything:
with humility we grope for you in prayer.

We search for you amidst all that is unknown.
We reach for you amidst all that we love.
We dare to keep faith in you through suffering and loss.

Hear our prayers, O faithful God, as we lament
the violence and warring of this world (ourselves included),
especially as it causes havoc and terror
in the lives of women and children,
schoolgirls and university students.

Hold us close to your heart as we remember with an ache
those who have died — both known and unknown to us —
including those brothers, sisters, friends and ancestors
who died in military service.

Though tears are often bitter on our tongues,
O God our strength,
still we lift our voices in praise to know that you
do not reject us or leave us alone,
no matter the raging of the world.
You are in us and we are in you;
for this we bless you and sing your name.

This is our prayer — across the generations, throughout
the ups and downs, in tears and in laughter — O God,
our ceaseless prayer that your love may overflow
more and more upon us and through us.

In Jesus’ name and to your glory. Amen.

A pastoral prayer loosely based on the Revised Common and Narrative Lectionary texts.