Hear our prayer, O LORD our God.
You are perfect in your ways,
beautiful in your love,
desirable in your wisdom,
powerful in your vast mystery.
We are in awe and we are in fear.
Bless us
as we wrestle.
Bless us, we ask,
with the breaking of a new day.
So often we pray for our own relief:
from grief,
from strain,
from hardship,
from heartache.
Do not pass us by, O Savior, but please
go out of your way for the relief of others:
from threat of death,
from the rage of wars,
from unjust imprisonment,
from the destruction of home.
Bless us
as we wrestle.
Bless us, we ask,
with the breaking of a new day.
We reach out to you and to one another:
for peace,
for courage,
for forgiveness,
for compassion.
We seek your face in each face and
we look for your Spirit to multiply among us
for the sake of your name,
for the salt of the world,
for the healing
of all people.
Bless us
as we wrestle.
Bless us, we ask,
with the breaking of a new day.
a pastoral prayer based on today’s Narrative and Revised Lectionary readings