A Congregational Prayer, October 21, 2007
Offered by Pastor Mary Scheer
Dear Lord, how comforting your words are that remind us of your love for
us. These words hit home with feelings we are familiar with. Some of us
have been in the desert, or watched as someone we loved felt like they
were wandering in the desert wastelands, unable to find their way
through times of lack and drought, times of waste and loss, times when
it felt like the joy and peace of life had been sucked out of them and
there was nothing left to give, not even the energy just for day to day
life. Some can identify with the psalmist when he talks about what it’s
like to sit in darkness, in utter darkness, prisoners of suffering,
feeling chained by choices, by the consequences of those choices, by the
actions of others…but Lord, you know…you reach through our world and
help us. You see through the darkness that envelops us and see our trouble.
You hear us as we pray, the pleas of those who are distressed. You are
there to lead us when we don’t know which way to go, to lead us the
straight way in a direction free of dangers and difficulties. You break
the chains that hinder us and restrict our movement setting us free.
Father, we pray for every person who may be feeling alone, in the dark,
like they they’re wandering in a wasteland without resources or
opportunity, those who are feeling like they’re running out of energy,
hungry and thirsty, exhausted with worry or sickness. We pray for help,
healing, and deliverance, that your words of hope will revive and
refresh all who are feeling the weight and the burden of stress. We give
thanks to you Lord for your unfailing love, for your wonderful deeds,
for all the ways you save us, for your kindness to all humankind.
In Jesus' Name, Amen.
