Dear Gracious and Living God,
Thank You for being active in our lives. We know that we can call on You and You will hear us and answer. We thank You for Your love, which abides in us and is evident in our lives. Help us to abide in You as we journey through this thing called life. Help us to remember that Your yoke is easy and Your burden is light and we can cast our cares on You. We do not have to carry them alone. We do not walk alone. Thank You!
We have some burdens today, O God. From our last prayer to this one, so many things have happened that weigh on our hearts. We’ve gotten bad news about a loved one’s health. We’ve seen hatred rear its ugly head again. We’ve recognized the folly of our own inaction. We’ve heard about wars and rumors of wars. We have seen violence beget more violence. Have mercy on us, O God!
We pray for all who are personally affected by this upheaval. We pray for our communities. We seem to have a hard time learning lessons from one tragic situation to the next. Rise up in us, O God, so that the transformation You have done in us will pour out into the world. Let there be more kindness, more love, more gentleness, more peace, more mercy, more compassion, because of us! While we know the testing of our faith produces endurance and endurance produces character and character produces hope; we pray that the love You have poured into our hearts would produce as well. Let Your love flow in such a way that it produces joy in our homes, peace in our communities and justice and righteousness in the world! In Your mercy, hear our prayers.
And, because You live, O God, we pray that Your healing touch would manifest itself in our lives. For the one with the cancer diagnosis, for the one with Alzheimer’s, for the one with diabetes, for the one with HIV/AIDS, for the one with depression, for the one with bipolar disorder, for the one with schizophrenia, for the one with arthritis, for the one with heart disease, for the one with leukemia, for the one with migraines, for the one with an issue of blood, for the one who is suffering, we lift them up to You!
We pray that Your healing power would flow to them and through those entrusted to care for them. We pray that the physicians and nurses would have revelation knowledge about how to treat them so that they will be restored to full health. We also pray for the caregivers and their loved ones. Strengthen them. Give them the patience and support they need, we pray.
We further pray that the hatred that is rising up all around our nation and world would be dismantled and overcome by love, peace, and justice. Let us be the ones who shut it down! Embolden us to tear down walls of hate wherever we see them and work to build a more just and compassionate world. Not because of sentimentality, O God, but because it is the very reflection of who You are!
Release us from the bondage that tells us the dysfunction we know is all that there is. Help us to envision more than what we see in front of us or what we’ve experienced before, and give us the courage we need to work and fight for it to be so!
In the Name of Jesus, who died and rose again that we might have an abundant and peaceable life, we do pray and ask these things. Amen.
mondaysatthealtar 