Pastoral Prayer for August 27, 2023

Loving God,

You are holy.  Your name is holy.

May your sacred presence in all people and all living things

be known and revered throughout the world.

You are our Father.

You care for us as the most loving fathers and mothers

care for their children.

May we rest today in your care.

You grant wisdom to all who ask.

May your wisdom guide us and shape us in all we do.

We are all the work of your hand –

help us to flourish in understanding and insight.

You, Lord Jesus, are the Prince of Peace.

Wherever there is strife in the world today –

in relationships, in communities, between races and religions –

may peace, not violence, prevail.

And may your children be the first to love peace and pursue it,

so that we can bring some heaven to earth.

Thank you that none of these requests –

nothing we could ever ask or imagine or need –

is alien to you, because you know what it is to be human.

Thank you, God, for dwelling among us,

and for showing us the way home.

Amen.