Pastoral Prayer for February 12, 2023

(Please allow the words of this prayer to become your own.)

Almighty God,

You are God.  I am not.  But I forget.

I behave as if I am God.

I attempt to take control of things.

I assume that I’m in charge, that freedom to act

means that I hold the keys to my own life.

When things go wrong, I wonder why bad things happen.

But you remind me that you are God.

And I am not.

You are the creator of the universe.

You put all life and matter into motion, including me.

My drive to create, to build, to manage

reflects your nature in me,

but I am not you.

You are the center of all things –

inside atoms, down to the quarks, you are there,

holding it all together.

You are the reason for everything.

And I am not.

Every bird, every blade of grass,

everything that swims in the ocean,

every cloud and star – it’s all a glimpse of you.

You are too wonderful for my minds to grasp.

I can hardly imagine you.

But I want to live in awe of you today –

in worship and love before you.

As Psalm 8 puts it:

“When I look at your heavens,

the work of your fingers,

the moon and the stars

that you have established;

what are human beings

that you are mindful of them,

mortals that you care for them?”

And yet I know that you are mindful of us

and that you care for us.

Thank you for your loving care

interwoven through your awesome power.

Amen.