Pastoral Prayer for March 20, 2022

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

Loving God,

Your kingdom is so different from what’s valued in my world.

We worship riches and fame and power, and flashy shows of strength,

but you say those advantages have no value in your kingdom.

You came as a servant, and call us to serve and honor others.

We prize physical beauty, but the beauty that matters to you comes from inside.

It shows up best in acts of kindness, in living with courage, integrity, and humility.

We praise the self. 

We live as though the universe revolves around our wants and needs,

our potential, our success.

But you came to radically change our worldview.

You showed us how to honor our humanity and find our freedom in you.

Renew my vision of your kingdom.

Help me to seek it every day.

Make my vision clear.

Teach me to care for the things of God and the ways of God

over everything that is valued in the kingdom of the world.

Loving God, concerning the war in Ukraine,

I feel so angry at the ability of one man to murder thousands

and dislocate millions.

I feel so powerless to do anything significant

in terms of helping to bring about peace.

Help me to allow you to take the energy of my anger

and to rechannel it into small but significant areas

in which I can make a difference, areas like the quality

of my relationships at home, at work, or at school.

Help me to allow you to transform me into a person

who embodies the values of your kingdom,

and not the violent ways of much of the world.

Amen.