Ted Thwing led us in this conversation with God.
Let us talk to God.
Good morning, God. We’re here… Such as we are… We need to talk with you and we really need to hear from you this morning. We and our world need your power and compassion at work in our midst.
Some of us really need your healing touch. We pray that you would come alongside us to bring your loving care and healing where we need it most. We pray that we would sense your comforting and healing presence. God, how are you preparing our hearts to care for people around us this week?
Some of us have experienced injustice this week or in the past. It really hurts. We need to know that you are at work to bring justice and healing and reconciliation in the world around us. We know that this work is very important to you How can we join up with you in what you are already at work doing ahead of us?
We pray for those in our government, that they may be insightful and courageous in their decision-making and that their decisions and actions will lead to the deep justice, healing, and reconciliation. God, may your justice roll down with a mighty river sound.
God, I particularly pray for our brother Jojo. Our hearts are in anguish over his unjust detention at the NW Detention Center. I pray that by your power, you would make it possible for him to be freed and to rejoin us as part of our Union Church family.
We pray for those around us who are serving in medical jobs.
We pray for those who have direct contact with patients, we pray for those who are doing medical research, we pray for those who are working on providing healthcare systems to meet needs in our city and around the world.
We ask that you provide them with extra doses of wisdom, insight, compassion and skill as they serve in these challenging times. We ask that as you come alongside them, they will sense your presence and be deeply encouraged by it.
We pray for those around us who are graduating this month. May they have a strong sense of accomplishment in the face of the unusual challenges they have faced over the last few months. And we pray that you will lead them to new jobs, or responsibilities, or further education even in the midst of this period of unusual uncertainty.
God, we want to be listening to you and to follow you, but often we aren’t very good at it. Help us this week to discover that where we are weak, the Holy Spirit can use us anyway (not because of our power, but because of his).
God, what are you up to today and this week?
We ask that you help us to see what you see, to hear what you hear and to join in on your work of transformation in each of us, in our families, in our neighborhood and city, and in our nation and our world. We ask that you speak to our hearts, O God.