Prayers for Sunday, July 31st

Prayers written by Holly Andersen, using the Lord's Prayer

Good, gracious, steadfast and faithful God - 

Hallowed be Thy name...
Father in heaven, we lift up your name.  We praise you for you are gracious, loving, just and righteous.  You are holy.  May the words of our mouths be words of truth, words that glorify, build up and encourage so that through our praise those who do not know you would come to know your glory.  Hallowed be Thy name, we pray,
Alleluia.

Your Kingdom come...Your will be done...
What does your Kingdom look like? We see so much in our world that is far from what you would have for your creation.  Images of violence; sounds of war. Lord, help us to seek your Kingdom, to be bold in our prayers, words, hearts, minds, and action.  Give us your courage and hope when we are overcome and overwhelmed by what we alone cannot fix.  Teach us how to follow you into places and relationships where we can bring the reality of your grace.  Your Kingdom come, Your will be done, we pray,
Alleluia.

Give us today our daily bread...
God you are the great provider.  You give us all that we need.  May we accept that blessing with open hearts and hands.  May we use those gifts and blessings to be rich toward you and as you would have us, be rich to this world around us.  May we know that our daily bread is provided by so many people in our city, state, nation and world and may we hold them up to you.  Give us our daily bread, we pray, 
Alleluia.

Forgive us our sins, for we also forgive everyone who sins against us...
Jesus Christ our Savior, you know the destructive power of sin and how it leads to death and separation from you.  You have taught us the power and promise of forgiveness through your life, your death and resurrection.  Help us to forgive, rid us of our apathy, show us the peace and hope that can come through reconciliation.  We pray for the people of our city who live daily in hate, for our nation that lives daily in deep seeded racism, for our world terrorized by men and women filled with hatred and fear.  Lead us to peace through forgiveness.  Forgive us our sins, for we also forgive, we pray,
Alleluia.

Lead us not into temptation...
Lord we are alike only in that we face temptation everyday.  You have created each of us as individuals and so we are all tempted in different ways.  We pray for freedom from temptation into anger, hatred, addiction, hopelessness, depression, despair, self-righteousness, doubt, worry, lust, self-love, greed and selfishness.  Give us courage, strength and your grace.  Lead us not into temptation, we pray,
Alleluia.

We pray in the name of Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord.
Amen.