Let us pray.
O God whose Son taught us to pray* for all people, let our prayers for others be honest, asking for them those things which they need and which you desire for them.
Let us pray for the world:
[Silent prayer]
- God of all worlds and lover of us all, we pray for the peoples and nations, the orders and societies of this world. Convert all destructive forces, crush every tyranny, condemn each injustice, and reconcile to your will all conflicting interests, that in freedom everyone may enjoy the good world you have made, and know fully what it is to be human. Amen.
*meditate, hold in good and active thought.
Let us pray for our nation and those who govern it.
[Silent prayer]
- Mighty God, we ask your mercy upon this nation, that your ruling power may be recognized and obeyed. Grant to the President, the Congress, our Governors and representatives, and to all in public authority, the humility to see themselves as your servants, that they may act responsibly toward their own people and the world’s peoples, and that we may follow their leadership with confidence and the strength to say No when it is needed. Amen.
Let us pray for our community.
[Silent prayer]
- O God, who called a people to serve others in their need, and to show your love, recall your beloved community from serving itself, and compel it to take the risks by which people are reconciled to you and to one another. Amen.
Let us pray for those in need.
[Silent prayer]
- Holy God, bearer of the world’s pain, compassionate to those who suffer, whether at their own hand or at the hands of others, we commit to you all persons in need and offer ourselves to serve them, that they may know an end to all needless pain and find new meaning for the suffering that may be borne.
- Cindy Sheehan and all gathered at Camp Casey;
- For all those trapped in the summer’s heat through no choice of their own;
- For the hardhearted, the arrogant, and the stiff-necked;
- For all those lost to war and senseless violence;
- For the poor of the world, your beloved children. Amen.
We pray* especially for:
Let us, finally, give thanks:
O God, we are made glad by the good news of your love for us and all people. We thank you for creating us and giving us all that is necessary for life. We thank you for your action, by which our lives are measured, found wanting, and renewed. Help us to remember your gifts, that we may praise you with lives of joy and service. Amen.