August 18, 2024 Prayer

You can listen to Laura prayer for you right here: https://www.cgpmn.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/Aug-18-prayer.m4a

God you are Mercy, Mercy,

It is am embarrassment of riches to be loved by you, merciful God. You are full of mercy. And grace. And truth. And love. You are the light and the bread – you are all the things that fill me up and show me the way back to knowing who I am in you. What a joy to know and love you. You ground me through knowing me, through naming me. And then you’ve called me to tell others, to show others, just what you are and who you are and what you do and will do and have done! I mean, sometimes it’s all too much, God. Your mercy and grace and love are so vast and all-encompassing. Including even me. So you sent Jesus to show you – to show who you are in human form and to show me what it looks like. Give me eyes to see and a heart open to receive seeing you in everyone else. In my neighbor with offensive yard signs. In my parishioner who takes out their angst on me. Help me to see Jesus in those who would wish me harm and even do me harm. Help me see Jesus in the places where I am certain he cannot be found. Because when I see Jesus in my enemy, in my friend, in my neighbor, in a stranger, in family and friends – well then, it changes everything. It changes what I might say or do, or how I might be in that moment. It changes who I am, who you have made me to be.

So help me to see you especially today in my family – or those who are closest and dearest to me, be they birth or adopted or chosen family. It can be too easy to take their love and care for granted and for the weight of ministry to spill out onto them. It’s not fair. So give me a gentle spirit and a forgiving heart. Help me to offer and receive love and forgiveness from the ones who are always in my corner, who always have my back. Thank you for not giving up on me when I expect everyone else to act like they see Jesus and I just forget. Thank you for not leaving me where you found me. Your mercy is great. Your love is boundless. Your grace bowls me over. Thank you. Amen.

Take a deep breath, dear deacon, dear pastor, dear chaplain. For your labor in the Lord is not in vain. Don’t be afraid. God is with you.