O God, as another summer passes us by,
we give You thanks
for the times of rest and recreation,
leisure and celebration.
And now we settle back into daily rhythms.
Time fills up fast with meetings, plans, and duties.
In the warp and woof of life it’s easy for us
to get lost in our obligations
and neglect our life with You.
Help us to continue to make space for You,
to resist seeking value in “doing,”
and instead realize our value in “being.”
Grant us the vision to live from a posture of belonging.
We are all beloved sons and daughters.
We are not what we produce, achieve, or accomplish.
Lord, in Your mercy, hear our prayer.
Gracious God,
although we once were strangers,
You receive us as friends
and draw us home to You.
You set Your living bread before us,
that by feasting around Your table
we might be strengthened to continue the work
to which your Son commissioned us:
To love You and our Neighbor,
To feed the hungry and clothe the naked,
To bear Your divine image,
And to see the face of our brother and sister,
Our mother and father, in the faces of our enemies.
We pray for the day when we recognize that,
no matter where we are from in the world,
what we look like, or what we believe,
we are bound together by Your love.
Holy Spirit, You are the Source of life,
You feed us with the spiritual milk of Your love
and deliver us from darkness to light.
Grant us the courage to challenge
and call out the evils of our time,
that by finding ourselves encompassed by Your love,
and trusting that we are secure in You,
we would find wisdom and strength.
Lord, in Your mercy, hear our prayer.
O God, comfort those experiencing grief and loss.
Relieve those who are suffering.
Bring strength to those who are hospitalized,
confined to homes, or undergoing tests.
We pray for the family of Botham Jean,
whose life was senselessly taken in Dallas.
We pray for Your justice to reign,
and reconciliation amidst disunion.
May we resist being calloused to the news
of lives lost,
and may our cry for justice be paired with a cry for mercy.
Shield the joy of those experiencing new life;
from giving birth to babies
to putting hands to rest in retirement,
may we find You in it all.
Guard and comfort those experiencing natural disasters,
from wildfires in California to tsunamis in Japan.
Bring Your restoration amid their devastation.
Eternal God, by whose power we are created
and by whose love we are sustained,
although we know You are always with us,
on the days when it is hard to pray for ourselves,
on the days when Your love may feel a little further from us,
may we be lifted up by our sisters and brothers,
whom You have created for this very purpose.
And on the days when we feel strong,
may we be moved to honor Your creation
with our thoughts, prayers, and actions.
All this we ask through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Lord have mercy,
Christ have mercy.