Prayer of Intercession for October 28, 2018
Blessed are you, Lord God of the universe, the Holy One of Israel.
In covenant love you called a people to be your own,
to be a light to the nations,
and you have told us that it is by them that all the peoples of the earth will be blessed.
We give you thanks for our Jewish brothers and sisters:
Our neighbors only blocks from here,
our neighbors in Pittsburgh,
and our neighbors in communities all around the world.
We pray specifically for the Tree of Life Synagogue and its congregations.
We pray for the family and friends of the eleven people who were murdered,
among them a ninety-seven-year-old woman,
a husband and wife in their eighties,
and two brothers in their fifties.
Surround them, O God, with comfort who mourn the loss of these family members and friends.
Give them your good presence that they may be upheld in this time.
We pray also for those who were injured.
We plead for their healing.
We pray for strength for their family members;
and we give thanks for the skill of surgeons and nurses and other medical providers,
and all who attend to their care.
We pray for our nation, O God, so rent asunder in many ways.
Mend us and mend our ways.
Root out the violence that consumes us,
whether it is the violence of words, or the violence of actions,
or even the violence of our thoughts.
Turn our hearts, change our minds, align our ways with your ways in this world.
Take away our fear so that we may love full-out.
Set before us again the way of life, for you have shown us that death does not get the final word.
To anyone who began this day in despair and anxiety,
grant them a sense of calm and resolute strength that is sufficient for the day.
To those who began this day in sickness and pain,
we pray that you will bring relief and healing.
To those who have cause for rejoicing this day,
imbue their hearts with the fullness of life’s promise.
Help us as a church family to draw near to you and to one another in faith.
Make of us a people determined to seek justice, to desire peace above all things,
to work for the reconciliation of the world,
and to continually widen the circle of love until all, all, are drawn in,
as we ourselves have been drawn in by your love that encompasses and overcomes all things.
We thank you for calling us by name.
Thank you for not leaving us on the side of the road of this life.
Thank you for giving us eyes to see—
to see the world as it is so that we might pray mightily and rightly for its healing;
to see the world as you intend it to be, so that we might live toward your vision
and in accord with your purposes and plans.
Thank you, God, for stopping on the way and offering hope and justice
at the very moment when it seems as if everything will go on forever as it has been.
We spring toward you now,
sure indeed that you can give us what we need.
In Jesus’ name, we pray.
Amen.