Prayers of the People

God of Love,

God of this world,

On this day, we pour our hearts out to You in concern for the world You love, in concern for all the people You have created in Your image. We come to You with eyes that have seen ghastly images and ears that have heard devastating news - news this week of disaster, violence, pain, and grief. There are truly no words to accurately express the damage that has been done to entire towns, families, nations, and convictions of faith. They are shaken. Help us put our trust in You - including our questions, our anger, and our doubt. Help us rest in You. We believe; help us in our unbelief.

This morning, we turn out attention in prayer for the Middle East and for North Africa - for people and places that are experiencing political unrest and turmoil. We pray for Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Afghanistan, Bahrain, and Yemen. We especially pray for Libya, where citizens are experiencing bombing raids at the hand of their own government. Help us to stand in solidarity with human suffering wherever it may be found. Help us live as the people who have been created in Your image - to help, to heal, to hold, to love.

And this morning, our hearts are wrenched for the people of Japan. . . . We are overwhelmed by images we are seeing. Though they are difficult, help us not to avert our eyes but instead, to turn toward the Japanese people with care and concern. Some have said that the disaster is of Biblical proportions. . . equip and enable us to respond with Biblical proportions - with images of solidarity where there is isolation, with floods of shared resources where there is nothing but debris, with safety where anxiety is palpable.

And we offer special prayers for people in our fellowship who are especially affected by Friday's earthquakes and tsunamis. We pray for all the PC(USA) mission partners and for our own partnership with missionaries Bob and Ann Moore. We pray for the Japanese fellowship that will worship later today in our church building. Give them strength as they cry out to you in grief, fear, and sadness. Help us to be mindful and prayerful for them in the upcoming days.

And we are also mindful that there is suffering among many of us this morning. We pray for our congregation. We pray for all in our city.

For those experiencing illness, we pray for peace and healing, in all the many ways that it may come.

For those experiencing poverty, we pray that justice may be done and that we may share from our abundance.

For those experiencing divorce, we pray for the comfort that can come even in the midst of grief.

For those experiencing homelessness, we pray for safety and shelter.

For those experiencing unemployment, we pray for gifts and opportunities.

You are our God, and we are Your people. In your name, as the people of Your image, we pray the prayer that Jesus taught us, saying,

Our Father, who art in heaven,

Hallowed be Thy Name.

Thy kingdom come,

Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.

Give us this day our daily bread.

And forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors.

And lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil -

for thine is the kingdom, the power, and the glory forever.

Amen.

-A Prayer of Pasadena Presbyterian Church