Prayers of the People

God of Love,

Be with us on this Lenten Journey. We need You. We need You in this wilderness - in the places that feel like desert, in the places that feel unsettled, in the places that don't feel fully formed. We ask that You would accompany in this season, that You would accompany us every day of our lives. Be with us.

Holy God, help us to be with one another. Help us to listen with intention. Help us to speak with gentleness. Give us discerning hearts and intuitive spirits, that we might accompany one another on this journey and in these days.

Give us Your holy and life-filled words to speak to one other. Help us to be Your hands and feet in this congregation and in this city as we are surrounded by people who need friendship, care, compassion, justice, and love.

We pray that You would be a home for the homeless, and as we find our rest in You, help us to work hard so that women, men, and children have roofs over their heads.

We pray that You would be food for the hungry, and that as we find ourselves nourished by your presence, You would send us out from this place to work so that no one begins his day or ends her day desperately hungry. This shouldn't be.

We pray for those who need jobs.

We pray for children who are terrified to go to school because they're unsafe - often unsafe with their peers, perhaps even by some of the adults who are there.

We pray for those who need human touch.

We pray for those who are grieving so deeply, those who have lost spouses, parents, siblings, friends, and children. Give us arms that are willing to embrace those who are walking through this difficult journey.

We pray for those who are sick, for who are unsure about their health and the days of treatment ahead. We pray for those who know more questions than answers. Help us to be attentive to one another.

Help us to be a community where people are heard, valued, and given the dignity they deserve.

Help us to walk this Lenten Journey with You and with one another, mindful of the prayer Jesus taught us to pray, 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