God of dreams and Lord of visions

God of dreams and Lord of visions,
We pray for eyes to see and ears to hear. For hearts and minds that will respond to all that you reveal to us:
‘Come,’ said the man who spoke through the night, ‘Come to Macedonia and help us.’
And his plea echoes others offered down through the centuries: ‘Come,’ they chorus, ‘Help,’ they implore.
In places of famine and desert they cry: ‘Bring to our nations the waters of life.’
In places of pain and brokenness they cry: ‘Bring to our nations leaves for healing, from the tree of life.’
In places of conflict and betrayal they cry: ‘Bring to this world the peace that was given by Jesus himself.’
And of course, today, we’ll endeavor to bring justice and peace, freedom and healing and love.

But in our ambition to build heaven on earth,
Remind us, good God of visions and dreams,
With eyes to see and ears to hear,
And hearts and minds to understand,
That those we seek to help today,
May be the very ones anointed
To reveal the paths of salvation
That we are yet to walk. Amen.

– Prayer from Christian Aid
Inspired by Acts 16:9-15

Restore

Creator of the universe,
you made the world in beauty,
and restore all things in glory through love.
We pray that, wherever your image is still disfigured
by poverty, sickness, selfishness, war, or greed,
the new creation of Love may appear in justice and peace,
Restored through your perfect shalom. Amen.

– Vanderbilt Revised Common Lectionary

may I never walk alone

Through light and shadow – I am led. I follow. Through the ins and outs, the ups and downs of these days,
when my heart is failing, when my spirit rejoices, when I can barely put one foot in front of the other: still you beckon me on…
When I stumble you support me, when I can go no further you carry me, through light and shadow, in death’s dark vale and on the mountain peaks: you lead me.
Through tangled webs, on rocky ground, on smoother paths, through light and shadow: you lead me. I follow – may I never walk alone…Amen.

– Sally Sheffield

Resurrected God,

Resurrected God,
Though we have hidden ourselves in a locked room and huddled together as ones who build barriers, send
your Living Word through our locked doors and into our guarded hearts that we might be witnesses of your
grace and couriers of your goodness.
By the power of your Holy Spirit, grant us the trust to believe the Gospel not because we see it but because we
have been seen by it and transformed through it. Amen.

-Stephen M. Ferring