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O Lord God, you are great, holy, and exalted
above us and above all humankind. And,
yet now, you have come into our humanity, into the very heart of what it
is to be human. You are now
human in Jesus Christ. You
know us as we are. You
embrace us, and you are not embarrassed by our humanity.
We thank you and praise you that we may share our thoughts, our feelings
and what we believe to be our needs with you.
Thank you for reassuring us that you know how to, and actually do
connect with us in Jesus Christ. Thank
you for this great Gospel.
We bring before you now all that troubles us: our failings, errors, and
exaggerations, our tribulations and sorrows, and also our rebelliousness
and bitterness—our whole life and our whole heart, which you know
better than we know ourselves. We
place all this in the faithful hands which you have stretched out to us
in our Savior. Take us as
we are; raise up those who are weak, enrich from your fullness those who
are poor.
Let your communion and fellowship in what we are coming to know as
eternal life embrace all those who are sick, and especially those who
are near death. Give those
who judge, the spirit of righteousness; and to those who rule in this
world, a measure of your wisdom to guide them to peace on this earth.
For us, as your church, your congregation, lead us to grow spiritually
in what we are to believe about your presence in our lives. Guide us in your Holy Spirit.
Renew us and reform us in such a way that we may serve you, love
you, and glorify you. Bless
our educational time, our worship time, our sermons, our prayer times,
our Session meetings, our committees, and our Presbyterian Women.
We seek to know your will for us in our lives, how we may serve you and
share in your presence in our lives.
Turn our thoughts, our feelings, and our choices to be guided by
an awareness of the presence of the Holy Spirit.
In Jesus’ name, we pray. Amen.
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