Today MCEC encourages us to pray for the Climate Summit and to pray for the Mennonite church nationwide as we discern and act together to witness to the gospel of peace for all people and all creation.
O Holy One, God of all creation,
galaxies, molecules, and life itself are encircled in your loving embrace.
We come to you, on behalf of your beloved earth and all its inhabitants.
We come to you with the caution of Job ringing in our ears.
“Miners put an end to darkness, and search out to the farthest bound
the ore in gloom and deep darkness.
They put their hand to the flinty rock,
and overturn mountains by the roots.
But where shall wisdom be found?”
We come to you with the warning of creation ringing in our ears.
Fire, drought, storms, rising temperatures, changes in the earth’s currents and flows,
unlike any experienced by our ancestors.
Something is wrong, with your world and with us.
And so, we pray for the political leaders gathered in Glasgow.
Allow them to hear the voices of those most vulnerable.
Give them the courage to act in ways that will make a difference.
Bring change, O God, a rushing wind of change,
a change as intimate as the desires of our hearts,
a change as big as the marketplace of nations.
May your economy come and your will be done,
on the earth, in the earth, and above the earth,
just as it already is in heaven.
Make us instruments of your peace.
Make us instruments of holy ferment.
Gracious Lord, we dream of a world free of poverty and oppression, and we yearn for a world free of vengeance and violence. We pray for your peace.
When our hearts ache for the victims of war and oppression, help us to remember that you healed people simply by touching them. Give us faith in our ability to comfort and heal bodies and minds and spirits that have been broken by violence.
When the injustice of this world seems too much for us to handle, help us to remember that you fed 5000 with five loaves and two fish…. that in your economy small things do great things. Give us hope and faith that what we have to offer will turn out to be enough too.
Liberating God, when fear of the power and opinions of others tempts us not to speak up for the least among us, help us to remember that you dared to turn over the tables of money changers.. give us the courage to risk following you without counting the cost.
God with us, when we feel ourselves fill with anger at those who are violent and oppressive, help us remember that you prayed for those who killed you. Give us compassion for our enemies too.
Companioning God, walk with us as we answer your call to be peacemakers, around the world and across the street. Increase our compassion, our generosity, our hospitality for the least of your children. Give us the courage, the patience, the serenity, self-honesty, the gentleness of spirit and hope that is needed in a world filled with need.
God of compassion we also bring our needs for hope, healing, comfort, and peace.
We pray for our Households of Faith:
May God’s gifts of joy and love fill their hearts and home. May work be meaningful, relationships loving, and each day filled with blessing.
We offer our prayers and those which we hold deep in our hearts in the name of Jesus. Amen