pastor prayers

God of hope and glory and surprises, God who is with us, among us, and within us.  Let your presence be felt.

Dwell with the caregivers whose hearts break as the lives of those in their care are torn asunder.  Dwell with your big-hearted children who offer so much of themselves in their daily work and still find themselves haunted by demons of unworthiness at night.  Dwell with those who work hard to make the holidays memorable, bright, or just endurable for others and toil so long and hard at it they have nothing left for those near and dear to them.  Dwell in the hearts yearning to hear the voice that says “slow down,” but find all around urgent pleas for comfort, for help, for companionship.

Dwell with those experiencing violence, those without homes, without heat, without food.  Dwell with them in the form of some bodily comfort, a human kindness, a relief from the burdens of living as your precious children in a world that is willing to see so little of your grace.  Dwell within us, and help us end our captivity by dreaming and making a new world.  And help us not consume ourselves in the process.  Help us learn our limits, that we might know the infinite.

Please.