Prayers of the People,
Prayed during worship on the Third Sunday After Epiphany, Jan 23, 2022.
As Jesus was filled with the power of the Spirit,
we pray, O God, that your Spirit would be present with us now,
pour out on us, that which we yearn for: abiding presence and reconciling love—
the Spirit of empowerment, and the Spirit of peace.
May the Spirit of affirmation speak a claiming word
on all who are uncertain of themselves,
who live in doubt, haunted by mistakes, shrouded in fear,
who lack confidence that they too may be loved.
Fill everyone who has been told there’s something wrong with them, or false, or broken, or sinful,
fill them all with your Spirit of Affirmation—baptize them with grace.
Remind them of their true identity: we are all children of God.
May the Spirit of empowerment lift up the lowly,
all who have failed, been beaten down, held back, left behind,
all who sit in sack cloth, on the ash heap of grief,
or who sit in reservation as opportunities pass them by,
Empower and uplift lowly souls to be the kind of souls
who confidently serve the common good, lift them up
who bring their creativity to solve problems, lift them up
Who bring forward their ingenuity to help address the issues of our day. Lift them up!
Empower every scientists who is studying COVID-19, testing and searching for clues and data and results to help our world move forward with less illness and less suffering and better medicine. Increase their knowledge and use them to help us all.
Empower our doctors and nurses, the epidemiologists, cardiologists, anesthesiologists, who are at work today, or tonight or this week, to be clear-minded and confident as they attempt to be healers for those who need healing, as they fight for this side of life.
Empower, Spirit of God, the corners of the earth that for too long have been marginalized, and need lifting up—the places and peoples we long ago deemed to be in darkness, impoverished, amplify their voices and lift up their lives for the fresh perspective they bring to advanced society, for the diversities they offer, may we in West, be open to receive their gifts from the east, the south, and the north.
May the Spirit of peace descend upon us like a dove.
Fluttering amongst us, settling amongst us, like pure love released on a wedding day,
May the Spirit of peace descend upon the world like a dove:
Peace in Grand Haven
Peace in the streets of Chicago
Peace in the mountains of Tibet
Peace in Venezuela and Columbia and Mexico,
Peace where civil war rises and divides—in wartorn Ethiopia and Syria,
Peace in Yemen and Libya,
Peace where war knocks on the door in Ukraine and Russia,
Peace where wild fires burn and tidal waves destroy.
Send your Spirit like a dove to descend upon the world.
And finally, Dear Jesus,
may your Spirit anoint this church,
may your Spirit anoint every person here today,
to have ears opened and eyes widened ,
To witness the Word Made Flesh,
The One who reads Isaiah aloud:
Good News to the Poor, release to the captives, recovery, freedom, and Jubilee…
The One who preaches:
Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing…
And the One in whose name we are bold to pray:
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 today 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,
And the power, and the glory, forever. Amen.
-Written by Pastor Matt Schmidt
