O God, the hymn writer, Henry van Dyke, invited us to sing, “Joyful, joyful, we adore Thee, God of glory, Lord of love;” and we indeed, upon reflection, should spontaneously and regularly express to You that joy of our salvation. So many things that we experience, when we take the time to reflect upon them, draw our attention to an overwhelming, abundant sense of grace and peace—grace and peace that come from Your love, Father God, and from Your compassion. If we turn our attention away from the emptiness that sometimes holds our earthly focus, we can take a full account of all Your love and blessings. That love and those blessings delight us and bring us a sense of happiness, joy, contentment, fulfillment, satisfaction, anticipation, hope, and expectation. In that love we can truly sing, “Joyful, joyful, we adore Thee,” with thanksgiving and with praise for all Your abundant blessings. Turn our hearts, our minds, our emotions, our commitments toward all the good and perfect gifts that You shower on us each day. Warm our hearts with Your love and peace that flood our lives with a sense of purpose, hope, love, and peace.
Let us for a moment also turn our prayer attention to a wider concern in our country. Let us pray today for all of those who are seeking ways to address and to calm the racial tensions that have risen as a result of the rally of white supremacists in Charlottesville, Virginia. Open our minds and our hearts to your universal love for all—both for friends and especially for enemies.
Each week we focus on a time for sharing congregational prayer concerns. Many of us have thanksgivings or special needs, concerns, or intercessions for ourselves, our families, our friends, our church, our country, and our world. I invite you now to call out the names of those for whom any of you have special concerns and petitions that you want to lift up to our attentive Lord.
Bind us together today, O Lord, as these voiced petitions become shared petitions in this time of worship, for this fellowship of believers, in our shared mission and our call, both here and around our world. Also bind us together as we recite in one united voice the prayer that Jesus gave us in teaching us how 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 this day our daily bread, and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever. Amen.
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