Nightly Prayer – April 5, 2020
April 5, 2020
Dear God,
Hosanna, Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord!
It is once again we come before you with thanksgiving in our hearts. A day with warm weather, sunshine, time for worship. Time spent at the table. Time spent resting.
As a deer longs for flowing streams, so our souls long for you, O God. By day you command your steadfast love, and at night your song is with me, a prayer to the God of our lives.
We find our hope in you, O God. Therefore let all who are faithful, offer prayer to you; at a time of distress, the rush of mighty waters shall not reach them.
At this time, Lord, we ask for you to bend down to receive the prayer concerns we discussed tonight. Out of the depths of a time of anxiety, a time of despair, we cry out to you. Let your ears be attentive to the voices you hear tonight.
Insert your prayer concerns here…
For the sick, Lord, may they find some sense of comfort. Bless the heads, hearts, and hands of all who walk into a hospital room, all who knock on the door of someone in an assisted living facility. All who lay at home and are transitioning to be with you in the days ahead.
We give you thanks, Lord, for the thousands of volunteers in our area who have found new ways to help those in need, whether it’s financially, bagging groceries, placing those groceries in a trunk, making masks, or another kind of assistance. Keep transforming our culture, O Lord, from one of collection for ourselves to service for the collective good. For those worried about their income, we pray you will find a way to pour your water onto their thirst.
In our time of grief, Lord, for our country, for the world, for those who are hurting tonight, strengthen us, O God. And when we get on the other side of this, Lord, may we look back on this and find all of the ways you have been at work. Grant us the vision to see those things now. Grant us the courage to serve in new ways, ways we did not anticipate. Open our eyes, hands, and ears. Bring forth all who are blind, yet have eyes. All who are deaf, yet have ears. All who are closed fisted, yet have hands.
Steadfast love surrounds those who trust in the Lord. Let us Be glad in the Lord and rejoice, O righteous, and shout for joy, all you upright in heart. Our soul waits for you, O Lord, You are our help and shield. Our heart is glad in you, because we trust in your holy name.
As we begin this holy week, may we be mindful of the journey and sacrifice your Son, Jesus made. As we move from the triumphant entry into Jerusalem to the darker days ahead, may we always remember the words of Jesus: Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe.
We pray all of this in Christ’s name, the one who taught us to pray, his disciples, saying…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 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.
Submitted by: Ed Black
Psalm 30, 32, 42, Isaiah 43, Matthew 21, John 29 excerpts taken from NRSV
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