Prayer for the World
We live in a topsy-turvy world, that likes to think that up is down and down is up. That our insults are compliments and compliments are insults; yes is no – except when it is yes; that truth is subjective but untruth is obvious; that our governmental leaderships equate leading with power, power with domination, and domination as a right. Our heroes are our bullies. The poor are lazy, bad managers of their time, choices, and intellect and the wealthy are rich because of good choices, their intellect, and sound use of their time – that neither rich nor poor are the result of opportunities and events along their path of which many are not within any person’s own control. All of this frantic and chaotic activity in magnified pride and false confidence.
We can see this in our plans that are little more than frantic activity. Commuter traffic grows, collective and cumulative debt increases, families drift apart chasing big goals, and reported happiness drops.
All of this and, then, more than once in the last weeks we are brought to a screeching stop. Because despite all of our advancements and technology, the weather can force us to attention and demand that we put almost all of it on hold.
As believers we are not immune to these pressures and desires. Those who are not a part of a believing body of worshipers, aren’t immune to the longings placed in their hearts by you, Father God. The recent trending Minimalism approach and the KonMari method of “does this Spark Joy?” are signs of longing for fullness — acknowledgement that it doesn’t come from “STUFF.”
Frantically our nations have tried to fill that space with capitalism and commercialism. We have placed democracy and the collective wisdom on a pedestal. We are convinced that answers lay inside ourselves — that if we just slow down and meditate we can uncover this self-fulfillment and completion.
“The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field”
(Luke 10:2). We live in a time and an age where we need you. This isn’t unique, this isn’t new, yet in our topsy-turvy way we convince ourselves that today is different from any other moment since Creation.
We need you Father God, we receive the salvation won through Christ Jesus, and ask your Holy Spirit to work in us.
We come to you full of longing, desiring physical, spiritual, medical, mental, and emotional healing. We come to you in sorrow, in joy, in apathy, in dullness of the heart and mind – and acknowledge that we don’t’ have the answers. We come to you in fear, in worry, and in stress. We long for quiet, for comfort and the assurance that our lives matter, our needs are met and our hearts will be full.
We pray for ….. and her latest chemo therapy treatments. May this treatment protocol and the work of the treatment team lead to miraculous healing. Lord we pray and ask for complete healing.
We pray for members of our congregation that are most negatively affected by this winter season, where their daily lives are held tight to their homes. We pray for those who are negatively affected by the dark gray days and find it making their struggle with mental health even more difficult. Where the sun isn’t shining, may your love be known.
We pray for our greater community. Send us as your ambassadors. May we honour you in the day-to-day routines and patterns of life so that others who seek to fill their emptiness maybe drawn to you.
We pray for this country. May we together be a beacon on a hill. May we advocate and fight to ensure that we are honouring your created order for governance and leadership. May we be a strong God seeking voice in a topsy-turvy culture.
We pray for the countries of Haiti, Venezuela and Peru. As people who observe from the safety and benefits of Canada, we struggle to understand and relate to the turmoil that exists in these countries. We don’t understand what it is to live in a place where the pressing daily concern is safety. Where political and economic chaos means that words like safety, routine, quality of life and many other things we consider natural just simply are not.
We pray for our fellow believers who worship you in different circumstances and different realities. Grant them protection, strength, wisdom and your comfort. May we be a strong body of believers together, all of us placed exactly where you need us to be and in the mission of our lives.
You are the amazing God that can stop our hurry and wow us with the world you’ve created. You see us vulnerable and often ashamed.. You know history before it happens. You looked at all of this, and chose to welcome us into your family. You spoke and it was.
What a blessing! Amen
