Weekly Prayer – June 18, 2025

We come to the end of the day, almost, the end of Wednesday, and pause to pray. Many
of us turned to headlines first thing this morning and were fearful of ‘escalation’ and
‘threats.’ But by the time this prayer shows up in the in boxes, what will have happened?
Will prayers for peace sound ludicrous? Will they sound like empty words?
Many of us began the day with the weather report and decide if it will be a good day or
bad day based on amounts of precipitation. Children want breezes and sunshine;
gardeners need just the amount of rain for tomatoes and beans. At the end of the day,
will we declare it good or bad?

We have alerts and notifications reminding us before we get out of bed that we have
appointments to keep and chores to do. Was the medical appointment helpful or
frustrating? Did we learn what we needed to know? Did we get done all we wanted to
do today?

Gracious God of All Time, we thank you for the gift of prayer that transcends time.
Forgive us when we start our day allowing agendas and headlines to set our purpose
for the day. Forgive us when we ask, what will happen today, before we give thanks that
you are with us today.

Thank you, Loving God, for our friends in the faith who are also reading this prayer,
maybe they will read it later in the evening or see it first thing tomorrow morning. We
have all prayed throughout the day for President Trump, that he might take time to listen
to those who can give sound advice. We have prayed for leaders in Iran and Israel that
they will stop bombing and come to a table to negotiate. We have prayed all day for
children who are in harm’s way … whether in Gaza, or local youth held in a detention
center in flux, or children not sure where parents are after being detained. We have
prayed for our own children – that they would be safe and content. And know joy!

We come together on Wednesday evening to pray for one another and to remember
words from Sunday that our hope is in you. Not headlines or celebrities or weather or
outcomes. Our hope is grounded in you. Knowing what we know now about how the
day has turned out, hear our prayers for tomorrow. We will continue to pray for peace in
your world, God of the universe. We will continue to pray for healing in our community,
God of all people. We continue to pray for those we know and love and hold close in our
hearts.

Honestly God, we confess that sometimes praying for a church member who is going
through a difficult time feels selfish or like we do not care about the rest of the world.
You know … we know … that is not true. We thank you for the names we know; the
people you have put in our paths to help us feel love and support. We thank you for the
names we know; the people who have taught us about unconditional love and grace.

Thank you for the people who have shown us what it means to be present in body and
in spirit.

And so we join together in praying for those ‘we know and love,’ people who have
embodied for us your love, which enables us to pray for your world. We pray….