Sunday, March 12, 2000
Offered by Carol Allen, Associate Pastor

Living God, through all the circling years, we have sought to trust in you. As we look back over times of hope and fear, we can see that your hand has been guiding us. Even when we were dreamers, drifting through life unaware that you were nearby and seeking a closeness and offering a love that would astound us, you never left us alone. Through Jesus Christ, you have seen that, like the sea, our lives are not always placid. They are rocked by change and storm. When old securities fall away and what we count on crumbles, you keep your eye on us. When truths give way to falsehoods, you seek to keep us on course. We thank you for your saving presence, for being the safe place when we are in distress. In the circumstances and years to come, reach out and help us to stay steady on our feet, O God, through your Holy Spirit. Grant us to know that you are in the boat with us and will not abandon us to the storms of life.

Awaken us in our turn to hear the call of those who cry, and give us strength to move toward those who need us. Empower us to be bold participants not timid saints-in-waiting within the difficulties of these present days; where honesty and candor, not deference to power or deception, is needed to advocate for those whose well being is under siege; where influencing someone for justice, not impressing them for our gain, is required; where the lonely need companionship, the sick, a healing touch, the dying and grief stricken, comfort and hope, the hungry and wandering, nourishment and home. Strengthen our trust in you, in each other, and in ourselves, O God, that we might find the treasures of joy, of friendship, of peace hidden in our life together and in your call to serve your people through your church; through Jesus Christ, in whose name we pray the words he taught to his followers, saying Our Father. . . Amen.

Prayer © Fourth Presbyterian Church