Loving and gracious God,
Open our hearts, our minds, and our spirits to the yearnings of Your will.
God of wonder and grace
Humbly we acknowledge
You are God and we are not
Meet us here and now.
Lord,
With a passion for claiming a future that involves more than ministry of reaction, we pray:
"Lord, help me see!"
A Prayer for the United Methodist Church:
because the church is a site of struggle.
O God who listens to us when we pray.
Help us to discover who it is you want your church to be.
A Prayer for New Creation (Based on a Reading of Revelation 21-22)
Ever-living God,
Holy God,
Your piercing light shines through the darkness.
Shepherd,
All we like sheep have gone astray.
Alpha and Omega,
We do not know the beginning from the end.
Father,
We need your love.
Savior,
We need your blood.
Today begins the second stage in our journey: illumination. We now articulate the vision God has given us for how we might be agents of healing in our communities and for all of creation as we participate in the work of the New Creation. In this stage we are in a prayerful, receptive, and meditative posture toward God, while beginning to envision the future God has for us.
Giver of life and light,