Prayers of the People: Wisdom’s Call
Wisdom calls for justice,
restraint in power,
honor in the current of hypocrisy,
partnering despite patterns of domination and listening in a world of noise.
May we choose people over profit,
relationship over cheep victories,
true sustainability over quick fixes,
the common good over the mighty’s unhinged greed
and may we choose budgets, policies and leaders
that embody the values we proclaim in our national creed.
May we have the courage to love our neighbors in word and deed,
make the hard choices, reconcile the sins of our past and draw love into life.
(Please share and reflect on your prayers for our nation, world, city and state.)
Prayer Refrain (select a refrain that you love to sing)
For the wisdom waiting deep in the gift of the church longing to be found,
not at all a church industrial complex of toxic victory or egotistical charity
but vulnerable and durable, simple and just.
The church of yeast in the bread dough and the One who shared stories of much mended nets,
the extraordinary-ordinary, the everyday alight with love.
The church of cup and bread, towel and basin,
the church dressed in an apron of service rather than bedazzled in gold,
the church of Mary’s Easter sermon and the church of a Holy Mother’s willful Magnificat.
May we have the courage to be the church of grace and generosity, resilient and boldly making earth as it is in heaven.
(Please share and reflect on your prayers for our church and the church universal.)
Prayer Refrain (select a refrain that you love to sing)
For the wisdom in our bodies to pause and rest; dance and sing.
Wisdom to speak kind words to our tender hearts and plant our feet on God’s good earth,
soak in the beauty of creation and drink deep earth's wisdom dappled with day and night,
perfectly imperfect, organically grown,
seasons of rest that spring into flourishing.
May we have the courage to know our needs,
trust our guts, relax our shoulders,
nourish our roots and take a deep, all-loving breath.
(Please share and reflect on your prayers for your being.)
Prayer Refrain (select a refrain that you love to sing)
For Wisdom in the longing, the fullness of grief and gratitude,
remembering the one present in glimpses,
felt in the tears perched in the corner of our eyes,
the unstoppable laughter that connect us in the midst of it all,
the call to embrace and take hands,
the reliance of spirit welling up from within.
May we have the courage to live this bold, breakable, tender life.
(Please share and reflect on your prayers naming the grief and gratitude you carry this day.)
Prayer Refrain (select a refrain that you love to sing)
The Lord’s Prayer
Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom
come, your will be done, on earth as in heaven.
Give us today our daily bread.
Forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us.
Save us from the time of trial, and deliver us from evil.
For the kingdom, the power, and the glory are yours now and for ever. Amen.