SELECTED PRAYERS FROM APRIL 2024 INTERCESSION PAPER
Loving Creator, all that you have made is good. Help us to see the goodness woven through every living thing and living being. Give us grace to protect and nourish each other as we gather in your presence every moment of every day. Help us to affirm in our lives that you created the world and that the whole human family is good! In your holy name, we pray.
COVER
Who are you, Lord, who comes to me
in the heart of my heart
and gently brings the mystery
of your loving compassion?
Who are you, Holy Spirit,
who breathes in me and prays in me
to the One I seek to know?
Come now, Holy Spirit; lead me
to the One I seek to know.
Teach me your ways.
Elizabeth Musgrave, SCHC
THANKSGIVING: SUNDAY AND EVERY DAY
Barb Whitehair gives thanks for her sweet, affectionate kitty, Duchess, who stands between herself and an empty apartment. “What a gift she is in my life!”
MONDAY: SIMPLICITY OF LIFE
To prepare pure hearts for you;
O God, help us.
To quiet our minds and hear you;
O God, help us.
To dispel frustrations and anxiety;
O God, help us.
To stay the course along the way of the cross;
O God, help us.
Christ, graciously hear us.
Joy Kiser, SCHC
TUESDAY: UNITY OF ALL GOD’S PEOPLE
Loving Creator, all that you have made is good. Help us to see the goodness woven through every living thing and living being. Give us grace to protect and nourish each other as we gather in your presence every moment of every day. Help us to affirm in our lives that you created the world and that the whole human family is good! In your holy name, we pray.
Marguerite Judson, SCHC
WEDNESDAY: SOCIAL JUSTICE
Holy One,
Guide my feet in the way of justice.
Open my eyes to see how I may make a difference.
Help me speak up to microaggressions.
Open my heart to what you call me to do.
Treva McLaughlin, SCHC
THURSDAY: PEACE & RECONCILIATION
As Christians, we need to remember that we are the only Jesus that people meet. May we learn to use our eyes, hands and feet as Jesus would, and show Him to others through our actions. May we treat others we encounter in this world as brothers/sisters and children of God and help them find peace.
Marian Durfey, SCHC
FRIDAY: GROWTH IN SPIRITUAL LIFE
Golgotha
One April morning,
By the river at first light,
Before the sun infused
The sky with gold,
I spied three cormorants
Perched high upon the rocks,
Their wings stretched out to dry,
Their fishing done.
I recalled that lonely hill and
Wept with sorrow;
Or was it joy?
June Truitt, SCHC
(no personal prayer offered for Saturday)
Give us grace, O Eternal Father, that we strive to
keep the way of the cross and carry in our hearts the
image of Jesus crucified. Make us glad to conform
ourselves to thy divine will, that being fashioned
after his life-giving death, we may die according to
the flesh, and live according to the spirit of
righteousness; through the same Jesus Christ our
Lord and only Savior.
The Manual, 2006
Photo by Nicole Grace