God of the restless, hear us. Our restlessness shapes the busy-ness we say “yes” to. Let us, even for a moment, be restful instead of restless, trusting our heartbeat to steady in your spirit. Let us pay attention to the task at hand, the work of prayer, seeking your presence with our full bodies, naming to you the worries and joys of our lives. Slow us down, so we can be exactly where we are, doing exactly what we are doing, turning ourselves toward your eternal presence.
In the same way that Christ handed over his life, we hand over our lives to you in prayer, especially as we pray for the burdens of the world: we pray for the people of Ukraine as war continues to hold life at bay. We pray for those in Maine, undone by raw violence. And for those living in Israel and Palestine, we ask with boldness: be restorer of the breech, the one who protects and advises, the one who finds a way through the most impossible of days. For those who cry within collapsed buildings, for those sorting through the wreckage, for those held hostage, for those who feel as if there is no other way, be in the places with no hope, hear the longing for life, and make a way through.
And we pray too, for those we hold most dear, those who are part of our everyday, our community, our home. We pray for the newly widowed who do not yet know how to speak aloud their sorrow. We pray for the ones recovering from hospitalization, and those about to be hospitalized. We pray for those who carry worry in their bodies, worry for the future, worry like prayer a constant. Turn such worry into prayer, shifting and changing and being made sacred, so that our own lives can be held in the deepest of peace by your spirit surrounding us. For students taking tests, for athletes in their sport, for families supporting one another through beautiful days and hard days, let us be at home in our bodies, at home in our friendships, at home in our families, at home in you.
Be with us, O God, as we pray the prayer Jesus teaches us: Our Father…. Amen.
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