Longing for light, we wait in darkness.
Longing for truth, we turn to you.
Make us your own, your holy people,
Light for the world to see.
Christ, be our light! Shine in our hearts.
Shine through the darkness.
Christ, be our light! Shine in your church gathered today.
Words and music by Bernadette Farrell
Tune: Christ, Be Our Light
O God, there are days when the light seems dim, when our hearts are torn apart, and so we come to you in prayer for:
- those within the United Methodist Church in the United States whose hearts are breaking over the decision to continue to forbid same-sex marriages and the ordination of LGBTQIA clergy;
- those whose lives are breaking due to toll that clergy sex-abuse within the Roman Catholic and Southern Baptist churches has taken on them;
- and those who continue to use your Name and Word to bludgeon others into submission to their way of believing.
For all these children of yours, we pray for your light to shine and grant them hearts of compassion and peace;
God of grace, hear us.
O God, there are days when the light seems almost gone, when our hearts are confused and angry, and so we come to you in prayer for:
- the leaders of the United States and North Korea who are meeting in Vietnam to discuss denuclearization;
- the parliament of Britain as they struggle with a decision regarding Brexit;
- the government of Venezuela, as they destroy humanitarian aid at the border with Brazil, preventing it from reaching their people who are in desperate need;
- the governments of India and Pakistan, as animosity and military action between the two countries escalates.
For all these children of yours, we pray for your light to shine and grant them hearts of wisdom and justice;
God of grace, hear us.
O God, there are days when the light begins to shine again and our hearts are filled with hope, and so we come to you in prayer for:
- the House of Representatives of the United States voting to invalidate the emergency declaration regarding border security;
- the on-going work of the American Civil Liberties Union to prevent further separation of families at the U.S.-Mexico border and to re-unite families already separated;
- the courageous young people, continuing the March for Our Lives Movement and the countless women worldwide in the #MeToo movement, all working to shine the light on the need for gun control and on sexual abuse.
For all these children of yours, we pray that your light continues to shine to grant them hearts of courage and daring;
God of grace, hear us.
For all these people and situations, we pray, confident in your hearing, healing presence in our lives and in our world, as we sing:
Many the gifts, many the people,
Many the hearts that yearn to belong.
Let us be servants to one another,
Signs of your kingdom come.
Christ, be our light! Shine in our hearts.
Shine through the darkness.
Christ, be our light! Shine in your church gathered today.
Amen. Let it be so.
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