St. Paul's Lutheran Church

Awesome and gracious God, mold us into a more holy and human shape; build us into a church of faith and freedom.  Let our floor be the memories of your love woven through history -- how you freed the oppressed, healed our wounds, set our feet on the narrow path, planted the stories of faith in our bones.  Let our walls be the call to integrity and justice -- to stand tall and firm for truth and freedom.  Let the roof be our assurance that you hover over us to bring blessing and that you long to shelter all your creation from the stormy blast and the terrors of night.  Let the windows and doors be avenues to the Spirit, who brings light and truth, friends and strangers.  Awesome and gracious God, build us into a more holy and human community, a household of hospitality and mission. Amen.

1) Sick

Gracious God, you revealed your care for the sick and suffering through the healing hands of your son, Jesus Christ. Hear us as we seek relief for people we know to be sick or injured.  Let your spirit of well-being surround them, that they experience refreshment and relief in body and soul.  In Jesus Name.  Amen

2) Tragedy

All-powerful Creator: When floods ravage, earthquakes jolt, fires rage, we grieve for victims of natural disasters. We assist them as best we can. But we also pause humbly to acknowledge our limitations within our universe and on our planet. Help us, to realize our weakness and to admit more readily our utter dependence on you and on one another.  In Jesus Name.  Amen

3) Resources

Most generous Provider: We thank you for the perfect habitat you have provided for us on this Earth. We need your help here in Corry to be good stewards of the resources you have given to us and remind us that we can be people who protect what you have created.  In Jesus Name.  Amen

 4) Teachers

God of body mind and spirit: Bless and strengthen all those among us who labor to teach our children.  Help us to provide for them households that support and encourage our children to be faithful children of you.  Show us, most patient Lord, how to be more faithful stewards of this precious gift you have given to us, our children. We ask in the name of your Son, our Master and Redeemer. Amen.

 5) Community

Creator and Ruler of humankind: Our Lord Jesus commanded that we should love our enemies. Help us to love those in our community who seem to have no respect for what is good and right.  We pray for them so that your spirit might touch them in a way to inspire them to be helpful and hopeful members of our community.  Help us to knock down walls and build bridges between all within our town and community.  In Jesus Name,   Amen

6) Armed Forces and Vets

Lord of all life: We pray for the safety of those now serving in our armed forces and for the integrity of their families. We also offer prayer, with thanksgiving, for our veterans. While we grieve for soldiers and sailors, marines and airmen who died in action, guide us to be mindful of those who served our country with dignity and help us to do all we can that they may not be neglected, let alone forgotten. In Jesus Name.  Amen

7) Local Government

 Just and merciful God: We turn to you in humble prayer on behalf of the men and women who make our laws and for those whose responsibility it is to enforce them.  Favor with good health and sound judgment those who administrate over the city of Corry.  May they fulfill their responsibilities not in ways that seek personal gain, but as members of a ruling body we seek out the best for those they serve.  In Jesus Name.  Amen

8) Elderly

God of all ages: Throughout life, in ever stage, there are new challenges and new struggles.  Grant your wisdom and strength to the aged who struggle to survive on an income that became inadequate years ago.  Watch over those who live with fearsome worries about dangers they cannot control: Protect them from crime and injury, from being neglected or cheated or abandoned. Help us find ways to protect their health, their safety and their dignity. We pray in Jesus name. Amen.

9) Children

Lord, we have such hopes for the children of our church, and we bring them before you now for your blessing. Those of us who have the duties of parenthood so often feel overwhelmed by the responsibilities of caring for our children, and we are so much in need of your help.  Give us the grace, Lord, to instill in them what is needed to carry on. Help us as a congregation to work together to this purpose, that the pews may be filled with a generation better than our own to sing your praises. Be strong for us, O God, and build our homes to your everlasting glory. For in Jesus' name, who blessed the children, we pray. Amen.

10) Couples and Families

God of our life: We commend to your tender care all couples and families as they journey though life.  Give them your strength when life gets tough, when finances get tight, or crises arise.  Help them all to see that you are the God who journies with us and has never left us alone.  In Jesus Name.  Amen

 11) Quietness

As the world rushes by, O God, we want to slow down and find meaning in you. In the age of information, may we stop and listen and empty ourselves to find the simple and true message about your love for every human being.  Create in us a place that is not touched by the world that calls us to rush, hurry, consume and satisfy all our wants. Simplify our desires so that they become one with your desire for us. And when we are weary, give us the strength to find the quiet place that renews us for the days ahead. In your goodness, we pray. Amen.

 12) Vision

O great Teacher, open our minds to know new lessons. Open our ears to hear new sounds, our eyes to see new sights. Open our hearts to receive new relationships.  Open our souls to your voice, your guidance. Never let us stop learning, we pray.  As we learn, help us to see adventure, know change and find purpose as we grow in faith. You lead us each moment, O God, if only we could remain open enough to hear and see and know. Even in the midst of darkness, you can teach - make us a people who can learn, in things great and small. Bless us as you teach us, we pray. Amen.

 13) Self-Fulfillment

Disturb us, Lord, when we are too pleased with ourselves.  When our dreams have come true because we dreamed too little; when we arrive safely because we sailed too close to the shore.  Disturb us, Lord, when with the abundance of things we possess, we have lost our thirst for the waters of life; having fallen in love with life, we have ceased to dream of eternity, and in our efforts to build a new earth, we have allowed our vision of the new heaven to dim.  Disturb us, Lord, to dare more boldly, to venture on wider seas, where storms will show your mastery; where losing sight of land, we shall find the stars.
We ask you to push back the horizons of our hopes and to push us in the future in strength, courage, hope and love.  This we ask in the name of our Savior, Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

14) Service

God of light and truth, we call ourselves your people; help us to be worthy of our calling. Jesus Christ has called us the salt of the earth and the light of the world. May we joyfully undertake the tasks before us, that through his church we may be your instruments to bring light and peace to a dark and troubled world. Give to all of us the will and ability to fulfill the promises we have made - in church membership, in ordination, in marriage, in the baptism of children.  Lord God, we pray for your blessing on this church as we always seek out the best way to serve you.  We ask for your blessing in the name of Christ our Lord. Amen.

15) Blessings on Life

Ever present and Ever loving God, our prayer is but a response to your ceaseless outpouring of love. When we awake to a new day, you are already there to greet us. When sleepless nights and anxious moments toss us, you are there to comfort us. When difficult choices confuse us, you are there to guide us. You have loved us before we even turn to you. You are here now and gratitude swells within us.  We place before you our lives -- fragmented, busy, tired. We catch only glimpses of beauty and joy. Teach us so that we don't depend on our doing and having for our worth. Save us from hurry and worry.  We place before you our church -- forging ministry, caring for the hurt, letting go of the way it used to be while holding onto the things that must remain. Teach us the way of trust and fill us with your authority to love, care and tell the story of faith.  We place before you our friends -- the hurt, the sorrowing, the struggling child, the frustrated parent, the fragile marriage. Teach us the sacrament of care, the depths of prayer and daily acts of love.  We place before you our world -- broken and fighting, yearning for justice and freedom, suffering drought and greed. Teach us the path of peace, the ways of sharing, and the brighter vision.  In Jesus Name.  Amen