God of our times, our years, our days. You are the God of our work, of our rest, of our weariness. Our times are in your hands. We come to you now in our strength and in our weakness, in our hope and in our despair, in our buoyancy and in our disease. We come to pray for ourselves and for all like us who seek and yearn for life anew with you and from you and for you.
We pray to you this day, for ourselves and others like us in our greed We are among those who want more, more money, more power, more piety, more sex, more influence, more doctrine, more notice, more members, more students, more morality, more learning, more shoes. Be for us enough and more than enough, for we know about your self-giving generosity.
We pray to you this day; for ourselves and others like us in our disconsolation. We are not far removed from those without. without love. without home, without hope, without job, without health care. We are close enough to vision those who must check discarded butts to see if there is one more puff, who must rummage and scavenge for food. for their hungers are close to ours. Be among us the God who fills the hungry with good things, and sends the rich away empty.
We pray to you this day, for ourselves and others like us who are genuinely good people, who meditate on your Torah day and night. who are propelled by and for your best causes. who are on the right side of every issue, who wear ourselves out in obedience to you,
and sometimes wear others out with our good intentions.
Be among us ultimate enough
to make our passions penultimate,
valid but less than crucial.
We are your people. We wait for you to be more visibly
and palpably our God.
So we pray with our mothers and fathers, ” Come, Lord Jesus.”
We wait for your coming with all the graciousness we can muster.
Amen.
Walter Brueggemann, 1933 – 2025, American Protestant Old Testament theologian
O Lord, I cry out to you on the day of my distress. It is a day that is full of challenges and limitations. On this day, I discover that I cannot handle all of my problems. My resources and experience are not enough. I have tried. I decided to change things, but I did not prevail. I truly need a saviour.
There is no saviour better than you. You are the greatest and most compassionate saviour. Therefore, I will not invest my efforts and energy in recruiting the resources that people use to address their problems. Instead, I will start with something unique and come to you. Some trust in guns and tanks, but we trust in the name of the Lord. In my distress, my life will be different; my thoughts, feelings, and decisions will be different; for I shall come to you and trust in you. I shall trust from the bottom of my heart that the outcome with you is very different.
You alone are God and we are the children of the blessing. Our King is not deaf or harsh or impotent. I thank you because you have entered into the day of distress and turned it into a day of supplication. You have blessed me in the midst of my distress and consequently my inner soul has recognized that you are trustworthy. I surrender my life into the hands of the one who can calm waves and dry tears.
May the Lord answer you when you are in distress; may the name of the God of Jacob protect you. May he send you help from the sanctuary and grant you support from Zion. May he remember all your sacrifices and accept your burnt offerings. May he give you the desire of your heart and make all your plans succeed. May we shout for joy over your victory and lift up our banners in the name of our God. May the Lord grant all your requests.
Now this I know: The Lord gives victory to his anointed. He answers him from his heavenly sanctuary with the victorious power of his right hand. Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the Lord our God. They are brought to their knees and fall, but we rise up and stand firm. Lord, give victory to the king! Answer us when we call!
prayer & verse 