“Those who love their life lose it, and those who hate their life in this world will keep it for eternal life. Whoever serves me must follow me, and where I am, there will my servant be also.” (John 12:25-26)
O God, we lift up in prayer all those named and unnamed who are in need of your healing touch. For our broken world and for everyone broken in body or spirit we ask for your abundant grace.
We also pray for your holy spirit to breathe life into our prayers. May the concerns of our hearts grow legs and feet that will take us to someone who is lonely and in need of a friend. Remake our priorities, Lord, so we have time to call or send a card to someone who is sick. Open our eyes and hearts to do an act of kindness for a stranger, to thank a law enforcement officer for his or her service, to send a care package to someone in the military, to visit someone in a nursing home.
Help us Lord to discover again that reaching out to help someone else is the best way to get our minds off of our own problems. May we lose our own worries and woes as we give and receive a hug or really listen to a friend. May we lose our deadlines and to do lists in the pure unbounded joy of children at play.
You, O gracious God, know where the needs are. Help us to be open to your guidance to lead us where we need to be so that we can be Christ to that person next to us, across the street or across the dinner table. The needs of the world are so great, Lord; remind us that your love is greater than any need. Use us as your servants. Inspire us through word and sacrament to lose our selves in the power of your magnificent love as Jesus the Christ did for us. Amen
Peacefully Harsh 