Prayers for Women of Spirit
O God, you created all people in your image. We thank you for all the astonishing varieties of races, cultures and ways of living in the world.
Enrich our lives by ever widening the circles of community, and show your presence in those who differ most from us, until our knowledge and acceptance of your love is made perfect in our love for all people.
Grant that your holy and life-giving Spirit may move every human heart.
That the barriers which divide us may crumble, suspicions disappear, and hatred cease, and that with divisions healed we might live in peace and justice in our time.
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God of all creation, we confess to you all those things in our lives that are cold, hard, and unyielding.
Our anger and despair, our loneliness and grief; our hatred expressed in the violence of the world and in our own relations; our failure to love and be loved, to reach out and to be touched; our determination to seek security in power and prestige, rather than in the way of the cross.
As we remember these things, we ask you to forgive us, free us, and kindle the fire of love in us through the Holy Spirit.
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God our maker, the Giver of birth to all that lives, we think of all those things which are new and tender and growing:
New insights and commitments to which the Holy Spirit is leading us; our children and the children of the world; the increased efforts to abolish war, to establish peace, and to bring about the reality of well-being for all humanity.
As we think on these things, we ask you to nurture them among us. Nourish us with hope and joyful anticipation.
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God of life abundant, lover of all that you have made, we rejoice in everything in our world which brings love and warmth and joy to us and others:
The closeness of family and friends; the bond of affection between parents and children, wives and husbands, friends and friends; the enjoyment of food and drink, nature and art, play and work, times alone and times together.
As we celebrate your love in our lives, we ask you to help us respond to others, so that the circle of your love may grow.
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God of justice, we remember all who have been put down, all who are with little power:
All those who have been broken by war or whose lives have been thrown into disorder by cruelty or loneliness; all who are exploited, deprived, poor, or without rights; those who are racial and social outcasts in every land; the forgotten elderly, the handicapped, the retarded, the imprisoned.
We ask you to help us identify with these your special children. Give to all of us such powerful compassion that we may find ways to banish hunger and war and to do justice in the world you have given us.
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God of grace, we praise you for being alive tomorrow and today; for this earth; for bread and wine, baptism and light; for the people around us, today, yesterday, and every day.
We praise you for your life in us here and now, and in our lives--laborious and full of joy. Lord our God, accept our prayers and make us receptive to everything you give us, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.