Pastoral Prayer, Broadway Baptist Church
February, 2015
Rev. Chris Caldwell
Lord, in a few moments we will pray, “Thy kingdom come, thy will be done,”
and we do pray for your kingdom of heaven to break into our earthly lives
may healing overcome illness
may hope overcome despair
may compassion overcome apathy
may love overcome greed
may sobriety overcome addiction
may wisdom overcome racism.
Lord, we have come to your sanctuary to have our eyes drawn upward
to be reminded there is more to living than what the eye can see
that there is more to grace than the mind can fathom
that there is more to love than the coldest heart can stop.
So keep our eyes on the prize
and our focus on the greater things above,
And help us,
in Sunday School
in Bible study
in small groups
and in our devotional lives
to grow in our understanding of what is true and noble and just.
But help us also not to take our eyes off the realities here below
even as we pray for what our world can be
help us to see our world clearly for what it is, a place where
bigots still hate
abusers still assault
thieves still steal
murderers still kill,
And hear our prayers also for those whose life callings do not shield them from the places where hell has come to earth. Hear us as we pray for
soldiers defending civilians from evil people who want to kill them
social workers helping people rebuild lives broken by those who have abused them
school teachers inspiring dreams in the lives of children whose parents do not nurture them
police protecting children from dealers who lie to them
missionaries ministering to villages whose world has forgotten them,
And forgive us, even as we pray about noble ideas and for noble people
when have opted not for the noble, but the convenient
not for what which is best, but for that which is easiest
Forgive us when we have bent the truth in our direction
stacked the numbers in our favor
Forgive us when we have seen evil and done nothing
when we have seen injustice and said nothing.
Help us to practice what we preach
Help us to live in our lives what we teach to our children
O God, we are your servants
which means, on many days, you don’t have much to work with
but help us to do better, for our sakes, and for the sake of your world.
Amen