July 23, 2023
God of light, shine upon all of the joys and concerns that we are lifting up to you in prayer this day. Shine upon those who are unable to be physically with us for worship. Shine upon those who are health concerns. Shine upon those who are facing difficult decisions in their lives. Shine upon our community, the families who live near this church, our law enforcement, our first responders, and our community leaders.
O God, of light, shine upon us this day so that we will allow your light to shine through us in the way we offer compassion, a listening ear, an encouraging word, an act of kindness. Help us to be a sow-sow church where we keep our focus on planting seeds to help make our community and world a place that reflects the beauty of your kingdom made visible here on earth.
And grant us the patience and the focus we need to not allow the weeds of injustice that we see all around us to keep us from being the joy-filled, and loving people that you have called us to be.
On this day that we think of Jesus’ parable about seeds and planting, we are also thankful for this time of year where we are able to see growth happening all around us. For ripe tomatoes, for corn on the cob, for freshly cut flowers that we bring in from our yards, thank you for this season of growth. Lead us to continue to plant those seeds that will lead to even more goodness and love in our world. And thank you for giving us examples of people like William Wilberforce who didn’t allow the weeds of injustice around him to get in the way of planting the needed seeds that would lead to the liberation of 800,000 enslaved people.
O God of light, this is why our prayer for today is, “this little light of mine, I’m going to let it shine.”
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