O God of creation, as our prayer hymn says, “may your Spirit like a dove descend upon our life and make us whole.” Rinse off all the muck and mire and nastiness of our lives and make us clean again. Jesus, O Jesus, come and fill your lambs on this Baptism of our Lord Sunday. Thank you for your Spirit which descends upon us at our baptism and fills us with your love and for your cleansing water which washes away our sin.
As your lambs, we lift up to you those on our church’s prayer list who are in need of your healing, guiding, empowering, comforting, and forgiving love. And you know the many other joys and concerns that are on our hearts this day. Jesus, O Jesus, come and fill your lambs.
As your lambs, we lift up to you our broken and hurting world where there is so much suffering, fear, hunger, homelessness, violence, and oppression. In particular we pray for the people in the greater Los Angeles area who have lost their homes, businesses, churches, and property due to the wildfires. Thank you for our United Methodist Committee on Relief and the California Pacific Conference as they continue to monitor how funds and resources can best be used to assist in the relief efforts.
And as your lambs, help us to be open to those opportunities in offering hope where there is despair, comfort where there is sadness, peace where there is discord, love where there is hate, trust where there is fear. Remind us before we begin each day of our baptism and what that means for us in all that we say and do.
Jesus, O Jesus, come and fill your lambs as we pray the prayer that you taught us to say together…
Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.
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