Sunday Prayers: Jeremiah 15:15–21

A service asking, “Who speaks for God?” and inspired by Anne Lamott’s timeless prayer: Help, Thanks, Wow!

Call to Worship

One: In worship we meet our God who understands us.
All: Who knows us deeply and calls us by name.
One: Through prayer, we seek our God who restores us.
All: Who fills us with joy, and helps us follow his word.
One: In praise, we give thanks for our God who remembers us.
All: Who cares for us when troubles appear, and shelters us when others hurt us.
One: In worship, we affirm God’s promise to be with us.
All: We seek God’s presence, cherish God’s mercy, and proclaim God’s love for us; now and forever.

Opening Prayer

One: God of mercy and love, you know our hopes and our concerns, you understand our dreams and our regrets.
All: Listen to us now, we pray, as we start a new week, and a new month, and for many, a new school year. Strengthen and support us when we need your help.
One: God of joy and blessings, you renew us each day with ways to learn and grow. You shape us with our talents and interests.
All: Thank you for those around us — friends, family, teachers, colleagues; all those who support us and help us to live according to your ways. Thank you for the opportunities to use our talents in service of your love.
One: God of wonder and surprise, thank you for the many ways you save and renew us. Your love and your power are so much larger than we can imagine.
All: Help us appreciate the ways in which you hear our needs and answer our prayers. Inspire us to answer your call to help others in this world.
Amen.

Offering Prayer

One: Compassionate God, help.
All: Help those in our communities struggling with fear or uncertainty, in the many forms those take. Help us to reach out to others to share comfort, friendship and hope. In faith, we pray, help.

One: Generous God, thanks.
All: Thank you for all that you have blessed us with, large and small. Encourage us to share our blessings and our gifts with those in need. In gratitude, we pray, thanks.

One: Majestic God, wow.
All: Open our hearts to the beauty of this world, and to the wonder of your creation. Inspire us to live in the service of your word, aware of your presence in each day. In reverence, we pray, wow. Amen.

Pastoral Prayer

Gracious God,
You listen to us when we call to you, no matter our mood, whatever we have to say. Whether we come before you in joy and gratitude, or needing help and in despair, or venting anger and rage, or gently with awe and reverence. In every moment, you receive us.

Be with those whose pain is unceasing. Comfort and soothe them, bringing them healing and peace.

Be with those who feel lost and abandoned. Guide and nurture them, that your love for them may reach their heart and nourish their soul.

Be with those who are abused and persecuted. Support and sustain them, to seek justice and overthrow oppression.

Inspire us to speak for you in our world. Strengthen us to speak for you in our world, and to work to create a more caring society.

Encourage us to appreciate all that you do for us. May we live and pray in gratitude for all you have blessed us with.

Awaken us to recognize your wonder in our world and your presence in our lives. May we journey each day, alive to the power of your divine love.

In Jesus’ name, we pray, who saves us and delivers us. Amen.

Benediction

Go out from here today trusting in the deeply real God, who hears our cries for help. The intensely loving God, who receives our cries with care and compassion. And the fully divine God, whose presence in our lives generates a breathless wow. May the mercy, hope and awe of our Lord be with you this day and always. Amen.