THIS WEEK’S PRAYER from worldinprayer.org

God, in whom we live and move and have our being,
there is nothing that separates us from you, your grace, and your love.
And yet, sometimes it is so hard to trust that you are at work around and within us,
especially this Lenten season when it feels as if we have never left the wilderness this year.
So, we come asking for some blessed assurance of your comforting presence and abiding peace.

O Lord, come and fill us with your peace.
The United States has surpassed 500,000 deaths related to the coronavirus.
God, come to the side of everyone mourning the loss of a loved one.
Come to hospital rooms where people are dying alone.
Come to the side of weary caregivers and health care
Come to nursing homes where people have been living in isolation.
Come to schools trying to find ways to safely teach children while this virus is still in our midst. Come to the laboratories of scientists as they learn more about this virus, its variants.
Come to all the places where vaccinations are being administered.
Come to all who are anxiously waiting their vaccination.
Come to all who are too afraid to leave their homes.
Come to all who do not have the choice to stay at home or a place to call home.

O Lord, come and fill us with your peace.
Holy One, you are everywhere from the lofty mountain tops and to the forgotten corners of your creation.

Come to the halls of government where politicians set the course of our future.
Come to prison cells where people are afraid.
Come to the courtrooms where judges determine fates.
Come to detention centers where people are still being held.
Come to homes where people cannot escape abuse and violence.
Come to bedsides of children with nightmares.
Come to desks of furloughed workers.
Come to the picket lines.
Come to the empty storefronts.

O Lord, come and fill us with your peace.
Come to all the places where hate, violence, and trauma have a grip on human hearts.
Come to your children in Myanmar who are trying to survive a military coup.
Come to your children in Armenia where there are warnings of a potential military coup.
Come to your children in Central African Republic where at least fourteen people have been killed amid clashes between armed groups and security forces.

O Lord, come and fill us with your peace.
O Merciful One, so often we want to shut out the world because it feels too much. Yet, there is nothing we cannot bring to you – wherever we may be, whatever we may fear, whatever we are grieving.
Holy Spirit, unlock our hearts, settle our minds, and guide our way so that we may bring words of peace to the people who need to hear to them. May this peace be firmly rooted in your grace, justice, and love.
We pray this in the name of the Prince of Peace.
Your son and our savior, Jesus Christ.
Amen.