"O God, You Are My God" - Congregational Prayer - 26 May 2019


{Today's prayer is led by Psalm 63. It concludes with a Memorial Day prayer at the end)


O God, you are my God; earnestly I seek you; my soul thirsts for you; my flesh faints for you, as in a dry and weary land where there is no water. So I have looked upon you in the sanctuary, beholding your power and glory. Because your steadfast love is better than life, my lips will praise you. So I will bless you as long as I live; in your name I will lift up my hands. It has been good to enter your great assembly; to earnestly seek you; to have our dry and thirsty souls quenched with you, O fountain of living waters. We pray for those who don’t know you and have never known the joy that you are and the life you give…. May they hear your invitation and come to the festival. Father, we pray for those who maybe feel themselves to be in a dry and weary land where there is no water. Maybe the parchedness is from their sickness or disease; maybe from depression or mental darkness of some kind; maybe from grief; possibly as a result of a long period of unsettledness and adversity in their homes… Draw them near, fill them up, raise their heads to see you restoring, refreshing and reconciling. And we ask you to have mercy on those in El Reno hit by the tornado last night…

My soul will be satisfied as with fat and rich food, and my mouth will praise you with joyful lips, when I remember you upon my bed, and meditate on you in the watches of the night; for you have been my help, and in the shadow of your wings I will sing for joy. My soul clings to you; your right hand upholds me. Together we have feasted with your people in this place, but we have also feasted with your church all over this big, wide world; and we have feasted with Greater St. Paul Church of God in Christ, Langston and Page Sanctuary COGIC. Be our help so that in the shadow of your wings we may rejoice. Bring us to cling to you, knowing that your right hand upholds us. We are dear to you; may we always walk near to you. And through your peoples’ prayers, giving, worship and work, further your world rescue operation until the knowledge of you will cover the earth as the waters cover the sea.

But those who seek to destroy my life shall go down into the depths of the earth; they shall be given over to the power of the sword; they shall be a portion for jackals. But the king shall rejoice in God; all who swear by him shall exult, for the mouths of liars will be stopped. We pray that in our own land, as well as for all the countries of this earth, that the mouths of liars will be stopped; especially among civil and governmental leaders. Bring peace, lawful justice, prosperity, better education and medical care to flourish in all places. And may greed, pride, unjust violence, and human trafficking come to an end (Taken from Psalm 63).

Finally, we remember that many have served in the fight for what clearly seemed right, in the struggle for justice and goodness. Many men and women swore to uphold and defend the Constitution against all enemies foreign and domestic, and then followed through on that oath even when it required their death. Many families have wept and grieved those loses: mothers, fathers, husbands, wives, children, siblings, friends and comrades. Some have never fully recovered, such as our neighbors, Scott and Renee... We thank you for the tenacious loyalty of those who died; and we are sad with those who have been saddened. Oh, may we, the citizens of this land, not squander this precious loyalty, waste it or demean it. And may we not cheapen the grief of their families. We ask all of this, and more, in Jesus’ name. Amen.

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