Congregational Prayer for Sunday July 19, 2009

Gracious and Ever living God, we are humbled in your presence, awed by your countless deeds of love and rescue and your willingness to keep working with humankind for the sake of the whole world. We confess that we are not always conscientious in living out the promise we made to you when we first proclaimed our faith. Yes, we obey laws and follow rules, but we pray to be a bit more liberal in exercising compassion, demonstrating fairness and honoring our commitments to one another. Let us not be conservative with the gifts you have given to each of us, but let us lavish them upon each other and upon all whom we meet. Let us not be paralyzed by pride, hobbled by arrogance, or isolated by timidity. Lead us far from superior notions of ourselves, and save us from obsessing over the trivial. As our mothers once admonished us to be sure and wash behind our ears, we pray, dearest Lord, that you will reach into our hearts and cleanse us thoroughly from the inside out. All this we pray in the name of the Christ. Amen