O Holy and merciful God!  Great is your loving kindness, for you have given us this day to trust your call upon our lives. You have given us this day to receive your comfort and peace as we live out your call. We ask you, in your great and infinite mercy, to care for all your children. We hold before you our family, friends, neighbors, co-workers, and the strangers around us.

Today, we pray today for all those in distress, doubt, or temptation. We pray for all the sick, the poor, the mentally challenged, and for all the lonely and the abandoned. We hold before you our neighborhoods, our communities, our city.  For those who serve in public service, we place them before you, praying for their character, integrity, and honesty.  We ask you to place within them a deep desire for your shalom.

Even as we hold before you the leaders of our world and all the places there are conflicts and wars around the world.  We pray that we might all shrink from the brink of war and work for peace – your peace – your shalom.

We pray for Christian Churches here and in every corner of the earth. Boldly, we ask that all of us, as Christians, might be faithful and joyful in our service to you.  Guide us to be faithful and joyful to one another, regardless of ideology or belief. We pray today, especially for all those you have called into special ministries around the world.

O God, by your grace, grant us the obedience to yield a little more of ourselves today. Put us where you want us and let us be content. If we can’t be content, make us faithful. Just let us be a part of what you are blessing and learn everything we need to learn in every situation and circumstance. Break our hearts for the church and the church’s heart for the community and the world. Send to our churches the people that no one else wants. Let us see you in the tasks you have given us to perform today and we pray that you will find us faithfully performing those tasks.  Fill us with your grace and glory so all whom we encounter today will experience your grace and glory through us.

We offer ourselves for your service throughout this day in the name of Jesus.  Amen