I wrote this prayer last week and included it in our prayers during worship. I thought I'd share it here as a prayer that we all can pray on this historic day.
This week, O Lord, is an eventful week. It is a week in which we are thankful for the leaders which you provide. We thank you for the prophetic life of Martin Luther King, Jr. We celebrate the progress he made toward racial harmony and reconciliation in this country, and we pray that you would help us remember his work always as we continue that march which is still far from complete.
We celebrate a change in presidents this week, O God. The inauguration gives us a chance to offer prayers of thanksgiving for President George W. Bush and his administration as it comes to a close. We thank you for his willingness to lead our country for the last eight years, in the midst of the conflict, controversy, and mistakes that often come with the position.
And we also offer prayers of thanksgiving for the new leader that has risen among us. We are thankful for Barack Obama’s willingness to lead. We thank you for the gifts you have given him, and we pray that you may guide him and his administration faithfully into a new era. We pray that this new administration may seek policies and objectives that will be beneficial not just to our own country, but beneficial to the whole world, including all your children who share your Creation with us. No matter our political, social, economic, or religious leanings, may we all come together in support and celebration of the leaders of our nation, both past and present. Guide us and protect us all as we step boldly into a future filled with hope. Amen.
No comments:
Post a Comment