Pause for Prayer: O King of All Nations

Image by Scott Foy

In the last seven days of Advent the Church prays with seven "titles" of the Lord in anticipation of celebrating his birth at Christmas.  During this week before Christmas my Pause for Prayer will reflect each day on one of these titles, the first of which is Wisdom; the second, Adonai; the third, Root of Jesse; the fourth, Key of David; the fifth, Radiant Dawn; and the sixth, today, King of All Nations...

Today's prayer reminds me of my favorite verse in the hymn, O Come, O Come, Emmanuel:

Oh, come, Desire of nations, bind
In one the hearts of humankind;
Bid all our sad divisions cease,
And be for us the King of Peace.

Audio for today's Pause for Prayer


O King of All Nations

You reign over all the nations, Lord:
lift our eyes from our self-destructive paths
to see as you do 
that there is one world, one human family, 
one life given to each of us,
deserving of reverence and respect
of care and compassion, 
because that life is your gift to each of us
and to all of us, your beloved children...

Come and wrap my life in the reign of your love:
come and rule over my thoughts and desires,
rule over my dreams and schemes;
rule over my envy and jealousy, 
my angry grudges and resentments;
come and rule my heart with your word,
your truth, your law and your justice...
 
Let your rule over me
be the measure of my compassion, 
my generosity, my pardoning of others,
my mercy and my gentleness...

With princely power, mend and make peaceful
the sad divisions in my family,
in my town and my neighborhood, 
in my parish,
among colleagues at work;
mend the divisions I know within myself, Lord...

Like a new born baby, Lord,
bring joy and peace to these last Advent days,
these last days before Christmas
and to every season in the new year ahead...

Amen. 


Tweet  

     
Subscribe to A Concord Pastor Comments