A Concord Pastor Comments: Pause for Prayer: SATURDAY 10/13

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We all ask others to pray for us
and promise in return to remember
those who ask us to pray for them...

I'll be praying today for folks who've asked me
to lift up their names to the Lord
- and I'm sure you'll be doing the same...

I'll be praying for many people, for many reasons,
and I take comfort in knowing
that the Lord knows our every need
even before we speak...

Like you, I'll pray for family and friends
and for neighbors and parishioners
who've asked for prayers...

And like you, I'll pray for people I've never met,
for whom others have asked me to pray...

For some we'll pray
for help, for hope and for healing...

For others we'll intercede
for patience, forgiveness and reconciliation...

For many we'll plead
for guidance, counsel and understanding...

For still others we'll pray
for relief, comfort and consolation...

Andd for all we'll ask
for serenity, harmony and peace...

We'll pray for all whose lives have been upended
by natural and man-made disasters:
for those whose lives have been devastated
by hurricanes and earthquakes and fires;
and for those who were the victims
of a sniper's deadly aim...

We'll pray for the healing of the sick,
for the consolation of the dying
and for those who care for them, day by day...

We'll pray for those who need work
and we'll pray for those who need rest...

We'll pray for those who are burdened
with anxiety, worry and fear...

We'll pray for those in prison,
for freedom in their minds and hearts...

We'll pray for children waiting to be born
and for the mothers who carry them;
we'll pray for children waiting adoption
and for the families who'll receive them...

We'll pray for an end to violence
in peoples' homes, in their streets
and between nations...

We'll pray for the people
whose lives, homes and churches
are threatened by death and destruction...

We'll pray for the healing of the abused and betrayed,
and for the recovery of the addicted...

We'll pray for the Church and for her leadership,
for her people and their mission...

We'll pray for the victory of justice
and we'll pray for a harvest of peace...

We'll pray for counsel and wisdom
in the work and decisions of those who govern us...

We'll pray for reconciliation and unity
in our deeply divided nation...

We'll pray for all who serve and protect us:
for those in harm's way
at home and 'round the world...

We'll pray, as Jesus taught us,
for our enemies
and for those who persecute us...

We'll pray for the many needs
of so very many people
with confidence that God does hear
our every prayer...

And we'll pray with grateful hearts for those today
who'll find peace and healing,
mercy and pardon,
contentment and serenity,
happiness and joy...

For whom, for what will you be praying today?

I promise to keep you in my prayers,
and everyone and every good thing you pray for today...

And in return, I simpl ask
that you remember me
when you speak to the Lord
and all those for whom I'll pray today...

Amen.