As we celebrate the many contributions of work and workers, I offer a prayer that calls us to slow down and imagine a pace of life that resists prioritizing hurry, grind, stress and production. I imagine offering the prayer during a service of worship before Labor Day, recognizing workers and reminding them they’re not defined by “work.” I also imagine the preacher of the day using the following texts: Mark 5:21-24, 35-36, 38-39 and/or John 11:1-7, 11, 20-23, highlighting that Jesus did not rush in his ministry but completed every assignment in God’s time which is always on time.
Friends, we will pray responsively. When you see/hear the phrase, “Lord teach us,” we invite you to respond, “The pace of Christ”
Let us join in prayer, offering our thanksgiving and intercession to God.
Holy God, we give you praise for journeying alongside us with patience and with a steady tempo during the pandemics, Covid-19 and 1619. We are grateful for your presence that transcends cultural, religious, economic, political, and social distancing. Thank you for the new academic year upon us and the new communities it forms and how you will slowly grow them.
Lord teach us, the pace of Christ
We ask God for your peace in our hearts and minds as we discern how we might participate in your work. Equip us to offer our gifts, education, and resources, not for a faster world, but a world that would move according to the rhythm of your heart.
Lord teach us, the pace of Christ
We pray for our neighbors that serve at nearby restaurants and gas pumps, our neighbors whom we pass on the lanes of local highways and the aisles of local grocery stores and streets of food deserts. We pray that we might slow down enough to say, “Good morning” and “Thank you.”
Lord teach us, the pace of Christ
Lord help us to pause and see each person as a beloved child of God, all kinds, colors, shapes, and abilities. Teach us how to preach against injustice, protest evil, protect the earth, and pray for the infilling of your Guiding Light that alerts us when we are inching ahead of your timing.
Lord teach us, the pace of Christ
We pray for resolve and safety in Ukraine. We pray for our president and all those in leadership around the world. We also pray for those affected by wildfires and other natural disasters. Lord may your healing touch and hands of justice move swiftly but…
Lord teach us, the pace of Christ. Amen.
