Prayers Ascending

As we continue to watch the news from Minneapolis following the tragic bridge collapse yesterday we pray for all those killed and injured, missing and grieving, anxious and afraid. Putting our fears AND our hopes into our prayers is one of the ways we, as people of common prayer, respond in times of challenge, need and sorrow. I give thanks for the gift of these prayers, adapted from the Book of Common Prayer and offered by the Bishop of Minnesota, +James Jelinek. I commend them to you and to all of us for our private devotions and for our corporate worship as we pray together in this time of grief and loss.

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We pray for those who have died, may their souls and the souls of all the departed rest in peace.
Lord in your mercy, hear our prayer.

We pray for those who may still be trapped, those who are injured, and for those whose loved ones have not yet been accounted for. We pray for perseverance, and strength, and hope.
Lord in your mercy, hear our prayer.

We pray for those whose vocation serves the common good; for first responders, search and rescue, fire fighters, police officers, paramedics, for those who work in hospitals and blood banks; the newsrooms and media centers; for places of prayer- our churches and temples and mosques and our homes.
Lord in your mercy, hear our prayer.

We pray for those in leadership; for our governor and mayors, for state and federal agencies, and for coordination of services in the immediate and distant future.
Lord in your mercy, hear our prayer.

We pray for ourselves and our children. Calm our fears, comfort our sorrow, and guide our response. Set us at the difficult task of studying and rebuilding for the future. Grant us patience in the days ahead.
Lord in your mercy, hear our prayer.

O Lord, mercifully receive the prayers of your people who call upon you, and grant that they may know and understand what things they ought to do, and they also have grace and power faithfully to accomplish them; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God now and for ever. Amen.