prayer of reconciliation: easter 7

One: Lord God, this morning we hear a prayer from you Son on our behalf. What a gift it is to know you care so much for us, our life in this world with you and how we live it out. You are the essence of glory…light, peace, power and new life. May we honor your glory present in and through us.

Many: Forgive us when glory is more about our rise to position and prestige at the expense of others and when we diminish the presence of your glory finding its way out of us.

One: Lord Jesus, through your presence in our world you have brought a renewed understanding for the goodness of humanity and its essential worth. You have given us a new lens for knowing God through intimate and personal terms.

Many: Help us to move away from a knowledge of you that is more grounded in doctrine, and sophisticated words about you, than in an actual 'living-breathing' relationship with you, and the very way we love. Help us to make space to grow in you, that by being present with you, our knowledge of you can affect every decision and relationship we have.

One: Holy Spirit, author of the Church everywhere on earth, you give us the opportunity to celebrate the oneness of who you are with the world in the way we engage with one another. We thank you that care for this unity. We also recognize the challenging and fractured ways that it is often lived out.

Many: Help us to celebrate the differentiated unity we have in you. Give to us the ability to embrace differences in others while still learning to love. Help us to remember that our own unity is a result of the you, the one who hold us and keeps us throughout our entire lives.

One: Christ's prayer for us is that we might reflect this glory, knowledge and unity in him with the whole world. As God's people gathered together this day, know that you are loved and accepted for all of who are, and that because of this claim on your life, we have been given the opportunity to live freely, to love and to serve in Christ's holy name we pray.

Many: Amen. Thanks be to God!

~in conjunction with John 17:1-11