Ross MacAskill did the morning prayer at church a few weeks ago, and it’s too good not to share. In addition to being our friend from church, he was principal at the middle school attended by three of our kids…back in the 90s. Thanks, Ross, for the prayer, and for your positive influence on our kids!

Prayer of Gathering–June 20, 2021 (Father’s Day)

Let us bow our hearts in prayer. 

Lord, we gather this morning in thanksgiving:

We pray for the power to be gentle; the strength to be forgiving, the patience to be understanding, and the endurance to accept the consequences of holding on to whatever is Your will for us. 

Teach us to love without limit. Teach us to forgive, when forgiveness is not returned; to be patient when You seem so far away, and there seem to be no answers to our questions and our doubts. 

We give thanks this day to the fathers in our lives; those who helped form us, who have guided us, and loved us; and for those fathers who may have struggled imperfectly to model all that you had planned. 

This morning, we hear in the words of the prophet of old: “Though the fig trees have no fruit and no grapes grow on the vines. Even though the olive crop fails and the fields produce no grain; Even though the sheep all die, and the cattle stalls are empty; (And yes, even amidst the Covid pandemic) Yet even then, I will rejoice and be glad, because You are my Lord, and in You, I will be strong.” [Habbakuk 3.17, 18]

Lord, we have waited so long–prayed so long–through these many months; Let us ask, not that You hear us, but rather that each of us hears You. We have longed for Zoom(R) to turn into human touch; for waving to each other to turn into hugs; for distance to become togetherness; for silence to become joy, and simply that “holding-on” may now become holding hands. 

And while we know “that wherever two or more are gathered, You are present,” perhaps in the stillness of this week, we might hear you tenderly calling to each of us, “My precious daughters and sons, the time of exile is over. Come home. Come home to My congregation on this street corner, where My joy with you may be complete.” 

All this we pray in the name of our Lord, Jesus Christ. And all God’s children, said, “Amen”.