We prayed this prayer together and for one another just over two months ago in response to Jesus’ stirring up a new and never-the-same-again life. It seems like it is a prayer worth repeating at this moment. So, let us once again join in praying for one another that we might have the same heart that compelled Jesus to do what he did for our sake and that having a heart like Jesus, we too might do what is necessary for one another and our neighbors.
This is an adapted prayer from John Ballie.
O Heavenly Father, give us a heart like the heart of Jesus, a heart more ready to serve than be served, a heart moved by compassion towards the weak and oppressed, a heart set upon the coming of Your kingdom in the world of women and men in which all are your beloved children.
We pray now, O God, for all the different kinds of people to whom Jesus gave special concern and care when he was on earth:
For those needing food or drink or clothes;
For the sick and all those who are wasted by disease of the body, of the mind, and of the soul;
For the blind, physically and spiritually;
For the disabled;
For people suffering from life-shattering diseases;
For prisoners in cells made of bars, cells made of fear, and cells made of pride;
For the socially and economically oppressed;
For those zealous for change;
For those who have suffered in no small part by the indifference of others;
For the homeless and all the lost sheep of our society;
For all victims of sexual exploitation and abuse;
For the lonely;
For all the single parents;
For the worried and the anxious;
For those who are living faithful lives in obscurity;
For those who are fighting bravely for unpopular causes;
For all those who are working diligently for you throughout your world.
Grant, O Father, that your loving-kindness in giving us so much may not make us less sensitive to the needs of others less fortunate, but rather move us to lay their burdens on our hearts. If we should experience adversity, help us not to brood on our sorrows, as if we were alone in the world of suffering; but rather help us to take time to serve, with compassion, those who need our help. Let the power of our Lord Jesus Christ be strong within us and his peace invade our spirit and our city.
Amen.