Prayer for Daily Resurrection

by Rev. Jessica Patchett

God of all, one bright morning long ago, you breathed your spirit of life into all creation and started something very good. We stand with awe and gratitude for all you imagined and called into being:

the stars of night and the sun that warms our days,

endless deserts, tumbling waves,

soaring mountains, peaceful valleys,

fruit orchards and fields of grain,

wild horses, diving pelicans, dogs at play,

and human beings – creative and diverse, beautiful and flawed, free and fragile.

O God, today and every day, Raise us to new life.

You, O God, formed us in our mothers’ wombs and called us by name before anyone else laid eyes on us. You gave us amazing gifts with which to cultivate abundant lives. So, we pause to thank you for the blessings of our lives:

Family and friends, neighbors and kind strangers

Love that grows the more we give it away

Meaningful work and restorative play

The sacred trust of children and the hard-won gifts of our elders

Beauty, wisdom, laughter and tears

and all that points us to the truth of things. You, in our midst, speaking to us each day in unique ways that we can understand.

O God, today and every day, Raise us to new life.

God of life, you know better than we do the destructive forces that threaten all we love, admire and hold dear. We cannot tackle all these things by ourselves. So, we call out to you for help facing the powers that would overtake us and our world:

for each who lives in isolation, raise up a companion

for the traumatized and wounded, raise up healers

for people in conflict, raise up peacemakers

for all who suffer from addictions and illnesses, raise up sponsors and guides

for those who are misunderstood, hated, or feared, raise up people of compassion

for each one who is stricken by injustice, raise up liberators. For all us human beings who both offend and are offended,

O God, today and every day, Raise us to new life.

In a heartbeat, with a breath, your Spirit can heal us, O God. So, revive us with your love and grace, and lift our eyes to see you making all things new, yes, today and every day. Raise us to new life. Amen.