The National Day of Prayer is held annually on the first
Thursday of May, inviting people of all faiths to pray for the nation. It was
created in 1952.
Let us pray for the United States of America:
O God whose kin-dom knows
no geographical borders, we affirm today that your benevolent omnipresence
enfolds and includes all life. And we take great comfort in that truth today;
and comfort is needed.
The politics of
self-interest which would deny care to some who need it most frightens us, and
so we pray - God have mercy.
The politics of division,
where large segments of the human family are dehumanized and demonized, leaves
us desperately sad. God have mercy.
The politics of domination makes
us anxious and concerned. God have mercy.
Attitudes which seek to
exclude people because of who they love, how they identify themselves, how they
pray, or where by accident of birth they started life seem to run rampant, and
so we pray - God have mercy.
Violence is ever with us.
God have mercy.
Mistrust plagues us
individually and collectively. God have mercy.
Racism infects our hearts and
our institutions. God have mercy.
Xenophobia, transphobia, misogyny,
and heterosexism all seem to be experiencing a collective and unholy revival.
God have mercy.
Our very earth seems to be
at risk, and not only of being harmed, but of having that harm ignored for
profit. For our earth, our mother, our home we pray - God have mercy.
Mass incarcerations, the
threat of war, illness, poverty…there are so many needs to address. For those trying
to address them, please give them wisdom and strength and courage.
We know all nations face
times of economic difficulty, or conflict, or vulnerability in the face of
natural disasters, and we know that you have blessed the human family with
resilience and the grace to hope even in the most dire of circumstances, and so
we remember today that whatever frightens us will not last forever, but dignity
and grace and the possibility of healing will last. We know that faith, hope,
and love all endure, and that the greatest of these gifts is love. Let us today
embrace the power of love. Let us love ourselves, and our neighbors, and our
enemies, and our country, and our world and may this love bring healing
wherever, whenever, and however it is most needed.
On this day of prayer, let
us also call to mind people of faith: those who embrace Judaism, those follow
the way of Jesus, those whose prophet is Muhammad, those who identify as Sikh,
those who seek enlightenment as Buddhists, those who worship as Hindus, those
who keep the traditions of the native ancestors of this land alive, those whose
faith is in human potential, those who place their faith in science, those who
faith is unnamed but no less dear and sustaining to them…may our various faiths
bring out the best in us and help us see and honor the best in one another.
God bless this country and help
us be kinder, more inclusive, more just, more peace loving, and more willing to
assure the well-being of all who call this land their inherited or their chosen
home. God, in your mercy, hear our prayer. Amen.
Rev. Dr. Durrell Watkins
Senior Minister
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