Oh Lord, You are the God of Joy
The One who inspires over-the-top devotion
and undignified celebration.
Let our words and actions
appear to the rest of the world
tantalizing and confounding,
magnetic and mesmerizing.

Lord, it can be difficult to speak of joy
when we need only open our eyes
to see hurt and pain,
confusion and turmoil,
both within and without our borders.

Rescue us from looking to something
other than You to bring us peace.
Not laws,
not leaders,
not laughter.
In the midst of the bad, guide our eyes to the good.
Protect our hearts while letting them stay soft to the hurt of the world.
Lord, in Your mercy, hear our prayer.

You hear us calling,
You hear us calling,
Abba Father.

Lord of all creation,
the earth is Yours, and all that is in it.
Every person, young and old;
every living thing, from the single cell
to the intricate and complex.
You are the King of Glory,
lifted high above all of it.

In Your Kingdom, Lord,
there are no borders.
There are no tribes,
no warring factions,
no rival religions,
no denominations.

Guide our hands as we work
to establish Your Kingdom
on earth as it is in heaven.

All of us, worldwide,
working in this simple day-in-day-out,
laying the foundations of Your world to come
one brick at a time,
together.
Lord, in Your mercy, hear our prayer.

You hear us calling,
You hear us calling,
Abba Father.

Father God, the One who promises
to gather us all into Him,
thank You for adopting us into this
Great Big Family.

Let us be a loving, bonded family to one another.
Where there are needs among us --
emotional, spiritual, financial, physical --
Guide us by your Holy Spirit to give and receive help.

For those of us who have enough,
let us not grow complacent,
but continue to pursue Your peace
and continue to call enough “enough".

That we may all be one,
in You, the One.

All this we ask through Christ our Lord. Amen.

Lord have mercy,
Christ have mercy.
Lord have mercy,
Christ have mercy.