all authority in heaven and on earth is given to you.
Therefore, we ask you:
Cast down our idols and disarm godless powers that destroy life.
Keep us true to your kingdom.
Grant us the promised Holy Spirit
so that we may hear your voice, listen to your word,
and stay true to our faith.
As we thank you, Lord,
for filling the vastness of the universe and the inhabited world
with creative power,
and for bearing all that you have made with unbounded goodness,
we pray for ourselves and Christians of all churches:
give us the faith to believe that you rule the world,
the courage to speak your liberating word,
and the power to act according to our faith and your commandment.
On behalf of our endangered and torn world, we pray:
Defend it from all the powers
that would undermine the unity of earth’s peoples
or destroy the environment in which we must live.
Give all who work in science and technology,
in business and politics,
a strong sense of their responsibility for the lives of others.
Give those who are committed
to a peaceful coexistence of peoples and people,
the assurance that their work is not in vain.
We pray for those who feel that, to them, the heavens are closed,
those whose questions go unanswered, whose lives seem empty.
Help those who are bowed down to walk upright.
Broaden narrow minds that fear new things,
that they may be the first to dare to speak a word of reconciliation.
And for those who cling to the weapons of this world,
grant a more complete trust in your loving kindness,
that they may be among those who beat their swords into plowshares.
We praise you, O God, for you sustain your creation,
liberate us to trust in you,
and fulfill your promises in and to the world.
In Jesus’ Name, who with you and the Holy Spirit,
lives and reigns as one God, in glory everlasting. Amen.
Adapted from Reformierte Liturgie: Gebete und Ordnungen für die unter dem Wort versammelte Gemeinde (Wuppertal, 1999)
