This week’s prayer was contributed by the Rev. Kim Ryan in Columbia, Missouri. If you would like to contribute a prayer, please send an e-mail to prayforourcountry@gmail.com.
“There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.” Galatians 3:28
Holy One,
We give thanks for the call of your Spirit that urges us to remember our unity. In the one we know as Jesus, we have received a faithful witness of your expansive and inclusive love. Your intention has been offered through all of creation and through the ages – that we are all your people, born of your love and created to be family together. We thank you for the defining moments of our history that have sung this truth with clarity and mercy. We thank you for the defining moments of our lives that resonate this great hope of your heart. We are grateful for the lifting of burdens and barriers to glimpse the greater truth of our kinship. During this week of an inauguration of a new president, we humbly stand in such a moment in history, in our individual lives, in our communities of faith, and even in our global community.
The celebration of the world this week echoes hopes for a new day, a new beginning, and new possibilities. We pray for President Obama and all the leaders of our country and the world who recognize this moment of history as a pivotal moment crying out for reconciliation, and for problem solving with a higher resolve and commitment beyond self interests. We pray for the citizens of this country and citizens of the world to seize not only the moments of this week but the hope for a future built on combined efforts, shared values, and hard work.
May we listen deeply to the wisdom of our saints, wise ones, and ancestors. May we listen deeply to the wisdom of history’s successes and failures. May we listen deeply to the wisdom of our own hearts in unison with the hearts of brothers and sisters created in your image.
In the name of justice and mercy, we pray.
Amen.
Prayers For Our Country 
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