Prayers of the People for March 21

 God of hope, of life, of resurrection we live and move and love in you.
We open our hearts and souls to you this day,
trusting that you are at work within and around us, writing the law of love on our hearts,
trusting that you are leading us to a place of new, transformed life, life beyond death
We look at the world around us and know that we need that word of hope and promise.
We see the broken-ness all too clearly.
We see the lack of love in our news feeds as we read about the shooting in Atlanta
an incident steeped with racist and sexist overtones.
We look at a year of living with pandemic restrictions
and some days we struggle to find the hope that lies beyond COVID-19.
Bring us hope, remind us that life wins.
Write your law upon our hearts, weave it into the fabric of our being,
transform us with life in abundance.

God who has created and is creating,
we look at the world around us and we are awestruck.
And so we open our hearts in prayers of awe:
for the beauty of the sun at rising or setting...
for the dancing of the Northern Lights...
for the sign of spring, carrying the promise of new growth bursting from frozen ground...
for birdsong, and wind in the trees, the sounds of nature in all its fullness...
For all those things that leave us speechless and awestruck,
God hear our prayers of WOW!

God who was there as we were formed in our mother’s womb,
God who filled our lungs with the breath of life and heard our borning cry,
God who is present in our every breath,
you share our joys and our sorrows.
You weep with us, laugh with us, celebrate with us.
You see and hear our fears and anxieties and worries.
Today we lift up in prayer all those who struggle.
The ones we know and love, the ones we can barely stand, the ones we have never met.
We pray with those who find themselves wrestling with dis-ease of body, mind, or spirit...
We pray with those who are anxiously waiting for their vaccine appointment,
with those forced to self-isolate due to a virus outbreak,
with those who are ill with COVID...
We pray with those who are lonely and isolated...
with those who are grieving...
with those who face financial worries...
May all those who struggle know that they are not alone,
that they are held in a love that will never let them go,
that there is life and hope, transformation and resurrection awaiting us all.
God hear our prayers for help

At the same time, God of life and love and those in abundance,
we pray with all those who sing and dance and celebrate this morning.
The ones who experience the promise of new life in a baby’s cry...
the ones who have seen love shining and active in the world...
the ones who have found new ways to connect with loved ones and rebuild relationships...
the ones who have met blessings expected or surprising in their daily activities...
For all those things that bring joy into our lives, God hear our prayers of thanks.

God of transformation, of resurrection, of new life and new hope,
God who is writing law and love on our hearts,
we share these, and all the prayers of all our lives in the name of Jesus,
our rock and redeemer, our teacher and guide,
the one who teaches us how to live as citizens of the Kingdom
Amen.