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Prayers

You, O God, Creator of a Boundless Universe,
who brought forth infinite diversity of life
into a tapestry of such magnificence to behold,
help us to ever see the patterns and recognize our threads within them.

You, the Beginning and the End of all,
for whom all creation groans with anticipation,
lead us to a place where we discern
what is or is not your will for our created home on earth.

Jesus, Compassionate God Amidst and Among us,
You walked the path of truth and justice.
May your grace and our will act in unison on behalf of creation,
so that bold will be our witness and earth our blessing.

Creator, Redeemer, Sanctifier,
May all we do be to your glory,
For you are God, forever and ever.
Amen.

Larry Howe-Kerr
Office of Social Justice, Catholic Diocese of Pueblo, CO

Gracious God, Creator of all that is good and beautiful, we thank you that we can see glimpses of you in your creation, which is all around us.

We are truly blessed to be living in a place like Colorado where your presence can be seen so readily, from inspiring mountains to lush valleys and fertile land.

Help us as a people to never grow complacent in our ove and care for your world. May we take seriously your first request of us o be caretakers of creation and not users and abusers of it.

As we claim restoration and salvation for our personal lives, may we also claim it for the earth you gave us.

Help us to live in balance with all of nature. Guide us and give us wisdom as we seek to renew ourselves, our commitment to you and our place in creation. In Christ's name we pray. Amen.

Rev. Gordon Salsman
Calvary Baptist Church, Denver, CO

Creator of this vast, glorious, life-teeming Earth, we open ourselves to your presence, praying for your guidance.

We know the urgency of your guidance when we look around and see so much of your created beauty being betrayed by the growing greed and the decaying destruction that our society is bringing.

Guide us in your way -- in life over destructiveness, before it is too late to mount the resistance you are calling from us.

Help us practice the power of resurrection, to let in the influence of the new life you constantly seek to bring the victory over the forces of destructiveness.

This we pray through the one who shows us the victory and the way, Jesus Christ. Amen.

Rev. Bob West
Denver, CO

Bless us O God with your hugs -- hugs more passionate than those with which arms wrap your trees.

Disciplining hugs, reprimanding when greed disregards generations to follow.

Gracious hugs, implanting talent to cherish creation whose care has been by you to us entrusted.

Edifying hugs, guiding our stewardship of blessings received.

Uplifting hugs, supplying abundant future hope.

Strong hugs, endowing courage, discernment, wisdom and prudence.

And then, O Creator God, make of us tree huggers, flower huggers, river huggers, wind huggers, mountain huggers, earth huggers. May all our hugging be thanksgiving for your bountiful blessings. And as we have been richly blessed may we become instruments of your blessings to others.

We ask through Jesus Christ. Amen.

Stephen H. Swanson
St. Paul Lutheran Church, Denver, CO

Blessed are you, O Lord our God, sovereign over the universe. When you created all that is, seen and unseen, you declared it good.

We thank you that you created us to be stewards of this world you fashioned and continue to fashion. We acknowledge that we have gone astray from the task of giving good care to what you have made, both by what we have done and what we have left undone.

Renew us, strengthen us, lead us that we may not be silent observers when your beauty is harmed, that we may discern how to repair and restore the harm that has been done, and that we may boldly minister to the earth and all creatures.

This we pray in the Name of the Trinity which ever works to make all things new. Amen.

The Rev. Dr. Kevin R. Maly, Pastor
St. Paul Lutheran Church, Denver, CO

O God, we do not know what we do.
Our science just now tells us what we, in the blink of an eye, have done and will continue to do unless we stop.
And it is so hard for us to change, O God! The use of fossil fuels has kept us warm, it has lighted our nights, it has taken us across the globe!
And yet it can destroy us, our cities and farms plagued by hot, unstable weather, our coast lands and islands inundated. Self inflicted famine.

Already there are those who suffer, whose suffering and warfare stand as a sign for days to come.
And there are those whose suffering is to be, for whom what has already been set in motion cannot be undone.
And there is the whole of the earth, whose travail and upheaval threatens all that for which we hope.

Help us to see beyond this time and the emergencies of this day to the future days of our children and their children and their children.
Help us to love them now and see their emergency now.

Move your people, O God, that we love your justice, so that we care for those who already suffer from the first effects of climate change.
Move your people, O God, that we act in love for the benefit of all, just as your Son Jesus has done.
Move your people, O God, that we will provide all life on earth with a world where life thrives.

Jeff Neuman-Lee, Ministry Coordinator
Prince of Peace Church of the Brethren
Littleton, Colorado

It helps, now and then, to step back and take the long view. The kingdom is not only beyond our efforts, it is even beyond our vision.

We accomplish in our lifetimes only a tine fraction of the magnificent enterprise that is God's work.

Nothing we do is complete, which is another way of saying that the kingdom always lies beyond us.

No statement says all that could be said. No prayer fully expresses our faith. No confession brings perfection. No pastoral visit brings wholeness. No program accomplishes the church's mission. No set of goals and objectives includes everything.

This is what we are about: We plant seeds that one day will grow. We water seeds already planted, knowing that they hold future promise. We lay foundations that will need further development. We provide yeast that produces effects far beyond our capabilities.

We cannot do everything, and there is a sense of liberation in realizing that. This enables us to do something, and do it well. It may be incomplete, but it is a beginning, a step along the way, an opportunity for the Lord's grace to enter and do the rest.

We may never see the end results, but that is the difference between the master builder and the worker.

We are workers, not master builders; ministers, not messiahs.

We are prophets of a future not our own.

Amen.