Opening Prayer
Oh Holy One,
We come as we are in so many different ways.
How grateful we are that you welcome us completely,
however we come.
Quiet our hearts before you now.
Meet us in the stillness
And awaken us to your care for us.
Lectio Divina or Divine Reading
Read this scripture through a few times.
The first time you read it simply take in the words.
The second time, notice to what word or phrase your heart is drawn.
Prayerfully sit with it.
The third time you read it offer the prayer of your heart to God.
The last time you read it, simply rest in God.
Scripture Reading Isaiah 46:3,4
Listen to me, O house of Jacob,
all the remnant of the house of Israel,
who have been borne by me from your birth,
carried from the womb; even to your old age I am he, even when you turn gray I will carry you.
I have made, and I will bear; I will carry and will save.
Closing Prayer
Compassionate One, in the midst of this pandemic,
When the days linger on, and uncertainty has become the norm,
Our awareness of your presence ebbs and flows,
And yet we know you will not leave us.
We lean on your promises, on your faithfulness
which are new every morning.
How we long for these words of scripture,
to enter us deeply.
We ache for the awareness of your love and presence
which gave birth to us,
Your arms which hold and carry us
Your heart which watches over us.
O God to whom we belong, we entrust ourselves to you this day, relying on you to meet us where we are, and to carry us when we are too weary to stand.
We lean our heads against your heart,
drawing in strength from your loving embrace.
May it fill us with your peace and anchor us in you.
We love you God.
Thank you for reminding us yet again
of the way in which you love and carry us.
Amen.
Copyright 2020 Rev. Eva Sullivan-Knoff
Raise Me Up by Josh Grobin