Wednesday, August 2, 2017
A prayer by Bishop Tracy Malone of the East Ohio Annual Conference, leading the United Methodist Church in “Praying Our Way Forward” for the week of July 30-August 5, 2017.
God of all people, of all times, and of all places, we praise you. For you alone are the source of life. You alone are the source of all that is Good.
In your living Word, you promise, “Ask, and it shall be given you, seek and ye shall find, knock and it shall be opened to you. (Matthew 7:7-8)” So we come before you today asking, seeking and knocking.
We ask that your Spirit be poured out upon each and every member of The United Methodist Church – and in extra measure upon each member of the Bishop’s Commission on a Way Forward, the Council of Bishops, and the delegates to General Conference. Open our hearts to fully be and help others become Disciples of Jesus Christ. Grant us such faith, hope and love “that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 8:38-39)”
We seek your wisdom, unity and vision for the Church. Empower our leaders to find A Way Forward in which we can all be united by our mission to Make Disciples of Jesus Christ for the Transformation of the World. Grant that this mission will become stronger than any differences which divide us. Remind us again that “there is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to the one hope of your calling, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is above all and through all and in all. (Ephesians 4:4-6)”
We knock as we actively seek to have you open doors. Teach us how to be in conversations with people beyond our areas of comfort and familiarity. Deepen our faith and broaden our reach so that we may bear fruit that lasts. Open for us, new doors of understanding that we may hear what others have to say. Teach us to “be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to anger. (James 1:19)”
Gracious God, as we continue in this journey of faith, remind us again that we will join others who are themselves asking, seeking and knocking. We pray that we will encounter Jesus in these conversations and deliberations (Luke 24:16). For then, we will truly become the disciples you call us to be.
This we pray in the name of Jesus.
Amen.
For an update on the work of the Commission on a Way Forward, click here.
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