10 May 2008

[prayer 1]

Lord of all that was, is, and is to come, grant us the grace to live outside of ourselves.

In a world that promotes individualistic ideology and self-fulfilling consumeristic tendencies, may we as your people be audacious enough to live lifestyles that pervasively speak against a culture that seeks to fragment and disconnect us. May Your Holy Spirit give enough fortitude to reduce the noise of self-obsession that permeates our lives so we are able to hear the whimpers of the suffering. Give us the courage to leave the paths that lead to success, comfort, and safety, and walk together on the rocky path that Jesus Your Son and our Savior walked, facing the Cross and Kingdom. Turn our heads away from facing our impending futures, personal goals, and plans of self-promotion to face the poor, broken, and discarded that sit and lie next to us every day.

Create us to be a Body, affix us together, so that we are no longer ourselves, but Christ who lives in us. Give us the great privilege of being Jesus, the Body of Christ, the Crucified One who was buried, the Risen Savior who makes all things new, to the world. We pray in hope and for hope for the establishment of Your future eternal Kingdom, but ask that You give us the grace and strength to live as though we are living in it today.

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