A Prayer of Hope

Let us pray:

We pray today for God’s world. We pray that it

might discover its human face. We pray for a

world divided.

Divided unequally between the prosperous and

the desperate.

Between those born into privilege and power and

those born into poverty and pain.

Divided unequally between the wealthy and the

The power-filled and the poor.

The greedy and the poor.

The corrupt and the poor.

The poor who always get more than their fairshare

of poverty.

God of life, into your world you come. Into this

divided human community you arrive.

You sit amongst the poor but the wealthy do not

see you.

You walk with the lonely and the abandoned but

those with power cannot hear your footsteps.

You stand among the hungry crowds waiting for

food but the greedy will not share their food with

You live among the powerless, the frightened

and the weak but the corrupt fail to notice you

and continue to exploit you.

God of hope, deliver us all from selfrighteousness

so that whilst we may call the

world towards a different way, we might also, in

your name, become the

answer to the prayers of the silent, suffering,

struggling ones.

God of justice, not just us, grant us the courage

to live as well as proclaim your gospel.

God of life, grant us the energy to serve others in

your name.

God of love, enable and allow us, with

all our weaknesses and fears, to

continue this walk of faith, for faith

and in faith.

a prayer by the Rev David Pargeter, Executive Director, Commission for Mission, Uniting Church in Australia)