Prayer for Palm/Passion Sunday

Almighty God, unto whom all hearts are open, all desires known, and from whom no secrets are hid; cleanse the thoughts of our hearts by the inspiration of your Holy Spirit—
O God, we need to be cleansed—
We truly desire to be made clean—
even though—fickle as we are—
we find ourselves so often wallowing in the mud.
So cleanse us, heal us, transform us,
so that we may perfectly love you—
O God, so often our love is less than perfect—
indeed, we are often apathetic towards you—
the very opposite of loving.
But we want to love you perfectly.
We long to live our lives
to the praise and glory of your holy name.

Almighty God, draw me nearer to you, deeper into your heart.
And as you do, help me to discover
that my companions on the journey of life
are women and men loved by you
as fully and intimately as you love me.
In your compassionate heart, there is a place for all of them.
No one is excluded.
Give me a share in your compassion, dear God,
so that your unlimited love may become visible
in the way I love my brothers and sisters (Henri Nouwen).

Heal my fickleness, O God;
Heal our fickle church.
Fill us with your power — power made perfect in weakness.
Remind us of your presence — close, intimate, real.
Make clear to us your purposes —
your vision of our common life and work and mission.
As one body, we pray for those who are lonely or sad, sick or dying, confused or filled with doubt, filled with self-pity or anger or hatred, longing for a sign of your love and grace, near despair in the midst of their trials and temptations, or suffering for their faith.
As one body, we pray for all nations and peoples. We pray for peace in the hearts of all people. We pray for wisdom and inspiration and humility in the hearts of rulers, elected officials, presidents, governors, judges, representatives.
As one body, we pray for the people of our community, our county, our state and nation. We pray for the Holy Spirit to work in fickle hearts to lead people to discover and know the reality of your “un-fickle” love in Christ -

So that hearts and minds and lives may be transformed;
So that darkness may be overcome by the Light;
So that ignorance may yield to wisdom;
So that bigotry may be put out by understanding;
So that the “desire for revenge” may be healed by forgiveness;
So that greed may lose out to gratitude and generosity;
So that oppression may give way to justice;
So that the sick may be healed;
the hungry, fed;
the grieving, consoled;
So that sad hearts may find joy;
So that violence may be crushed by compassion;
So that hatred may be overcome by love.

Patient and understanding, loving and tender, eternal and holy God: Take the feeble prayers of our fickle hearts and transform our requests through the perfect intercessions of our Lord Jesus Christ. Guard our hearts and minds and keep us in your love until that glorious day when your kingdom is fully come — on earth as it is in heaven — that day when Christ will be all in all.

Amen.