Give Us Wisdom

The news these days is filled with budget cuts, both at the state level and with the ongoing mess in Washington. These cuts unduly affect vulnerable people and care of God’s creation, concerns which the NC Council of Churches has worked on for years or even decades.

Cathy Tamsberg, the associate pastor of my church (Pullen Memorial Baptist in Raleigh — one of the Council’s member congregations) offered the following prayer Sunday morning. I invite you to join me in lifting up this prayer or other words that address our concern for the least of Jesus’ brothers and sisters and affirm our commitment to the common good.

Creating God, Loving Spirit, Source of Every Gift,

We offer our prayers this morning longing to live as if we are yours, ever confident of your love and your care. The complexity of our world and the stress in our lives in these days leave us yearning to be simple and free.

We give thanks that we are here – together and safe, clothed and fed, loved and capable of loving. So we pray for those who are alone and in danger, ill-clothed and hungry, fearful and unable to trust. . . . We especially remember those who suffer in the intense heat, both your human children and our earth home. Give us wisdom to live more simply so our planet can be free from harm.

O God, at this tense time when politics seems to trump good government and the common good continues to elude us, touch the hearts of all who hold positions of leadership. Show them your way, the way of loving the poor and the marginalized with whom Jesus spent his earthly days. Give them and us your wisdom and your peace.

Now wrestle with us, God, until we come round right, and bless our every attempt to be the people you have called us to be. In the name of the One who showed us how to bear the scars that come from being loving and just, we pray. Amen.

— George Reed, Executive Director