If your worship this week includes a reading of Exodus 33:12-23 (where Moses asks God to show him His glory), here’s a prayer suggestion you might want to consider. It comes from Carolyn Brown on her excellent Worshipping with Children website.
She writes: “To further explore the idea of God’s glory and do some worship education about a line in the Lord’s Prayer, create a litany naming attributes of the glorious God. To each one the congregation responds, ‘Thine is the Kingdom and the power and the glory forever.’”
Prayer
God, you are the Alpha and Omega.
You were here before anything else existed
and you will be here when everything and everyone has come to an end.
Thine is the Kingdom and the power and the glory forever.
Creating God, you spoke and the entire universe came into existence.
You know the secrets of stars and dark holes and far flung galaxies.
Thine is the Kingdom and the power and the glory forever.
Lord of the Whole Creation,
you are aware of each tiny creature on each planet.
You pay attention to insects and birds and even us.
Thine is the Kingdom and the power and the glory forever.
God of History, you call us to be your people.
You appointed us to take care of this planet Earth.
You gave us rules for living well together.
You call us to great things.
Thine is the Kingdom and the power and the glory forever.
Loving God you created each one of us.
You know us by name and watch over us.
You are with us when everything is wonderful.
And, you walk with us through our worst days.
Thine is the Kingdom and the power and the glory forever.
God of Mercy,
You know everything we do, the good and the bad.
And, still you do not give up on us.
When we mess up, you call us back to yourself
and you forgive us when we don’t deserve it.
Thine is the Kingdom and power and the glory forever.
You are greater than we can understand,
vaster than we can imagine,
more amazing than we can put into words.
So with awe and deep gratitude we pray…
Our Father…
— Carolyn Brown, on her Worshipping with Children website.
For more worship resources related to the scripture texts for October 16, 2011 (the eighteenth Sunday after Pentecost), click on Proper 24A in the list of “Labels” at the lower right side of the page.
