Here’s a prayer of intercession for the sixth Sunday of Easter (Year B). It was written by Richard Einerson.
Prayers of the People: Easter 6
(inspired by John 15:9-17)
Eternal God, in these moments of quiet we thank you for your presence in our lives. We thank you for all of the testimonies of your profound love for your children. We especially thank you this day for the holy one Jesus. We thank you for his humility. We thank you that rather than elevating himself above us he instead would lift us up and as with his disciples call us “friends.” We thank you for his many reminders that we are to love one another. But we confess that we have great difficulty following his command to love.
We become upset with others and find it easier to reject them than to seek to understand and to love them.
We struggle with the almost impossible command to love our enemies.
We become driven to meet our own needs and become blind to the needs of others.
We are driven to succeed which becomes all consuming and trumps our command to love.
Forgive us our foolish ways. Help us to keep in our awareness this command to love which Jesus repeated so many times. Help us especially to hear it in those hard times when it is most difficult to love.
Help us to love others when they are power hungry.
Help us to love others when they are inconsiderate.
Help us to love others when they are angry and lash out blindly.
Help us to love others when they are selfish and insensitive.
Help us, O God, to love others so that we may abide in your love and act like the friends of Jesus. Amen.
We become upset with others and find it easier to reject them than to seek to understand and to love them.
We struggle with the almost impossible command to love our enemies.
We become driven to meet our own needs and become blind to the needs of others.
We are driven to succeed which becomes all consuming and trumps our command to love.
Forgive us our foolish ways. Help us to keep in our awareness this command to love which Jesus repeated so many times. Help us especially to hear it in those hard times when it is most difficult to love.
Help us to love others when they are power hungry.
Help us to love others when they are inconsiderate.
Help us to love others when they are angry and lash out blindly.
Help us to love others when they are selfish and insensitive.
Help us, O God, to love others so that we may abide in your love and act like the friends of Jesus. Amen.
— written by Richard J. Einerson, from his collection of prayers, Prayers of the People. http://www.richardeinerson.com/
For more prayers on this blog, see the Scriptural Prayer Index at the upper right side of the page.
