Here’s a beautiful prayer of confession and petition (or call to worship?) inspired by the account of Jesus’ feeding of the 5000. It was written by Katherine Hawker. She suggests that each petition could be followed by a sung refrain, like “Gift of finest grain” (GIA Publications), or something similar.
Pastoral Prayer
(inspired by Matthew 14:15-21, Mark 6:35-44, Luke 9:12-17, John 6:4-13)
We come believing in our emptiness,
believing that we will never have enough,
believing that what we have is unworthy.
We come fearful of sharing,
fearful of losing our tenuous grip on security,
fearful of touching and knowing the pain of others.
We come overwhelmed by the hunger,
overwhelmed by the suffering of children near and far,
overwhelmed by the endless tales of senseless violence, greed, and death.
We come aching from the weight of the responsibility,
aching from the chilling challenge of knowing our abundance,
aching from the gnawing awareness that we have much to share.
We come clinging to our meager lunches;
bless them, and us.
break them, and us.
share them, and us.
~ written by Katherine Hawker, on Liturgy Outside. http://liturgyoutside.net/
