SOCIAL JUSTICE PRAYER NETWORK
Prayers for the period beginning December 1, 2010
Every year we struggle through Advent, waiting for Christmas.
We’re not real good at waiting.
We want our internet connection instantly, not in 3 seconds.
We want to know the gender of our baby immediately.
We want to hear the breaking news as it happens.
We want it all and we want it now.
Yet every year we actually celebrate the waiting for Christmas.
Candle by candle we anticipate Christ’s birth.
Every year On Christmas Eve, we say that the waiting is over,
“The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light;
those who lived in a land of deep darkness—on them light has shined.”*
But it is still dark and we are still waiting for Peace on Earth.
Yet we know thatEmmanuel has come and, indeed, that, “God is with us.”
And she gave birth to her firstborn son
and wrapped him in swaddling cloth, and laid him in a manger,
because there was no place for them in the inn.*
God is with us, through the darkness, and the darkness cannot put out the Light.
In the deep darkness of more than 30 years of AIDS and more than 25 million deaths, we pray that the Light might shine on those who are affected in any way by AIDS.
In the deep darkness of loss, illness, death, and disease, we pray for the Light of healing and wholeness.
In the deep darkness of ongoing violence and war in the Middle East, in Africa, in the Koreas, and other places, we pray for the Light of justice and peace on earth.
In the darkness of economic desolation, homelessness, hunger, natural and human caused disasters, we pray for the Light of assistance and relief.
In the deep darkness of loneliness, depression, rejection, helplessness, confusion, and desperation, we pray for the Light of love and comfort.
In the deep darkness of oppression, injustice, and tyranny, we pray for the Light of freedom and justice.
In the deep darkness of despair and hopelessness, we pray for the Light of Hope and Joy.
May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing,
so that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.*
May we wait in Light, in hope and in prayer.
Scripture references in order:*
Isaiah 9:2 NRSV, Lectionary reading for Christmas Eve
Luke 2:7, NRSV adapted, Lectionary Christmas Eve/Day
Romans 15:13, NRSV, Lectionary December 5
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