When we pray, it is not just order we cast into the heavens, but something we must own. Here is a prayer shared by my friend Carole at the meeting I a currently at.
Response: Hear the cries of your people, O God.
God of Mercy, hear our prayers for all those still burdened by unimaginable losses from Hurricanes Katrina and Rita and their chaotic aftermath. We pray: R
God of Comfort, hold our anguish in your heart. We have heard of the devastation of whole neighborhoods empty and still lying in rubble. Give your people comfort. We pray: R
God of Challenge, wake up our government officials and let them feel our frustration over their empty to these forgotten people. We pray: R
God of the Forgotten, compel those who are responsible for the lingering devastation to respond again and again to the disaster on the Gulf. We pray: R
God of Justice, forgive our blaming. We know you understand our blaming is rooted in our own distress over what is still undone. We pray: R
God of Unconditional Love, forgive us for insulating our lives from the ongoing suffering of the people living on the Gulf and for embracing normalcy instead of compassion. We pray: R
God of Healing, we ache for those who are still homeless or displaced and have no hope for a homecoming. We pray: R
God of Welcome, bless the displaced with a hospitable host wherever they have found themselves and help them to feel “at home” with a new community of faith. We pray: R
God of the Suffering, teach us to share abundantly with our traumatized brothers and sisters. We pray: R
God of Sharing, may we continue to remind those with whom we work and live that the Gulf still needs our attention. We pray: R
God of Action, find the means to fill the empty trailers that stand in rows and rows a few miles from the devastation so that those living in tents have better protection against the rain and wind. We pray: R
God of Caring, may the survivors find a dry and comfortable place to live until their homes and repaired and readied against the next storms. We pray: R
God of Justice, stop the waste, the fraud, the inflated prices and rampant abuse by opportunists who prey on the lives of the traumatized survivors of the storm. We pray: R
God of Comfort, heal the memories of heartbreak and death and tumbling lives. We pray: R
God of Mercy, may our brothers and sisters on the coast receive the hope and help we offer. We pray: R
God of Restoration, may they experience the care of thousands of us in the years to come so that they are not alone as they rebuild and repair. We pray: R
God of Justice, remember the uninsured and the underinsured who now rely on our charity to assist them in rebuilding. We pray: R
God of Greatness, may the survivors know that we reach out to serve the in Your name, as a response to You and not for our own gratification. We pray: R
God of Protection, keep the new storms abated as we enter the next season of winds of fury so that the devastated people of the Gulf coast have respite from terror. We pray: R
God pf Peace, still the anger and ease the confusion of a battered and traumatized people. We pray: R
And so we pray. So much has been given and so little has been done. May our storm ravaged brothers and sisters of the Gulf recognize the gifts we offer are not the end but the beginning of our pledge to never forget them. We ask this in Jesus’ name. Amen

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