Holy God,

In the rain this morning, we are reminded of your Word, Jesus Christ. You tell us that just as the rain goes forth and waters the earth, so does the Word that springs forth from your mouth. It will not return void and empty. In our worship this morning, let it be so. Cause us to encounter your Word afresh and anew, powerfully, reminding us that just as the rain comes for a moment and restores the earth, so you use the sorrow and challenges of life to offer us restoration.

For you are the God of great redemption. You redeem our sins and turn them into righteousness. You cause us to become whole and holy only because we offer our belief in you and our love to you. You reverse our depression, despair, and hopelessness into joy because you offer to us the power of fixing what only you can fix, of controlling what only you can control, all because you understand what we will never comprehend.

You are, indeed, God; wholly other, beyond us. And so we pray that, in your power, you would resolve those things that cause us harm and despair this day. We pray that, in your power, you would redeem those things that cause harm to the least, the lost, and the hurting this day, both those we know and those far away. We pray that, in your power, you would redeem our world from its sin and evil and the ways those cause others to suffer.

For we are all your children, connected in your infinite ways. We all belong to you, whether we know it or not, whether we admit to it or not, which makes us brothers and sisters. Call us to that kind of unity, cause us to see you in each other, such that we treat others the way you would have us to treat them.

Cause us to be like the rain, bringing forth life from each other.

Amen.