A Prayer of Thanksgiving

You are welcome here. Come just as you are to this present moment, bringing whatever is on your heart today. Create a restful space and allow yourself to just be. Take a couple deep breaths, grab yourself a cup of coffee, light a candle, do something that brings you comfort. Come to God’s Word knowing you are greatly loved and fully accepted. Choose at least one thing to be thankful for, writing it down and bring to worship on Sunday. Share it with someone you are thankful for and then take a few minutes of silence and end with this Prayer of Thanksgiving.

Lord—You are good and You are strong.

You are faithful and You are loving.

All that we have comes from Your hands:

Hands that …

hold us when we are weak,

heal us when we’re wounded,

protect us when we’re threatened,

guide us when we’re lost,

feed us when we are hungry,

work with us when we labor in Your kingdom.

So … we can with confidence trust all to Your hands.

Into You hands we place those we love and care about

who are ill or injured … in need of healing.

Into Your hands we give those who grieve and mourn.

Into Your hands we give those of us who have too little, as well as those of us who have too much.

Into Your hands we surrender our nation—and pray for wisdom, courage, grace and compassion for our national and local leaders.

Into You hands we lay the desperate, the despondent and the depressed— give them hope, Lord; and then enable them to realize that hope.

In Your hands we entrust the church—

struggling to live the balance of grace and truth,

compassionate caring and convicting declaration.

Into You hands we surrender all.

All to You, Lord, we surrender;

all to You we freely give;

We will ever love and trust You,

in Your presence daily live.

We surrender all, we surrender all,

all to thee, our blessed Savior,

we surrender all.

All to You, Lord, we surrender;

Lord, we give ourselves to You;

worldly pleasures all forsaken;

take us, Jesus, take us now.

We surrender all, we surrender all,

all to thee, our blessed Savior,

we surrender all.

This we pray, in Your name, Jesus,

Richard Herman