
You, O Lord, are good and do good.
You have prepared every good gift we experience in this life.
You have guided, sustained, and filled our lives with good things from the beginning of all creation until now.
Without Your humility in coming to us, we could never know You- much less dare to appeal to You in prayer, and yet You instruct to ask, to seek, and to knock.
Through Jesus, You have promised the answer, the revelation, the open door, and so we continue to lift our voices in gratitude and praise and petition before You.
Father, hear the prayer we offer this day.
We stand, Lord, on the brink of yet another new season- another time of change.
By Your Word and through our own experiences, we know that nothing stands still in this life.
In each season, we lack any certainty in ourselves, yet we crave greater clarity and constancy than our physical senses can provide.
Give us, Bringer of the seasons, the ability to acknowledge and accept the cycles of change that always accompany the passage of time.
Free us from the bitterness of hurt and anger and grief, and instead let us raise up grace, peace, and joy in our hearts- even if we are called to build upon the foundation of the hardships we all face in this life.
Strengthen our hands to be quick to the work You have called us to in this season of our lives.
Lift our eyes to see the opportunities that are present now, and encourage us to redeem the time we have been given to make the most of the gifts You have placed before us in this moment.
Grant us the ability to see the beauty of budding trees, opening flowers, and singing birds.
Help us, even in our finite limitations, to see Your hand and presence in the daily unfolding of our lives.
May the springing forth of new life in creation signal the resurrection and renewal within us and hasten the passing away of resentment and anger from our hearts.
Let our harshness cease and glad songs return after the long, bitter darkness of winter.
Draw us together again into the fellowship of the community, and in drawing us together, allow us to be more and more comforted in Your embrace.
Bless us with the perspective that time alone can bring, and grant us the grace to offer patience and compassion to those in our lives whose understandings lead them to different perspectives, positions, and points of view.
Allow us this greater grace, accompanied by genuine desire, that we might long to extend Your grace to others.
Help us to love one another deeply, for from such love, we will seek to heal offenses, help our neighbors, and continue to hope in Your unfailing goodness.
Let the old bitterness born of self and selfishness die away, so that our hearts might be prepared for renewed life in this season of new beginnings.
Hear our prayer and heal our hearts that we might seek to serve in Your name.
Through Christ, the Eternal Unchanging One, we pray, amen.