Just as in Ages Past

"God of our mothers and fathers long gone and treasured,
God of our grandchildren yet to be and awaited,
God of our years, our days, and even this moment:
Our lives are deeply rooted in miracles before us,
Our faith is richly set in courage running thick,
Our vocation is shaped by all those
who have risked for your purposes.
And now, in our remembering, we are made mindful
of our own place of call, and
our own time of obedience.
We pray for ourselves and for your whole church,
     courage beyond our easier timidity,
     vision beyond our present tense,
     restlessness beyond our steady settlements, 

     and yielding beyond our will to manage.
Give us appropriate yielding that we may 

be like our remembered ones in freedom and in love for you. 

We pray in the name of Jesus,

whom we remember until he comes again. Amen."
"Give us Appropriate Yielding"- A prayer of Walter Brueggemann from "Awed to Heaven, Rooted in Earth"

In a time such as this, teach us to risk that which you are calling us to risk. Teach this generation how to be courageous in the name of Jesus, and for the sake of the gospel. May you be glorified, even in the messes we make. We thank you that your sovereign hand guides us faithfully, just as in ages past. 

Come soon, Lord Jesus.
But until then, we ask these things
in his matchless and trustworthy name, 

Amen.