Prayer for the Forgotten
Against this sky growing gray,
Help me to bring light.

Today, God,
Help me get out of bed
Early and alone,
Just to listen.
Help me hear your good Spirit.

God, help me do
What I need to do
To be your hands,
Your smile,
Your feet,
To the other people here
In this hospital,
This jail,
This institution,
This house.

Please, God,
Purify my impatience
Make me go the extra mile
But not today.

Today,
I am struggling.
If it’s your will,
take my burden.

Lord, make it go away.

Heal this head, this heart, these hands.
In the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.

Knower of my weaknesses, there is trouble everywhere.
Even my hours of pleasure are commingled with hardship and threats of despair.
Sustainer, as we exist in cultures of overindulgence,
give us a hankering for you.
Let our hearts partake of the succulent feast that is your
mysteriously mundane splendor.
Give us today our daily bread and crumbs of your kin(g)dom.
Revealer, help me in my watching and waiting,
to live in harmony with your Spirit.
Release me to proclaim love and mercy to all,
especially those who seem undeserving.
Help me to recognize your speech,
which is riddled throughout the universe.
Instruct our hearts and minds to mimic the love
and wide embrace of Jesus of Nazareth.
Let this love be a glimmer of hope amid the emptiness and ugliness
through which we so often trudge.
Creator of my heart, help me through the hindrances which keep me from
knowing the joy of kinship.
Help me to loosen my grip on the bounty you’ve provided to your creation,
so that my hands can be free to distribute your plentiful provisions
with equity and grace.
With much thanks for your beauty,
I rest forever loved and blessed in your ever-presence.
Amen.

One: Sisters and brothers, sons and daughters, mothers, fathers, friends and loved ones—we come together this day.
All: We come together with common dreams, common hopes for the world, and common purpose.
One: We gather with great joy in one another’s presence
All: We gather with great sorrow and a heavy burden
One: We gather with great sorrow because there are sisters and brothers, sons and daughters, mothers, fathers, friends and loved ones who are suffering.
All: Suffering under the burden of slavery and oppression, even right now as we gather.
One: We stand now in acknowledgment of those slaves in our neighborhood and throughout the world.
All: We open our eyes to their truth, we open our ears to their plea, and we open our hearts to hope.
One: Let us now turn our hearts and minds to these sisters and brothers, because we seek to bring about God’s desires for them, for us, and for all the world.
All: Amen

The U.S. State Department estimates that there are twenty-seven million slaves worldwide. To find out more about the current issue of slavery and what you can do to help, visit: http://www.humantrafficking.org, .

As a group, we frequently say together this traditional prayer, versions of which are in several denominational prayer books.
Almighty God, we confess that we are in bondage to sin and cannot free ourselves;
We have sinned against you in thought, word, and deed,
by what we have done, and by what we have left undone.
We have not loved you with our whole heart.
We have not loved our neighbor as ourselves.
For the sake of your son Jesus Christ, have mercy,
forgive us, renew us, and lead us,
that we might walk in your way
and delight in your will
to the Glory of your Holy Name.

Almighty God,
We praise for all you have done.
Help us with all that you want us do to.
Come, holy creator,
and rebuild the city of Camden
so that we do not labor in vain without you.
Come, holy Savior,
and heal all that is broken in our lives and in our streets.
Come, Holy Spirit,
and inspire us with energy and willingness
to rebuild Camden city to your honor and glory.