For Goodness and Mercy, Oh Lord, We Pray

A PRAYER FOR GOODNESS AND MERCY

Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life; and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever. (Psalm 23:6)

Oh, Good Shepherd, we bow before You at this time in our history and in the history of the world to acknowledge with everything we are that we — every one of us as an individual and all of us together as your people — need Your goodness and mercy.

We need to remember and give thanks for the truth that You are on our side, even though the valley seems dark, the way ahead uncertain, and our bodies limited. Lead us, O Lord, into green pastures. Restore our souls, revive our bodies, refresh us with the water of life, and remind us that we belong to You and that You are good.

Even as we acknowledge that goodness in You, O God, we must also own the truth that sometimes we are not so good. We step on toes, we say harsh things, we talk about others when they are not present, we make judgments with incomplete facts, we make assumptions, we stand on certitude, and we fail to practice grace and peace. Forgive us, O God. Forgive us — and help us to forgive each other, too.

Right now, the climate in the world around us is not particularly conducive to forgiveness, nor to goodness and mercy. So, it seems even more important than usual that we – as members of Christ’s body – practice what we preach. Will You help us to do that, please?

Your word reminds us of the things we preach that we ourselves need to hear.

Give us ears to hear, O God. Give us hearts to understand and feet that walk that truth out into our world—beginning with our homes, our neighborhoods, our medical appointments, and our places of employment. May Your grace and joy infuse every conversation and guide us into wisdom and good decision-making.

Most of all, Lord God, will You help us to let your goodness and mercy inform what we say and do in our day-to-day living? That is not always easy for us. Some of us are living with daily pain – physical, emotional, social, or psychological – that does not abate. Some of us are in the throes of deep grief – loved ones die, health fails, relationships dissolve, circumstances take a nosedive, hard decisions must be made, ugly voices rise to the top in too many dialogues, children suffer, poverty of all kinds surrounds us, wars never end. To us, the world feels a shambles and we forget about goodness and mercy – but we are not You, O God.

Help us to look around us and see what You see – a world in need, yes, but a world that is also deeply loved, a world held in place by a good and merciful Sovereign, a world in which we are invited to partner with that good Sovereign in the necessary work of restoration, reconciliation, recovery, and renewal.

Bless and encourage every hurting heart, O God. Use each of us to make that blessing real. Help us to be good neighbors to each other and to all those we meet day by day, because everybody, from the grocery clerk to the rude driver behind us, needs a little goodness and mercy in their life. They need the truth that we already know: that all of us belong to You – every mixed-up, weird, and wonderful one of us. Hallelujah!

In the name of Jesus – who loves us, who died for us, and who, by the power of the Spirit, was raised to new life and dwells in us today – in that name we pray, amen.

QUESTIONS FOR REFLECTION

• Can you remember a dark and uncertain time in your life?
  • Did you give God thanks for His goodness amid the pain and distress?
  • If yes, how did your perspective shift?
  • If not, write a one-sentence prayer asking God to help you acknowledge His presence/plan in the future.
• Is there a “not-so-good” habit or practice for which you should/could own, confess, and receive forgiveness?
• Ask God to help you see the world as He does with love, goodness, and mercy. Now, how could you use that goodness and mercy to inform what you say and do in your day-to-day activities?