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Samuel said to Jesse, “Are all your sons here?” And he said, “There remains yet the youngest, but he is keeping the sheep.” The LORD said, “Rise and anoint him; for this is the one.” 1 Samuel 16:11–12
INTERCEDING FOR SOCIAL CONSERVATIVES
O God, Conservator of the past, Companion in the present, Signpost toward the future,
we see that throughout the ages you change the rules,
blessing what had been condemned, rejecting what had been upheld.
Some believers cannot catch up,
six older brothers of the shepherd boy David outraged
when your prophet overturned your tradition of primogeniture.
O changeable God, how am I supposed to know my place in line?
I pray now for all social conservatives,
for whom change is unwelcome,
for whom two genders is quite enough,
for whom divorce is permanent disgrace, not a growth experience (can it be both?),
for whom the poor ought to work in order to eat,
for whom obedience to the patriarch constitutes rectitude.
Free those who are shackled to the past for fear of the future.
Strengthen the legs of those who dread to walk a new path,
and grant solicitude to those for whom change seems too slow.
May it be so.
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David said, I am distressed for you, my brother Jonathan;
greatly beloved were you to me;
your love to me was wonderful, passing the love of women. 2 Samuel 1:26
INTERCEDING FOR THE LGBTQIA+ COMMUNITY
O God, you are the Land of Promise,
in which the Davids and Jonathans may live together in dignity and peace of mind.
In our neighborhoods and around the globe,
bless those who are free to live out their gender identity and all that it entails.
Grant them security by day and by night,
a community of welcome, the loyalty of friends,
and if they desire it,
a partner to embrace and children to nurture.
Encircle their homes, protect their jobs, and guard their health.
Strengthen their hopefulness, and give them joy.
And to those who are not so free, grant a measure of contentment in you.
In all places, turn opposition to courtesy and antipathy to comradeship.
Shine your image through every person,
and so illumine the Garden of Fulfillment with the light of your bountiful goodness.
May it be so.
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Now there was a great wind, so strong that it was splitting mountains and breaking rocks in pieces before the LORD, but the LORD was not in the wind; and after the wind an earthquake, but the LORD was not in the earthquake; and after the earthquake a fire, but the LORD was not in the fire; and after the fire a sound of sheer silence. 1 Kings 19:11–12
PRAISING GOD WHO IS SILENCE
O God, who at creation spoke the world into being,
whose treasured words from the cross echo in our minds,
who calls disciples in every language under the sun,
sometimes we cannot hear you;
there is only your absence,
an emptiness like utter silence.
We keep on babbling,
but you remain mute,
your mouth closed, your back turned to our cries.
Yet, O God, your stillness roused Elijah to faith.
From you comes holy Speech,
and from you comes unutterable Silence—
but also in this sound of nothing is your presence.
When all we hear is the silence,
may we still exhale our praise.
Amen.
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The king commanded the priest and the king’s servant, saying, “Go, inquire of the LORD for me.” . . . Huldah resided in Jerusalem, where they consulted her. She declared to them, “Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel.” 2 Kings 22:12–13, 14–15
INTERCEDING FOR WOMEN IN MINISTRY
O God, the Bone and Blood and Breath of your faithful followers, I praise you for the millennia of those women who knew themselves to be your mouthpieces. I laud you for their dedication, their insight, their courage. Some were brash; some were gentle. Some were honored; some were ridiculed. Some in the past were burned as witches; some in the present are ordained.
I thank you for Huldah of Jerusalem, who boldly spoke both law and gospel to the king; for Hilda of Whitby, renowned for her learning, mother abbess of a double monastery of women and men; and for my great aunt Hulda, who a century ago moved away from the prairie to serve as a deaconess in the big bad city.
I ask you to nurture all the Huldahs, those proclaiming your mercy and sharing your energy with their parishioners, those serving as bishops in the many churches, those volunteering for church choirs, those teaching in Sunday schools, those serving on conflicted committees, and those whose ministry is hidden and known only to you. Give to each Huldah in your body an ear to listen to you and a mouth to be your voice. May it be so.
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Satan stood up against Israel, and incited David to count the people of Israel. 1 Chronicles 21:1
INTERCEDING FOR FORGIVENESS
O God, Lawgiver, Judge, and yet gracious Advocate,
bless me, Father, for I have sinned,
and I will not blame Satan, as did the chronicler, for inciting me.
It is I, in one way or another,
who honored false gods, desecrated ...
