Prayer for January 19, 2021

O Lord Our God, we ask that your spirit fill us these next few days with a sense of peace, compassion and love.  May our anxiety not overwhelm us and may we find ways to express love toward our neighbors.  May we to focus our energies on building each other up and working toward a world that puts the needs of others ahead of our own often selfish desires.  Help us as we fight the challenges of a still increasing pandemic, a poverty of hope and divided ideas of how to respond to what lies before us to measure our responses against whether they express love for our neighbor.  Loving God, we are all frightened by the divisions that exist in our world today and pray for a pathway that leads to a greater sense of calm. Give us the ability to listen to each other fully, the discernment to recognize what is just and true, and the compassion to recognize that we will never fully agree on everything.  Help us to live in that tension while truly expressing our love for one another.  All this we ask in your most Holy Name.  Amen