Gathering Prayer

God, the encourager, God, the compassionate,
God, the merciful, holy, blessed: 

Disturb us.  Rouse us from our sleep. 
Lift us into consciousness of your presence. 
Change us, move us, mold us for the better;
so that, at the sound of your voice,
at the call of our name,
we will never be the same.

May our worship do this and so much more,
in the name of Jesus.  Amen.

— from In the Name of Jesus…. Service Prayers for the Fifteenth Sunday after Pentecost, posted on the Worship Ways page of the United Church of Christ website.

For an index of other prayers and prayer resources on this blog, see this Prayer index.