I pray for you, please pray for me...

We are all part of this ministry, you and me, the prisoner and the guard, the chaplain and the wife, the father and the children. We are all part of the restorative ministry that proclaims Jesus' reconciling grace. Whether we know it or not, our participation will have an impact on whether the message is heard -- not by God, because God already knows what is in our hearts -- but by others in our world who need to hear the reconciling message of love that comes to us through the scriptures. The good news that because God so loved the world, he sent his son into the world, the son who was in God and with God from the beginning, and the son became flesh and dwelt among us, so that we might come to know him, and through him, know the Father. That because of this great love, because he took our sins to the cross, we are made new, and that no sin is beyond God's forgiveness, and no soul is beyond redemption. We give thanks to God for in his great mercy, God loves us FIRST, and asks only that we love him in return.

Please pray for this ministry, for the network of believers who work toward sharing our understanding of God's incredible gift to others, and pray that our mission will be developed according to God's will, and we will hear and follow God's will for our lives and our ministry.

Please pray for all families, who struggle with growing in God's grace. Help parents everywhere reject the sin of shame and denial, and to break the patterns of destructive behavior that keep us from knowing the redeeming love of God, and prevent us from sharing that love with our children. Protect the children, oh God, the children of a broken people, who are the most vulnerable, and help us to know how to be your agent in a broken world.

We give voice to our hearts' desires, only to affirm our faith in you, our God, who knows already what we need, even when we do not know ourselves. We ask you to hear our prayers, and let your will be done in our lives. For Arthur Bagley and Kim Shallow, Michael Williams and Robin Knight, Teresa Brooks, Esther Moreida and David Moreida, Carmen Burks and her children, Marc Hatcher, Tennyson Harris and their families, Arenia C. Davis, Brenda Allen and all your children who lift their hearts to you. We pray for them to feel your word burning in their hearts, and that their lives will become a testament to your love and renewing power.

We pray for peace among the people of the world, for an end to oppression, and that the humble be lifted up. We pray for an end to war, that all men and women may live together in harmony.

In the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, three in name but one in being, we pray, Amen.