Weekly Prayer Update
Thursday, November 27, 2025
Giving Thanks for Compassion
God, we thank you that you are a compassionate and gracious God, as we read in Exodus: “The LORD, the LORD, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness...”
Your compassion is most fully shown to us in the love that drove Christ to the cross. We give thanks for that love, that sacrifice, and the example it sets for us to follow. We know that Christ felt compassion for his friends on earth, displayed in his tears over the death of Lazarus. We remember his heartfelt deep affection and yearning toward the people of Jerusalem, when he compared himself to a mother hen who gathers her chicks for protection.
Our hearts swell with gratitude for this love, mercy, and deep compassion. May we continually look for ways to extend these gifts to others, so they, too, may know the fullness of your abiding and saving love.
Lord, hear our prayers.
Giving Thanks for Ministry to Children and Youth
Lord, we thank You for the gift of children and youth—their energy, resilience, and the hope they carry into the future. We are grateful for the opportunity to support ministries that care for them with dignity and compassion. We give thanks for holistic child development programs that nurture not only their physical needs, but also their minds, hearts, and spirits. Thank you for the ministry of child development centers, where they find safety, nourishment, learning, and love.
We praise you for any compassionate outreach, from food distributions to child-safe spaces to process trauma, that honors each child as made in your image, and for communities that elevate their voices and protect their potential. We give thanks for leaders who walk alongside these young people and their families, offering encouragement, resources, and the promise of your faithful presence.
We are humbled to join You in this work. Continue to use our gifts, prayers, and efforts to help children flourish.
Lord, hear our prayers.
Giving Thanks for Hope Founded in God’s Shalom
Our God, the Prince of Peace, our hearts grow weary when we consider the many places where peace is absent. Whether due to war, conflict, or instability, we know these dangers are the daily reality for millions around the world. We see the toll in those forced from their homes, in children who are unsafe or hungry, and we shudder at how violence wounds the human body and soul.
Yet we know that this absence of peace is not part of your plan for humanity. We look forward with expectant hope to the day when tears will be wiped away and everything sad will become untrue. We long for the time when your true peace—your shalom—will define the new heavens and new earth and bless all people.
For this hope, we give thanks. For the way your vision of ultimate peace and reconciliation fuels compassionate care, we are grateful. Thank you for glimpses of your Kingdom breaking through in healing, justice, and love.
Strengthen us to live as people of hope, joining your work of wholeness and peace-making even now. May we embody this promise in our words and actions each day.
Lord, hear our prayers.