Letting Go Fall Congregational Prayer

Thank you for the extravagant letting go in nature all around us.
The clouds letting go of moisture in rain and snow.
Trees letting go of their leaves, revealing their naked beauty.
The winds letting loose and blowing everything away.
As the days grow short, and the nights grow long,
help us to open our hands and drop what is not essential.
Help us trust that nothing is wasted,
that all of life is held in your hands,
and finds a purpose that is beyond our knowing.
Help us let go of the fears that plague us in the long nights.
We pray for parents who are learning to let go of their growing children,
trusting them to find their way and make healthy choices.
We pray for those of us who are learning to let go of our money.
Forgive us for our tendency to take your gifts and hoard them:
too often we make long lists of what we want to buy for ourselves,
rather than thinking of the good we could do for others.
We pray today for those we love who are suffering.
We need healing for the sick, comfort for the grieving,
relief for those weighed down by economic insecurity and injustice.
Fill us with new ideas of how to help and comfort.
We pray for those who are homeless in our community,
who have been let down by social safety nets.
And we pray for refugees who have nowhere to turn,
whose own countries have pushed them out and abandoned them.
Thank you for the work of agencies like ___________
that are doing the hard work of mobilizing support for newcomers to our country,
give them strength and wisdom, and the resources they need to do their work.
Remind us this week to do all we can to make our country a welcoming place,
remembering that we see your face among the hungry and the homeless.
Thank you that we are all your children
and that you will never let us go. In Jesus’ name we pray, Amen.