DEVOTION//An Easter Prayer

Make this prayer your own.

On Easter evening (April 12, 2020), the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod provided an online worship service hosted at Wisconsin Lutheran Seminary. You will find the Together at the Empty Tomb service here.

The service included this prayer. It is a prayer worth repeating.

Prayer of the Church

Risen Savior, we come to you in our weakness. We turn to you in our time of need. We place before you the disease present in our world. Bring wisdom to doctors. Give understanding to scientists. Endow caregivers with compassion. Bring healing to those who are ill. Protect those who are most at risk. Give comfort to those who have lost a loved one. Stabilize our communities. Unite us in our compassion. Remove all fear from our hearts. Fill us with confidence in your care. Lord, in your mercy, hear our prayer.

Risen Savior, use this pandemic to remind us that sickness and death are symptoms of the greater problem of sin. Fill our hearts with joy that through your death you have healed our souls, and in your resurrection you have granted us the hope of a life that death cannot overcome. Give us the courage to share our Easter faith, so that this news of healing and redemption might spread far and wide. Lord, in your mercy, hear our prayer.

Risen Savior, in this time of isolation, give us comfort and assurance that you hear our prayers and our praise raised together with the saints and angels. The whole Church in heaven and on earth thanks you for your great victory. Lord, in your mercy, hear our prayer.

Risen Savior, we ask you to grant strength and wisdom to our president, the Congress of these United States, and all state and local officials. May their labors for our nation’s health and welfare not be in vain. May their actions demonstrate compassion for the vulnerable, aging and unemployed. Lord, in your mercy, hear our prayer.

Risen Savior, fill us with the fire of your love, that in the difficult days and weeks ahead we may see your face in our neighbor’s face and serve you by serving them. Grant to us the willingness to bear any burden or make any sacrifice for the well-being of others. Lord, in your mercy, hear our prayer.

Risen Savior, you have opened up for us the way to eternal life. Embolden us by your resurrection to be fearless in the face of disease, chaos, loneliness and every sorrow of this world. Our Redeemer lives, and so we know that we too shall be resurrected and glorified to live with him and one another in an eternal kingdom. Lord, in your mercy, hear our prayer.