More Prayers

This past Sunday at my church the theme for the worship service was The Lord's Prayer (the one that starts "Our Father, which art in Heaven . . .") Within the Lord's Prayer is the phrase "thy kingdom come, thy will be done." We read a very interesting Litany about this phrase that really struck me while we were reading it, and I wanted to share it with you (a litany is a congregational reading, in which the person leading reads the text, and then when the text is in bold, the entire congregation reads outloud, too.) I think it stood out to me so much because in America today there are so many people running around saying "GOD SAYS THIS" "God wants me to do this" "God wants YOU to do this" and rationalizing their actions and extreme judgements of others with select passages of the Bible and their interpretations of them (does this bother anyone else?) Anyway, here is the litany:

Let us pray for the breaking in of God's kingdom in our world today.
Creator God, Mother and Father of us all,
because Jesus has taught us to trust you in all things,
we hold to the Redeemer's word and this plea:
Your kingdom come, your will be done.
Where nations budget for war, while Christ says, "Put up your sword,"
Your kingdom come, your will be done.
Where powerful governments claim their policies are heaven blessed:
Your kingdom come, your will be done.
Where Christians seek the kingdom in the shape of their own church:
Your kingdom come, your will be done.
Where communities of faith make an idol of their uniqueness:
Your kingdom come, your will be done.
Where our prayers falter, our faith weakens, our light grows dim:
Your kingdom come, your will be done.