The following is
adapted from the Reformed Jewish shabbat service. The El'Anu
prayer is a plea for the coming of the kingdom. The closing
collect is the collect for Peace from the Book of Common Prayer.
May the time not be distant, O Lord,
when your name shall come to be worshiped
in all the earth,
when unbelief shall disappear and error be no more.
Lord, in your mercy
Fervently we pray that the day may come
when all shall turn to you in love,
when corruption and evil
shall give way to integrity and goodness,
Lord, in your mercy
We pray for that day
when superstition shall no longer enslave the mind,
nor idolatry blind the eye,
when all shall know that you alone are God.
Lord, in your mercy
We pray with all our hearts:
let violence be gone.
Let the day come
when evil shall give way to goodness:
when war shall be forgotten
and hunger be no more
and all at last will live in freedom.
Lord, in your mercy
O may we, created in your image
become one in spirit and one in friendship,
forever united in your service.
Then will your kingdom be established on earth
and the word of your prophets fulfilled.
Lord, in your mercy
Eternal God,
in whose perfect kingdom
no sword is drawn
but the sword of righteousness,
no strength is known but the strength of love;
So mightily spread abroad your spirit,
that all peoples may be gathered
under the banner of the prince of peace,
as children of one father;
To whom be dominion and glory,
now and forever.
(Pastor Tom Shelley, Zion (Shaffer's) United Lutheran, Seven
Valleys, Penn.) |
