A Prayer for General Conference

God of creation, 
the God who spoke
and brought something out of nothing, 
brought light out of darkness,
who warmed the heart of Wesley, 
and brought to life this church in the soil of the great awakening,
we cry out to you.  
Hear our prayer.

We find ourselves in the valley of the shadow 
and we need your rod and your staff.
We need the lamp that lights the path.

What we want, deep within our hearts
deep within our souls,
Is that your will be done.  

If we are honest, God, none of us can fully see the way forward.
At times we have sensed hints of it, 
echoes on the wind of your spirt, 
But we have allowed our own opinions, 
our own pain, 
our history, 
to cloud our vision.

As your church gathers in St Louis, 
we need to hear your voice,
the voice of the creator,
speaking into existence that which does not yet exist.

As the 864 delegates and countless others assemble for worship 
We pray that your kingdom would begin to break forth.  
As your people continue in a legislative assembly 
we pray that the kingdom would continue to break forth, 
that your spirit would speak through their motions and votes. 
As the work concludes in the plenary session 
we pray that your kingdom would be seen descending out of heaven, 
and we would hear you say “Behold, I am making everything new!”