This, Too, Is Prayer

 Prayers from Sunday, June 23, 2025

Some weeks the prayers come quiet and steady. Other weeks, they remind us just how wide the range of human life really is.

• Mark asked for prayers of comfort and healing for his sister-in-law in Santa Fe, who is facing troubling health issues without clear answers. We hold her in hope and care.

• Mark also lifted up his daughter, who is deep in the trenches of potty training her two-year-old. He asked for prayers for fortitude—and we offer them gladly.

This, too, is prayer: the unknown, the exhausting, the holy mess of it all.

Bridges of Mercy

 Prayers for the Week of July 7, 2025

This week we gathered in the soft light of shared presence, naming both hope and heartache. Our words became stepping-stones—small bridges of mercy that carry us from worry to witness, from fear to faithful care.

Prayers of the People

• Louise lifts up Don, asking for steady healing as he recovers from pneumonia and sepsis.

• Judy holds the families in Texas Hill Country close: parents still searching for missing children in the floods and the first responders who press on.

May these prayers remind us that compassion travels on every breath we offer. As we speak aloud what burdens our hearts, we also affirm that none of us walks alone.

When We Let Go

Prayers for the Week of June 30

Some prayers come easy, tidy and well-formed. Others rise up from the space surrender leaves behind.

This week in worship, we stood at the edge of letting go: releasing old certainties, loosening our grip, making space for mercy to move. That same posture carries into our prayers—humble, open, and real.

Prayers of the People:

Amy asks for travel mercies for friends and family this week, especially protection for her sister and friends during a two-week bicycle trip in Alaska. 

 

Tim lifts up all pastors, churches, and families in transition across the conference. Congratulations and prayers for ease as appointments shift and new beginnings unfold.

Dave asks for travel mercies for the Bishop family as they journey to Iowa to lay Jackie’s father to rest and celebrate his life.

May these prayers rise not from our certainty, but from the tender places where grace has room to speak.

In the Spirit of Reframing

Prayers for the Week of June 23

This week in worship, we honored the tension between what we’ve inherited and what’s still unfolding. We named the courage it takes to look again—to revisit what’s familiar with open eyes and a ready heart.

That same courage shows up in our prayers. In the questions we carry. In the hope we hold for one another.

Here’s what our community is lifting up this week:

• Rev. Elizabeth gives thanks for her wife’s final Sunday at her current church and asks for prayers as they prepare for the move and new beginnings.

• Teri remembers her parents', the Coopers, on their anniversary this Wednesday and shares gratitude that Joan has officially moved into Balfour. Please keep Joan in prayer as she adjusts to this new chapter.

• Louise asks for continued healing for her son’s father-in-law and clarity around his medical needs.

• Katherine invites us to hold all military service members and their families in prayer, especially those heading into active deployment zones.

We give thanks for the love that holds steady when things are changing.

We offer these prayers in the spirit of reframing—open, honest, and hopeful.

In the Company of One Another

 Prayers from Sunday, June 16, 2025

This week, we brought forward moments of gratitude, affection, and ache. Each one a small window into a life held with care.

Rebecca gave thanks for safe travels home for Ben and Scott, and shared how meaningful it was that their queer children were received with kindness and affirmation. That kind of welcome leaves a mark.

Joan shared that she’s now 90% moved into her new home at Balfour. She’s thankful for everyone who showed up to help—a big transition, made lighter by good company.

Katherine added simply, “We love those Glancy kids.” Sometimes love doesn’t need explaining.

Dave lifted up Lance, who was caught in the middle of last Sunday’s violence. His prayer reached beyond the moment—for healing across every place still aching.

Each name, each story, helps us remember who we are to one another. This is how we practice being a community.

Spoken Aloud, Held in Common

This week, our prayers named sorrow, fear, and care in the aftermath of harm. We spoke the names of people we love, and we asked for safety in spaces that should never require it.

We prayed for Matt, a friend of Myrle’s. After collapsing suddenly, he remains hospitalized. Myrle has postponed her trip to be near him. We hold them both in tenderness.

We prayed for two of Myrle’s friends, who suffered serious burns in the hate crime on Pearl Street. Both remain in the hospital, facing surgeries and long recovery ahead. Our concern for them runs deep.

We prayed for everyone attending the Boulder Jewish Festival, and for those gathering in Jewish spaces throughout the city in the wake of the attack. Katherine named a hope for safety—and for the right to gather in peace.

These are the lives we lifted up in community. May our shared witness carry what words alone cannot hold.

Held in the Unformed

Before there was light, there was God.
Before there was order, there was Spirit.
Before there was movement, there was Love hovering close.

We hold that truth as we share these prayers—trusting that God isn’t waiting on the other side of clarity, but already here with us, in the midst of the mystery.

Prayers of the People:

• Kami asks for prayers for her health and ongoing financial hardship.

• Amy lifts up all those graduating this season—from preschoolers to post-docs—and all who love and support them.

• Amy also asks for safe travels for everyone on the move this weekend.

• Scott celebrates with Aleah, a PATH Fund client, who has completed her nursing assistant training and found a new job.

• Sabrina asks for travel mercies for her family as they set off on an Alaskan cruise.

• Judy invites us to pray for military families—those who serve behind the scenes, with courage and sacrifice.

May these prayers be held.
May the darkness be honored.
And may we remember: God is already here.