These unison confessional prayers were created to accompany the sermon series “It’s a Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood: Spiritual Wisdom from Fred Rogers.” You are welcome to use or adapt these liturgies for worship, with credit. When printing these liturgies, please use the following credit line: “Prayer by Rev. Carol Holbrook Prickett.”
Week 1: “Won’t You Be My Neighbor?”
Merciful Lord, we confess
to how easily we lose hope.
You promise us your yoke is easy,
but we carry it heavily.
We treat our callings as burdens, not gifts.
Lighten our loads; lighten our hearts.
Teach us to rejoice in you,
and to trust always
in your steadfast, powerful,
and unwavering love.
In Christ’s name we pray. Amen.
Week 2: “The Mad that You Feel”
Creator God, you made us with full and complex hearts
that can respond in so many ways to the realities of your world.
Forgive us when we deny what we feel, or lash out from our feelings;
when we are turn away from others’ grief, fear, or anger;
when we believe you only love us if we pretend everything is okay;
when we try to be less than the people you have made us to be.
Give us strength to face the fullness of our own hearts,
and to love others as we meet them.
We pray in the name of Christ. Amen.
Week 3: “I Like You Just the Way You Are”
Creator God, we confess
to a dire lack of love
for our neighbor, our enemy,
and even, especially, ourselves.
And we confess that by not loving
as you have loved
we fail to love you.
Give us eyes that see your image
in each of your children,
and hearts that love others
not as we wish they were
but as you have made them to be.
In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.
Week 4: “Am I a Sheep?”
Merciful Lord, we confess
to how easily we lose hope.
You promise us your yoke is easy,
but we carry it heavily.
We treat our callings as burdens, not gifts.
Lighten our loads; lighten our hearts.
Teach us to rejoice in you,
and to trust always
in your steadfast, powerful,
and unwavering love.
In Christ’s name we pray. Amen.
Deep Well Worship 