Prayer for Inauguration Day:
Good and gracious God, we ask for your blessings today on our country, the United States of America. It is a country beautiful & blessed, yet in continuous need of healing. Today we renew our desire to form “a more perfect union,” a union of all of us “to promote the general welfare and secure the blessings of prosperity” not only for ourselves, but for future generations. We also renew our desire to have our country play an active role with other nations in the promotion of global justice and in the unending quest for world peace.
We recognize that our country consists of people of many races, creeds, backgrounds, and cultures. We know from history that these differences can enrich us in countless ways. At the same time, we know these differences can lead to misunderstandings, suspicions, divisions, and even hatred and violence. We ask for your strength to continue to dismantle the barriers that divide us. We also confess our past failures to live according to our vision of equality and “liberty and justice for all.” Help us to respect and care for one another not only in our words, but also in our deeds. May we be especially mindful of those in our midst who do not share in the so-called “American dream.”
We pray also for all our elected and appointed officials. Please give them wisdom, strength, courage, integrity, and compassion. Help them to work tirelessly together for the common good of all. May they see their position of leadership not as a way to dominate or control, but as a way to serve all of us who call this country “home.”
And lastly, Beloved God, we ask that you bestow upon all of us hope for the future… a hope firmly rooted in our belief that you are with us always. Amen.
