King Jesus,
Remember your great mercy and love, for they are from of old. On the cross, as your lifeblood poured out from your wounded hands and side, so too did your mercy and love pour out into this broken world, spilling over every border and every boundary as a river of free flowing grace, a river that never runs dry.
So in your mercy, be gracious to us now, Lord, in whatever place we find ourselves.
For those among us who feel their footing giving way beneath them, reach down and hold us up with your wounded hands that heal.
For those who carry the quiet exhaustion of sickness, or the restless ache of anxiety, or the heavy weight of grief, or the hollow silence of loneliness, wrap yourself around us and be the rest our souls cannot find on their own. For those who have wandered onto crooked paths, unsure how we got there or how to find our way back, be the Way that leads us home to your table. And for those who move through days that can feel like unending darkness, be the Light that breaks through and does not fade.
For all of us, every one, whose hearts carry a hunger and thirst that nothing in this world can satisfy, come to us through your Word this morning, and fill us with living water that quenches forever, with the bread of life that never leaves us empty. For you, and you alone, hold the words of eternal life.
In your name we pray,
AMEN.