Gracious Father,
You, oh Lord, are perfect in every aspect - perfect in power, perfect in love, perfect in holiness. There is no hint of wrongness, no speck of darkness in your shining light. Your ways are true and just - as we look back into our history, the history of God's people, we see again and again your perfect faithfulness, your promises made and fulfilled.
You are perfect in holiness, Father, and though we cannot look upon your face, you sent your son, Jesus Christ, as the exact representation of you in every way - but as a man, that humans could gaze upon him, hear his words, follow his footsteps - see, hear and follow God made flesh among us. You revealed to us through Jesus your perfect plan to deal with sin once and for all, and you paid the price for our sin with his perfect, sinless blood upon the cross. Even the sacrifice you made for us was perfect.
Lord, we do not live in a perfect world. Instead, we are surrounded by brokenness. We know many who are struck with sickness, recovering from grief, feeling the bite of loneliness or financial constraint. And we pray for them, Lord, because we love them as you love them - we pray for their healing, we pray for comfort, we pray for you to be real and tangible in their lives - we pray that you will give them joy and hope in the midst of sadness and pain.
But there are so many we don't know, Lord, so many who are out of our sight, and yet we know that they suffer just as much from the brokenness that surrounds us. Bushfires continue to threaten people's homes and lives in our own country - record snow falls and freezing temperatures do the same across the world. We pray for an outpouring of love and generosity to those who suffer in the wake of natural disasters, that your people might show them consolation and charity in the face of the loss of life and property.
Drunken violence continues to erupt on our streets, causing harm and death both to those who drink and those they attack. Violence also continues to be hidden behind closed doors in our homes, as thousands of women are subject to abuse. Sickness, poverty and uncertainty face many asylum seekers across the world who flee from danger, persecution and hardship. Give us hearts of compassion for those who are not our friends, whom we do not know, but who you do know and you do love. Help us to fight for them not because we know them, but because we know you. And help us to give our support and encouragement to our leaders, who have to struggle with difficult decisions about all these things.
Give us hearts that wish to see this broken world made new, made as perfect as you are perfect. Help us do what we can to bring that vision of newness into the lives we can touch. And never let us lose sight of our Lord Jesus Christ, and his perfect example, and his call to us to be perfect, just as you are perfect.
By his authority we pray, Amen.
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