PRAYER

We are Good Friday people, shocked and stunned

By the death of One who loved us with a love

We had never dared to expect

Amazed that you have given Heaven’s Son to die

For us, and before us

God who has navigated death

The place we’ve never been and so much dread

Cancel our fear, remind us of our hope

The freedom and ‘It is finished’

You have won for us

Let your grace fill us to overflowing

With the unique refreshment of total forgiveness

We are Holy Saturday people, waiting and in limbo

With doors locked for fear, we weary disciples wonder

What to say, how to pray,

As day bleeds into empty day,

God, we are disorientated

We are less than our full selves

See us in our depletion and please be patient

With our addled minds and tongues that can’t quite

find the words

We are Easter Sunday people

Astonished and delighted by the news

We declare it, announce it, herald it:

‘Christ is risen! He is risen indeed!’

God, let this truth ring out for eternal change

Let a weary world hear it, receive it, process it, believe it

Let this nation know that God is bigger than any virus

Life wins, love wins, Christ wins, God wins!

God, may Easter joy revive a jaded world

Let defiant jubilation resound from your people!

Let death be mocked and life take off!

May the words of the risen Christ

Permeate every disciple’s heart and mind

And spill out in every corner of the land

‘Peace be with you!’

Amen

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