Prayer (with choir)           Deep in my Heart
by Rev. Douglas Taylor  
2-22-6

Video: https://youtu.be/TuhlU9mimsc

(For our prayer this morning, I’m inviting the choir to join me. They will sing all four verses of We Shall Overcome around the prayer I will offer. At the end, we’ll have a brief silence and we will then all sing the first verse again together in prayer as a congregation.)

Please join me in the spirit of prayer: 

We shall overcome,
we shall overcome,
we shall overcome someday!
Oh, deep in my heart I do believe
we shall overcome someday!

God of life and love, we gather this morning yearning for the optimism in the face of deep struggle witnessed in this song. We yearn for that assurance that someday we shall overcome the injustice of our days. O God, hear our prayer.

We’ll walk hand in hand,
we’ll walk hand in hand,
we’ll walk hand in hand someday!
Oh, deep in my heart I do believe
we’ll walk hand in hand someday!

God of life and love, we long to join hands in the struggle, to make a difference, to have an impact. Teach us, O God to be abolitionists and allies and ambassadors of your truth, your love. Teach us, O God, to join together that we may one day be free. O God, hear our prayer.

We shall all be free,
we shall all be free,
we shall all be free someday!
Oh, deep in my heart I do believe
we shall all be free someday!

God of life and love, we each have our own struggles and pain we carry. Help us to tap into the depth of injustice experienced through the ages by those more marginalized, who hold less privileged than ourselves. Help us to see how we can be better agent of peace and justice in our world. O God, hear our prayer.

We shall live in peace,
we shall live in peace,
we shall live in peace someday!
Oh, deep in my heart I do believe
we shall live in peace someday!

Through the ages, people have sung music that helps lift them and unify their spirits. O God who does reside deep in our hearts, be with us now that we, in this moment and into the future, may tap into that strength, that spirit, that song.

In the name of all that is holy,
May it be so.

-silence-

All congregation sings:

We shall overcome,
we shall overcome,
we shall overcome someday!
Oh, deep in my heart I do believe
we shall overcome someday!