A prayer from my book Selected Prayers for Public Worship, celebrating the gracious call of Christ, and responding to the invitation.
Lord Jesus Christ,
you speak your word to us as you spoke it to the apostles long ago:
‘Come, follow me.’
You call us, as you have called so many over the years:
‘Come to me,
all who are weary of carrying heavy burdens,
and I will give you rest.’
You offer us,
as you offer all your people,
refreshment for our souls,
promising that anyone who is thirsty can come to you and drink.
Lord, we thank you for that invitation,
and gladly we respond.
But more than that, we thank you that before anyone comes to you,
you come first to them.
You came to Peter, James and John by the lakeside;
to the hungry, the sick and the outcasts in the streets of Galilee;
to Mary Magdalene weeping in the garden;
to two weary disciples walking the Emmaus Road;
to the Apostles trembling behind locked doors;
to Saul breathing murder on the Damascus;
and so to countless others since.
Always it is you who makes the first approach,
calling your people to faith,
and still you come through your Spirit to meet with us.
Open our eyes to your presence
and lead us forward in your service until that day when,
with all your people,
we enter your kingdom and meet you face to face.
In your name we ask it.
Amen.