Run

A few Sundays back I wasn’t at church.

Instead I was in Barcelona, running. I wasn’t running alone, I was with my husband and some friends. In fact there were almost 19000 of us, gathered to run the Barcelona Half Marathon, gathered to run just for the sake of it. Half of those running weren’t from Spain, people had travelled thousands of miles to gather and run; there was something quite biblical about it.

Many of us, most of us, have spent time in our lives running. Not for fun, but running away, from from and running to.

Let us go to God in Prayer….

Holy Spirit we pray for ourselves and we pray for each person we connect with who is running away.

We pray for that person who is running away with themselves, caught up in a life they never intended and now they don’t know how to stop. Holy Spirit bring them a moment to pause and reflect on their life’s trajectory. Bring them strength and wisdom to slow down and stop.

Holy Spirit we pray for those running away with others, caught up with peer pressure, doing things they know feel wrong. We pray for them, that they can be emboldened to leave the pack and strike out alone.

Heavenly Parent, we pray for those people running from. For many of us it feels like we have been running from all our lives. Heavenly Parent, wrap your nurturing warmth and love around those running from pain, judgement and condemnation. Comfort those running from people who treat them badly, running from situations that are no longer acceptable. Heavenly Parent, bring them what they need so they can stop and feel whole in the present moment. We pray for those running from who they are, for those people not ready to accept the wonderful truth of who you created them to be. Heavenly Parent bring them a sense of acceptance and validation.

Jesus we pray for those in our world running to, running towards, seeking.

We pray for your loving touch on all those running to safety, seeking sanctuary, running to a place they may call home. Jesus you taught us through your life to do all we can to help those running and seeking. Show us what we can provide for them on their journey, show us how we can create a safe destination for them.

Jesus, what can you teach us today?

Show us how we can fight injustice and empower others so no one has to run for anything but fun!

Amen!