Every day, Living Lutheran offers a prayer from the ELCA resource Prayer ventures, which can be downloaded here. These daily petitions are offered as a guide for your own prayer life as together we pray for the needs of the world and give thanks for the ministries of our church.

Thursday, Dec. 30 In a world where anger, vengeance, division, impatience and self-interest are all too familiar, pray that we embrace together the freedom, new self and purpose that we have received in baptism, so that we, too, will take to heart the words of encouragement Paul wrote to the Christians in Colossae: “As God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience. Bear with one another and, if anyone has a complaint against another, forgive each other; just as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. Above all, clothe yourselves with love” (Colossians 3:12-14).

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