A prayer for radical change: Dana McQuater

As the Church of Scotland continues its challenging work on the three-year radical action plan which was approved by this year's General Assembly, we call on those from across the Church to join together in prayer.

This week's prayer is written by Dana McQuater, the Moderator of the Kirk's National Youth Assembly.

Each week, from late September until late November, new prayers written by people from across the Church of Scotland and our partners will be shared. Please feel free to change and adapt these prayers to suit your own context. There are more prayer resources available on the Prayer section of our website.

Everlasting God,
Change and transition can be so unsettling.
How easily I get used to my ‘normal',
how settled I become in my ‘comfort zones'.
I like to think of myself as a person comfortable with change,
but the truth is that I struggle with change just as much as anyone.
It doesn't take much for me to feel off-balance,
to feel like the world is spinning too fast for me.

Change can cause us to panic,
to overthink what we are so prayerfully trying to achieve.
We can fear the unknown, viewing it as fraught with danger,
even if we are moving to something bigger, better, or brighter.

Change can bring unexpected loss.
We mourn the loss of the routines we didn't realise were important to us.
We mourn the loss of the sense of security that comes with normality.
We mourn the friendships that will inevitably wither, no matter how hard we try to keep them going.
We can long for the way things used to be.

As we take step after step into the unknown,
Help us to know that You are the very ground on which we stand.
Help us to find our peace in You.
Help us to find solace.
Help us to step into the unknown regardless of fear,
knowing that You will keep us grounded and will not let us fall,
but hold us safe in Your everlasting arms.
Amen