Prayers for the span of 40-hours

The ELEVENTH Annual 40-Hour
FAST

Prayers to Mark the Span of 40 Hours
Wednesday, March 15, 2006 at 8 p.m. until
Friday, March 17 at noon

Wednesday Evening Prayer
Spirit of strength and compassion, we ask that you would rest upon each person who begins a fast this evening. In this small sacrifice, we allow our bodies to share the suffering endured by the working poor each day. May our bodies be instruments that help us understand the daily struggles of our sisters and brothers. May this state-wide witness make visible the dignity and concerns of the working poor. Be with us God. Amen.

Wednesday Night Prayer
As the darkness of the night obscures our sight, we remember those who are rendered invisible by profit patterns that demean and destroy. We seek solidarity with the workers upon whom our society depends for farm labor and construction and landscaping and dishwashing, but whom it would prefer neither to see nor to know. This dark night, as we become invisible to each other's sight, we imagine the anguish of being present without being valued. As we remember invisible workers, stay with us God. Amen.

Thursday Morning
As we wake we remember those who head to work exhausted, because they work seven days a week for many hours each day. We pray for those workers and for their employers. Through this fasting, witness and joint advocacy, may we soon come to the day when each worker is justly paid for work and fairly compensated with rest. Sabbath God, bring rest to your people. Amen.

Thursday Mid-day Prayer
We are hungry God, and uncomfortable. Our heads ache and we feel sluggish. Give us the strength to bear the pain of your people in our own bodies. As we share the reality of what it means to not earn enough for the whole family to eat, keep us hungry for real solutions and unsatisfied with temporary or inadequate "fixes." Amen.

Thursday Evening Prayer
We remember workers who move from one job to another this hour; who do not have the time they desire with their children; who, despite hours of hard work, cannot make ends meet. Be with low-wage workers God. Amen.

Thursday Night Prayer
As we enter night's depths, we remember those who work this hour. Keep watch over those who labor and those who sleep. Amen.

Friday Morning
As we rise we remember the day laborers who wake at 5 a.m. each day to search for work with no promise of finding it. We remember the abusive conditions under which day laborers toil and the insults they endure from the communities they serve through their work. God of new beginnings, bring hope in the midst of despair. Amen.

Friday Mid-day
We are losing energy and gaining appreciation for the hardships lived daily by poor workers. Today we consider our own neighborhood. Where are we complicit with systems or services that do not treat workers fairly? As we break our fast, show us this day what work we still must do. Amen.