God,
you said to Moses:
Go, free my people. And he shrank back:
‘Please, Lord, send someone else, but not me!’
Jeremiah also protested: ‘I cannot speak, I am only a child!’
And we too, when your Word touches our hearts, begin to tremble
and sometimes retreat.
Yet your Word is our joy,
yet your trust lifts us up,
the mission you entrust to us is beautiful,
deep within us it raises great hope.
Tonight, in our common prayer, we welcome your Holy Spirit.
In our weakness, he can accomplish more than we dare to think.
Together, one with another,
we offer you our desire to follow in your footsteps,
Jesus, our companion on the journey.