When in Doubt: Thomas Narrative Lectionary Prayer

John 20: 19-31 and Psalm 145: 13-21

Call to Worship: Lord we come to know you, So Lord we come to taste and see the kingdom through communion, Lord we are full of doubts, So Lord, we come to touch and believe that you are the crucified God, Lord we are full of worry, So Lord, let us confess together, here, that you are “My Lord and My God” today. 

Prayer of Confession: Lord we confess that we are much more likely to remember people’s moments of doubt, then their acts of belief. We call Thomas the doubting one, when he was the one cheered Jesus’s return to Lazurus, willing to risk stoning and death. Too often we worry about our doubts, instead of embracing our triumphs. Remind us, here and now, that you are our Lord and God in times of both doubt and certainty. Let us confess you as our Lord and God, even when we aren’t sure, we pray.

Assurance of Pardon: God is faithful in all God’s words,and gracious in all deeds.
The Lord upholds all who are falling, and raises up all who are bowed down. Therefore, we can be confident in the truth In Jesus Christ we are forgiven, Amen.

Prayer of Dedication/Offering Prayer Lord, let us go into the world, ready to find and hug Jesus. Do not allow doubt to be a stumbling block, but instead teach us how to share the love of Jesus Christ in such a way that all might hear it, so that we might be better dedicated to you we pray. Amen.

Prayers and Liturgy by Pastor Katy Stenta who is the solo pastor at a bigger on the inside church in Albany, NY and enjoys reading fantasy, soaking up sunshine, playing with her three sons and visiting her husband at his work, the library.

Author: katyandtheword

Pastor Katy has enjoyed ministry at New Covenant since 2010, where the church has solidified its community focus. Prior to that she studied both Theology and Christian Formation at Princeton Theological Seminary. She also served as an Assistant Chaplain at Trenton Psychiatric Hospital and as the Christian Educational Coordinator at Bethany Presbyterian at Bloomfield, NJ. She is an writer and is published in Enfleshed, Sermonsuite, Presbyterian's today and Outlook. She writes prayers, liturgy, poems and public theology and is pursuing her doctorate in ministry in Creative Write and Pittsburgh Theological Seminary. She enjoys working within and connecting to the community, is known to laugh a lot during service, and tells as many stories as possible. Pastor Katy loves reading Science Fiction and Fantasy, theater, arts and crafts, music, playing with children and sunshine, and continues to try to be as (w)holistically Christian as possible. "Publisher after publisher turned down A Wrinkle in Time," L'Engle wrote, "because it deals overtly with the problem of evil, and it was too difficult for children, and was it a children's or an adult's book, anyhow?" The next year it won the prestigious John Newbery Medal. Tolkien states in the foreword to The Lord of the Rings that he disliked allegories and that the story was not one.[66] Instead he preferred what he termed "applicability", the freedom of the reader to interpret the work in the light of his or her own life and times. View all posts by katyandtheword