A Prayer for the Road Home

Lord God, you who visited your people with bread in the days of famine, we come to you as those who have travelled and lost along the way. Some of us have left places we should not have left. Some of us have buried what we loved. Some of us are walking home with empty hands and are not sure we will be recognised.

We thank you that Naomi could speak her bitterness to you and still be held by you. Give us that same honesty. Let us bring our grief into your presence rather than hiding it behind brave words. And give us the faith of Ruth, who chose your people and your name before she had seen any of your goodness for herself.

Make us people who cling when it would be easier to turn back. Bind us to one another and to you. And as we walk toward Bethlehem, open our eyes to the harvest that has already begun. In the name of Jesus, our kinsman and our redeemer. Amen.