A prayer to show God's mercy to others by Betsy DeCruz, read by Liam Arton.

Because of the tender mercy of our God whereby the sunrise shall visit us from on high

to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death to guide our feet

into the way of peace, Luke 1, 78 through 79.

Mercy is not often my first response when someone offends me or does something that irritates

me.

I know Jesus said, blessed are the merciful, but sometimes I want to get back at people

or at least make them understand why they're driving me crazy.

I forget the mercy God has shown me.

This mercy is what made God send his only son into the world to redeem sinners.

Mercy is what made Jesus Christ the light of the world come down to earth to give light

to those in darkness.

Mercy for sinners is what led Jesus to die on the cross to pay for our sin.

I wish I could have been there when Zechariah prophesied at the birth of his son John

the Baptist.

Loved by God's spirits, Zechariah knew John would go before the Lord who would visit

his people to redeem them.

He foresaw that John would proclaim repentance in the forgiveness of sins, all because of

the tender mercy of our God, Luke 1, 78.

So often we come to God asking for our needs and praying, he'll show mercy and grant our

requests.

We forget to thank God for the mercy he's already shown us.

...