Shout praises to the Holy One

It's graduation day here in Finland - Jesus we shout YOUR praises for this day - and ask you bless each and every one who celebrate today! Be also with those who failed to make the grade. Help them in their disappointment. Bless the graduates - as they now apply for continuing education places or make career choices.

It's end of school year for many throughout the northern hemisphere - Jesus we shout YOUR praises today for those in education. Bless the teachers with well-deserved rest, bless students with fair reports which show them where to focus their studies next years, bless support staff (kitchens, cleaners, janitors, secretaries, counsellors.) with knowing that they did a great job.

It's summer time. Bless people's plans this summer- holidays and trips away -changing congregations (with summer /winter migrations), visits with families and friends. Lord we ask for travel mercies, for abudant patience and tolerance where it is needed. We thank you too for volunteers who run summer camps and programmes for kids and families. Lord give us willing hearts to serve you in new ways.

It's moving time. Bless pastors (including RevAbi) and others who are moving house just now - especially pastors who move on to pastor a new congregation. We also ask your blessing and guidance for those who are making transitions in other ways.

It's outreach time. Lord inspire, protect and all those who will go on outreach this summer - those who reach out in love to those in the nearby neighbourhoods as well as those who travel far - even to foreign parts. We ask special blessing on young people - let their leaders be a great example to them and help them grow in healthy ways in their faith.

Jesus -we shout YOUR PRAISES - because you are faithful and loving and our salvation.

Prayer For World Vision

(I came across a 60's-era version of this prayer, author unknown...the places have changed, but 40 years later the situations are still the same. Lord, have mercy.)

When I turn off the 11 o'clock news I glance at my watch and yawn, and it's off to bed. Nothing wrong with that. But what of those babies crying motherless outside that Myanmar village? The vacant stare of the Rust Belt factory worker with only memories of a job? The men, women and children in the sweatshops of China, the prison camps of Russia, the refugee camps of the Sudan, the slums of Brazil? They are all part of my family. How will they sleep tonight? Let me use what little voice and power I have to speak and act on their behalf. For we have but one world, Lord or none at all.

A Franciscan Blessing

May God bless you with discomfort at easy answers, half truths, and superficial relationships, so that you may live deep within your heart. Amen.

May God bless you with anger at injustice, oppression, and exploitation of people, so that you may work for justice, freedom and peace. Amen.

May God bless you with tears to shed for those who suffer from pain, rejection,starvation and war, so that you may reach out your hand to comfort them and to turn their pain into joy. Amen.

May God bless you with enough foolishness to believe that you can make a difference in this world, so that you can do what others claim cannot be done. Amen.

And the Blessing of God, who Creates, Redeems and Sanctifies, be upon you and all you love an pray for this day, and forever more. Amen.

Tuesday Prayer

The kingdom of love is coming because:
somewhere someone is kind when others are unkind,
somewhere someone shares with another in need,
somewhere someone refuses to hate, while others hate,
somewhere someone is patient - and waits in love,
somewhere someone returns good for evil,
somewhere someone serves another, in love,
somewhere someone is calm in a storm,
somewhere someone is loving everybody.

Is that someone you?





From A Liturgy for the Celebration of Life (June 1, 2008),
at Rex Hunt's Progressive Christianity Website.

Merciful God,

Have mercy on us in our shortcomings, our failings, our railings against you and our sins. Have mercy on us when we presume we can use war to fix what's wrong with the world or regions of the world. Have mercy on us when we send young men and women to do the work of those who stay behind and decide when and where to send them, whose lives are then shed on fields we sent them to protect. Have mercy on us when we don't honor those who naively put on the uniform to serve, who are too young to understand, and who have hope to make a difference. Have mercy on us when we don't remember those who did give their lives on foriegn soil in wars numbered, named and un-named. Have mercy on us when we ourselves cause war in our homes, our families, our friends, our work, our neighbors, our churches and within ourselves. Have mercy on us, Lord. Thank you for your loving mercy, Lord, Remind us that blessed are the peacemakers, for we shall be called children of God.

Saturday prayer for peace

Father, Mother, God,

Thank you for your presence during the hard and mean days. For then we have you to lean upon. Thank you for your presence during the bright and sunny days, for then we can share that which we have with those who have less. And thank you for your presence during the Holy Days, for then we are ableto celebrate you and our families and our friends.For those who have no voice, we ask you to speak. For those who feel unworthy,we ask you to pour your love out in waterfalls of tenderness. For those who live in pain, we ask you to bathe them in the river of your healing. For those who are lonely, we ask you to keep them company.For those who are depressed, we ask you to shower upon them the light of hope. Dear Creator, You, the borderless sea of substance, we ask you to give to all the world that which we need most—Peace.

prayer - maya angelou

Friday Prayer

i thank You God for most this amazing
day:for the leaping greenly spirits of trees
and a blue true dream of sky;and for everything
which is natural which is infinite which is yes

(i who have died am alive again today,
and this is the sun's birthday;this is the birth
day of life and of love and wings:and of the gay
great happening illimitably earth)

how should tasting touching hearing seeing
breathing any--lifted from the no
of allnothing--human merely being
doubt unimaginable You?

(now the ears of my ears awake and
now the eyes of my eyes are opened)

-ee cummings

Thursday prayer

Creator God, give us a heart for simple things:
love and laughter, bread and wine, tales and dreams.

Fill our lives with green and growing hope;
make us a people of justice
whose song is Alleluia
and whose name breathes love.

--South African prayer

I Cannot Do This Alone

O God, early in the morning I cry to you.
Help me to pray
And to concentrate my thoughts on you:
I cannot do this alone.
In me there is darkness,
But with you there is light;
I am lonely, but you do not leave me;
I am feeble in heart, but with you there is help;
I am restless, but with you there is peace.
In me there is bitterness, but with you there is patience;
I do not understand your ways,
But you know the way for me…
Restore me to liberty,
And enable me to live now
That I may answer before you and before me.
Lord, whatever this day may bring,
Your name be praised.

- Dietrich Bonhoeffer

Tuesday prayer

Jesus will never shame you.
He'll call you by name.
Then,
he'll take your words;
bless them,
break them,
and
give them to you.


paraphrase of Anna Florence Carter
preaching about Mary and Martha
Festival of Homiletics
Minneapolis, 2008

Prayer for Divine Love

Our Father/Mother, Who is in heaven, we recognize that:

You are all Holy, Loving, and Merciful.

We are the children of Your Care, and not the subservient, sinful and depraved creatures that false teachers would have us believe.

We are the greatest of Your creations, the most wonderful of all Your handiworks, and the objects of Your Great Soul's Love and tenderest Care.

Your Will is that we become at-one with You and partake of Your Great Love which You have bestowed upon us through Your Mercy and desire that we become, in Truth, Your children.

You will open our souls to the inflowing of Your Love. Then will come Your Holy Spirit to bring into our souls this, Your Divine Love, in great abundance until our souls are transformed into the very essence of Yourself, and there will come to us faith—such faith as will cause us to realize that we are truly Your children and at-one with You in very substance and not in image only.

Let us have such faith as will cause us to know that You are our Father/Mother and the bestower of every good and perfect gift, and that only we, ourselves, can prevent Your Love changing us from the mortal to the immortal.

Let us never cease to realize that Your Love is waiting for each and all of us and that when we come to You with faith and earnest aspirations, Your Love will never be withheld from us.

Keep us in the light of Your Love every hour and moment of our lives, and help us to overcome all temptations of the flesh and the influence of the powers of the lower ones who so constantly surround us and endeavor to turn our thoughts away from You to the pleasures and allurements of this world.

We thank You for Your Love and for the possibility of receiving It. We believe that You are our Father/Mother, the Loving One Who smiles upon us in our weakness and is always ready to help us and take us to Your Arms of Love.

We pray thus with all the earnestness and sincere longings of our souls. Trusting in Your Love, we give You all the glory, honor and love that our finite souls can give.

James Padgett (modernized)

Prayer for Trinity Sunday

Prayer for Trinity Sunday

Gracious God,

Thank you for this new day.

Thank you for the opportunity to worship as your body of Christ.

Thank you for the Holy Spirit who fills us with the truth and wisdom.

Holy one, we pray for those who are suffering in China from Earthquakes, Myanmar from Cyclones, those who suffer from starvation.

Lord we pray for your peace with justice throughout your whole world. And now;

Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Ghost; as it was in the beginning, is now and ever shall be, world without end. Amen. Amen.,

Artwork by He Qui

cross posted at RevGalBlogPals and my blog

Saturday's Prayer

A prayer for Trinity Sunday, based on Matthew 28.16-20.
Holy God, Three in One, you are our eternal hope,our companion in life,our liberating power. Lead us in your mission,baptizing and teaching in your blessed name,so that all may worship youto the end of the age.
Posted by David Gambrell




Trinity Window- Robert Thewsey: a window designed by Geoffrey Clark. A fantastic West Window entitled 'The Trinity Window'. Robert often sits in church looking at this window and contemplating the Trinity. Manchester, England

Prayer For a Generous Heart

Loving and Generous God,

We have been blessed with many good things.

Help us to assess honestly all that we have to give.

Draw us toward those who are most in need of love, compassion and kindness we can offer.

Increase our awareness of those who struggle to feed, clothe, and house their families.

Let our efforts expand our capacity for generosity and deepen our commitment to justice.

Through the alms we give, may we recognize and praise you for the depth of your love and care for us.

-- Amen.

(Author unknown)

Artwork from www.kidscreativespace.org

Thursday Prayer

We give into your hands our unfinished tasks, our unsolved problems, and our unfulfilled hopes, knowing that only those things which you bless will prosper.

--Book of Common Order of the Church of Scotland

Morning Prayer -- African Hymn

The cross is the hope of Christians,
the cross is the resurrection of the dead,
the cross is the way of the lost,
the cross is the savior of the lost,

the cross is the staff of the lame,
the cross is the guide of the blind,
the cross is the strength of the weak,
the cross is the doctor of the sick,

the cross is the aim of the priests,
the cross is the hope of the hopeless,
the cross is the freedom of the slaves,
the cross is the power of the kings,

the cross is the water of the seeds,
the cross is the consolation of the bondmen,
the cross is the source of those who seek water,
the cross is the cloth of the naked.

We thank you, Father, for the cross.

Tuesday Prayer

All things bright and beautiful
All creatures great and small
All things wise and wonderful
Our Dear God made them all






Photo of a pet blessing from Jeff

Song of Praise

Praise Her from whom all blessings flow.
Praise Her all creatures here below.
Praise Her above in wings of flight.
Praise Her in darkness and in light.

Carol Christ, She Who Changes: Re-Imagining the Divine in the World (Palgrave Macmillan, 2003), p. 238.

Pentecost/Mother's Sunday's prayer

Gracious God, who did send down your Holy Spirit to birth your church, rain down your Holy Spirit afresh today, Heal the broken hearted, the divisions in our churches, the stuck ones, the proud ones, the desperate ones, the lonely ones, those who have given up and quit trying. Forgive us for where we have closed ourselves to your Holy Spirit, where we have impeded the Holy Spirit, or where we have stood in the way. Come Holy Spirit inspire the hearts of us your faithful, kindle in us your love that we may love you, others, and ourselves. Come Holy Spirit, renew your people, pour into us the power of your creativity; that your light will shine in the dark places of this world.

Holy one, we also today lift up moms everywhere; we who are moms presently, our moms, moms to be, moms who are now gone on from us, moms whose children have died before them, moms all around the world. We pray for those whose moms weren't able to really parent them, who were abusive, or had mental illnesses, or drug or alcohol abuses, other problems that affected their mothering. We pray for those who are childless not by choice; those who may be trying different medical treatments, or going through the adoption processes, or other means, or those who can't afford it at all. We pray for those who are not mothers by choice; whether by timing, situation, or just by choice, we don't want to leave them out as you don't. Lord we pray for moms whose children have made them happy and those whose children have disappointed them. We pray for those moms in countries that have less than we do trying to make sure their kids have the basics. We pray for those moms in countries who have to figure out how to protect their kids from war, the rebels, the terrorists, and the means of war left behind. And we pray for those moms, who have been through the recent natural disasters trying to remake life, provide shelter, and who may also grieve the death of their children.

We pray all this and more through the power of your Holy Spirit who birthed the church, and through the name of Jesus, Amen.

cross posted at revgalblogpals and st john rev abi

Saturday in preparation for pentecost Sunday

O living God, come and make our souls temples of thy Spirit.Sanctify us, O Lord. Baptise thy whole Church with fire, that the divisions soon may cease, and that it may stand before the world as a pillar and buttress of thy truth.Sanctify us, O Lord.Grant us all the fruits of thy Holy Spirit: brotherly love, joy, peace, patience, goodwill and faithfulness.Sanctify us, O Lord.May the Holy Spirit speak by the voice of thy servants, here and everywhere, as they preach thy word.Sanctify us, O Lord.Send thy Holy Spirit, the comforter, to all who face adversity, or who are the victims of men's wickedness.Sanctify us, O Lord.Preserve all nations and their leaders from hatred and war, and build up a > community among nations, through the power of thy Spirit.Sanctify us, O Lord.Holy Spirit, Lord and source of life, giver of the seven gifts,Sanctify us, O Comforter.Spirit of wisdom and understanding, Spirit of counsel and strength,Sanctify us, O Comforter.Spirit of knowledge and devotion, Spirit of obedience to the Lord.Sanctify us, O Comforter.
Prayer of Taize Community

Pre-Pentecost Prayer For Renewal

Lord, we are Your people, the sheep of Your flock. Heal the sheep who are wounded, touch the sheep who are in pain, clean the sheep who are soiled, warm the lambs who are cold, calm the sheep who fear.




Help us to know God's love through Jesus the shepherd and through the Spirit. Help us to lift up that love and show it all over this land. Help us to build love on justice and justice of love. Help us to believe mightily, hope joyfully, love divinely. Renew us that we may help renew the face of the earth. Amen

Thursday Prayer

For this reason I kneel before the Father, from whom his whole family in heaven and on earth derives its name.

I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith.

And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.

--Ephesians 3:14-19

Come I this day to the Father,
Come I this day to the Son,
Come I to the Holy Spirit powerful;
Come I this day with God,
Come I this day with Christ,
Come I with the Spirit of kindly balm.

God, and Spirit, and Jesus,
From the crown of my head
To the soles of my feet;
Come I with my reputation,
Come I with my testimony,
Come I to you, Jesu;
Jesu, shelter me.

Tuesday Prayer

YOUNG APPLE TREE
by Gail Mazur

What you want for it you'd want
for a child: that she take hold;
that her roots find home in stony

winter soil; that she take seasons
in stride, seasons that shape and
reshape her; that like a dancer's,

her limbs grow pliant, graceful
and surprising; that she know,
in her branchings, to seek balance;

that she know when to flower, when
to wait for the returns; that she turn
to a giving sun; that she know

fruit as it ripens; that what's lost
to her will be replaced; that early
summer afternoons, a full blossoming

tree, she cast lacy shadows; that change
not frighten her, rather that change
meet her embrace; that remembering

her small history, she find her place
in an orchard; that she be her own
orchard; that she outlast you;

that she prepare for the hungry world
(the fallen world, the loony world)
something shapely, useful, new, delicious.

Psalm 131

O God, I am not proud;*
I have no haughty looks.

I do not occupy myself with great matters,*
or with things that are too hard for me.

But I still my soul and make it quiet,
like a child upon its mother's breast;*
my soul is quieted within me.

O Israel, wait upon our God,*
from this time forth forevermore.

Sunday's Prayer: Ascension Sunday

Gracious, loving God,

Here we are our Lord, once again finding ourselves looking up for Jesus, looking in so many places for God knows what sometimes. Sometimes God it seems if we are just looking for ourselves. God in the midst of all of this world’s distractions, business, and activities that we can all get lost in to where we can’t really see you; help us in the midst of this moment to see you. Help us in this moment of quiet, stillness, and a slow breath, see ourselves clearly see you. As we go about our day, help us to have eyes to see you.

And God just for a moment let others see Jesus in us. Amen

Prayer for Saturday before Ascension Sunday

Almighty God,
As we prepare to preach, teach, and lead worship, guide our hearts our thoughts our words our hands.
It is so difficult for those of us who did not grow up in a faith tradition that saw this to be an important part of what they taught or preached to wrap our minds around the Ascension.
That may be a good thing, because we don't take it for granted that everybody out there knows the words, the scripture and its meaning. But God help us not to then over load everybody out there.
And it may be a good thing that we are from the traditions that did include it in its teachings and practice, because we are comfortable with it and can move beyond just teaching to the depth of the experience.
Where ever we are today with this Lord, inspire us that we too may be an inspiration to others, just as your son inspired those that day of ascension so long ago.
Amen

Dinah Roe-Kendall's acrylic painting of the Ascension of Jesus

Our Father

Hear our prayer
we are your children and
we've gathered here today
We've gathered here to pray

Hear our cry, Lord we need your mercy
And we need your grace today
hear us as we pray

ch:
our father who art in heaven
hallowed be thy name'
our father hear us from heaven
forgive our sins we pray

Hear our song
As it rises to heaven
May your glory fills the air
as the waters cover the sea

See our heart
And remove anything
that is standing in the way
Of coming to you today

(Don Moen)

Father God
- calm us as we pray to you today - keep our hopes and desires on track with yours - and may your will always be done in our lives. Amen

A Native American Prayer

Oh Great Spirit, whose voice I hear in the winds

And whose breath gives life to everyone,

Hear me.

I come to you as one of your many children;

I am weak;I am small;I need your wisdom and your strength.

Let me walk in beauty, and make my eyes ever

behold the red and purple sunsets.

Make my hands respect the things you have made,

and make my ears sharp so I may hear your voice.

Make me wise, so that I may understand what you

have taught my people and

The lessons you have hidden in each leaf

and each rock.

I ask for wisdom and strength,

Not to be superior to my brothers and sisters, but to be able

to fight my greatest enemy, myself.

Make me ever ready to come before you with

clean hands and a straight eye,

So as life fades away as a fading sunset,

My spirit may come to you without shame.

Thursday Prayer

Oh God, help us at all times to make our deeds fit our words, and to make our conduct match our professions, and grant that we may never say one thing with our lips and another with our lives.
--William Barclay