Tuesday Prayer--Litany of the Cross

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 bondsmen
the cross is the source of those who seek water
the cross is the cloth of the naked.
We thank you, [Creator], for the cross.

From www.catholic.org

May the Light Bless Us

May the Light bless us, and make true our tongues, and truer our hearts, and truest of all our deeds.

Allison Croggan, The Riddle and The Naming (Candlewick Press)

prayer for Proper 8C / Ordinary 13C / Pentecost +5

Here we are Lord,
on our knees,
Crying mercy;
Mercy for our souls,
Mercy for one another,
Mercy for our churches,
Mercy for our nation,
mercy for our world.

Here we are again
Standing in your presence
in awe of you your holiness,
your otherness,
your mystery,
and your incarnation

We stand bringing the needs of our friends, family, church, community, nation and world to lay at your feet.
We cry out in pain for the struggles of the world.
We cry out for those who are in pain, sick, in the hospital, rehab, homebound, nursing homes and those on their death bead.
We cry out for the divisions and conflict that seems to be in our lives, our families, our churches, our communities, our nation and our world.
We cry out for those who live in poverty, those who are starving, those who are in prisons, and those who live under oppression.
We cry out for those affected by the gulf oil spill for the marsh and salt lands, for the sea creatures, for the living ocean.

Lord pour out your mercy
Like healing comforting rain.
Amen.


cross posted at revgalblogpals

Blessing Our Cities #2

Why pray blessings?

God is not yet finished.
God wants to fulfill divine purposes by prayer.
God changes us.

Whatever house you enter, first say, "Peace be upon this house. If a man of peace is there, your blessing of peace will rest on him, but if not, it will return to you. Luke 10:5-6

God of Peace,
You are already at work shaping the hearts and minds of men, women and children to become people of peace. We add our blessings to those you have begun to bless in this way. May they be the ones who close doors to evil in our cities and towns, and may they be people who open the door to hope.
Amen

Thursday Prayer

Beatitudes

Prayer for Father's day

God,

We today pray for Fathers near and far.
We pray for Fathers alive and Fathers who are dead.
We pray for Fathers who were present with their children and those who were absent.
We pray for new Fathers and old Fathers.
We pray for those who loved well and those who did not love as well.

We pray for Fathers who play(ed) with their children and those who don’t.
We pray for those who take their fathering seriously and those who don’t.
We pray for biological dads and dads who raised us.
We pray for those who don’t get to be dads at all.

We pray for Fathers who were let down by their dads,
We pray for Fathers who were not loved by their fathers.
We pray for Fathers who missed out on the presence of fathers.
We pray for fathers whose fathers did not play with them.

We pray for Fathers who may be caught up in this recession and lost their jobs.
We pray for Fathers who serve in the military in far away places and lands.
We pray for Fathers who may be trapped by addictions.
We pray for Fathers who are serving in prison away from their children.
We pray for Fathers who are all wrapped up in their work too busy for their children.

We pray for our fathers.
We pray for them to have strength, wisdom and courage.
We pray for them to raise their children in the way that they should go.
We pray for them to love, laugh, play and live.
We pray for forgiveness for our fathers, for their shortcomings, their weaknesses, and their abuses.

And God we pray that we may then be able to pray to you Abba Daddy.
Amen

cross posted at revgalblogpals and revabi's long and winding road

Blessing Our Cities # 1

I'm joing the ranks of prayer blog contributors for a time.

I'd like to use the Friday prayers as expressions of hope and blessing for the cities/towns in which we live and minister. These will be somewhat based on material from an organization called, "Waymakers." Their mission is to "support local movements of united prayer for spiritual awakening." We may not be local in the sense of geography, but we are local in our sense of community.

I'll share a little each Friday about blessing prayer. For now, just remember that prayers of blessing are usually expressions of God's intended goodness prayed by ordinary people who want to have a heart aligned with God' heart. Blessings bestow a future. Prayers of blessing are always prayers of hope.

Join me as we pray blessing on our communities. If you have specific requests for your city or town, please let us know in the comments.

Here is the first one:

The Lord of Peace

And now may the Lord of Peace himself give you peace at all times and in every way.
I Thess. 3:16

We praise you, Lord Jesus Christ, as the Prince of Peace. Only you can give peace to the people of __________"at all times and in every way." We pray that you will not only change circumstances. Change the people themselves to begin to be all that they have wanted to be, all that you have created them to be. Grant relational poise and inward joy. Give a peace that is better than we could have dreamed, but that you have always desired. Amen

Prayer

"After more than 55 years of growing into a life of prayer through a lifestyle based on it, my definition of prayer is consciousness, immersion, and relationship. Prayer makes us aware of the elements of the divine in human life, bringing us into contact with the God-life in and around us. Prayer is not personal devotion; it is personal growth. Prayer brings us to the ultimate and the eternal, the daily and the regular, the total consciousness of God now. Prayer enables us to be immersed in what is fundamentally and truly divine in life right now. It is not meant to be a bridge to somewhere else because God is not somewhere else. God is here. Prayer is the act of beginning the process of becoming one with the One we seek -- eventually, melting into God completely."
~~Joan Chittister

This was found in this article here.

Tuesday Prayer--A Prayer to a Listening God

A Prayer to a Listening God

O God, we labor in the heat of the day,
and so often the labor feels hopeless, unproductive, useless ....

And yet, you hear our silent cries.
You give us one another
to speak that which we in our pain cannot speak.
You give us your Word
that utters those things we cannot find the words to say.

And not only do you give us the words to speak,
but you also turn your ear to us and hear us,
even when all we have strength to whisper is,
"Lord, in your mercy, hear our prayer."

For you have promised to hear us.
You have promised to turn your face to shine upon us.
You have promised to be our shade
when the heat of the day saps our strength
and the well of hope runs dry.

And you have promised,
even in the silence,
to give us the sweet sound of peace.

--John McCullough Bade
From "A Prayer to a Listening God," in Will I Sing Again? Listening for the Melody of Grace in the Silence of Illness and Loss by John McCullough Bade (Minneapolis: Augsburg Fortress, 2003, p. 46).

Amazing Grace

Sunday prayer for Proper 6C / Ordinary 11C / Pentecost +3

Lord of love and light, shine into our lives and bring your love into our souls.
Remind us of the amazing ways you have loved us even when we turned our backs on you.
Open our hearts to receive your loving spirit.
Open our minds to receive your wisdom.
Open our hands to show others your loving compassion.

Lord of love and light, we hold in our hearts those around us who feel unloved.
We bring them to you for you to shine your love into their lives.
We hold in our minds those who overwhelmed by their needs and difficulties.
We hold in our hands your loving compassion to give them.

Lord of love and light, there are people and places that are dark and in the dark about your love.
Shine forth your light and love in their lives and in those places.
There are people and places that have closed their minds to you, to others, to new and fresh ideas.
Shine forth your light and love to open their minds to you, to others, to new and fresh ideas.
There are people and places that need our hands reaching out to them with your loving compassion.
May our reaching out to them with your love and compassion, shine forth your light and love. Amen.

cross posted at revgalblogpals

Wednesday Prayer

Like Gentle Dew

Richard Rohr

"It comes like a gentle dew" (Isaiah 45:8). Grace comes when you stop being preoccupied and stop thinking that by your own meddling, managing and manufacturing you can create it.

We're trained to be managers, to organize life, to make things happen. That's what's built our culture, and it's not all bad. But if you transfer that to the spiritual life, it's pure heresy. It doesn't work. You can't manage and maneuver and manipulate spiritual energy. It's a matter of letting go. It's a matter of getting the self out of the way, and becoming smaller, as John the Baptist said. It's a matter of the great kenosis, as Paul talks about in Philippians 2:6-11, the emptying of the self so that there's room for another.

It's very hard for us not to fix and manage life and to wait upon it, "like a gentle dew."

from today's Inward/Outward

Earth's Blood

Earth’s blood,
product of ancient deaths,
source and flowing stream for civilizations,
protector of many human lives,
still spurts but barely abated
into Gulf waters,
host to countless lives of every kind,
geo-bio-hazard
threatening all lives of every kind
for many miles
and for months or years to come.

Is this how the sea is turned to blood,
filled with this ooze, earth’s own blood,
death-made, life-giving, death-dealing,
coating birds, gumming shores,
contaminating all it contacts?

Is this your work, O Angel of the Second Trumpet?

Is your name “Human Negligence”?
Or “Corporate Hubris”?
Or “Governmental Oversight Failure”?
Or “Divine Wrath”?
Or is it “Fate”?

Will some new plague now embitter the fresh waters?
And are the skies to be darkened next?
Or have these trumpets already sounded,
and our ears were too dulled to hear?

The earth bleeds.
And all along the Gulf the merchants weep and mourn,
since no one buys their cargo anymore,
or visits their shores.
For in one month,
(or was it but one hour)
all this wealth has been laid waste.

Weep over the bleeding earth,
and mourn for her,
and all who dwell upon her,
all whose lives come from these waters
and from earth’s blood.

Weep, and mourn,
for woe is upon us,
and many are undone.

Weep, and mourn,
and, while weeping, work
without ceasing
to stanch the bleeding
and then to end it.

Weep, and mourn now,
with voices loud enough,
bodies writhing enough
that the present age
and generations yet to come
may not forget to count
the costs of earth’s blood spilled.

Weep, and mourn.

And pray…

Lord, have mercy upon us.
Christ, have mercy upon us.
Lord, have mercy upon us.

With all the earth,
and all the saints
who gather around all earthly altars,
and all whose voices still rise from under the heavenly altar
pray…

“Even so, come, Lord Jesus.”

Amen.


Copyright 2010, The General Board of Discipleship of The United Methodist
Church

Divine Mother

Given to me in quiet
you appeared and have transformed as I transform.
You, a distinct being, so perfect for me.
I wouldn't know what to ask for.
The One knew and gave me what I needed and far more.
You come to me at the water’s edge;
you sit on a rock and wait and watch me.
You come into the water with me and I immerse
even more into your cleansing love.
You hold me in the water as though I was a young babe.
We play in the water as free souls.
You know what’s in my heart;
I need not say a word.
You listen with ears of the whole universe;
you listen to one little soul.
You are never rushed.
How marvelously you listen to the unspoken.
How wonderfully you let me know we are women.
You do this by just being;
you don't have to announce it,
it is just there to celebrate.
You are steadfast and honest.
I never have to wonder if you are straight with me.
Oh, how wondrous that is to trust and know
you, and you fully.
You aren't impressed by material goods or powers.
You do not hide.
You are not timid.
You love all.
You reverence all.
You are distressed by the discounting of anyone.
You know we all have something to contribute.
You know we all have something to give.
You know we are vulnerable and able to be touched.
It is a gift to be open to touch.
It is a gift of love to you and the universe.
In turn, it is what opens us to you.
My heavenly Mother,
how grateful I am for you.
We enjoy each other,
and you are always there for me.
I pray I am there for you.

Dawn Cogger.

Spiritual Directors International Presence, June 2010

Prayer for Sunday Proper 5C / Ordinary 10C / Pentecost +2

Lord,
We find ourselves living in vulnerable unsure times, what with a major oil spill, recall of vehicles from companies once with spotless records, a slow economy, jobs still not returning, and anger in our nation.
We cry out to you for help Lord,
help to lead,
help to discern,
help to heal.

We look around and realize it is not only our economy that is in peril, but the economies of other countries are as well. We see anger, fighting, rioting and terrorism in countries near such as Mexico and Jamaica and far such as Thailand, and Pakistan. And we find ourselves confused and disheartened by the news of the attack of Israel on an aid ship, and at the same time the continued attacks from Palestinians.
Lord to you we cry for your graciousness,
Your forgiveness,
Your healing.

And Lord we see the destruction and continued long term effects from hurricanes, tornadoes, flooding and earthquakes. And We cry out that our weeping would not last for ever and that your joy be returned to us. And we pray that we can be your hands and feet to the hurting people of the world, that by doing so we may bring you glory and that your light would shine in the darkness of people’s lives.
Amen.
cross posted at revgalblogpals.

Ho'opono Cleansing Prayer

1. I am so sorry.
   
2. I ask for forgiveness. (I ask forgiveness for myself, my family, my ancestors for contributing to this situation.)
3. Please forgive me.
   
4. I love; I want to love.

More about this here.

Wednesday Prayer

May the blessing of light be on you - light without and light within.

May the blessed sunlight shine on you like a great peat fire, so that stranger and friend may come and warm himself at it.

And may light shine out of the two eyes of you, like a candle set in the window of a house, bidding the wanderer come in out of the storm.

And may the blessing of the rain be on you, may it beat upon your Spirit and wash it fair and clean, and leave there a shining pool where the blue of Heaven shines, and sometimes a star.

And may the blessing of the earth be on you, soft under your feet as you pass along the roads, soft under you as you lie out on it, tired at the end of day; and may it rest easy over you when, at last, you lie out under it.

May it rest so lightly over you that your soul may be out from under it quickly; up and off and on its way to God. And now may the Lord bless you, and bless you kindly. Amen.


Scottish Blessing


Here.