Sunday Prayer 21C

Form IV (The Book of Common Prayer, Episcopal Church)

Let us pray for the Church and for the world.

Grant, Almighty God, that all who confess your Name may
be united in your truth, live together in your love, and reveal
your glory in the world.

Silence

Lord, in your mercy
Hear our prayer.


Guide the people of this land, and of all the nations, in the
ways of justice and peace; that we may honor one another
and serve the common good.

Silence

Lord, in your mercy
Hear our prayer.


Give us all a reverence for the earth as your own creation,
that we may use its resources rightly in the service of others
and to your honor and glory.

Silence

Lord, in your mercy
Hear our prayer.


Bless all whose lives are closely linked with ours, and grant
that we may serve Christ in them, and love one another as he
loves us.

Silence

Lord, in your mercy
Hear our prayer.


Comfort and heal all those who suffer in body, mind, or
spirit; give them courage and hope in their troubles, and
bring them the joy of your salvation.

Silence

Lord, in your mercy
Hear our prayer.


We commend to your mercy all who have died, that your will
for them may be fulfilled; and we pray that we may share
with all your saints in your eternal kingdom.

Silence

Lord, in your mercy
Hear our prayer.

Almighty God, by your Holy Spirit you have made us one with your saints in heaven and on earth: Grant that in our earthly pilgrimage we may always be supported by this fellowship of love and prayer, and know ourselves to be surrounded by their witness to your power and mercy. We ask this for the sake of Jesus Christ, in whom all our intercessions are acceptable through the Spirit, and who lives and reigns for ever and ever. Amen.

Crossposted on RevGalBlogPals and SeekingAuthenticVoice

Blessing Our Cities #11

Our Friday blessing prayers continue with prayers for families. Consider with me for a moment, how every family becomes part of a long, unfolding story. Pray for families with intensity. Our Father God--who is also El Shaddai, the many-breasted nourisher (a mother image if ever there was one!) must feel passionate about the families of this world. So must we!

Psalm 128:1-4 Blessed are all who fear the Lord, who walk in his ways. You will eat the fruit of your labor, blessing and prosperity will be yours. Your wife will be like a freuitvine within your house. Your sons will be like olive shoots around your table. This is a man blessed of the Lord!

We pray for families without children, particularly for those to whom this is a grief. Provide ways for them to bless others and to be blessed in the process. May they have a positive impact on the children around them even while their hearts may long for one of their own. Satisfy families with justice in their labors. Provide employment or other provision for those who need it. May there be abundance with contentment. May the husband count his wife as a blessing, and may he honor her with his words and actions. We also pray earnestly for families with children. May love flourish, and may the children be treasured more than any other wealth, protected, and nourished with food, love, kindness and respect. Amen

Thursday Prayer

Help me see the good
and the bad,
O God,
as equal opportunities
to lean closer
into your loving embrace.

Sunday Prayer Proper 20C, a lament

God of all that is, was, and will be
Have mercy on me
As I stumble, lost
In my ways,
Ignorant of what I’ve done,
Now, dismay has taken a hold of me.

Have mercy on us, heart sick are we,
Whose joy is gone
With grief upon us
We mourn, for dismay has taken a hold of us.

Defiled are we, buying the poor for silver
The needy for sandals,
Our pockets full,
Theirs empty, and
Now, dismay has taken a hold of me.

Is there no balm to soothe this sin sick world?

Gracious God who lifts
The needy and raises the poor
Who urges within us

Have mercy on us, hear our prayers
May the intercessions in my heart
Become the actions of my hands
May my feet move into the ash heap
May I work to restore hope
May I work to restore justice
May I work to restore love
May I be bear the balm that soothes
As you would have me do
And may there be thanksgivings for everyone.
Amen.


Crossposted on RevGalBlogPals and SeekingAuthenticVoice

Blessing Our Cities #10

Continuing our "blessing" prayers, this is the fourth (and last) prayer for "increase."

...May the Lord give you increase,

you and your children.

May you be blessed of the LORD,

Maker of Heaven and Earth.

Psalm 115:12-15

Create in us, O Lord, new hearts and right spirits as those of a child. For it is through the eyes and spirit of a child that we truly enter into the kingdom of Heaven as Jesus said, “Let the children come to Me, for this is what the kingdom of heaven is like.” May the children who are added to the families in our villages, towns and cities be regarded as blessings from you, O Lord. We ask that you, Creator God, Mother and Father and sustainer of life, shape this generation. May we learn to honor, value, respect, teach, train, and love the children of our own families and also those who are part of our lives.

Amen

Thursday Thought

Out

Of a great need

We are all holding hands

And climbing.

Not loving is a letting go.

Listen,

The terrain around here

Is

Far too

Dangerous

For

That.

by Hafiz

Sunday Prayer 19C

(dust storm sun, Arizona, from the files of mompriest)

Merciful God, who created

the heavens and the earth

and all creation

God who weeps

with us

over the sins we commit, destroying

the earth in so many ways,

But most especially

on that tragic

morning of destruction,

when what was left was waste and void;

A hole, fires all around,

and yet no light

leaving us quaking in sin. Ours. Theirs.

Create in me a clean heart O God

A sinner who repents

And put a new spirit within me.

Be patient merciful God,

With our stiff-necked ways,

Blot out our transgressions

The ways we hurt ourselves

The ways we hurt others

The ways we hurt you,

Eating the bread of greed.

Wash us from our iniquity

Help us see our transgressions

And not just the ones we think

Others commit

Help us, heal us

With your love

Create in me a clean heart O God

A sinner who repents

And put a new spirit within me.

God of mercy and grace

Who creates, renews, restores

Who forgives and heals

Help us to be agents of

Hope.

To forgive as you do.

To love as you do.

To be patient as you are.

To care this earth

To care for others

To care for ourselves

May we be your hands

Your heart.

May we rejoice with the angels

A new day,

For in you all things are possible.

Amen.

Crossposted on RevGalBlogPals and SeekingAuthenticVoice

Blessing Our Cities #9

Psalm 115:12-15 The Lord has been mindful of us; God will bless...


Lord God, You have long been aware of this place I live, and these people, and these present days. What wisdom and love are in your heart? What goodness do you intend, if your will is done? What wonders will you do to prove your love to the one who fears, or weeps, or doubts?


....God will bless...those who fear the Lord, the small together with the great.


You do not restrict your blessing to just "special" people. Just as eagerly, you bless any who regard you with awe for who you are. And, even more, you pour blessing on those who do not even know who you are. You have blessed those high and mighty, and you will also bless the forgotten and the small. No one escapes the scope of potential blessing in Your heart. We look to you, asking blessing for the ones who seem overlooked. We seek your blessing on those who honor you, and we pray that as you bless those who do not, they will seek you and find you.


May the Lord give you increase, you and your children. May you be blessed of the Lord, Maker of Heaven and earth.

Amen

What's your vision?

Living By a Vision

N. Gordon Cosby

All of us live by some vision. It may be a depressing vision. It may be a very limited vision. It may be a vision that it's all going to pieces. But there is a vision, conscious or unconscious, that each of us lives by. If it's a dark vision, one that's moving toward disintegration and chaos, then we will be fearful. If it's a larger vision, if it's a universal vision, if it's a vision of God's Realm and we really believe that it's going to come into being, we'll be filled with hope. Hope is the confidence that the vision which is the biblical vision will really occur. And no one is going to be excluded.

Source: Sermon (September 24 1989)

Wednesday Prayer

Prayer: the Soul's Residence

Abraham Joshua Heschel

"Prayer is not a stratagem for occasional use, a refuge to resort to now and then. It is rather like an established residence for the innermost self. All things have a home: the bird has a nest, the fox has a hole, the bee has a hive. A soul without prayer is a soul without a home."

Source: The Wisdom of Heschel

HT to Everything is Holy Now

Sunday Prayer Proper 18C

For those who labor this night, this day
Let us pray.

Pray for those who labor in the world,
To bring peace where there is injustice
Economic, Education, Health Care,
To gather up those who live on the fringes
Pushed aside by power and greed,

For those who work for justice
Let us pray.

Pray for those who labor in this world
Working long hours to feed and clothe children
Over -working for substantial wages
To feed family and put clothes on their backs
Pushed aside by power and greed.

For those who are victims of injustice
Let us pray

For those who weep this night, who suffer
From illness of body, mind or spirit,
Who suffer from broken spirit, broken hearts
Like a malformed pot in the potters hand
Waiting to be remade, whole

For those who seek God
Let us pray

For those who have found healing this day
Those made whole and new again in love
The grace, mercy and love of God,
Who desires us, yearns to make whole
Turn and face the God who loves you

For the love and grace of God,
Let us pray.
Amen.

A prayer based on the readings for Proper 18C: Jeremiah 18:1-11 and Psalm 139:1-6, 13-18 OR Deuteronomy 30:15-20 and Psalm 1; Philemon 1-21 Luke 14:25-33 by The Rev. Terri C, Pilarski, cross-posted on RevGalBlogPals and Seeking Authentic Voice

Blessing Our Cities # 8

We continue our prayers for "increase" --the kind of fullness that God loves to bring, fullness of godly character and fulfillment of God's intentions for us and those places where we live and serve.

Today's prayer may cause certain individuals to come to mind, people who need physical strength, emotional health and hope restored. You might want to spend a little time naming those people specifically to the Lord of all good things.

"...I pray that in all respects you may prosper and be in good health, just as your soul prospers." 3 John 1:2

Lord God who brings every perfect gift, today we agree together for the people of our cities, towns and churches to have prosperity in body and soul. In Your Holy Name, we bless them with the prosperity that Christ Himself gives. May their bodies be strangthened and guarded from disease. May their minds be renewed, protected from lies and from fear. May their souls be encouraged, restored and forgiven from sin. May their hopes be renewed and lifted again to you, God. Amen

Thursday prayer activities

Count your blessings. Make a gratitude list going through the alphabet. Remember that Meister Eckhart said that saying "thank you" to God is all we have to pray!