Monday Prayer: Into a New Year

God of renewal and recreation,

As we observe the turning of the year,
We know that all time is still in You.
While we feel shaped by the sands sifting in the hourglass,
We know that is the molding of your Spirit that truly brings us into who you have made us to be.

Be with us this day and in all the days ahead.
Give us the resolve to be still.
Grant us the courage to move at your Word.
Gift us the faith to continue on until all we trust is true becomes visible before us.

Amen.

Prayer for Sunday Christmas 1C

Holy one,

We thank you for coming into our world as a baby brining your love, and your joy into the world.
It seems like just a short time ago we were celebrating his birth
and now we are taking a peek into the New Year.
We have no idea what the New Year is to bring;
and at the same time some of us are setting goals and making resolutions.
Lord, we pray for a good year for all, we pray that we all may grow in your wisdom.
We pray that all grow in your grace with you and with each other.
Lord our world could use more people who are wise and have grace with you.

But often Lord we don’t know how to grow in wisdom and in grace with you so we pray you would clothe us in your wisdom;
         with your love which brings perfect harmony to the disorder of our lives.
         with your compassion that brings calmness and soothes the anger in us.
         with your kindness that is a balm to our pain.
         with your humility that allows the ire of pride to settle down to join
         and collaborate with others.
         with your meekness that stops the wars and bleeding.
         with your patience that keeps us from impulsively giving into our urges.
         with the ability to bear with one another instead of turning our backs on each other.
         with your forgiveness that we can forgive others as you forgive us.
         in your peace so that we could live in peace with one another.
         in gratitude that we would praise you and thank you with grateful heart.

Lord,
We pray for comfort those who have had deaths during this season
or facing painful and sad memories and anniversaries of loved ones.
We pray for healing for those who are ill, struggling with failing health, and whose loved ones are sick.
We pray for restoration for those who have been affected by tornados, hurricanes
and other forms of natural disaster.
We pray that violence would end and that your peace, love and joy may reign.
Amen

cross posted at revgalblogpals

Thursday Thought

" The place which God takes in our soul he will never vacate, for in us is his home of homes, and it is the greatest delight for him to dwell there. . . . The soul who contemplates this is made like the one who is contemplated."

~~Lady Julian of Norwich

Monday Poem: A Christmas Hymn

The feast day of your birth resembles you, Lord.
Because it brings joy to all humanity.
Old people and infants alike enjoy your day.
Your day is celebrated from generation to generation.
Kings and emperors my pass away,
And the festivals to commemorate them soon lapse.
But your festival will be remembered till the end of time.
Your day is a means and a pledge of peace.
At your birth heaven and earth were reconciled,
Since you came from heaven to earth on that day
You forgave our sins and wiped away our guilt.
You gave us so many gifts on your birthday:
A treasure chest of spiritual medicines for the sick;
Spiritual light for those that are blind;
The cup of salvation for the thirsty;
The bread of life for the hungry.
In the winter when trees are bare,
You give us the most succulent spiritual fruit.
In the frost when the earth is barren,
You bring new hope to our souls.
In December when seeds are hidden in the soil,
The staff of life springs forth from the virgin womb.


- Ephrem the Syrian (c. 306-373 C.E.)

Prayer for Advent 4 C

Shepherd God,

You promised to take care of and feed your flock.

If ever there was a time we needed a Shepherd God it is now.

We need your strength as we feel so weakened by the tragic events of last Friday, by funerals for young children, teachers and a young man.

We are all looking for answers to why and how to stop this from ever happening again. And frankly we don’t know what to do. If we are to believe the media, someone is to blame or something.

Yet as your believers and followers you have taught us not to blame but to forgive and so God help us to forgive.

Lord this tragedy also reminds us to pray for those who have metal illnesses and to not turn our back on them but to assure them proper care and medical treatment.

Lord we are reminded through our scripture today that you did not look down on a young woman long ago who was pregnant out of wedlock but favored her and blessed her.

And you did not shame nor shun and older woman who had been barren for so long, but blessed her and filled her with your joy.

And you have not stopped loving the unloved, favoring the unfavorable, looking for lost, seeing the hidden ones, lifting up the lowly, embracing the poor and fed the hungry and neither should we.

It is through your great mercy that you have done this and it is your mercy that empowers us to give not just at Christmas time but every day.

Lord there are many who need restoring in their bodies, minds and emotions.

There are many who need healing physically, mentally emotionally and spiritually.

There are many homes, marriages, families and children that need to be made whole.

There are countries that are broken and at odds with their own people, that need to be made right.

Lord if there ever was a time when we need a Shepherd God it is now.

Come Lord Jesus come.

 

cross posted at revgalblogpals

Thursday

Thank you. Bless us--every one.

The Sign of your Suffering Love

the god we would rather have

We are your people and mostly we don't mind,
       except that you do not fit any of our categories.
We keep pushing
                  and pulling
                  and twisting
                  and turning,
       trying to make you fit the God we would rather have,
                  and every time we distort you that way
                             we end up with an idol more congenial to us.
In our more honest moments of grief and pain
       we are very glad that you are who you are,
       and that you are toward us in all your freedom
       what you have been toward us.
So be your faithful self
       and by your very engagement in the suffering of the world,
       transform the world even as you are being changed.
We pray in the name of Jesus,
       who is the sign of your suffering love. Amen.

(In anticipation of reading Jeremiah 4-6)

- Walter Brueggemann, "Awed to Heaven, Rooted in Earth" (Fortress Press, 2003), p. 35

Tuesday Prayer

So, today, God,
I don't think I have a prayer in me.
Anything I pray
feels trite in contrast to the heaviness
we all feel in the face
of the Newtown tragedy.
There are no words.

Yes,
I know.
I am thinking about other stuff too...like finishing up worship plans,
getting some administrative work out of the way,
wondering if I will ever have time to make some of the holiday foods my mom used to make
every Christmas, like lefse, flatbread, krumkake...
and
making a list of the books I want to read and things to make...
but that is all monkey min,
or at the least, denial mind or procrastinator mind.

But the truth is,
I don't have a prayer in me today.
And so,
I ask your Spirit
to pray on my behalf...
for those who need You and healing and balm and rest, and heart and compassion,
and just simply holding.

Amen.

Monday Prayer: A Hymn of Mary

O Lord, how should we address your mother?
If we call her "virgin", a child stands up,
If we call her "married", a woman stands up,
Yet she was both a virgin, and she was married.

O Lord, what is Mary to you?
Certainly she, and she alone, is your mother.
Yet she is also your sister and your friend.
And, together with your whole Church, she is your lover.
She is all things to you.

She was betrothed to you before you came.
Then she conceived you when the Spirit brought you.
She became your mother when you were born.
And she became your first disciple when you preached.

She conceived you without sexual union,
And she produced milk in her breasts for you to drink.
Her breasts were a sign of your ministry,
Bringing spiritual milk to parched, thirsty souls.

You entered her, and became a servant.
You, whose Word was the agent of all creation,
Fell silent in her womb.
By this means your voice could be heard by all humanity.

You entered her, and became weak and vulnerable.
You, who is the nourished of all creation,
Became hungry and thirsty within her.
In this way all humanity could receive the bread of life.

You, the King of Kings became lowly within her.
You, the source of all wealth, became poor within her.
You, the mightiest of all warriors, became powerless within her.
You, who clothe even the birds, became naked within her.

Thus you can lift up the lowly,
You can feed the poor,
Give strength to the powerless,
And clothe the naked.

- Ephrem the Syrian

Prayer for 3C and Newtown, Conn.

Lord,

Today we lit the Advent candle of joy reminding us of the joy that the Christ child brought into this world.

And yet today Lord, it is difficult to feel any joy with the death of 20 children and 8 adults just days ago in Newtown, Connecticut.

We are stunned, silenced, saddened and angered that this tragedy could happen.

We think of our children and want to protect them, keep them safe and draw them close to us.

And we grieve for those who hearts are broken by empty hands, empty beds, and empty spaces in their lives.

We pray for the children and teachers who survived that they may heal from their traumatic memories, fears, grief and loss.

We pray for the First Responders and Policemen that their hearts and minds be healed also.

We pray for the parents, counselors, pastors who will help the children and teachers who survived that they will be good listeners and able to help in the healing process.

We pray for our country where it seems like violence has become too commonplace.

We pray for our world where often children are the ones who suffer most when there is war, hunger, poverty.

We pray for ourselves Lord that you would heal our broken hearts and help us to be healing agents in this broken world.

We pray for the day your son does come again bringing joy for everyone.

Come Lord Jesus come……..

cross posted at revgalblogpals

Thursday Prayer

Ever-loving God, thank you for your presence in difficult situations. Help me be a true lover of peace, at peace in your vast heart. Amen.

a Tuesday prayer for the honestly overwhelmed...

Dear God,
why is it that Advent
-a time that is supposed to be all peaceful (at least it is in the pictures!)-
tends to be anything but?
Why does everything seem to happen at once?  And how in the world do you imagine that little ol' we can attend to all of it?!
Please o please give us all the strength to get through these next couple of weeks with hope, faith, and some semblance of meaning.
Help us to remember that, though it's not mentioned, it's more than likely that even peaceful and innocent Mary puked and screamed and cursed out all those good creatures around her before coming face to face with her saviour and son.
In him. Amen.

written by my colleague, the Rev. Cheryl Kerr, in response to...well...everything!  Thank you!

Monday Prayer: Let There Be Peace on Earth

Instructions: 

1. Listen to this video. 

2. Thank God for Gladys Knight. 

3. Thank God that peace begins in Christ and continues in you and me. 

4. Say "Amen". 

Prayer for Advent 2C

Oh God,

You invite us to take off the attire of pain and sorrow in our lives and to put on new clothes of hope and joy.

You dress us in your beauty and your glory.

You give us all this through the arrival of your son Jesus.

You give us new garments of mercy and justice.

Oh Lord, we all need these in our lives.

And we are reminded as we put on our new clothes that

There are many in this world that just need a good pair of shoes, a coat to keep them warm and outfits for their everyday wear.  

Lord, we are reminded that it is you we clothe when we clothe the needy.

 

Lord,

You have blessed us with your favor

By saving us, cleansing and refining us through your love.

You raised up your son to be the savior for the world and to show your mercy to all.

And Lord we all need your mercy and love.

And it reminds us that there are many in this world who have not been shown love and don’t know how to give love to others.

And yet that is what you son came to do was to show your love to all.

 

Lord,

You have given us a light in our world a light brighter than any Christmas tree light that is a beacon for all.

It fills our darkness, It guides and leads us

Along the rocky paths of life, through tense and troubled times to bring us to a time of peace.

And Lord we know that in many places in our world there is no peace and what little peace there seems to be is fragile.

There are homes where peace has no meaning.

There are friends of ours and sometimes ourselves who search for that peace within that only you can give.

Lord, your sent your son to be the Prince of Peace to bring a peace that the world cannot give.

Come Lord Jesus, Prince of Peace come.

Amen

 

cross posted at revgalblogpals

Advent prayer and book!

O God, who makest us glad with the yearly remembrance of the birth of thy only Son Jesus Christ: Grant that as we joyfully receive him for our Redeemer, so we may have sure confidence to behold him when he shall come to be our Judge: who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Ghost, ever one God, world without end.

~~Gelasian Sacramentary, eighth century

This is a prayer at the end of a day's reading in John Polkinghorne's Advent devotional book, Living with Hope: A Scientist Looks at Advent, Christmas, and Epiphany. This is available from Christian Book.Com at 78% off its price (which I originally paid at Amazon)--go to the book link or here.

This is the most thought provoking Advent book I have in my possession. It is written by John Polkinghorne, who was a Professor of mathematical physics at Cambridge until he decided to become an Anglican priest when he was 47 years old. If I was rich enough, I would give a copy to everyone I know!

A Tuesday Prayer

You know, God...
I have to confess.
Most of the time, I really have no idea what I am doing.
I would say I usually wing it with a prayer,
and hope that it goes o.k....
and hope that because the intent is good,
that the Holy Spirit will take over
and make it good.
You know what I mean, right?

I am humbled by Your Presence,
I am humbled by Your Absence,
and am so grateful,
that in spite of it all,
Your will is done,
and if not,
all shall be well in Your time.

Amen.

Monday Prayer: The Call

Come, my Way, my Truth, my Life:
Such a Way, as gives us breath:
Such a Truth, as ends all strife:
And such a Life, as killeth death.

Come, my Light, my Feast, my Strength:
Such a Light, as shows a feast:
Such a Feast, as mends in length:
Such a Strength, as makes his guest.

Come, my Joy, my Love, my Heart:
Such a Joy, as none can move:
Such a Love, as none can part:
Such a Heart, as joys in love.


- George Herbert

Prayer for Advent 1C

God of our future, our present and our past,

Your son told us that he would come again and so we wait.

But God we are most impatient because we live in time of instant gratification.

We are like a child who wants what we want and we want it now.

And so God we have a hard time waiting for his promised return.

And yet we wait not knowing when, uncertain of the day and time.

 

Lord we live in perilous times when it would a good time for your son’s return.

We are waiting for the government to work together to fix things

before we fall off this fiscal cliff we as a nation are facing.

We are waiting for this recession to end so people will be working again; will once again be able to afford adequate housing, food to feed themselves and their children,  and other necessities of life.

We keep waiting for this long war in Afghanistan to be over

because we have lost so many of our young people over there.

We wait for there to be a cure for cancer, aids, m.s.,

and all the other chronic and life threatening diseases.

 

Lord we celebrate your first coming into the world having hope that you will come again.

In the meantime Lord, we pray for one another and our needs.

We give thanks for one another and for the blessings you send our way.

We try to show the world your love through our service, our action and our words.

We care for one another and those who have no one to care for them.

Lord we await your return with anticipation, of your promise fulfilled.

And in the meantime we look for your presence in our lives every day;

As you keep showing us glimpses of your kingdom.  Amen

 

crossposted at revgalblogpals