Idealism/Realism
On the one hand, O God, help us to cling to our idealism. Help us to trust and to know that we really can always be growing toward becoming everything that you made us to be, that Jesus died and rose that we might be, and that the Holy Spirit enables us to be.
On the other hand, O God, help us to cling to our realism. Help us not to try to avoid real problems and real people in the real world, not to be discouraged from further attempts at progress when we find that we have regressed, and not to be stunned into inaction by some act of sin.
Help us to live in that tension-filled and thus creative place where the way it can be overlaps with the way it is.
Amen.
Thursday, May 31, 2012
Wednesday, May 30, 2012
A Prayer for Wednesday, May 30, 2012
Pieces
As we walk through this day, O God, remind us that we will not see everything and that of what we do see will see only pieces.
We will see only pieces of
events,
problems,
reality,
hearts,
minds,
truths,
relationships, and
people—
among many other things.
Thank you for what we are able to see.
Forgive us for when we think we see it all or see more of it than we actually do.
Help us by your grace and through your Spirit to put the pieces together better than we can do on our own.
Amen.
As we walk through this day, O God, remind us that we will not see everything and that of what we do see will see only pieces.
We will see only pieces of
events,
problems,
reality,
hearts,
minds,
truths,
relationships, and
people—
among many other things.
Thank you for what we are able to see.
Forgive us for when we think we see it all or see more of it than we actually do.
Help us by your grace and through your Spirit to put the pieces together better than we can do on our own.
Amen.
Tuesday, May 29, 2012
A Prayer for Tuesday, May 29, 2012
Important
Important things will happen today, O Lord, and some of them we will even realize are important when and as they happen.
Who knows what will happen that we won’t regard as important but in fact will be?
Who knows what will happen that we won’t even notice but that will nonetheless be very important?
Lord, cause us to treat each moment that we live, each task that we undertake, and each person that we encounter as important; cause us always to look for what you are doing in, through, and around us in all things.
At the same time, combine our attention to life with a deep trust in you, lest we fail to remember that all things are important because you are working your purposes out in all things.
Help us to remember that it is all too important to be left up to us at the same time that is all too important to be left alone by us.
Amen.
Important things will happen today, O Lord, and some of them we will even realize are important when and as they happen.
Who knows what will happen that we won’t regard as important but in fact will be?
Who knows what will happen that we won’t even notice but that will nonetheless be very important?
Lord, cause us to treat each moment that we live, each task that we undertake, and each person that we encounter as important; cause us always to look for what you are doing in, through, and around us in all things.
At the same time, combine our attention to life with a deep trust in you, lest we fail to remember that all things are important because you are working your purposes out in all things.
Help us to remember that it is all too important to be left up to us at the same time that is all too important to be left alone by us.
Amen.
Monday, May 28, 2012
A Prayer for Monday, May 28, 2012
Remember
O God,
Help us to remember and to give thanks for those who have in and through their lives and even in and through their deaths contributed to our safety, security, and well-being.
Help us to remember and to give thanks for those who have done so in ways of which we are not and never will be aware.
Help us to remember to be the kind of people who in and through our life and even in and through our death—and especially in and through our death to self—offer to and share with others as much life as we possibly can.
Amen.
O God,
Help us to remember and to give thanks for those who have in and through their lives and even in and through their deaths contributed to our safety, security, and well-being.
Help us to remember and to give thanks for those who have done so in ways of which we are not and never will be aware.
Help us to remember to be the kind of people who in and through our life and even in and through our death—and especially in and through our death to self—offer to and share with others as much life as we possibly can.
Amen.
Sunday, May 27, 2012
A Prayer for Sunday, May 27, 2012
The Lord’s Day
O God,
We praise you on this Lord’s Day for your Holy Spirit that you sent at Pentecost and that you send at all times to be God with us on this day on and on all days.
Cause us to rely increasingly on your Spirit and always to be moving toward relying completely on your Spirit that we might with confidence know that we are growing into the people you would have us to be.
Amen.
O God,
We praise you on this Lord’s Day for your Holy Spirit that you sent at Pentecost and that you send at all times to be God with us on this day on and on all days.
Cause us to rely increasingly on your Spirit and always to be moving toward relying completely on your Spirit that we might with confidence know that we are growing into the people you would have us to be.
Amen.
Saturday, May 26, 2012
A Prayer for Saturday, May 26, 2012
Beside
Lord,
Thank you for those who walk beside us as we make our way through this good and hard life.
Thank you for those who have been long gone but whose presence beside us we still sense.
Thank you for those friends and family members who walk beside us and beside whom we are privileged to walk.
Thank you for those thinkers of the past who walk beside us through the words they left us.
Thank you most of all for your Spirit who walks beside us in any and all circumstances.
Amen.
Lord,
Thank you for those who walk beside us as we make our way through this good and hard life.
Thank you for those who have been long gone but whose presence beside us we still sense.
Thank you for those friends and family members who walk beside us and beside whom we are privileged to walk.
Thank you for those thinkers of the past who walk beside us through the words they left us.
Thank you most of all for your Spirit who walks beside us in any and all circumstances.
Amen.
Friday, May 25, 2012
A Prayer for Friday, May 25, 2012
Beyond
While we make plans for the future, O God, the truth is that we really don’t know what lies beyond this moment.
Chances are good that more life lies beyond this moment.
It’s absolutely certain that death lies somewhere beyond this moment.
By your grace we know that beyond the moment of our death lies more life.
So help us to trust you both in this moment and for whatever lies beyond it, since it is only by your grace that we experience it and it is only in your grace that we live fully in it.
Amen.
While we make plans for the future, O God, the truth is that we really don’t know what lies beyond this moment.
Chances are good that more life lies beyond this moment.
It’s absolutely certain that death lies somewhere beyond this moment.
By your grace we know that beyond the moment of our death lies more life.
So help us to trust you both in this moment and for whatever lies beyond it, since it is only by your grace that we experience it and it is only in your grace that we live fully in it.
Amen.
Thursday, May 24, 2012
A Prayer for Thursday, May 24, 2012
Below
When we walk across the yard, we know there is earth below us. We even know something about what that earth contains. We do not, however, know everything that is down there; we do not understand everything that lies below us.
As we walk through our lives, we know there are many factors, influences, circumstances, and choices as well as much history, genetics, accident, and providence below us, all of which helps to direct and to determine the ways we live. We are aware of some of it and we may even understand some of it. But we neither know nor understand nearly all of it.
Keep us aware, O God, that much lies below us so that we will not fall prey to the carelessly prideful attitude that we are the masters of our own fate.
Help us understand, O God, as much as we can about what lies below us so that we will not fall prey to a thoughtless judgmentalism that causes us to be too hard on others for the way they are or on ourselves for the way we are.
Make us active, O God, in processing what lies below us as much as we can so that we will not fall prey to the defeatist attitude that we have no choice in current matters.
Above all else, O God, give us faith and grace to know that you were, are, and will be present and active in all that lies below us.
Amen.
When we walk across the yard, we know there is earth below us. We even know something about what that earth contains. We do not, however, know everything that is down there; we do not understand everything that lies below us.
As we walk through our lives, we know there are many factors, influences, circumstances, and choices as well as much history, genetics, accident, and providence below us, all of which helps to direct and to determine the ways we live. We are aware of some of it and we may even understand some of it. But we neither know nor understand nearly all of it.
Keep us aware, O God, that much lies below us so that we will not fall prey to the carelessly prideful attitude that we are the masters of our own fate.
Help us understand, O God, as much as we can about what lies below us so that we will not fall prey to a thoughtless judgmentalism that causes us to be too hard on others for the way they are or on ourselves for the way we are.
Make us active, O God, in processing what lies below us as much as we can so that we will not fall prey to the defeatist attitude that we have no choice in current matters.
Above all else, O God, give us faith and grace to know that you were, are, and will be present and active in all that lies below us.
Amen.
Wednesday, May 23, 2012
A Prayer for Wednesday, May 23, 2012
Between
O Lord, today we will at times likely find ourselves caught
between the good and the better,
between who we are and who we are trying to become,
between what we know we want and what we suspect you want,
between involvement and apathy,
between knowledge and ignorance,
between acceptance and prejudice,
between a rock and a hard place, and
between our location and our destination.
Give us the insight to know where we are at any given moment and in which direction we need in that moment to move; then give us the grace and the courage to take at least a small step in that direction.
Amen.
O Lord, today we will at times likely find ourselves caught
between the good and the better,
between who we are and who we are trying to become,
between what we know we want and what we suspect you want,
between involvement and apathy,
between knowledge and ignorance,
between acceptance and prejudice,
between a rock and a hard place, and
between our location and our destination.
Give us the insight to know where we are at any given moment and in which direction we need in that moment to move; then give us the grace and the courage to take at least a small step in that direction.
Amen.
Tuesday, May 22, 2012
A Prayer for Tuesday, May 22, 2012
Behind
We have a lot behind us, O Lord.
We have
mistakes made,
successes experienced,
sins committed,
people loved and not loved,
struggles survived,
victories won,
hurts given and received,
changes accepted and resisted,
choices made,
and so much more.
When we look back, fill us
not with nostalgia but with gratitude,
not with regret but with acceptance,
not with grief but with assimilation, and
not with despair but with hope.
We acknowledge and affirm that all that is behind us goes into making us who we are right now.
We acknowledge and affirm that in a sense we are the sum total of our past experiences.
But we also acknowledge and affirm that you are behind us too, guiding, nudging, prodding, leading, and loving.
Thank you for your grace that has led us to this point; thank you for your grace that has been with us all this time and all this way.
Amen.
We have a lot behind us, O Lord.
We have
mistakes made,
successes experienced,
sins committed,
people loved and not loved,
struggles survived,
victories won,
hurts given and received,
changes accepted and resisted,
choices made,
and so much more.
When we look back, fill us
not with nostalgia but with gratitude,
not with regret but with acceptance,
not with grief but with assimilation, and
not with despair but with hope.
We acknowledge and affirm that all that is behind us goes into making us who we are right now.
We acknowledge and affirm that in a sense we are the sum total of our past experiences.
But we also acknowledge and affirm that you are behind us too, guiding, nudging, prodding, leading, and loving.
Thank you for your grace that has led us to this point; thank you for your grace that has been with us all this time and all this way.
Amen.
Monday, May 21, 2012
A Prayer for Monday, May 21, 2012
Beneath
We thank you, Lord, for those times when our actions are good, right, and proper.
But we ask you, Lord, for the motives beneath our actions to be what they should be, too.
We thank you, Lord, for those times when our words are good, right, and proper.
But we ask you, Lord, for the thoughts beneath our words to be what they should be, too.
Forgive us, Lord, for those times when our actions and/or words are not what they should be.
We pray, Lord, that even when our actions and/or words are not what they should be the motives and thoughts beneath them will be.
Form our hearts and minds and cause our hands and mouths to follow.
Amen.
We thank you, Lord, for those times when our actions are good, right, and proper.
But we ask you, Lord, for the motives beneath our actions to be what they should be, too.
We thank you, Lord, for those times when our words are good, right, and proper.
But we ask you, Lord, for the thoughts beneath our words to be what they should be, too.
Forgive us, Lord, for those times when our actions and/or words are not what they should be.
We pray, Lord, that even when our actions and/or words are not what they should be the motives and thoughts beneath them will be.
Form our hearts and minds and cause our hands and mouths to follow.
Amen.
Sunday, May 20, 2012
A Prayer for Sunday, May 20, 2012
The Lord’s Day
On this day, O God, when we worship you for your vindication through his resurrection of Jesus and of his way of life, continue to empower us by your life, your grace, and your Spirit to live out the way of Jesus in our own lives that we might look forward with faith to our own vindication.
Amen.
On this day, O God, when we worship you for your vindication through his resurrection of Jesus and of his way of life, continue to empower us by your life, your grace, and your Spirit to live out the way of Jesus in our own lives that we might look forward with faith to our own vindication.
Amen.
Saturday, May 19, 2012
A Prayer for Saturday, May 19, 2012
Story
For the story that is uniquely ours, we give you thanks, O Lord.
For the story that we share with our communities of faith and of family, we give you thanks, O Lord.
For the story that is in the books and for the story that is yet to be written, we give you thanks, O Lord.
For the story that is both your story and our story, we give you thanks, O Lord.
For the story that never ends, we give you thanks, O Lord.
Amen.
For the story that is uniquely ours, we give you thanks, O Lord.
For the story that we share with our communities of faith and of family, we give you thanks, O Lord.
For the story that is in the books and for the story that is yet to be written, we give you thanks, O Lord.
For the story that is both your story and our story, we give you thanks, O Lord.
For the story that never ends, we give you thanks, O Lord.
Amen.
Friday, May 18, 2012
A Prayer for Friday, May 18, 2012
Reception
“We don’t get good reception,” we sometimes say, meaning that our cell phone or satellite television or wireless internet signal isn’t received clearly or well.
Give us good reception today, Lord—
--Open our spirits up to the leading of your Spirit,
--Make our hearts receptive to the impulses of your love, and
--Help our lives to be more sensitive to the signals of hurt and need emitted by people.
“We didn’t get a good reception,” we sometimes say, meaning that we were not received or welcomed as we would like to have been.
Help us to offer a good reception today, Lord—
--To those who are shunned or marginalized,
--To those who lonely or alienated,
--To those who are hurting or humbled.
If we happen not to get a good reception ourselves today because we manage to bear witness, by your grace and in your Spirit, to who Jesus is to us and in us—because we show mercy, kindness, and humility, for example—then help us to rejoice that in such moments you receive us gladly whether anyone else does or not.
And that is enough….
Amen.
“We don’t get good reception,” we sometimes say, meaning that our cell phone or satellite television or wireless internet signal isn’t received clearly or well.
Give us good reception today, Lord—
--Open our spirits up to the leading of your Spirit,
--Make our hearts receptive to the impulses of your love, and
--Help our lives to be more sensitive to the signals of hurt and need emitted by people.
“We didn’t get a good reception,” we sometimes say, meaning that we were not received or welcomed as we would like to have been.
Help us to offer a good reception today, Lord—
--To those who are shunned or marginalized,
--To those who lonely or alienated,
--To those who are hurting or humbled.
If we happen not to get a good reception ourselves today because we manage to bear witness, by your grace and in your Spirit, to who Jesus is to us and in us—because we show mercy, kindness, and humility, for example—then help us to rejoice that in such moments you receive us gladly whether anyone else does or not.
And that is enough….
Amen.
Thursday, May 17, 2012
A Prayer for Thursday, May 17, 2012
Portfolio
We use the word “portfolio” to refer to a collection of a person’s creative work, to a collection of investments, to the set of responsibilities that belong to a government cabinet member, or to a carrying case that contains documents.
O God, thank you for the identity, for the work, for the responsibilities, for the production, and for the possessions that constitute our personal portfolio.
O God, bless us in our role as a portfolio, for our lives are the containers of all that we are, of all that we do, of all that we have, and of all that we produce.
O God, we praise you for what you have to this point in our lives allowed and enabled us to accumulate; we praise you for all that we have to show for our working, for our loving, and for our living.
O God, as we add to our portfolio today, may we learn from and move beyond our worst, our best, and our middling efforts so that the portfolio of our life honors you and develops us.
Amen.
We use the word “portfolio” to refer to a collection of a person’s creative work, to a collection of investments, to the set of responsibilities that belong to a government cabinet member, or to a carrying case that contains documents.
O God, thank you for the identity, for the work, for the responsibilities, for the production, and for the possessions that constitute our personal portfolio.
O God, bless us in our role as a portfolio, for our lives are the containers of all that we are, of all that we do, of all that we have, and of all that we produce.
O God, we praise you for what you have to this point in our lives allowed and enabled us to accumulate; we praise you for all that we have to show for our working, for our loving, and for our living.
O God, as we add to our portfolio today, may we learn from and move beyond our worst, our best, and our middling efforts so that the portfolio of our life honors you and develops us.
Amen.
Wednesday, May 16, 2012
A Prayer for Wednesday, May 16, 2012
Middle
We will find ourselves again today, O God, in the middle.
Perhaps we will get stuck in the middle, finding ourselves between people who are in conflict and who look to us either to support their position or to mediate between them and their opponent.
Perhaps we will place ourselves in the middle, choosing to act on a conviction or to try to meet a need in a way that makes us noticeable and thus vulnerable.
Perhaps we will stand in the middle, attempting to be open and objective rather than closed and doctrinaire, and doing the hard work of seeking the truth rather than taking the easy way out of assuming we own it.
We will trust you to be our eyes, our ears, and our minds as we live in the middle, O God, because only you can see, hear, and understand everything that is going on around us.
Amen.
We will find ourselves again today, O God, in the middle.
Perhaps we will get stuck in the middle, finding ourselves between people who are in conflict and who look to us either to support their position or to mediate between them and their opponent.
Perhaps we will place ourselves in the middle, choosing to act on a conviction or to try to meet a need in a way that makes us noticeable and thus vulnerable.
Perhaps we will stand in the middle, attempting to be open and objective rather than closed and doctrinaire, and doing the hard work of seeking the truth rather than taking the easy way out of assuming we own it.
We will trust you to be our eyes, our ears, and our minds as we live in the middle, O God, because only you can see, hear, and understand everything that is going on around us.
Amen.
Tuesday, May 15, 2012
A Prayer for Tuesday, May 15, 2012
Must/Can
They are, from one perspective, our responsibilities.
They are, from another perspective, our opportunities.
They are, from one perspective, our burdens.
They are, from another perspective, our joys.
They are, from one perspective, our obstacles.
They are, from another perspective, our challenges.
Give us the perspective born of grace and faith, O God, not only to embrace that our lives consist of what we must do but to celebrate the fact that our lives are adorned with what we can do.
Amen.
They are, from one perspective, our responsibilities.
They are, from another perspective, our opportunities.
They are, from one perspective, our burdens.
They are, from another perspective, our joys.
They are, from one perspective, our obstacles.
They are, from another perspective, our challenges.
Give us the perspective born of grace and faith, O God, not only to embrace that our lives consist of what we must do but to celebrate the fact that our lives are adorned with what we can do.
Amen.
Monday, May 14, 2012
A Prayer for Monday, May 14, 2012
Big Little Things
Lord, some of us are facing some big things this week; we already know they are coming or we are already in the middle of them.
Help us to face them, to bear them, to embrace them, and to trust you in them.
Lord, all of us are facing little things this week:
the usual things,
the routine things,
the regular things,
the mundane things,
the repetitive things,
the habitual things;
help us to approach them faithfully, expectantly, and even reverently, knowing that
the little things help to prepare us for the big things and
a little thing just may turn out to be a big thing.
Amen.
Lord, some of us are facing some big things this week; we already know they are coming or we are already in the middle of them.
Help us to face them, to bear them, to embrace them, and to trust you in them.
Lord, all of us are facing little things this week:
the usual things,
the routine things,
the regular things,
the mundane things,
the repetitive things,
the habitual things;
help us to approach them faithfully, expectantly, and even reverently, knowing that
the little things help to prepare us for the big things and
a little thing just may turn out to be a big thing.
Amen.
Sunday, May 13, 2012
A Prayer for Sunday, May 13, 2012
The Lord’s Day
Thank you, O God, for the privilege of worshiping the One who is seated both at the Father’s right hand and right here in our lives.
Amen.
Thank you, O God, for the privilege of worshiping the One who is seated both at the Father’s right hand and right here in our lives.
Amen.
Saturday, May 12, 2012
A Prayer for Saturday, May 12, 2012
Lives
For
minds with which to think,
bodies with which to touch,
spirits with which to share,
and
hearts with which to love…
we thank you, God.
Amen.
For
minds with which to think,
bodies with which to touch,
spirits with which to share,
and
hearts with which to love…
we thank you, God.
Amen.
Friday, May 11, 2012
A Prayer for Friday, May 11, 2012
Faces
Forgive us, O God, for…
…our inhumanity that leads us to think of people in categories and as stereotypes;
…our hectic lifestyle that leads us to rush right by people without taking them into full consideration; and
…our fear that leads us to present ourselves not as we are but rather as we think people want us to be.
Help us, O God, to slow down, to take each individual as she or he comes, and both to know our true selves and to have the courage to present our true selves.
Help us, O God, to take the time, to have the patience, and to make the effort to know and to accept ourselves and to know and to accept others--
--until we have faces.
Amen.
Forgive us, O God, for…
…our inhumanity that leads us to think of people in categories and as stereotypes;
…our hectic lifestyle that leads us to rush right by people without taking them into full consideration; and
…our fear that leads us to present ourselves not as we are but rather as we think people want us to be.
Help us, O God, to slow down, to take each individual as she or he comes, and both to know our true selves and to have the courage to present our true selves.
Help us, O God, to take the time, to have the patience, and to make the effort to know and to accept ourselves and to know and to accept others--
--until we have faces.
Amen.
Thursday, May 10, 2012
A Prayer for Thursday, May 10, 2012
Quarks
When I was a child, I thought as a child and I spoke as a child and I was constantly being filled with information about the way the world is. As a child, I figured that the way I understood the world to be would be the way I would always understand the world to be.
So I was taught that everything that existed was made up of molecules that were in turn made up of atoms that were in turn made up of protons and neutrons with some electrons spinning around in there, too.
Now that I have become an adult, I have come to find out that the protons and neutrons are made up of quarks, which I am assured that, along with leptons, comprise the basic building blocks of matter.
That’s the way we know the world to be. For now.
O God, we praise you for the magnificence of your creation; we praise you for its intricacies and for its mysteries.
O God, we thank you for the understanding of your creation that we possess.
And God, we ask you to help us, even as we make use of our knowledge of the intricacies of the universe, never to stop being humbled by its many, many remaining mysteries.
And God, we ask you to help us to remember that we could say the same things about all the people that we know; help us to remember that there are quarks behind those quirks…
Amen.
When I was a child, I thought as a child and I spoke as a child and I was constantly being filled with information about the way the world is. As a child, I figured that the way I understood the world to be would be the way I would always understand the world to be.
So I was taught that everything that existed was made up of molecules that were in turn made up of atoms that were in turn made up of protons and neutrons with some electrons spinning around in there, too.
Now that I have become an adult, I have come to find out that the protons and neutrons are made up of quarks, which I am assured that, along with leptons, comprise the basic building blocks of matter.
That’s the way we know the world to be. For now.
O God, we praise you for the magnificence of your creation; we praise you for its intricacies and for its mysteries.
O God, we thank you for the understanding of your creation that we possess.
And God, we ask you to help us, even as we make use of our knowledge of the intricacies of the universe, never to stop being humbled by its many, many remaining mysteries.
And God, we ask you to help us to remember that we could say the same things about all the people that we know; help us to remember that there are quarks behind those quirks…
Amen.
Wednesday, May 9, 2012
A Prayer for Wednesday, May 9, 2012
The Beat
Sometimes, O God, we just can’t find the beat.
We can sense that it is there; down deep in our soul we can feel it.
But sometimes we just can’t find it.
We believe that there is one; we trust that you have an overarching purpose and plan for your creation, for our world, for your people, and even for our lives.
We believe that the rhythm of the universe is the beat of your great heart.
We believe that the rhythm of the universe is the pulse of your great love.
By your grace, O God, help us to find the beat; help us to bop along to your steady, consistent rhythm.
Help us to play the music of our lives in your time.
Amen.
Sometimes, O God, we just can’t find the beat.
We can sense that it is there; down deep in our soul we can feel it.
But sometimes we just can’t find it.
We believe that there is one; we trust that you have an overarching purpose and plan for your creation, for our world, for your people, and even for our lives.
We believe that the rhythm of the universe is the beat of your great heart.
We believe that the rhythm of the universe is the pulse of your great love.
By your grace, O God, help us to find the beat; help us to bop along to your steady, consistent rhythm.
Help us to play the music of our lives in your time.
Amen.
Tuesday, May 8, 2012
A Prayer for Tuesday, May 8, 2012
Age
Help us today, O God, to act our age; help us faithfully to accept and to carry out the responsibilities that are appropriate to our stage in life.
Help us today, O God, to act younger than our age; help us to live joyfully and playfully even in the midst of the responsibilities that we carry.
Help us today, O God, to act older than our age; help us to have insights, to make decisions, and to carry out actions that give us hope for what we can consistently be as we mature in our faith.
Amen.
Help us today, O God, to act our age; help us faithfully to accept and to carry out the responsibilities that are appropriate to our stage in life.
Help us today, O God, to act younger than our age; help us to live joyfully and playfully even in the midst of the responsibilities that we carry.
Help us today, O God, to act older than our age; help us to have insights, to make decisions, and to carry out actions that give us hope for what we can consistently be as we mature in our faith.
Amen.
Monday, May 7, 2012
A Prayer for Monday, May 7, 2012
More
O Lord,
We know, whether we are thinking about it or not, that this week will bring more—
more opportunities,
more challenges,
more obstacles,
more information,
more answers,
more questions,
more progress,
more regress,
more conversations,
more people,
more work,
more rest,
more failures,
more successes,
more sadness,
more joy,
more triumph,
more tragedy,
more age—
more life.
Help us to look to you in all of it so that this week will also bring with it
more trust in you,
more peace from you,
more hope from you—
more living, in all of our circumstances, in the light of your love and grace.
Amen.
O Lord,
We know, whether we are thinking about it or not, that this week will bring more—
more opportunities,
more challenges,
more obstacles,
more information,
more answers,
more questions,
more progress,
more regress,
more conversations,
more people,
more work,
more rest,
more failures,
more successes,
more sadness,
more joy,
more triumph,
more tragedy,
more age—
more life.
Help us to look to you in all of it so that this week will also bring with it
more trust in you,
more peace from you,
more hope from you—
more living, in all of our circumstances, in the light of your love and grace.
Amen.
Sunday, May 6, 2012
A Prayer for Sunday, May 6, 2012
The Lord’s Day
O God,
Make our worship of you today a true response to your love and grace; may our response to you today carry over into this new week and be lived out in the ways we abide in you and give ourselves to others.
Amen.
O God,
Make our worship of you today a true response to your love and grace; may our response to you today carry over into this new week and be lived out in the ways we abide in you and give ourselves to others.
Amen.
Saturday, May 5, 2012
A Prayer for Saturday, May 5, 2012
Seeking/Finding
Forgive us, O Lord, when we fail to seek.
Forgive us, O Lord, when our seeking leads us to a discovery that causes us to think that because we have found something significant we can stop seeking.
Help us, O Lord, to keep on seeking; lead us to live so that finding something significant leads us to keep on seeking and not to be satisfied with what we have found.
May all of our seeking lead us to find more about you, O Lord; grant that we will never forget that you are an inexhaustible subject and deliver us from the sin of arrogance that causes us to think that we understand and know you as well as we can.
Amen.
Forgive us, O Lord, when we fail to seek.
Forgive us, O Lord, when our seeking leads us to a discovery that causes us to think that because we have found something significant we can stop seeking.
Help us, O Lord, to keep on seeking; lead us to live so that finding something significant leads us to keep on seeking and not to be satisfied with what we have found.
May all of our seeking lead us to find more about you, O Lord; grant that we will never forget that you are an inexhaustible subject and deliver us from the sin of arrogance that causes us to think that we understand and know you as well as we can.
Amen.
Friday, May 4, 2012
A Prayer for Friday, May 4, 2012
Touch
Effective, helpful, and appropriate touching is a very important art, given that a well-timed and well-intentioned touch can have healing power and that a badly-timed and badly-intentioned touch can have hurting power; so please give us the ability to touch artistically, O God.
Bless us with the art of touching someone when they are hurting so that your love, grace, and compassion can be communicated to them through us.
Bless us with the art of not touching someone when our hearts are not really in it, when they need something else from us, or when we are motivated by a desire to feel good about ourselves rather than by a desire to help them feel better.
Bless us with the art of accepting the helping touch of someone else who reaches out to us in love—an art which for some of us is harder to develop than the art of offering our touch to someone else. Then, help us to pass the touch we have received on to someone else...
Amen.
Effective, helpful, and appropriate touching is a very important art, given that a well-timed and well-intentioned touch can have healing power and that a badly-timed and badly-intentioned touch can have hurting power; so please give us the ability to touch artistically, O God.
Bless us with the art of touching someone when they are hurting so that your love, grace, and compassion can be communicated to them through us.
Bless us with the art of not touching someone when our hearts are not really in it, when they need something else from us, or when we are motivated by a desire to feel good about ourselves rather than by a desire to help them feel better.
Bless us with the art of accepting the helping touch of someone else who reaches out to us in love—an art which for some of us is harder to develop than the art of offering our touch to someone else. Then, help us to pass the touch we have received on to someone else...
Amen.
Thursday, May 3, 2012
A Prayer for Thursday, May 3, 2012
Through
The Dead Sea is dead not because it does not receive what it needs from the Jordan River that flows into it but because it has no outlet streams through which to pass along what it receives; therefore, it stagnates.
We thank you, O God, for the many vital and helpful gifts that we receive from you: grace, mercy, love, forgiveness, peace, faith, and hope—just to name a few.
Guard us against the mistake of trying to keep those gifts to ourselves. Keep us aware of the danger of personal stagnation if we do so; guard us against our hoarding of those good gifts that can transform them into traits like pride, arrogance, selfishness, judgmentalism, self-righteousness, and insufferability.
Help us to develop outlets of awareness, compassion, sacrifice, and service that will allow the grace, mercy, love, forgiveness, peace, faith, and hope that flow from you into us to flow through us and out to others.
Amen.
The Dead Sea is dead not because it does not receive what it needs from the Jordan River that flows into it but because it has no outlet streams through which to pass along what it receives; therefore, it stagnates.
We thank you, O God, for the many vital and helpful gifts that we receive from you: grace, mercy, love, forgiveness, peace, faith, and hope—just to name a few.
Guard us against the mistake of trying to keep those gifts to ourselves. Keep us aware of the danger of personal stagnation if we do so; guard us against our hoarding of those good gifts that can transform them into traits like pride, arrogance, selfishness, judgmentalism, self-righteousness, and insufferability.
Help us to develop outlets of awareness, compassion, sacrifice, and service that will allow the grace, mercy, love, forgiveness, peace, faith, and hope that flow from you into us to flow through us and out to others.
Amen.
Wednesday, May 2, 2012
A Prayer for Wednesday, May 2, 2012
Cars
We spend lots of time in heavy, powerful, fast machines, surrounded by many other heavy, powerful, fast machines that are piloted by frail and flawed human beings who are at any given moment just as distracted as, if not more distracted than, we are.
Sometimes the combination is dangerous and even deadly.
Given the numbers involved, though, it is nothing short of miraculous that the vast majority of us survive and even thrive on the road.
Thank you, Lord, for your protection, thank you for our concentration, and thank you for our cooperation, all of which keep most of us safe on the road most of the time.
It is no small thing.
Amen.
We spend lots of time in heavy, powerful, fast machines, surrounded by many other heavy, powerful, fast machines that are piloted by frail and flawed human beings who are at any given moment just as distracted as, if not more distracted than, we are.
Sometimes the combination is dangerous and even deadly.
Given the numbers involved, though, it is nothing short of miraculous that the vast majority of us survive and even thrive on the road.
Thank you, Lord, for your protection, thank you for our concentration, and thank you for our cooperation, all of which keep most of us safe on the road most of the time.
It is no small thing.
Amen.
Tuesday, May 1, 2012
A Prayer for Tuesday, May 1, 2012
Laurels
We thank you, O God, for what we have to this point in our lives been able to accomplish.
We thank you for:
the good work we have done,
the positive recognition we have received,
the healthy relationships we have established,
the spiritual growth we have experienced,
the knowledge we have acquired,
and so much more.
Give us by your grace the desire and determination to build on what we have accomplished so that we may accomplish more and so that we may grow more into the people you have made us to be.
Thank you for the laurels we have received; help us to appreciate them but not to rest on them.
Amen.
We thank you, O God, for what we have to this point in our lives been able to accomplish.
We thank you for:
the good work we have done,
the positive recognition we have received,
the healthy relationships we have established,
the spiritual growth we have experienced,
the knowledge we have acquired,
and so much more.
Give us by your grace the desire and determination to build on what we have accomplished so that we may accomplish more and so that we may grow more into the people you have made us to be.
Thank you for the laurels we have received; help us to appreciate them but not to rest on them.
Amen.
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