Wednesday, October 31, 2012

A Prayer for Wednesday, October 31, 2012

Wednesday

Some folks refer to Wednesday as “hump day,” by which they mean that it is the hump in the middle of the work week that has to be gotten over so we can move on to the end of the week. The term is not inaccurate, given that Wednesday is the middle day of the week and that half of the typical work week lies behind it and half lies after it.

But Lord, help us not to view Wednesday as a day that must just be gotten through, that must just be survived, and that must just be endured. Indeed, don’t let us look at any day in that way.

Instead, help us to see Wednesdays and all of our days as days filled with opportunities to grow in our love for you and in our love for other people. Help us to see Wednesdays and all of our days as days filled with potential and possibilities. Help us to see Wednesdays and all of our days as days in which we can come to know and serve you better.

Amen.

Tuesday, October 30, 2012

A Prayer for Tuesday, October 30, 2012

Tuesday

O God,

On Tuesday we are well into the week; the newness has worn off and the routine has settled in.

On the one hand, we thank you for the routine; it is helpful to have an idea of what to expect.

On the other hand, help us not to give in to the routine; keep us alert to new and different ways in which life and work may flow.

Cause us on this Tuesday to live in the expected and to live into the unexpected.

Amen.

Monday, October 29, 2012

A Prayer for Monday, October 29, 2012

Monday

O God,

We thank you for Monday because it is full of potential and possibilities; the beginning of the week opens up all kinds of opportunities that we will need to embrace if we are going to live fully in the days with which you bless us.

We also ask for your help on Monday because it is full of danger and temptation; we are tempted already to be looking toward the end of the week and we are thus in danger of missing out on chances to live and to love that are right in front of us.

On this Monday, O God, give us the gifts of perspective and attention.

Amen.

Sunday, October 28, 2012

A Prayer for Sunday, October 28, 2012

The Lord’s Day

On this Lord’s Day, O God, cause us to remember the great cloud of witnesses that has gone before us on earth and the great cloud of witnesses that worships with us in heaven.

Amen.

Saturday, October 27, 2012

A Prayer for Saturday, October 27, 2012

Why?

“Sometimes,” someone once said, “’Why?’ is a question for four-year-olds.”

That’s true.

It is also true that sometimes “Why?” is a question for twenty-four-year olds and fifty-four-year-olds and ninety-four-year-olds.

When “Why?” is our question , O God, help us to deal with it well.

Help us to think as clearly as we can.
Help us to consult others whose insight can help us.
Help us to come before you to ask for wisdom.
Help us to be even more interested in growing in trust than we are in growing in knowledge.

We want to know, O God, but sometimes we can’t.

So help us to trust that you know—and to rest in that faith.

Amen.

Friday, October 26, 2012

A Prayer for Friday, October 26, 2012

Who? Whom?

O God, when we wonder who our neighbor is, help us to remember the lessons of Jesus’ Parable of the Good Samaritan; help us to remember that anyone in need is our neighbor and that the more important matter is that we be ready to be a neighbor to anyone in need.

O God, when we wonder whom we should love, help to remember that we are to love you with all we are and that we are to love our neighbor—again, anyone who needs us—as ourselves.

Amen.

Thursday, October 25, 2012

A Prayer for Thursday, October 25, 2012

What?

O God,

Sometimes the question on our hearts is “What?” as in “What am I supposed to do?” or, better, “What would you have me do?”

We know that the specific answers to that question will depend on our individual circumstances, on our particular gifts, and on your kingdom’s needs. Help us to know and to fulfill our calling from you; grant that we can live out our particular vocation as that calling.

Give us grace to see everything we do as our opportunity to serve you; give us grace to see our work, our play, our conversations, our tasks, our crises, and everything else with which we deal as an opportunity to do what you would have us do—to love you and to love others.

Amen.

Wednesday, October 24, 2012

A Prayer for Wednesday, October 24, 2012

When?

O God,

Sometimes the question in our minds is “When?”

When will our struggles, be they physical, spiritual, or emotional, find resolution?
When will we see progress in being who you are forming us to be?
When will our prayers be answered?
When will your will be done?
When will your kingdom come?
When will your creation be made whole?
When will there be peace?

Help us to trust in your timing; give us faith that knows that you are indeed working your purposes out according to your schedule.

In the meantime, help us to be faithful in living as your children in this world.

Amen.

Tuesday, October 23, 2012

A Prayer for Tuesday, October 23, 2012

Where?

O God,

Sometimes we wonder.

Sometimes we wonder where our faith in you is. Sometimes we wonder where our hope for the future is. Sometimes we wonder where our peace in you is. Sometimes we wonder where our love for you is. Sometimes we wonder where our love for others is.

Show us, O God, that they are all still there within us.

Forgive us for how we so often let them get covered up by our efforts to live for ourselves rather than for you and to get hidden by our desire to do our will rather than to do yours.

Fill us so much with your presence, O God, that your gifts of faith, hope, peace, and love rise constantly and consistently to the surface so we can be aware of them and others can benefit from them.

Amen.

Monday, October 22, 2012

A Prayer for Monday, October 22, 2012

Ahead

O God,

Here at the beginning of a new week we naturally want to look ahead to what we think will happen over the next few days.

Remind us, though, that it is difficult to understand or even to realize all that is behind us, much less to see what lies ahead of us.

We do have to make plans, of course, but even as we make our plans help us to trust the future to you. And help us to take the week as it comes, knowing that its outcome is in your hands.

Amen.

Sunday, October 21, 2012

A Prayer for Sunday, October 21, 2012

The Lord’s Day

Let our worship today be focused on you and you alone, O God, for you are our Creator, our Savior, and our Sustainer.

Amen.

Saturday, October 20, 2012

A Prayer for Saturday, October 20, 2012

Condiments

“Give us this day our daily bread” is what your Son taught us to pray, O God. He did not instruct us to pray for food that goes beyond what we need.

He taught us to pray for the bread and the turkey that comprise the sandwich and not for the mayonnaise, mustard, and pickles that give the sandwich some spice and better taste; he taught us to pray for the chicken and not for the salt and pepper that perk it up a bit.

But still, O God, we thank you for the blessing of condiments. We thank you for those add-ons like ketchup, garlic, horseradish, Worcestershire sauce, Heinz 57, and, especially, Tabasco and other hot sauces, that add some zing and flavor to the food that we need. We confess that we don’t need the condiments and that we can do without them but we thank you for them nonetheless.

While we’re at it, O God, thank you for the extras and add-ons in all the areas of our lives that make it even more flavorful and interesting than it otherwise would be.

Amen.

Friday, October 19, 2012

A Prayer for Friday, October 19, 2012

Rest

In Jewish tradition, the Sabbath begins today at sundown. At the heart of the word and of the day lies the concept of “rest.”

Help us to rest, O God.

Help us to take regular times for recreation and renewal so that we might be refreshed and empowered for the living of our lives.

Make us aware that in taking time off during which we let go of our responsibilities we are expressing our belief and trust that everything is in your hands and not ours.

Use our times of rest to teach us the related truths that one day we will rest forever in you and that in this day we can, in the core of our being, always rest in you.

Amen.

Thursday, October 18, 2012

A Prayer for Thursday, October 18, 2012

Best

O God,

We are receiving your grace and are experiencing a relationship with you. That is a good thing and we praise you for it.

Perhaps we are responding to your grace by doing what we can to serve you by loving and helping other people. That is an even better thing and we praise you for it.

Perhaps we are moving slowly but surely toward having our hearts so full of love for you that your love inspires and beautifies all of our motives, desires, and actions. That is the best thing and we praise you for it.

Give us the grace we need to be moving constantly toward the very best thing of having our lives totally immersed in your love.

Amen.

Wednesday, October 17, 2012

A Prayer for Wednesday, October 17, 2012

Indifference

Help us each day to grow in indifference, Lord; cause us to become more and more indifferent to anything except your will.

Cause our self-interest and attempts at control to decrease continually and our desire to know and to do your will to increase continually.

Give us hearts that desire only the one best thing of knowing and loving you; give us hearts that let everything else go for your sake.

Your will be done, Lord, your will be done.

Amen.

Tuesday, October 16, 2012

A Prayer for Tuesday, October 16, 2012

Audible

In everyday language we say that something is audible when it is spoken loud enough to be heard.

“Audible” has another meaning in football terminology. The quarterback may have the option of calling an audible when the offense lines up to run the play that has been called in the huddle but, because of the way the defense is lined up, the quarterback sees that another play might work better and so he calls out that play at the line of scrimmage.

O God, make your still small voice audible enough to us that we can hear it deep in our spirit. Then, having heard your voice and having observed and analyzed the situation that presents itself to us, help us to make whatever adjustments and changes we need to make to deal with what is going on.

Help us to listen to you and to our situation and then to respond appropriately.

Amen.

Monday, October 15, 2012

A Prayer for Monday, October 15, 2012

All

If this week is like most other weeks, O Lord, then we will have a lot to do, a lot to deal with, a lot to endure, and a lot to enjoy.

Here at the beginning of the week, before we get into much of it, we give all of it to you.

Perhaps more importantly, here at the beginning of the week, before we enter into much of it, we give all of ourselves to you.

Take all of this week and all of our lives, O Lord, and use it all for your glory.

Amen.

Sunday, October 14, 2012

A Prayer for Sunday, October 14, 2012

The Lord’s Day

Remind us today, O God, that the resurrection power that infuses this day also infuses all our days; help us to walk daily in the newness of life the source of which we celebrate today.

Amen.

Saturday, October 13, 2012

A Prayer for Saturday, October 13, 2012

Journey

We thank you for the journey, O God.

Help us not to be frustrated by the detours and interruptions but to embrace all our moments, no matter how unexpected or inconvenient they may be, in case there is something in the experience that is vital to our progress.

We thank you for the people we meet along the way, O God.

Help us to be fully present in our encounters and conversations with them, no matter how different from us they may be, in case there is something in our meeting that is vital to both our and their progress.

Amen.

Friday, October 12, 2012

A Prayer for Friday, October 12, 2012

Imagine

Thank you, O God, for the gift of imagination. Help us to put it to good use.

Help us to imagine a world in which love is more prevalent.
Help us to imagine a life in which trust is more obvious.
Help us to imagine a community in which compassion is more manifest.
Help us to imagine a church in which grace is more evident.

Then, O God, cause us to do what we can, guided by your Spirit, to make what we imagine into reality.

Amen.

Thursday, October 11, 2012

A Prayer for Thursday, October 11, 2012

Conduit

O God,

It is a blessing to receive your grace, mercy, and love; it is also a blessing to be a conduit through which your grace, mercy, and love flow to other people.

How freely can your grace, mercy, and love flow through us to others given our current shape? Do we need to be adjusted, to be reshaped and reformed so that the channels will be more open?

Mold and make us so that your abundant blessings can flow through us and out to the other people with whom we come into contact. Make us glad to accept whatever design you have for us.

Amen.

Wednesday, October 10, 2012

A Prayer for Wednesday, October 10, 2012

All

O God,

We know that we are summoned to give our all to you. We confess that it is a challenge for us.

We confess the challenge we face in wanting to withhold some aspects of our lives from you. Help us to grow a little each day toward complete surrender of our will to your will.

We confess the challenge we face in wondering if even our all is good enough. Help us to grow a little each day toward a healthy love of self for your sake so that we can give of ourselves gladly and generously.

Here is our all, O God. We want to give it to you. Grant us grace to do so.

Amen.

Tuesday, October 9, 2012

A Prayer for Tuesday, October 9, 2012

Purpose

O God,

Who am I? Why am I here?

Those are questions that most if not all of us ponder at some level and to some degree most if not all of the time.

On the one hand, we thank you for the gifts of consciousness and self-awareness that compel and enable us to think about such things because in thinking about them we have the opportunity to make progress in our understanding and in our living.

On the other hand, we ask you to keep our potentially productive pondering from deteriorating into self-absorption or self-pity. Keep our awareness that we will never know the complete answer to those questions from leading us into frustration; cause that awareness instead to motivate us to approach our life as an adventure in self-discovery.

Remind us that while there are no simple answers to those important questions, there are some basic answers that provide a foundation for all the other answers.

Who am I? I am your beloved child.

Why am I here? To love you and to love other people.

Amen.

Monday, October 8, 2012

A Prayer for Monday, October 8, 2012

Care

O God,

A lot lies ahead of us this week, some of which we know about and some of which we don’t, some of which we think is not very important and some of which we think is quite important.

Help us not to care too much about it all. Help us not to care so much that we try to take control of it, that we try to be in charge of it, that we try to manipulate it, and that we try to own it. Help us to remember that finally and ultimately it is all in your hands.

At the same time, help us to care enough. Help us to care enough to use our gifts well, to use our time well, and to use our energy well so that we appropriately play our role in the accomplishing of your will. Empower us to care enough to do our best but not so much that we never think our best is good enough.

Amen.

Sunday, October 7, 2012

A Prayer for Sunday, October 7, 2012

The Lord’s Day

On this first day of the week, O God, let our worship of you set the tone for the rest of the week; may we be made so sure of the reality of resurrection that we live in its power every day this week.

Amen.

Saturday, October 6, 2012

A Prayer for Saturday, October 6, 2012

Wait & See

“You’ll have to wait and see,” we say; they are words we use to tell people that they will have to wait until some point in the future to understand something. What we are really saying, then, is that they will have to wait to see.

There are things that we will have to wait and see in the sense of having to wait to see; thus we sing “We’ll understand it better by and by” with the “by and by” being “when the morning comes” which will be “when we all get home.”

But there is a sense in which we can take the phrase “wait and see” more literally; there is a sense in which we can see while we wait.

So Lord, help us to wait and see. Help our time of waiting for you to work all things out according to your will to be a time of growing in our understanding of you, of our world, of other people, and of ourselves. While we wait for Christ to come again, cause our waiting to be a time when we are growing up into Christ.

Help us, O Lord, to wait and see.

Amen.

Friday, October 5, 2012

A Prayer for Friday, October 5, 2012

Form

You formed us, O God, at the beginning of our lives and even before—you, by your grace and by the natural processes that you set in motion, created us.

You have been forming us, O God, all through the living of our lives—you, by your grace and in and despite our choices, have been shaping us into who we are.

You will form us, O God, for the rest of our lives—you, by your grace and through our determined but relaxed submission to you, will cause us to grow into the image of Christ.

Mold us and make us, O God, according to your will.

Amen.

Thursday, October 4, 2012

A Prayer for Thursday, October 4, 2012

Decide

O God,

Today, like every day, we will make many, many decisions.

Most of our decisions will relate to small matters and to many of them we will give very little thought. For all we know, though, some of the seemingly small decisions may have large implications and so please guide us even in those.

Some of our decisions will relate to big matters and to many of them we will give very much thought. Help us to use the full power of our minds, the full range of our experience, and the full guidance of wise friends in the making of those big decisions. Help us most of all to seek and to follow your guidance as it comes to us through your Book and through your Spirit.

In all things, help us constantly to decide to follow Jesus.

Amen.

Wednesday, October 3, 2012

A Prayer for Wednesday, October 3, 2012

Escape

On the one hand, O Lord, it is a good thing to get away from it all; thus you have taught us to build such practices as solitude, silence, and Sabbath into our lives. Give us the necessary commitment to build those important disciplines into our lives that we might learn through them to depend on you and to keep our efforts in proper perspective.

On the other hand, O Lord, it is not a good thing to want only to escape, to have as our constant goal to get away from it all and away from them all. Give us through our times of solitude, silence, and Sabbath the joy and peace that come from fellowship with you but give us also the energy and desire to spend the rest of our time serving, giving, and sacrificing for your sake and for the sake of others.

Thank you for the privilege of escape.

Protect us from the temptation of escapism.

Amen.

Tuesday, October 2, 2012

A Prayer for Tuesday, October 2, 2012

Humility

Someone said that humility is not thinking less of yourself but rather thinking of yourself less.

Jesus said that we are to love our neighbor as we love ourselves.

Paul said that we should regard others as better than ourselves (Philippians 2:3).

Help us, O God, to put all of those truths together that we might live a life of true humility. Help us to understand how valuable we are to you and to realize how loved we are by you that we might love ourselves in the right way. Help us then in the strength of such love to love others and to put their lives and concerns ahead of our own.

Give us healthy humility, O God, that we might love and respect ourselves and others in the ways that are best, in the ways that reflect the life and love of Christ.

Amen.

Monday, October 1, 2012

A Prayer for Monday, October 1, 2012

Big/Little

As we start a new week, O God, we will be confronted by many tasks, many events, and many situations.

Some of them we will regard as big things; others we will regard as little things.

For all we know, though, what we consider a big thing may turn out to be small and what we consider small may turn out to be big. Or, the results or implications of something may turn out to be much less significant or much more significant than we could ever have anticipated.

And we may never know just how important or unimportant, how influential or non-influential, something is in the long run.

So, O God, in this new week, help us to deal with the tasks, events, and situations with which we will be confronted with trust in you that knows that you know the significance of it all. And in all things, whether we see them as big or small, help us to do our best in and with them.

Amen.