Saturday, November 30, 2013

A Prayer for Saturday, November 30, 2013

All of It

Thank you, God, for all of it; thank you for life in its totality.

Thank you for—

--the good and the bad,
--the pain and the gain,
--the brokenness and the healing,
--the friends and the enemies,
--the need and the supply,
--the tragedies and the triumphs,
--the sorrows and the joys—

and for so much more.

Indeed, thank you for all of it, for it is only in and through our total life experience that we make progress in knowing who you are and in discovering who we are.

Amen.

Friday, November 29, 2013

A Prayer for Friday, November 29, 2013

Surrounded

O God,

We thank you for the way that you surround us all the time; you are

in the air we breathe,
in the grace we encounter,
in the Spirit we sense,
in the love we know, and
in the people we meet.

Help us to grow in our awareness of your presence; cause

our pores,
our eyes,
our ears,
our mind, and our
spirit

to be more and more open to you in all the ways that you make yourself known to us.

Amen.

Wednesday, November 27, 2013

A Prayer for Wednesday, November 27, 2013

Awe-Inspiring

O God,

For people who use their gifts and talents to do awe-inspiring things that amaze us, we give you thanks.

Use that amazement to inspire us to put our gifts and talents to good use, even if the results will produce awe in no one.

Help us to remember that such use will produce satisfaction in the One who gave us our abilities—and that is reward enough.

Amen.

Tuesday, November 26, 2013

A Prayer for Tuesday, November 26, 2013

Updates

O God,

Thank you for this and for every new day that you give us; thank you for every new opportunity to grow, to mature, and to become more the person that you made us to be.

Help us to take advantage of the opportunity to do so.

Cause us to be open to the updates that you offer us. Make us open to how your Spirit speaks to us in light of our new experiences and our changing circumstances; enable us to pay attention to new insight from your Book and to new guidance from your people.

Lead us to accept your updates to our faith so that it won’t become outdated.

Amen.

Monday, November 25, 2013

A Prayer for Monday, November 25, 2013

Faithful

O God,

Thank you for your faithfulness to us; thank you that you are always in your dealings with us true to who you are and true to who we are in our relationship with each other.

Increase our faithfulness; help us always to be true to who you made us to be and, operating from that base of integrity, always to be true to you and to our relationship with you in the ways we think, talk, and act.

Let our integrity lead us to practice true faithfulness to you, to ourselves, and to each other.

Amen.

Sunday, November 24, 2013

A Prayer for Sunday, November 24, 2013

The Lord’s Day

O God,

In our worship today we will celebrate the fact that Christ is King of everything that is.

As we celebrate that fact, may we acknowledge that he is our King by crowning him—whether for the first time or in an act of re-coronation—as Lord of our lives.

Remind us that he became our King in his resurrection that came only after his crucifixion and empower us to live as subjects whose lives reflect that of our King.

Amen.

Saturday, November 23, 2013

A Prayer for Saturday, November 23, 2013

Enough/Extra

O God,

Thank you that we have enough; help us to make good and loving use of the extra, of the more than enough.

Thank you that we have enough food to eat; help us to make good and loving use of the extra, of the more than enough with which we are blessed.

Thank you that we have enough income to make it; help us to make good and loving use of the extra, of the more than enough with which we are blessed.

Thank you that we have enough time to accomplish our tasks; help us to make good and loving use of the extra, of the more than enough with which we are blessed.

Thank you that we have enough awareness to deal with our own lives; help us to make good and loving use of the extra, of the more than enough with which we are blessed.

Thank you that we have enough grace to know that we are loved by you; help us to make good and loving use of the extra, of the more than enough with which we are blessed.

Than you that we have enough; help us make good and loving use of the extra, of the more than enough.

Amen.

Friday, November 22, 2013

A Prayer for Friday, November 22, 2013

Everything

O God,

There are days when we get up and things are one way and by the time we lie back down they are another.

We never know when it will be such a day so we can’t really prepare for a particular unexpected development.

So help us to live each moment trusting you; help us consistently to grow in the assurance that you are with us in everything that happens and that you are somehow in all things working your purposes out.

That way, when something happens that changes everything, everything will in some ways remain the same.

Amen.

Thursday, November 21, 2013

A Prayer for Thursday, November 21, 2013

Stories

O God,

For the stories that reflect, interpret, and expand our stories we give you thanks.

Thank you for the books, films, and songs in which we experience those stories.

Thank you for your Book in which we find such stories.

Thank you for other people with whom we share such stories.

Help us to watch, to listen, and to learn; help us to remember that our story is always part of a much larger story. Help us to look for the ways in which our story connects with other stories.

Give us trust in the great story that you are writing and give us trust that our story matters in that story.

Amen.

Wednesday, November 20, 2013

A Prayer for Wednesday, November 20, 2013

Words

O God,

Teach and help us to pay close attention to the words we speak because our words reveal what is in our heart. So …

…gracious words reveal a gracious heart;
…hateful words reveal a hateful heart;
…loving words reveal a loving heart;
…dishonest words reveal a dishonest heart;
…truthful words reveal a truthful heart;
…prejudiced words reveal a prejudiced heart;
…accepting words reveal an accepting heart;
…encouraging words reveal an encouraging heart;
…destructive words reveal a destructive heart;
…helpful words reveal a helpful heart

and so on.

Whenever some words are about to come out of our mouths, help us to realize what those words reveal about what is in our hearts. Remind us to pray that you will cause the positive traits in our heart to grow larger and larger so that bit by bit and day by day they drive out the negative traits.

Amen.

Tuesday, November 19, 2013

A Prayer for Tuesday, November 19, 2013

Behalf

O God,

Thank you for strength; lead us to use it on behalf of the weak.

Thank you for wealth; inspire us to use it on behalf of the poor.

Thank you for health; cause us to use it on behalf of the sick.

Thank you for peace; help us to use it on behalf of the conflicted.

Thank you for salvation; enable us to use it on behalf of the lost.

Amen.

Monday, November 18, 2013

A Prayer for Monday, November 18, 2013

Guidance

O God,

Thank you for the ways in which you have guided us even when and even though we were not paying attention. Thank you that you will continue to do so. Thank you that we can look back and see how you guided our steps.

Help us to learn to pay closer attention to you and to your guidance. Help us to keep our eyes wide open so that we can see how you are guiding our steps right now. Help us not just to celebrate your past guidance but to participate fully in your present guidance.

Amen.

Sunday, November 17, 2013

A Prayer for Sunday, November 17, 2013

The Lord’s Day

O God,

Help us today to move toward worship of you that is increasingly open and honest.

Help us to acknowledge all that we are and to bring all that we are into your presence—our failures and our successes, our hopes and our fears, our sickness and our wellness, our assurance and our doubt, our greed and our generosity, our love and our hate—and everything else.

Help us as we really are to worship you as you really are.

Amen.

Saturday, November 16, 2013

A Prayer for Saturday, November 16, 2013

Stop

O God,

Thank you for those times when we get to stop and take a breath and reflect a bit.

Often when we get such a chance we realize that we have not been in the course of our busy lives paying enough attention to your presence, to your love, to your grace, and to your guidance.

Thank you for giving them to us even when we are not paying attention.

But help us to learn from those moments when we do stop and think about you to pay more conscious attention to you all the time; help us to learn to be alert to your gracious presence and direction.

Help us to grow toward a constant and active awareness of you …

Amen.

Friday, November 15, 2013

A Prayer for Friday, November 15, 2013

Lift

O God,

Lift us above the chaos and turmoil that characterize this old world.

But don’t lift us high above it so we can escape it; rather, lift us just enough above it that we can see the big picture.

Then, having glimpsed the big picture, help us to live out of that perspective as we deal with the crises and struggles that touch our particular lives and the lives of those whose lives our lives touch.

Amen.

Thursday, November 14, 2013

A Prayer for Thursday, November 14, 2013

Contentment

O God,

Thank you for those times when a sense of contentment—a sense of peace, a sense of wholeness, a sense that it’s all right—comes upon us.

When it comes, help us to rest in it, to enjoy it, and to celebrate it—but help us not to love it too much.

Remind us that while it is right and proper to accept the blessing of personal contentment that can come from increasing wholeness that can come from increasing maturity with its increasing love and grace, we can never be fully content while others are struggling and suffering.

Let our contentment be a secure base from which we can confront the peace-disrupting and peace-destroying forces in the world.

Amen.

Wednesday, November 13, 2013

A Prayer for Wednesday, November 13, 2013

Aware

O God,

Make us ever more aware of your presence; help us to sense and to follow the ways you lead us to live in grace, love, peace, and faith.

Make us ever more aware of others; help us to be alert to their existence, to their humanity, and to our common bond.

Make us ever more aware of ourselves; help us to know and to critique our motivations so that our actions will be designed to build up, to help out, and to share with others.

Amen.

Tuesday, November 12, 2013

A Prayer for Tuesday, November 12, 2013

Open

O God,

Help us to grow more and more into people who are truly open—

--open to you,
--open to others,
--open to change,
--open to pain,
--open to challenge,
--open to possibilities,
--open to dreams,
--open to reality,
--open to yes,
--open to no,
--open to maybe,
--open to gain,
--open to loss,
--open to rejection,
--open to acceptance,
--open to grace, and
--open to love.

Help us to grow more and more into people who are truly open to life in all of its wonder and mystery.

Amen.

Monday, November 11, 2013

A Prayer for Monday, November 11, 2013

Veterans

O God,

Thank you for our veterans.

Thank you for the veterans of the military; thank you for those men and women who have served and who are serving in our Armed Forces. Thank you for the personal sacrifices they have made and are making in order to defend our nation.

Thank you also for the veterans of our diplomatic corps; thank you for those women and men who have worked and who do work behind the scenes in order to maintain and develop relationships so that peace can be fostered and so that war will not be necessary. Thank you for the efforts they have made and are making to defend our nation.

Thank you also for the veterans of peace efforts and movements; thank you for those women and men who have taken and who are taking prophetic and radical stances in order to summon the rest of us to an awareness of the possibilities of living as a peaceful world community. Thank you for the efforts they have made and are making to defend our world.

Thank you for our veterans.

Amen.

Sunday, November 10, 2013

A Prayer for Sunday, November 10, 2013

The Lord’s Day

O God,

As we gather today to celebrate the One who passed through death into life, we also celebrate the reality that in him we have passed through death into life.

Remind us that we are still in the process of passing through death into life; remind us of the ongoing necessity of taking up our cross and of laying down our lives—

for it is in losing our lives that we find them.

Amen.

Saturday, November 9, 2013

A Prayer for Saturday, November 9, 2013

Radical

O God,

Thank you for those rare ones whose entire lives are given to radical faith in you and to radical following of you.

Thank you also for those moments when such radical faith and following manages to break through in our lives.

Let those moments become more regular.

Amen.

Friday, November 8, 2013

A Prayer for Friday, November 8, 2013

All Three

O God,

We thank you that we blink our eyes around fifteen times a minute; we thank you that you designed us so that our delicate and vital vision organs can stay clean and lubricated. We thank you also for the complex neurological and muscular processes that occur each time we blink, even though we have no conscious awareness of those processes. They just happen—and we blink, as we are designed to do.

We have prayed this week that in all situations and circumstances, our first thought will be always of you, our second thought will always be of others, and our third thought will be always of ourselves.

Help us to grow in your design for us so that, while we think in all circumstances of you first, of others second, and of self third, it all happens like the processes that lead to a blink—swiftly, virtually simultaneously, and reflexively.

We acknowledge that unlike a blink, the processes that lead to such living do not come naturally to us and so we have to think about them and constantly ask you to develop them in us. But help us each day to grow toward the kind of integrity of being that can, by your grace, love, and Spirit, be ours.

Amen.

Thursday, November 7, 2013

A Prayer for Thursday, November 7, 2013

Third

O God,

In all situations and circumstances, let our first thought be always of you. Let our second thought be always of other people.

Let our third thought be always of ourselves.

But help us to take ourselves very, very seriously—in the right and helpful way.

After all, it is only as ourselves that we can love you and love others. And it is only as we pay appropriate attention to ourselves—to the state of our hearts and hands, to the state of our attitudes and actions—that we can open ourselves up to your Spirit, to your Word, and to your grace that will over time form and shape us into people whose first thought will always be of you and whose second thought will always be of others.

So let our third thought be of ourselves; let us think of how you are forming us to be people who love you with all we are and our neighbors as ourselves.

Amen.

Wednesday, November 6, 2013

A Prayer for Wednesday, November 6, 2013

Second

O God,

In all situations and circumstances, let our first thought be always of you.

Let our second thought be always of other people.

When we get into a disagreement with someone,
when we ponder public policy,
when we plan, staff, and fund the ministries of the church,
when we decide how to use our time, our energy, and our money,
when we establish and pursue goals for our lives, and
when we wonder what life is all about,

let our first thought be always of you; let our second thought be always of others.

Amen.

Tuesday, November 5, 2013

A Prayer for Tuesday, November 5, 2013

First

O God,

Let our first thought always be of you.

When we are endowed with a blessing, let our first thought be of you.
When we are confronted with a crisis, let our first thought be of you.
When we are faced with a choice, let our first thought be of you.
When we are harmed by another, let our first thought be of you.
When we are angered by an action, let our first thought be of you.
When we are troubled by a circumstance, let our first thought be of you.
When we are afraid of a threat, let our first thought be of you.
When we draw a breath, let our first thought be of you.

Let our first thought always be of you.

Amen.

Monday, November 4, 2013

A Prayer for Monday, November 4, 2013

Shorter

O God,

The days are growing shorter; that is, as we move toward the Winter Solstice the amount of daylight we have in the Northern Hemisphere will become less and less until we arrive at that shortest day of the year.

Let the shortening days remind us of the privilege and the necessity of working while it is still light.

It is good and healthy for us to remember that we are not here forever so long as that awareness inspires us not to wallow in dread but rather to live our lives fully, gratefully, and creatively.

As we live in this week, lead us not to be concerned about the time that has passed but to be grateful for the time that is available.

As we realize that life is getting shorter, remind us just how exiting the last inning of a baseball game or the last two minutes of a football game can be …

Amen.

Sunday, November 3, 2013

A Prayer for Sunday, November 3, 2013

All Saints Sunday

O God,

Thank you for this day on which we remember and celebrate the lives of those who have gone before us and on whose shoulders we stand.

Help us to remember that a “saint” is one who is made holy by the work of your Spirit and who has become of use to you in service and in sacrifice.

Inspire us through what you have done in the lives of your saints who lived and died in you to be wide open to what you want to do in our lives.

Amen.

Saturday, November 2, 2013

A Prayer for Saturday, November 2, 2013

Music

O God,

For the languages of music, which are many and diverse, we thank you.

For those who receive the words and who hear the tunes and then share them with the rest of us, we thank you.

For those who tell the stories and who paint the pictures into which we can be drawn, we thank you.

For the emotions that the songs summon and for those that the songs clarify, we thank you.

For the blessing of being drawn into another—sometimes troubling and sometimes comforting—world, we thank you.

For the music that moves in the hearts of even the “non-musical” among us, we thank you.

Amen.

Friday, November 1, 2013

A Prayer for Friday, November 1, 2013

Intersections (Part 5)

O God,

If today is like most days, we will be confronted with fellow human beings who have great and real needs; we may be confronted with them via media or close up. And when we are confronted with them, we will be tempted to protect ourselves by adopting an apathetic approach to life.

If we don’t care then we won’t have to hurt and if we don’t hurt then we won’t have to share in someone else’s hurt and if we don’t share in their hurts we won’t have to try to do something and thereby risk further hurt.

But if you are in us—if you are in us as the God who is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit and who is thus defined by community and relationship and if you are in us as the God loves so much that you became present among us and died for us as one of us in Jesus Christ your Son—then your great love is in us. Such a great love cannot let our apathy win the day.

And so, as we live today and every day, when we are confronted by the great and real needs of people and we find our apathy and your love intersecting, help us to respond in that moment with the best love we have—with the love that comes from you.

Amen.