A Prayer for Wednesday, August 31, 2016

Handle

O God,

As challenges and crises confront us, help us do more than handle them to the best of our ability.

Help us handle them with the grace, love, and mercy that you have given us. Help us handle them with the Spirit of Christ that is within us.

Help us handle our challenges and crises to the best of Christ’s ability.

Amen.

A Prayer for Tuesday, August 30, 2016

More

O God,

When we’ve

loved all we can,

given all we can,

helped all we can,

forgiven all we can, and

cared all we can,

help us by your
grace and Spirit to

love,

give,

help,

forgive, and

care

a little bit more.

Amen.

A Prayer for Monday, August 29, 2016

Best

O God,

Help us do our best.

Help us discern what is

best by determining what

will do the most good.

Then help us

do our best work,

give our best love,

share our best blessings, and

say our best words.

Amen.

A Prayer for Sunday, August 28, 2016

The Lord’s Day

O God,

Today we once again celebrate the

greatest thing that ever happened.

May our celebration of the resurrection

of Jesus inspire us to do great things

that will demonstrate his presence in us.

May it lead us

to practice great love,

to offer great mercy, and

to share great grace.

Let the ways we live offer evidence to

the world that Jesus is indeed alive.

Amen.

A Prayer for Saturday, August 27, 2016

Integrity

O God,

If we are Christians . . .

. . . let our actions reflect

what’s in our hearts;

. . . let our hearts reflect

what’s in your heart;

and

. . . let your love and grace

determine who we are

and what we do.

Amen.

A Prayer for Friday, August 26, 2016

Opportunities

O God,

Make us aware of opportunities

to practice love today.

Help us take advantage of

them as they come along.

Keep us always ready to give

ourselves up to help someone else.

Amen.

A Prayer for Thursday, August 25, 2016

Unsung

O God,

Thank you for unsung heroes.

Thank you for people

who do all they can to help make things better,

who try to help the helpless and to heal the broken,  

who do what’s right at the cost of personal advancement,

and who get no recognition for it.

Thank you for seeing, for knowing, and for rewarding.

Thank you that, while they’re unsung on earth, they’re renowned in heaven.

Bless the unsung heroes.

Encourage them in their attitudes and actions.

Amen.

A Prayer for Wednesday, August 24, 2016

Until

O God,

Until Jesus returns to us,

help us remember that

he’s already here with us.

Until we are in your presence,

help us see you all around us.

Until we get to heaven,

help us build the

best earth we can.

Until you make things as they should be,

help us work to make them as they can be.

Until you make the world good,

help us try to make it better.

Until you fulfill our hope,

help us live in faith.

Until we know,

help us trust.

Until we see,

help us believe.

Until we die,

help us live.

Amen.

A Prayer for Tuesday, August 23, 2016

Windows

O God,

Thank you for all the windows you have

given us through which we can see life.

Thank you for such windows as

books,

music,

movies,

the internet,

experience,

conversations,

travel, and

imagination.

Thank you for all the windows you have

given us through which we can see you.

Thank you for such windows as

creation,

the Bible,

your Spirit,

other people, and

Jesus.

Thank you especially for Jesus.

Help us remember to look regularly through

the windows you’ve given us so we can

understand life and you as best we can.

Amen.

A Prayer for Monday, August 22, 2016

Unless

O God,

Keep us aware of our “unless” moments, of those moments when it’s the case that “unless I do this, that won’t happen.”

Sometimes the result is something we should pursue, and sometimes it’s something we should avoid.

So sometimes we should do what we’re contemplating, and sometimes we shouldn’t.

Make us alert to such pivotal moments.

Help us choose wisely. Help us choose in ways that demonstrate our love for you and for people. Help us choose in ways that contribute to your purposes.

Amen.

A Prayer for Sunday, August 21, 2016

The Lord’s Day

O God,

Let us see Jesus today.

When we see him, let us recognize him.

When we recognize him, let us follow him.

Then . . .

Let others see Jesus in us.

When they see him, let them recognize him.

When they recognize him, let them follow him.

Then . . .

Let others see Jesus in them.

And so on . . .

Amen.

A Prayer for Saturday, August 20, 2016

String

O God,

We are in the last few weeks of the Major League Baseball season. Several teams are striving to make the playoffs.

My team isn’t one of them. My Atlanta Braves are 28.5 games out of first place. They may be mathematically eliminated by Labor Day. They’re just playing out the string.

It’s all very sad.

To the players’ credit, they’re giving it a good effort. They play hard. They try to win, even though they have no chance at the pennant.

Don’t let us live as if we’re just playing out the string. Help us live as fully as we can for as long as we can. Help us see and pursue the meaning in our lives.

One of these days, we’ll reach a point where there is little life left to live. In a sense, we’ll be playing out the string, no matter how hard we try not to let it be that way. Even then, give us grace to keep living for as long as we’re alive.

And help us remember that, even after we’ve played out the string—even after we’ve played out, period—there’s still eternity to go …

Amen.

A Prayer for Friday, August 19, 2016

Imagine

O God,

Make us able and willing to imagine that the children dying in Aleppo are our children, that the girls kidnapped in Nigeria are our daughters, and that the homes flooded in Louisiana and burned in California are our homes.

Let our imagining lead us to have compassion.

Let our compassion lead us to pray.

Let our prayers lead us to action.

Let our actions lead us to a greater sense of commonality and community.

Amen.

A Prayer for Thursday, August 18, 2016

For

O God,

Let everything we

do be done for you.

Let us do anything we

can for other people.

Let us do what is

necessary for ourselves.

Let us live

first for you,

second for others, and

last for ourselves.

Amen.

A Prayer for Wednesday, August 17, 2016

Heavy

O God,

Help us learn and remember that, if

we rely on you and work in community,

no burden,

no problem, and

no person

is too heavy to lift.

Amen.

A Prayer for Tuesday, August 16, 2016

Elementary

O God,

Many of us have been Christians so long that we should have made a lot of progress. Our lives should demonstrate post-graduate level discipleship.

Sadly, they often demonstrate only elementary discipleship.

Why is that? It’s not that we haven’t lived. It’s not that we’ve not had challenging experiences. Life has happened.  Why then have we failed to grow in some aspects of following you?

Why don’t we forgive more readily? Why don’t we trust more deeply? Why don’t we love more sacrificially?

Maybe we’ve not been intentional enough about our discipleship. Maybe we’ve not practiced being aware of your guidance through the Spirit, through prayer, and through the Bible.

Whatever the reasons for the ways in which we’ve not matured appropriately, help us grow from this point on. Help us catch up in areas where we’ve fallen behind. Help us build on areas where we’ve kept up.

Help us grow in grace . . .

Amen.

A Prayer for Monday, August 15, 2016

Why

O God,

Sometimes we wonder why things happen.

You gave us minds to wonder and ponder, so it’s natural that we ask such questions.

We thank you for the answers we find, tentative though they must be.

Regardless of why things happen, they do, and we must live in that reality.

So as we ponder and wonder, help us to keep moving forward, to live life for all it’s worth, and to trust that you are working your purposes out.

It’s often hard to complete the sentence, “This is happening because …”

It’s usually easier to complete the sentence, “This is happening, so …”

Help us act on the “so” even as we wonder about the “why.”

Amen.

A Prayer for Sunday, August 14, 2016

The Lord’s Day

O God,

We gather today

as worshipers of God,

as disciples of Jesus, and

as vessels of the Spirit.

May we worship

you in your fullness.

May we worship

you as your people.

May we gather today

to praise you,

to learn from Jesus, and

to respond to the Spirit.

Amen.

A Prayer for Saturday, August 13, 2016

Gut

O God,

Sometimes we go with our gut.

Faced with options, we choose the one that feels right.

Help us grow so much in our access to and awareness of your grace, your love, your way, your Son, and your Spirit that our gut aligns with your will.

Help us make such progress in our walk with you that when we go with our gut, we really go with you.

Amen.

A Prayer for Friday, August 12, 2016

Difference

O God,

Thank you for people who

made a difference in our lives.

           

Thank you for those

who were there when we needed them,

who affirmed or corrected us when we needed it, and

who always believed in and encouraged us.

Let our gratitude show in the ways we

make a difference in other people’s lives.

Amen.

A Prayer for Thursday, August 11, 2016

Scars

O God,

It’s interesting that the disciples recognized the resurrected Jesus by the wound in his side and the nail prints in his hands. They knew him by his scars. His scars identified him, even in his glorified state.

Let people know us by our scars. Let them recognize that we follow Jesus by the way that we bear the wounds of life.

Let people know you by our scars. Let our scars bear witness to your grace and to our faith.

Give us wisdom not to seek to be wounded and not to claim to be wounded more than we are.

But as wounds come to us, use them to testify to your grace, mercy, and love.

Amen.

A Prayer for Wednesday, August 10, 2016

Lessons

O God,

Help us learn the lessons

that life is trying to teach us.

It can be a hard teacher.

Let us be good students.

Help us learn

how to trust you in all circumstances,

how to work together to make things better,

how to live attentively and openly, and

how to follow Jesus through it all.

Amen.

A Prayer for Tuesday, August 9, 2016

Days

O God,

Thank you for all the days

that have led to this day.

Thank you for using them all

in fulfilling your overall purposes.

Help us live this day in trust that it will move the

universe more toward your ultimate will, too.

Amen. 

A Prayer for Monday, August 8, 2016

All

O God,

A lot will happen

in this day,

in this week, and

in this life.

Some of it will be good,

some of it will be bad, and

some of it will be middling.

Help us

embrace it all,

live fully in it all, and

experience you in it all.

Amen.

A Prayer for Sunday, August 7, 2016

The Lord’s Day

O God,

As we gather in our sanctuaries to worship you today, remind us that our worship continues when we leave the building.

Help us learn and remember that you desire mercy and not sacrifice.

Help us live in light of the truth that we can go to church, sing the songs, listen to the sermon, and give an offering, and still not really worship you.

We can do all those things while having cold hearts and living callous lives.

Let us feel compassion and practice mercy. As you love and help us, let us love and help others.

Let our attitudes, motives, thoughts, words, and actions be perpetual acts of worship. Let them reflect our love for you and our love for people.

Then will our worship be worship indeed.

Amen.

A Prayer for Saturday, August 6, 2016

Olympics

O God,

The 2016 Summer Olympics are underway in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

Help everyone involved be safe. Protect them from sickness, from injury, and from terrorism.

It’s an interesting concept, Lord: the nations of the world come together to celebrate our common humanity by competing against each other.

Use the Olympics to help us think about which is more important and vital: our common humanity or our national identities.

Perhaps we can have it both ways, so long as we tilt in the direction that most benefits the most people.

After all, “U.S.A.” and “Planet Earth” have the same cadence. Maybe it comes down to which one we mean the most and chant the loudest.

The world comes together for the Olympics.

Help us come together for other, much more important things.

Amen.

A Prayer for Friday, August 5, 2016

Flow

O God,

Sometimes we need to go with the flow.

Sometimes we need to divert the flow.

Sometimes we need to impede the flow.

Sometimes we need to step over the flow.

Sometimes we need to dive into the flow.

Give us wisdom to know which is appropriate.

Give us courage to do what we should do.

Amen.

A Prayer for Thursday, August 4, 2016

Insight

O God,

Give us insight.

Give us insight

into other people’s experiences,

into the ways the universe works,

into the historical, social, and psychological

forces that shape events and perspectives,

into the, motivations, assumptions,

needs, and biases that drive us, and

into your great mercy, grace, and love.

In short, give us insight into life.

Then, help us use those insights to live

with understanding,

with humility, 

with compassion, and

with grace.

Amen.

A Prayer for Wednesday, August 3, 2016

Words

O God,

There are so many words.

There are

so many words we should listen to

and so many we should ignore,

so many words we should take seriously

and so many we should regard as empty,

so many words that try to build up

and so many words that try to tear down, and

so many words that come from your light

and so many that come from people’s darkness.

Help us know the difference.

Help us listen wisely.

Lead us to be careful about

the words we allow to shape

our thoughts,

our attitudes,

our perspectives,

our relationships, and

our actions.

Lead us to listen to and be shaped

by words that are shaped by

your grace,

your hope,

your compassion, and

your love.

Amen.

A Prayer for Tuesday, August 2, 2016

War

O God,

Of the 162 nations in the world, 152 are currently at war or involved in armed conflict. Only ten nations are completely free of conflict.

It seems that we have fulfilled Mr. Orwell’s prophecy of perpetual war. It’s 1984 in 2016.

Lord, forgive us. 

Forgive us for the harm we do to each other. 

Forgive us for the pride and greed that lead us into conflict. 

Forgive us for accepting war as a reasonable way to resolve our differences.

Thank you for those who try to settle disputes through diplomacy.

Thank you for those who try to lessen suffering in war-torn places.

Help us take seriously the history that has brought us to this point.

Help us find better ways to work things out than killing each other.

Help those of us who follow the Prince of Peace to think, talk, and act in ways that make for peace.

Amen.

A Prayer for Monday, August 1, 2016

With

O God,

Thank you that you are with us.

Keep us ever mindful of your presence.

Give us trust.

Thank you that we will be with you.

Keep us ever mindful of your promise.

Give us hope.

Thank you that we can be with each other.

Keep us ever mindful of our purpose.

Give us love.

Amen.