A Prayer for Monday, October 31, 2016

Attitude (Pt. 1)

O God,

Help me develop attitudes

that honor Christ,

that help others, and

that reflect my best self.

Help me develop an attitude of trust.

Reduce my tendency to worry.

Forgive me for living as if I can, by my

anxiety, somehow make things better.

Give me an ongoing awareness

that you are there,

that you love me, and

that the future is in your hands.

Give me such a strong foundation of trust

that no crisis, real or imagined, can shake it.

You are God, the Creator and Sustainer of

all that is,

all that ever has been, and

all that ever will be.

And you love and care for me.

Why should I ever be afraid?

Help me develop an attitude of trust.

Amen.

A Prayer for Sunday, October 30, 2016

The Lord’s Day

O God,

Give us a glimpse of our resurrected Lord today.

Then, help us remember what we saw as we go back into the world, ready and willing to give ourselves up for your sake and for other people’s sake.

Help us open our eyes wide to see the pain and brokenness in the world, but let our glimpse of the resurrected Jesus remain constant in our spirit’s eye.

Help us deal with what is in light of what will be.

Help us remember that beyond pain and suffering lies resurrection and that beyond despair lies hope.

Let us live in light of Jesus’ resurrection so we can be agents of hope in our communities and in our world.

Amen.

A Prayer for Saturday, October 29, 2016

Hope

O God,

For fall breezes,

for yellow butterflies,

for colorful mums,

and for everything else that

offers hope, we give you thanks.

Amen.

A Prayer for Friday, October 28, 2016

Empty

O God,

Empty me of all concerns and

interests except doing your will.

Then, put back in me the concerns and

interests that are appropriate to my life.

But let them all become ways in

which I do your will, so that my

entire life is all about that one thing.

Amen.

A Prayer for Thursday, October 27, 2016

Amount

O God,

Let our lives amount to something.

Let them amount to something positive.

Mainly, let the love, grace, and mercy

that we receive and share amount

to a life that shows that we love you

with everything we are and that we

love others as we love ourselves.

Amen.

A Prayer for Wednesday, October 26, 2016

Tip

O God,

When we’re teetering and tottering

and can’t decide which way to lean,

let love, grace, and mercy

tip us in the right direction.

Amen.

A Prayer for Tuesday, October 25, 2016

Compatible

O God,

Help us live in ways that are compatible

with our identity as followers of Jesus.

Let our

thoughts,

motives,

attitudes,

perspectives,

opinions,

choices,

decisions,

words,

reactions,

responses, and

actions

reflect those of our Lord.

Let people see Jesus in us.

Let them know we are Christians because

of the love, grace, and mercy we practice.

Amen.

A Prayer for Monday, October 24, 2016

Reality (Pt. 3)

O God,

We have prayed to live in light of the reality that is.

We have prayed to live in light of the ultimate reality that is you.

We pray now for the hope and wisdom that will lead us to do our best to help bring about the reality that can be.

We know that things will never be perfect on this side of the fulfillment of your kingdom. But we also know that things can be better than they are.

Protect us from utopianism that fills our heads with dreams that can never be fulfilled.

Protect us from fatalism that fills our heads with resignation that can never be overcome.

Give us hopeful pragmatism that fills our heads with a clear-eyed view of the ways things are, that fills our hearts with great trust in you and your purposes, and that fills our lives with commitment to do what we can to make things better.

Then, help us act …

Amen.

A Prayer for Sunday, October 23, 2016

The Lord’s Day

O God,

We praise you for your Son, who

obeyed perfectly,

died willingly, and

rose victoriously.

Help us follow him through

doing your will,

giving ourselves away,

and becoming ever more aware

of our present and future new life.

Amen.

A Prayer for Saturday, October 22, 2016

Reality (Pt. 2)

O God,

Help us live our lives in

light of the ultimate reality.

Help us always remember that

you are and that you are great.

Help us always be amazed

by your power,

by your love, and

by your grace.

Let our lives always grow toward

fully reflecting our awareness of

and our relationship with you.

Amen.

A Prayer for Friday, October 21, 2016

Reality (Pt. 1)

O God,

Help us stay in touch with reality.

Help us be realists and pragmatists.

Help us see and deal with life, with situations,

and with circumstances as they really are.

Don’t let us engage in escapism, denial, or nostalgia.

Keep us from blocking our view with dark

glasses or altering it with rose-colored ones.

Instead, let us see the world through clear lenses.

Help us stay in touch with reality.

Help us deal with life as it is.

Amen.

A Prayer for Thursday, October 20, 2016

Stars

O God,

Thank you for the technology that enables us

to see the stars better than we ever have before.

Thank you for the pictures that give us a

glimpse of the wonders of this vast universe.

On the one hand, let us respond with humility

as we realize just how small we really are.

On the other hand, let us respond with gratitude

that, small as we are, you love and care for us.

Help us remember that we are not lost in the cosmos.

Help us remember that you know right where we are.

Amen.

A Prayer for Wednesday, October 19, 2016

Infuse

O God,

Infuse my every

experience,

situation, and

moment

with your grace.

Infuse my every

thought,

feeling,

motive,

word,

decision,

choice,

action, and

response

with your grace.

Infuse my life

with your grace.

And keep me always

aware of the infusion.

Amen.

A Prayer for Tuesday, October 18, 2016

Knowledge

O God,

Thank you for knowledge. Thank you for the ability to know and to understand.

But forgive us for sometimes thinking and talking as if we know more than we know and understand more than we understand about life, about the world, about other people, and about you.

Help us grow in knowledge and understanding.

But as our knowledge and understanding grow, let our humility grow even more.

Let our ever-increasing knowledge make us always aware of how much we don’t know.

Amen.

A Prayer for Monday, October 17, 2016

Peace

O God,

Help us

think,

speak, and

act

in ways that make

for peace, in both the

short and long term.

Amen.

A Prayer for Sunday, October 16, 2016

The Lord’s Day

O God,

We come to you with the hearts we have. They’re in the shape they’re in. They’ve been affected by the hurts and the joys we’ve experienced. They’ve been touched by your grace and love. They are what they are. They are what we are.

We come to present them to you. They’re all we have.

Please form and shape our hearts more with your love and grace. Please make them more like Jesus’ heart. Fill them with good things so that good words and good actions flow from them.

We know that the hearts with which we’ll come to you next Lord’s Day will still be broken and misshapen. But let them be more whole than they are today.

And let that increased wholeness show in the words we say, the choices we make, and the things we do. 

Amen.

A Prayer for Saturday, October 15, 2016

Those

O God,

For those who have given me

meaning,

tradition,

inspiration,

challenge,

wonder,

depth,

character,

hope, and

love—

for those who have given me themselves—

I thank you.

Help me to be the kind of person that

others think of when they thank you for

those who have given them such good gifts.

Amen.

A Prayer for Friday, October 14, 2016

Mercy

O God,

Have mercy on us.

Have mercy on us when we accept too much;

have mercy on us when we don’t accept enough.

Have mercy on us when we are judgmental;

have mercy on us when we are not discerning.

Have mercy on us when we harm relationships in defense of our positions;

have mercy on us when we protect relationships at the cost of our principles.

Have mercy on us when we believe in what we can’t see but ignore what we can;

have mercy on us when we focus so much on the temporal that we give no thought to the eternal.

Have mercy on us when we listen too much to other people;

have mercy on us when we don’t listen enough to other people.

Have mercy on us when we presume upon your grace and love;

have mercy on us when we don’t trust in your grace and love.

Have mercy on us.

Amen.

A Prayer for Thursday, October 13, 2016

If

O God,

Help us live in light of “if.”

Help us live in light of the possibilities.

Keep us aware of the conditional nature

of life: “If I do this, then this may happen

(or this—or this—or this—and so on).”

But don’t let our awareness be fearful.

Don’t let us worry about what might happen.

Don’t let us be paralyzed by fear of the unknown.

Instead, let us marvel at the vast number

of possible ways that things can go.

Help us live with expectancy, with hope, and with trust

as we move into the future—wherever it may take us.

Amen.

A Prayer for Wednesday, October 12, 2016

So

O God,

Help us

be who we’re supposed to be,

see as we’re supposed to see,

think as we’re supposed to think, and

understand as we’re supposed to understand,

so we can do what we’re supposed to do.

Help us live with results in mind.

Help us live toward good and appropriate goals.

But don’t let us violate who we are in you,

even if we think that would improve our results.

Let us live so that our main result is

to reflect your love, grace, and mercy.

Amen.

A Prayer for Tuesday, October 11, 2016

And

O God,

Help us live in

light of “and …”

“I am this, and …”

“I do this, and …”

“I know this, and …”

“I believe this, and …”

Help us stay aware that

there is always more

to be,

to do,

to know, and

to believe.

Help us always live

in light of “and …”

Amen.

A Prayer for Monday, October 10, 2016

Ask

O God,

I ask first that you be honored in all things.

I ask second that you help other people.

I ask third that you help me.

I ask fourth that you help me

first by helping me think, speak,

and act in ways that honor you,

second by helping me think, speak,

and act in ways that help other people,

and

third by helping me think, speak,

and act in ways that are good for me.

Amen.

A Prayer for Sunday, October 9, 2016

The Lord’s Day

O God,

For life,

for new life,

for ongoing life, and

for eternal life,

we praise you.

Amen.

A Prayer for Saturday, October 8, 2016

Going & Coming

O God,

In all of our going and coming,

and in all of our coming and going,

you are with us.

In all of our going and coming,

and in all of our coming and going,

we are with you.

Thank you!

Help us always remember …

Amen.

A Prayer for Friday, October 7, 2016

Limit

O God,

Let us push our love to the limit.

Let us put others first as much as we can

and give ourselves away as much as we can.

Let us push our love to the limit.

Then, by your grace and Spirit,

help us love a little bit more.

By your grace and Spirit,

push us beyond our limit.

Amen. 

A Prayer for Thursday, October 6, 2016

Methods

O God,

Make us conscious of the ways we try to

live in our relationships,

accomplish our goals, and

fulfill our dreams.

Help us use methods that befit our

identity as followers of Jesus Christ.

Let our methods be

based in love,

rooted in trust,

grounded in grace, and

established in hope.

Let how we do what we do bear witness

to the joining of our lives to Jesus’ life.

Amen.

A Prayer for Wednesday, October 5, 2016

Meantime

O God,

Thank you that everything’s

going to be all right someday.

In the meantime, help us do

all we can to make things better.

Motivate us with your love, grace, and

mercy to live in ways that reflect what your

kingdom will look like when it’s fully in place.

Help us persevere in living in your

ways, ways that will make us appear

quite odd to people around us.

Amen.

A Prayer for Tuesday, October 4, 2016

Nobel

O God,

Thank you for this year's Nobel Prize winners.

The 2016 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine has been awarded to Yoshinori Ohsumi of Japan, who “discovered and elucidated mechanisms underlying autophagy, a fundamental process for degrading and recycling cellular components.”

The 2016 Nobel Prize in Physics has been awarded to David J. Thouless, F. Duncan M. Haldane, and J. Michael Kosterlitz of Great Britain "for theoretical discoveries of topological phase transitions and topological phases of matter."

I have no idea what any of that means.

But I thank you for their work. I thank you for the contributions their research makes to human understanding.

We can’t all be Nobel Prize-winning scientists. But we can all do the best we can with what we have.

Help us all to grow as much as we can in our knowledge of how the world and the universe work.

Help us all to learn all we can, to understand all we can, and to do as much good as we can.

Amen.

A Prayer for Monday, October 3, 2016

Present

O God,

Help us be fully present

in every moment,

in every situation, and

with every person

that we are privileged

to experience.

Help us be

alive,

alert, and

attentive.

Help us know

how to think,

what to say,

what to do, and

how to help.

Help us be involved and immersed

in the lives we’re blessed to live.

Amen.

A Prayer for Sunday, October 2, 2016

Lord’s Day

O God,

As we worship our resurrected Lord,

fill us with hope that we will be raised and

with awareness that we have been raised.

Fill us with hope that we will

be raised to be with you forever.

Fill us with awareness that we have

been raised to walk in newness of life.

Let both the future and present experiences

of resurrection fill our lives with meaning.

Amen.

A Prayer for Saturday, October 1, 2016

Great

O God,

If we are going to

be great, let us be

great in love,

great in mercy,

great in faith,

great in grace,

great in service, and

great in humility.

Amen.