A Prayer for Wednesday, November 30, 2016

Know

O God,

We think we know a lot more than we know.

Forgive our arrogance, our smallness, and our narrowness.

Help us be open to facts we don’t know and to perspectives we’ve not considered.

Thank you for revealing yourself to us so we can know you. Thank you especially for revealing yourself through your Son Jesus Christ and through your Holy Spirit.

Protect us from thinking that to know you is to know all about you.

Help us grow every day in knowing you and in knowing about you.

Let our lives demonstrate what know, and that we know how much we don’t know.

Amen.

A Prayer for Tuesday, November 29, 2016

Drought

O God,

Here in Georgia, we’re getting rain 

today after months of drought. 

Thank you!

As we celebrate the blessing of rain, 

help us remember those who are still 

waiting for their droughts to end.

There are places and people experiencing droughts 

of rain, 

of food, 

of water, 

of peace, 

of security, 

of justice, 

of opportunity, 

and

of hope.

Please send them what they need.

And, in those cases where we can and should be 

your instruments, help us help end those droughts.

Thank you for our blessings.

Send others the blessings they need.

Help us help them find theirs.

Amen.

A Prayer for Monday, November 28, 2016

Whatever

O God,

Keep us still when we need to be still;

let us act when we need to act.

Whatever we do or don’t do, let us do

or not do it because it’s right and because

it’s what you lead us to do or not do.

Whatever we do or don’t do, let us

do or not do it out of love and in faith.

Amen.

A Prayer for Sunday, November 26, 2016

First Sunday of Advent

O God,

We tend to look up when we think to watch for Jesus to come. We tend to look to the sky; we tend to look to the heavens. We look up there; we look out there. We look to the great beyond.

Remind us to look around us as well. Remind us to look at the people who surround us. Help us see how Jesus comes to us in them. Help us see him in those who live in the ways he taught in his words and actions. Especially help us see him in those who need our love, grace, empathy, and mercy, in those who need us to share our presence and resources with them.

Help us faithfully look for Jesus to come from heaven one day.

Help us faithfully look for him to come to us here on earth in this day.

Amen. 

A Prayer for Saturday, November 26, 2016

Advent Eve

O God,

Here on the day before the first

Sunday of Advent, help us prepare

ourselves for that which is coming

and for the One who is coming.

Make us ready for

new experiences,

new insights,

new understandings,

new commitments, and

new challenges.

Amen.

A Prayer for Friday, November 25, 2016

Dreams

O God,

We dream

of better days,

of better news,

of better circumstances, and

of better relationships.

We trust you to move

things in a better direction.

We also acknowledge that you

use people to make things better.

So help us do what we can to

make our dreams come true.

Amen.

A Prayer for Thursday, November 24, 2016

Thanksgiving (Pt. 4)

O God,

For

the relationships,

the experiences,

the challenges,

the sharing,

the progress, and

the growth

that make life worth living,

we give you thanks.

Amen.

A Prayer for Wednesday, November 23, 2016

Thanksgiving (Part 3)

O God,

Thank you!

Thank you for your grace and mercy. Thank you for loving and forgiving us.

Thank you that, because we follow Jesus, our lives are becoming less and less about ourselves and more and more about others. Thank you that, while we celebrate our reception of your grace and mercy, we are also inspired to share it with other people. Thank you that your mercy and grace can so fill our hearts that they pour out of us onto those who need our love, our acceptance, our forgiveness, and our kindness.

Thank you that we can grow out of self-centeredness and into a glad and willing focus on others.

Let it be, dear Lord. Let it be.

Amen.

A Prayer for Tuesday, November 22, 2016

Thanksgiving (Pt. 2)

O God,

Thank you!

Thank you for our nation. Thank you that, ever since our government began operating under the Constitution in 1789, we’ve been growing toward believing in and practicing equal rights and justice for all.

The path hasn’t been and isn’t always straight and smooth. Sometimes we take two steps forward and one step back. Still, we thank you that we have continued to move forward, and we pray that we will continue to do so.

Forgive us when we let fear, perceived self-interest, and prejudice block the path forward.

Help those of us who serve you and follow Jesus be inspired by more than Constitutional ideals to seek equal rights and justice for all. Let Christ’s love and grace inspire us to seek what’s best for people in ways that go far beyond what even the Constitution points toward.

Thank you for our nation.

Help us be the best nation we can be.

Help us live up to our highest ideals.

Amen.

A Prayer for Monday, November 21, 2016

Thanksgiving (Pt. 1)

O God,

Thank you!

Thank you for this planet that is

positioned and constituted just right

for life to begin, develop, and thrive.

Thank you for the privilege and responsibility

of developing and protecting the earth.

Help us show our gratitude for our home by

developing perspectives, making choices, and

implementing policies that take good care of it.

Amen.

A Prayer for Sunday, November 20, 2016

The Lord’s Day

O God,

We praise you for your great mercy. Our every sin offends your holiness, and yet you, in your great grace, forgive us.

Sometimes people offend us. Sometimes they do us wrong. Sometimes they hurt us.

Sometimes we fail to forgive. Sometimes we hold grudges. Sometimes we seek revenge.

Forgive us for our failure to forgive. Forgive us when we treat others in the opposite way from how you treat us. Forgive our hypocrisy. Forgive our lack of mercy.

But then help us forgive others with the mercy you have given us, because, if we are truly forgiven, we will forgive, and if we have really received your mercy, we will offer mercy. Give us hearts that want to forgive and that do forgive. Give us hearts so filled with mercy, we must show mercy.

We praise you for the great mercy you have shown us.

We ask for the grace to show great mercy to others.

Amen.  

A Prayer for Saturday, November 19, 2016

Reach (Pt. 3)

O God,

As I grow in my willingness and ability to reach out to you and to reach within myself, lead me to reach out more to other people.

Don’t let me reach out to you just for my benefit. Don’t let me reach within myself just so I can be a better me for my own sake. Instead, let my growing relationship with you and my growing understanding of myself cause me to love and have compassion for others.

Help me put others ahead of myself. Help me give of myself for other people.

Help me reach out to you.

Help me reach within myself.

Help me reach out for others.

Amen.

A Prayer for Friday, November 18, 2016

Reach (Pt. 2)

O God,

On the one hand, I realize the value in accepting who I am. I know that you love me just as I am, and that you will give me grace to do the same.

On the other hand, I realize that there is premium value within me. I know that you work in me to help me find and be the best me I can be, and that you will give me grace to participate in that process.

So help me reach deep within myself and bring out the best that is within me.

Then let me live out those qualities in all I think, feel, say, and do.

Amen.

A Prayer for Thursday, November 17, 2016

Reach (Pt. 1)

O God,

Whenever I reach for

you, you are there.

Thank you.

Remind me to reach for

you all the time, and not

just when I feel the need.

Remind me that you are

always reaching for me.

It’s amazing that you are

God, and yet you don’t place

yourself beyond our reach.

Thank you for such grace.

Thank you that

I can live in it.

Amen.

A Prayer for Wednesday, November 16, 2016

Spirits

O God,

Sometimes I wish I could see into other people’s spirits. That way, I’d know who they really are.

But I can’t. As a matter of fact, I can’t even see all the way into my spirit. I can see into mine better than I can see into anybody else’s, but there’s a lot about myself that I can’t see.

Or maybe there’s a lot about myself that I won’t see. It’s hard for me to tell which way it is. Either way, or both ways, even when it comes to me, I can’t see everything. I can’t fully understand myself.

I know that you can see everything about our spirits. I know that you know everything about us. I know that you understand everything that makes us who we are.

I can’t. They can’t. We can’t.

So remind us of how limited our understanding of each other is, and of how limitless your understanding of us is.

Grant us the humility that by all rights should be ours.

Remove from us the pride we have no business practicing and the judgmentalism we have no business engaging in.

Amen.

A Prayer for Tuesday, November 15, 2016

Should

O God,

Help us say what we should, about what we should, when we should.

Help us do what we should, about what we should, when we should.

Help us believe what we should, about what we should, when we should.

Help us wonder what we should, about what we should, when we should.

Help us imagine what we should, about what we should, when we should.

Help us believe or not believe, say or not say, and do or not do everything because we love you with all we are and because we love our neighbors as ourselves. Let our every thought, motive, feeling, perspective, and action come from the love, grace, and mercy of Jesus Christ our Lord.

Amen.

A Prayer for Monday, November 14, 2016

Listen/Talk

O God,

Forgive us when we talk more than we should

and when we listen less than we should.

Help us listen with discernment and speak with insight.

In between our listening and our speaking, let our

minds, spirits, and hearts process what we hear and

filter what we say through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Bathe our hearing and speaking in his grace, love, and mercy.

Amen.

A Prayer for Sunday, November 13, 2016

The Lord’s Day

O God,

I’m traveling today, so I’m not preaching.

Many of my friends are, though.

They are proclaiming the Good News of Jesus Christ, the One who came not to be served but to serve, who emptied himself and took the form of a servant, who came to proclaim good news to the poor and liberty to the captives, who taught us to love you with all we are and our neighbors as ourselves, and who told us to take up our crosses and follow him.

Some of my friends are addressing people who are devastated and despairing after last Tuesday’s presidential election.

Some of them are addressing people who are triumphant and celebrating after the same election.

Some of them are addressing congregations that are divided between the two reactions.

Help them all, O God. And, in all situations, Lord, have mercy.

Amen.

A Prayer for Saturday, November 12, 2016

For

O God,

At the risk of trying to be too nuanced—

 help us be for more than we are against.

Help us be

for love more than we are against hate,

for inclusion more than we are against exclusion,

for acceptance more than we are against rejection,

for understanding more than we are against prejudice, and

for everybody more than we are against anybody.

Amen.

A Prayer for Friday, November 11, 2016

Give

O God,

Give us hearts that want to give, not to take.

Give us minds that want to open up, not to shut down.

Give us arms that want to embrace, not to push away.

Give us spirits that want to trust, not to despair.

Give us lives that want to expand, not to narrow.

Amen.

A Prayer for Thursday, November 10, 2016

Lean

O God,

Lots of people are struggling.

They are our friends.

They are our family.

They are our neighbors. 

They are strangers.

They need somebody to lean on.

Help us be there for them.

In turn, give us somebody to lean

on. Give us people who understand,

who care, and who empathize.

And give us all grace to lean on you.

Amen.

A Prayer for Wednesday, November 9, 2016

Election (Pt. 3)

O God,

Help those who have been elected to lead our nation. Let their leadership be motivated by grace, love, and hope.

Help all of us join together to work toward having the best nation we can have. Let our citizenship be motivated by kindness, mercy, and love.

Amen.

A Prayer for Tuesday, November 8, 2016

Election (Part 2)

O God,

It’s Election Day here in the United States of America. All over our nation, people are casting their votes for President, for other offices, and on various amendments and referenda.

First, let there be safety, peace, and order.

Second, let the outcomes move us toward being a better people who live in true community.

Third, as we come together to cast our differing votes, bind us together in our common love for our country.

Amen.

A Prayer for Monday, November 7, 2016

Election (Pt. 1)

O God,

Tomorrow we will complete the process of electing the next President of the United States. Many of us have already voted; many more of us will vote tomorrow.

Help everything go as smoothly as possible.

Thank you for the privilege of participating in the process of choosing our leaders. Thank you for all the officials and volunteers who work at the polls and behind the scenes.

Bless our nation. Help us grow toward better living up to our ideals. Help us even grow toward better living up to your ideals.

Amen.

A Prayer for Sunday, November 6, 2016

The Lord’s Day

O God,

We look forward to the time when

everything is going to be all right.

In the meantime, we celebrate the fact

that, in Christ, it is well with our souls.

Until everything is all right, and for as long as

we live in the meantime, help us do all we can

to help people find your grace, peace, and love.

And help us do all we can to make things better.

Amen.

A Prayer for Saturday, November 5, 2016

Praise

O God,

For your grace that always sustains me,

for your love that will not let me go, and

for your hope that keeps me going,

I praise you.

Amen.

A Prayer for Friday, November 4, 2016

Attitude (Pt. 5)

O God,

Help me develop attitudes

that honor Christ,

that help others, and

that reflect my best self.

Help me develop an attitude of mercy.

First, keep me from being easily offended. Keep me from treating a light wound as a major injury. Help me overlook what should be overlooked and disregard what should be disregarded.

Second, let my default position be to forgive rather than to hold a grudge or to strike back. Help me turn the other cheek and pray for my enemies.

Finally, let the mercy I give grow out of the mercy I’ve received. Let the forgiveness I’ve received from you flow into forgiveness I extend to others. Let such forgiveness become natural and necessary to me.

Help me develop an attitude and lifestyle of mercy.

Amen.

A Prayer for Thursday, November 3, 2016

Attitude (Pt. 4)

O God,

Help me develop attitudes

that honor Christ,

that help others, and

that reflect my best self.

Help me develop an attitude of patience.

I’m all too aware of how short my life is. That awareness causes me to want everything to happen quickly. It makes me impatient.

Help me be more aware of eternity. Help me live in light of the fact that things are best done in your time. Help me remember that the best things are worth waiting for.

At the same time, don’t let me slip into an attitude of “whatever will be, will be,” so as to excuse myself from doing what I should and from trying to make happen what I should try to make happen.

Help me do my best, and trust you for the rest.

Help me develop an attitude and lifestyle of active, trusting patience.

Amen.

A Prayer for Wednesday, November 2, 2016

Attitude (Pt. 3)

O God,

Help me develop attitudes

that honor Christ,

that help others, and

that reflect my best self.

Help me develop an attitude of empathy.

I am who I am. I have the genes I have, I had the upbringing I had, and I’ve had the experiences I’ve had. I can’t be other than I am.

I can’t be someone else. I can’t live someone else’s life or have someone else’s perspective.

But forgive me when I don’t even try. Because I can try, and sometimes I don’t.

Help me try to put myself in other people’s shoes. Help me try to understand who they are and where they’re coming from.

Let me develop greater empathy for them so I can develop greater love for them.

Help me develop an attitude and a lifestyle of empathy.

Amen.

A Prayer for Tuesday, November 1, 2016

Attitude (Pt. 2)

O God,

Help me develop attitudes

that honor Christ,

that help others, and

that reflect my best self.

Help me develop an attitude of hope.

Forgive me for sometimes

tending toward despair.

Don’t let me ever throw my

hands up and say, “I give up!”

But sometimes, when I look at situations and

when I observe people, it’s hard not to feel

hopeless. I really need your help not to despair.

So help me keep my eyes on you and on

your promises. Help me believe that you are

working your purposes out. Help me know

that everything is going to be all right someday.

And meanwhile, help me live in ways

that reflect the hope I have in you.

Help me join with other hopeful people to do

all we can to make things better here and now.

Help me develop an attitude and a lifestyle of hope.

Amen.