Tuesday, May 31, 2016

A Prayer for Tuesday, May 31, 2016

Life

O God,

I hear the birds singing.
I hear the cars passing.
I feel my heart beating.
I sense my spirit stirring.
I imagine the world turning.
I picture people living.

It is life.

Thank you for it.

Help us to live it fully and freely.

It is spectacular …

Amen.

Monday, May 30, 2016

A Prayer for Monday, May 30, 2016

Memorial Day

O God,

Today our nation remembers and
honors the 1.2 million Americans who
have died while serving our nation in the
armed forces during the last 241 years.

Thank you for their service.

Help us honor their sacrifice
by doing all we can to help
our nation live up to its ideals.

Help us honor them by doing all we can
to increase the prospects for peace
and to lessen the chances of war.

Amen.

Sunday, May 29, 2016

A Prayer for Sunday, May 29, 2016

The Lord’s Day

O God,

We worship you because you are
wonderful—you are full of wonder!

We worship Jesus today because, when
he walked the earth, he was wonderful—
he was filled with all the wonder of God!

Let our worship be wonderful.

Let it be filled with the
wonder of who you are.

Let it be filled with the wonder of
your great grace that led you to send
Jesus so we could see who you are.

You are full of wonder.

Fill us with your wonder …

Amen.

Saturday, May 28, 2016

A Prayer for Saturday, May 28, 2016

Beautiful

O God,

Thank you for beauty.

Thank you

for beautiful things,
for beautiful people, and
for beautiful events.

Help us to see things, people,
and events as you see them.

Help us to grow in our understanding
of what constitutes beauty.

Help us grow beyond superficiality.

Help us grow in depth.

Let us see and appreciate
the world as you do.

Amen.

Friday, May 27, 2016

A Prayer for Friday, May 27, 2016

More

O God,

Give us more grace—so we’ll have more grace to share.

Give us more hope—so we’ll have more hope to share.

Give us more faith—so we’ll have more faith to share.

Give us more love—so we’ll have more love to share.

Give us more of everything we need—so we’ll have more to share with those in need.

Amen.

Thursday, May 26, 2016

A Prayer for Thursday, May 26, 2016

Your

O God,

Help us

do your will,
follow your way,
develop your vision,
and
share your love.

Amen.

Wednesday, May 25, 2016

A Prayer for Wednesday, May 25, 2016

About

O God,

Let our lives be about your business.

Let our lives be about your business

of loving people with your love,
of forgiving people through your mercy,
of overturning oppression by your justice, and
of seeing the world through your eyes.

Give us

wisdom to understand the way things are,
vision to see how they could be,
grace to be who we can be, and
strength to do what we can do.

Amen.

Tuesday, May 24, 2016

A Prayer for Tuesday, May 24, 2016

Celebrate

O God,

Remind us to celebrate.

Remind us

to celebrate life,
to celebrate love, and
to celebrate opportunity.

Help us celebrate by taking
full advantage of the opportunity
we have to live and to love.

Let us live and love
as fully as we can.

Then we’ll have
much to celebrate . . .

Amen.

Monday, May 23, 2016

A Prayer for Monday, May 23, 2016

Ready

O God,

Make us ready for whatever will
come our way during this week.

Make us ready

to face challenges,
to celebrate successes,
to deal with failures,
to meet deadlines,
to contribute to solutions,
to overcome obstacles,
to forgive offenses, and
to protect relationships.

In all things, let our purpose be
to love you with all we are and
to love our neighbors as ourselves.

Amen.

Sunday, May 22, 2016

A Prayer for Sunday, May 22, 2016

Witness, Pt. 7/Trinity Sunday

O God,

As you are one God in three persons, your Church is one Church with many people.

As you are unity in diversity, your Church is one Church with many diverse members.

As you are love, your Church is one Church that is bound by your love.

Help us bear witness to who you are by living out who we are in you.

Amen.

Saturday, May 21, 2016

A Prayer for Saturday, May 21, 2016

Witness, Pt. 6

O God,

Help us bear witness to
Jesus with our perspectives.

We aren’t you.

We can’t see everything
and everyone at once.

We can’t see the
complete picture.

But we have your Spirit.

We can grow toward seeing
things as you see them.

And as we do, we’ll grow more
in peace, love, and understanding.

As we do, we’ll develop wiser
and more hopeful perspectives.

As we do, we’ll become people
that others can look to and count on.

So help us, O God, to bear witness
to Jesus with our perspectives.

Amen.

Friday, May 20, 2016

A Prayer for Friday, May 20, 2016

Witness, Pt. 5

O God,

Help us bear witness to
Jesus in our relationships.

Let our relationships with

our family members,
our friends, and
our fellow Christians

be based

on grace,
on honesty,
on openness,
on vulnerability,
and
on love.

Let our relationships with those of

a different background,
a different culture,
a different perspective, or
a different religion

be characterized

by acceptance,
by conversation,
by understanding,
and
by love.

Amen.

Thursday, May 19, 2016

A Prayer for Thursday, May 19, 2016

Witness, Pt. 4

O God,

Help us bear witness to
Jesus with our actions.

Let our actions be motivated by
our love for you and our love for others.

Let them be marked by self-sacrifice
rather than by self-protection.

Let us do what we can to help people
who are broken, hurting, and oppressed.

Help us live in ways that
show we follow Jesus.

Amen.

Wednesday, May 18, 2016

A Prayer for Wednesday, May 18, 2016

Witness, Pt. 3

O God,

Help us bear witness to
Jesus with our words.

Give us hearts, minds, attitudes,
motives, and thoughts that produce
words that are helpful and not harmful,
that build up and don’t tear down.

Help us speak the truth in ways that
reflect our love for you and for others.

Help us speak in ways that encourage
people to believe, to hope, and to try.

Amen.

Tuesday, May 17, 2016

A Prayer for Tuesday, May 17, 2016

Witness, Pt. 2

O God,

Help us bear witness to
Jesus with our thoughts.

When we think of the past,
let us think of gratitude and forgiveness.

When we think of the present,
let us think of purpose and service.

When we think of the future,
let us think of peace and hope.

When we think of people,
let us think of acceptance and understanding.

When we think of troubles,
let us think of trust and growth.

Amen.

Monday, May 16, 2016

A Prayer for Monday, May 16, 2016

Witness, Part 1

O God,

Help us bear witness to Jesus Christ.

Help us bear witness to him with our motivations.

Let us be driven by our love for you and our love for others.

Don’t let us be driven by pride, by fear, or by prejudice.

Mold our hearts so that we do what we do for the right reasons.

Amen.

Sunday, May 15, 2016

A Prayer for Sunday, May 15, 2016

Pentecost

O God,

We praise you today
for the gift of your Spirit.

Help us always be aware of
your Spirit with, in, and among us.

Let us

go in the ways your
Spirit leads us to go,

speak in the ways your
Spirit leads us to speak, and

live in the ways your
Spirit leads us to live.

Amen.

A Prayer for Saturday, May 14, 2016

Forty-Ninth Day of Easter

O God,

We praise you because you
raised Christ from the tomb.

We praise you because you
will raise us from the grave.

We praise you because you
have raised us from the
deadness of sin to live a new
life of love, grace, and hope.

Amen.

Friday, May 13, 2016

A Prayer for Friday, May 13, 2016

Forty-Eighth Day of Easter

O God,

Help us live out of the assurance
that, because Christ has been raised,

we will be raised.

Help us live out of the assurance
that, because Christ is raised,

we are raised.

Help us live with

no fear of death
and
with no fear of life.

Help us live instead with
the trust, peace, and hope
that come from knowing

a resurrected Lord.

Amen.

Thursday, May 12, 2016

A Prayer for Thursday, May 12, 2016

Forty-Seventh Day of Easter

O God,

Thank you that your power
that raised Jesus from the dead
also raises us so we can be fully alive.

Help us always remember
and rely on that power.

Help us flourish in living out the
grace and love that are ours because
you live in us and we live in you.

Amen.

Wednesday, May 11, 2016

A Prayer for Wednesday, May 11, 2016

Forty-Sixth Day of Easter

O God,

Thank you that, as believers
in and followers of Christ,
we are part of a community.

Thank you that we are individual
members of the body of Christ.

Help us live in the church as a true
community and as a healthy body.

Help us

care for each other,
forgive one another,
share our sorrows and our joys,
encourage each other,
help one another, and
serve together in grace and love.

Amen.

Tuesday, May 10, 2016

A Prayer for Tuesday, May 10, 2016

Forty-Fifth Day of Easter

O God,

Thank you that someday, we’ll be with you.

Thank you that this day, you’re with us.

Help us live in light of both realities.

Amen.

Monday, May 9, 2016

A Prayer for Monday, May 9, 2016

Forty-Third Day of Easter

O God,

Help us resist the
culture of death.

Help us resist

the glorification of power,
the disrespect for life,
the numbing of the mind, and
the disavowal of the spirit

that permeate so much of the
culture within which we live.

Help us instead to live in ways
that cultivate and practice

service,
respect,
thought, and
prayer.

Help us bear real
witness to real life …

Amen.

Sunday, May 8, 2016

A Prayer for Sunday, May 8, 2016

Seventh Sunday of Easter

O God,

We praise you for the Ascension of Jesus Christ.

We praise you because he is seated at your right hand.

We praise you because he always intercedes for us.

We praise you because he empowers and inspires us.

We praise you because he is our Lord.

Amen.

Saturday, May 7, 2016

A Prayer for Saturday, May 7, 2016

Forty-First Day of Easter

O God,

Fill me so full of your life that,
whenever I think, feel, speak, or act
in any way that’s not based in love,
it feels not just wrong, but weird.

Amen.

Friday, May 6, 2016

A Prayer for Friday, May 6, 2016

Fortieth Day of Easter

O God,

Since the resurrected Christ lives
in us, let his life show in ours.

Let our lives show

love instead of hate,
forgiveness instead of vengeance,
hope instead of despair,
trust instead of worry,
generosity instead of greed, and
acceptance instead of rejection.

Since the resurrected Christ lives
in us, let his life show in ours.

Amen.

Thursday, May 5, 2016

A Prayer for Thursday, May 5, 2016

Thirty-Ninth Day of Easter

O God,

Keep us mindful that, because
Jesus Christ died and rose again,
life is never meaningless or purposeless.

Keep us mindful that, because
Jesus Christ died and rose again,
life is always meaningful and purposeful.

Keep us mindful that, because
Jesus Christ died and rose again,
our life is connected with your life,
and so our life is tied to the meaning and
purpose you have in and for your creation.

Keep us mindful that, because
Jesus Christ died and rose again,
our lives are always part of something
that has ultimate meaning and purpose.

Amen.

Wednesday, May 4, 2016

A Prayer for Wednesday, May 4, 2016

Thirty-Eighth Day of Easter

O God,

We thank you that, because
Jesus has been raised from
the dead, we will be, too.

We thank you that death
won’t hold us down
because Jesus conquered it.

We thank you that we can live
in hope because Christ is risen.

We thank you that we
need not fear death.

Help us live like we don’t …

Amen.

Tuesday, May 3, 2016

A Prayer for Tuesday, May 3, 2016

Thirty-Seventh Day of Easter

O God,

Thank you that the life of
the risen Christ enlivens us.

Forgive us when we settle for
mere existence. Don’t let us
be content just to get by.

Instead, help us live as those who
know you and are known by you.

Help us live as people who
are living in eternal life.

Help us live a life that is

based on trust,
empowered by love, and
inspired by hope.

Help us live as those
who are truly and fully alive.

Amen.

Monday, May 2, 2016

A Prayer for Monday, May 2, 2016

Thirty-Sixth Day of Easter

O God,

Fill us up with life.

Make us so full of life that we
give little thought to death.

Make us so full of life that
when we do think of death,
we think of it in terms of life.

Help us think of death not
only as part of life, but as the
gateway to an even fuller life.

Meanwhile, make us as
alive as we can possibly be.

Amen.

Sunday, May 1, 2016

A Prayer for Sunday, May 1, 2016

Sixth Sunday of Easter

O God,

Let us worship you simply.

Let us worship you simply,
because of who you are.

Let us worship you simply,
because of what you do.

Let us worship you simply,
because of how you love.

Who you are,
what you do, and
how you love

are deep truths.

But they are simple realities.

So help us keep our
worship of you simple.

Don’t let us make it
unnecessarily complicated.

Let us worship you simply

by praising you simply,
by praying to you simply ,
by listening to you simply,
by communing with you simply, and
by listening to you simply.

Amen.