Friday, September 30, 2016

A Prayer for Friday, September 30, 2016

Flummoxed

O God,

Sometimes I’m flummoxed.

Sometimes, situations baffle me.
Lots of times, people confuse me.

Help me flummox other people.

But let me flummox them by the
ways I reflect the ways of Jesus.

Let

my perspectives,
my attitudes,
my convictions,
my choices,
my words,
my reactions, and
my actions

be such that they baffle
and confuse people.

Then, let them ponder the possibility
that there may be something to it …


Amen.

Thursday, September 29, 2016

A Prayer for Thursday, September 29, 2016

Let

O God,

Give us grace

to let it come,
to let it develop,
to let it happen,

and

to let it be.


Amen.

Wednesday, September 28, 2016

A Prayer for Wednesday, September 28, 2016

Curious

O God,

Make and keep us curious.

Make and keep us curious

about the world,
about the universe,
about ourselves,
about people close by,
about people far away,
about ideas, and
about possibilities.

Make and keep us curious

about you,
about your ways, and
about your will.

There is

so much to know,
so much to wonder about, and
so much to discover.

Increase our curiosity.
Expand our knowledge.
Enlarge our perspective.


Amen.

Tuesday, September 27, 2016

A Prayer for Tuesday, September 27, 2016

Debate

O God,

When we debate with ourselves about
the right things to think, say, or do,
let the ways, words, and spirit of Jesus
guide our deliberations and decisions.


Amen

Monday, September 26, 2016

A Prayer for Monday, September 26, 2016

Easy

O God,

I don’t ask for
things to be easy.

I do ask for grace
and trust to treat
them as if they are.


Amen.

Sunday, September 25, 2016

A Prayer for Sunday, September 25, 2016

The Lord’s Day

O God,

Let us be fully present in worship today.

Let us worship you with body, spirit, and mind.

Let us worship you in every moment
of the service with everything we are.

Then let us serve you with body, spirit, and mind.

Let us serve you in every moment
of our lives with everything we are.


Amen.

Saturday, September 24, 2016

A Prayer for Saturday, September 24, 2016

Grateful

O God,

I am grateful

for every year,
for every day, and
for every moment.

I am grateful

for every family member,
for every friend, and
for every acquaintance.

I am grateful

for every opportunity,
for every success, and
for every failure.

I am grateful

for every book,
for every song, and
for every game.

I am grateful

for every step,
for every heartbeat, and
for every breath.

I am grateful

for everything.


Amen.

Friday, September 23, 2016

A Prayer for Friday, September 23, 2016

Kind

O God,

We’re all struggling..

Help us be kind to each other.

Help us offer kindness to others.
Help us receive kindness from others.

Let kindness grow within us and multiply among us.

Let the blessing of kindness overcome the curses of
unconcern, avoidance, disinterest, self-protection,
prejudice, judgmentalism, and stereotyping.

Help us remember that we’re all struggling.

Help us be kind to one another.


Amen.

Thursday, September 22, 2016

A Prayer for Thursday, September 22, 2016

Together

O God,

Many of our problems
come from our insistence
on being divided.

Help us base the search for
solutions on our insistence
on coming together.


Amen.

Wednesday, September 21, 2016

A Prayer for Wednesday, September 21, 2016

Difference

O God,

Thank you for every opportunity
we have to make a difference.

Thank you especially for every chance we
have to make a difference in someone’s life.

Help us make a difference

with our attitude,
with our perspective,
with our understanding,
with our empathy,
with our words, and
with our actions.

Let the difference we make
be positive and hopeful.

Let the difference we 
make help someone

keep going,
keep trying, and
keep living.


Amen.

Tuesday, September 20, 2016

A Prayer for Tuesday, September 20, 2016

Real

O God,

Help us be real; help us not be false.

Help us live as who we are; help us not live as who we aren’t.

Help us be ourselves; help us not try to be someone else.

Help us have integrity; help us not practice hypocrisy.

Help us see things as they are; help us not pretend things are as they aren’t.

Help us embrace real life; help us not try to avoid it.


Amen.

Monday, September 19, 2016

A Prayer for Monday, September 19, 2016

Glitches

O God,

We will run into glitches this week. Little problems will complicate our tasks and our lives.

Keep us from becoming frustrated and anxious when glitches appear.

Give us creativity and ingenuity to work around the problems that arise.

Help us see and treat glitches as opportunities to think and act in ways we’ve not previously considered.

Thank you for the lessons that glitches can teach us. Help us learn them well.


Amen.

Sunday, September 18, 2016

A Prayer for Sunday, September 18, 2016

The Lord's Day

O God,

Today in worship we will receive bread from heaven.

When we pray, we will ask for our daily bread.

As we live, help us share with others both the 
spiritual and physical bread we receive from you.

Amen.

Saturday, September 17, 2016

A Prayer for Saturday, September 17, 2016


Opponents

O God,

As we watch today’s game, it’ll be us against them.

We’ll be on this side; they’ll be on that side.
We’re Bears; they’re Golden Eagles.
We’re Mercer; they’re Tennessee Tech.
We want to win; they want to win.

We’re divided.
We’re opponents.

But we’re united by something more
vital than anything that divides us:
we’re all members of the human race.

Help us remember that as
we compete in other ways.

Go Bears!

But even more—Go Humanity!


Amen.

Friday, September 16, 2016

A Prayer for Friday, September 16, 2016

Now

O God,

Thank you for the lessons
we learn from the past.

Thank you for the possibilities
that draw us toward the future.

Thank you for the privilege
of living in the present.

Give us grace to live
fully in this moment.

Give us grace to live fully in each
moment with which we are blessed.

“There’s no time like
the present,” they say.

As far as when we can live, choose,
decide, trust, hope, and love,
there’s no time but the present.

So help us be

fully present,
fully engaged,
fully involved,
fully invested, and
fully alive

right now.


Amen.

Thursday, September 15, 2016

A Prayer for Thursday, September 15, 2016

Answers

O God,

Whether we are seeking answers or offering answers, let us do so with great humility.

Help us remember that, for everything we learn, there is much more that we have to learn.

Help us remember that, for everything we know, there is much more that we don’t know.

So let us seek answers with great humility.

And let us offer answers with great humility.


Amen.

Wednesday, September 14, 2016

A Prayer for Wednesday, September 14, 2016


Help

O God,

Give us grace both to accept and to offer help.

When we can’t handle something on our own, give us grace to accept the help that others offer.

When others can’t handle something on their own, give us grace to offer the help they need.

Give us grace both to receive and to give help.


Amen.

Tuesday, September 13, 2016

A Prayer for Tuesday, September 13, 2016

Listen

O God,

Let me listen.

Let me listen

to your Spirit,
to my spirit,
to other people,
to the world, and
to the universe.

As I listen, let me learn.

As I learn, let me discern.

As I discern, let me act.

But it all starts with listening.

So let me listen.


Amen.

Monday, September 12, 2016

A Prayer for Monday, September 12, 2016

Lessons

O God,

We’ve seen many things.
We’ve had many experiences.
We’ve made it through a lot.

Have we learned what we need to learn
from what we’ve seen, done, and survived?

Bring to our minds,
incorporate into our thinking, and
add to our perspective

the lessons that have been made available to us.

Thank you for the wisdom
we’ve had the chance to acquire.

Help us make good use of it.


Amen.

Sunday, September 11, 2016

A Prayer for Sunday, September 11, 2016

The Lord’s Day

O God,

Today we gather to worship.
We come together to praise you
for the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

Then we will go our separate ways.

As we go, help us remember
that your Spirit goes with us and
that we go with each other.

Let today’s fellowship of worship lead
to tomorrow’s fellowship of service.


Amen.

Saturday, September 10, 2016

A Prayer for Saturday, September 10, 2016

Prone

O God,

We are prone to think in certain ways. Help us become prone to think in other, better ways.

We are prone to hold grudges; help us become prone to forgive.
We are prone to be apathetic; help us become prone to care.
We are prone to ignore; help us become prone to notice.
We are prone to reject; help us become prone to accept.
We are prone to judge; help us become prone to understand.
We are prone to assume; help us become prone to evaluate.
We are prone to worry; help us become prone to trust.
We are prone to despair; help us become prone to hope.
We are prone to keep; help us become prone to give.
We are prone to be proud; help us become prone to be humble.
We are prone to protect ourselves; help us become prone to be vulnerable.
We are prone to be selfish; help us become prone to be selfless.


Amen.

Friday, September 9, 2016

A Prayer for Friday, September 9, 2016

Possible

O God,

Give us a vision of what is possible.

Give us a vision of the possibility

that, while we won’t love perfectly, we can love better;
that, while we can’t help everybody, we can help somebody;
that, while we can’t know everything, we can know more;
that, while there can’t be total peace, there can be less conflict;
that, while we can’t empathize fully, we can empathize partially; and
that, while we can’t fix it all, we can fix some of it.

Give us a vision of what is possible.

Then give us commitment and courage to act on the vision.


Amen.

Thursday, September 8, 2016

A Prayer for Thursday, September 8, 2016

Earth

O God,

Thank you for this good world in which we live.

Help us pay attention to its beauty.

Let our awareness of Earth's wonder inspire us to be grateful.

Then let our gratitude inspire us to praise you for our home and to take good care of it.


Amen.

Wednesday, September 7, 2016

A Prayer for Wednesday, September 7, 2016

Neglect

O God,

There’s so much going on, and so
much of it is negative and painful.

We can’t take it all in.
We can’t give ourselves over to it all.

We have to protect ourselves.
Otherwise, we can’t cope.

But there’s a fine line between
understandable caution and willful
neglect. Make us aware of that
line, and don’t let us cross it.

Make us as sensitive to what other people
are going through as we can stand to be.

Then, help us

have all the empathy we can,
display all the compassion we can, and
give all the help we can.

Amen.

Tuesday, September 6, 2016

A Prayer for Tuesday, September 6, 2016

Until

O God,

Let us go until we stop.

Let us do until we’re done.

Let us live until we die.

Let us grow until we’re complete.

Let us trust until we know.

Let us hope until we see.

Let us love until forever . . .


Amen.

Monday, September 5, 2016

A Prayer for Monday, September 5, 2016

Open

O God,

Open

our eyes to what we need to see,
our ears to what we need to hear,
our minds to what we need to know,
our hearts to what we need to love,
our lives to what we need to experience, and
our hands to what we need to do.


Amen.

Sunday, September 4, 2016

A Prayer for Sunday, September 4, 2016

The Lord’s Day

O God,

We all have a spark within us that is our desire

to know you,
to praise you,
to hear you,
to serve you, and
to rest in you.

That spark calls us to worship you.

Fan the spark of worship in us until it bursts into flame.

Let us experience you in the flame.

Later, when we’re back down to a spark, help us remember
that its light is still enough to show us the way . . .


Amen.

Saturday, September 3, 2016

A Prayer for Saturday, September 3, 2016

Make/Let

O God,

Sometimes we need to make things happen.
Sometimes we need to let things happen.

Give us wisdom to discern which is which.

When we need to make something happen,
help us act with courage and determination.

When we need to let something happen,
help us wait with patience and faith.

When we need to do a little of both,
help us do so with deftness and grace.


Amen.

Friday, September 2, 2016

A Prayer for Friday, September 2, 2016

Pass

O God,

Help us not pass up
any opportunity to
pass along to others

the love, grace, and mercy

we’ve received from you.


Amen.

Thursday, September 1, 2016