Monday, June 30, 2014

A Prayer for Monday, June 30, 2014

Simple

O God,

Give us a simple faith
for these complicated times.

Give us a simple faith
that is real trust in you
and that knows that you are
always working your purposes out.

Give us a simple faith
that believes in, seeks, and
acts on the leadership of your Spirit.

Give us a simple faith
that discerns the difference
between what we want and
what you want.

Give us a simple faith
that is willing to wrestle
with difficult issues and
challenging choices.

Give us a simple faith
that keeps us moving forward,
one small step at a time.

Give us a simple faith
that does not degenerate
into presumptive arrogance.

Give us a simple faith
that is always growing
in depth and breadth.

Give us a simple faith
in you.

Amen.

Sunday, June 29, 2014

A Prayer for Sunday, June 29, 2014

The Lord’s Day

O God,

For the beauty of the Earth,
for the wonders of humanity,
for the intricacies of relationships,
for the sense of divine presence,
for the gift of grace,
for the sacrifice of love,
for the joy of new beginnings, and
for the process of progress

we praise you today and every day.

Amen.

Saturday, June 28, 2014

A Prayer for Saturday, June 28, 2014

What Is

O God,

Thank you for
what was;
grant that it
will teach us.

Thank you for
what will be;
grant that it
will inspire us.

Thank you for
what is;
grant that it
will be where
we focus
our attention,
our energy,
our faith,
and
our action.

Amen.

Friday, June 27, 2014

A Prayer for Friday, June 27, 2014

Mysteries

O God,

For the mysteries of the Earth,
for the mysteries of the universe,
for the mysteries of the body,
for the mysteries of the mind,
for the mysteries of the spirit,
for the mysteries of human relationships,
for the mysteries of science,
for the mysteries of mathematics,
for the mysteries of philosophy,
for the mysteries of theology,

and especially

for the mysteries of you,

we thank you.

Give us enduring curiosity
that we might continue
to seek solutions to
the manifold mysteries
of life

and

give us enduring trust
that we might live
fully and freely
even in
our unknowing.

Amen.

Thursday, June 26, 2014

A Prayer for Thursday, June 26, 2014

One

O God,

Grant us a love not just for
all people in general—
which is easy to claim but
difficult if not impossible
to do anything about—

and not just for
every person that we encounter—
most of whom will come into
our orbit briefly and then continue
on their way—

but for the one person who
is right there in front of us,
who is or who needs to be a fixture in our life
and whose love we need as much as
she or he needs our love.

Amen.

Wednesday, June 25, 2014

A Prayer for Wednesday, June 25, 2014

Privileges & Responsibilities

O God,

Thank you for the
privileges and responsibilities
that come with being
a human being.

Thank you for how those
privileges and responsibilities
are informed and enhanced
as we become more aware
of you and of ourselves
and as we grow in our following
of Jesus.

Help us to appreciate our
privileges and responsibilities
fully and to embrace them gladly.

Amen.

Tuesday, June 24, 2014

A Prayer for Tuesday, June 24, 2014

Total

O God,

Show us how to
give everything
to you.

Show us how to
give ourselves over
to you completely
so that everything
we think, say, or do
is out of and part of
our devotion to you.

Thank you in advance for
how the perspective resulting
from such devotion will
increase our faith,
enhance our service,
and
lessen our anxiety.

Amen.

Monday, June 23, 2014

A Prayer for Monday, June 23, 2014

Whole

O God,

Let this week be one
in which we become
a little more
whole and complete.

Let it be a week
in which we come
to know you a little better,
to know ourselves a little better,
and
to know others a little better.

As we grow
to know you better,
we will grow
to know your grace
more fully.

As we grow
to know your grace
more fully,
let us grow in
accepting your grace
for ourselves
and in
showing your grace
to others.

Amen.

Sunday, June 22, 2014

A Prayer for Sunday, June 22, 2014

The Lord’s Day

O God,

As we participate in
a worship service today,
help us to learn
and/or to remember
that worship is service
and
that service is worship.

Let our praise
of you today
be offered up as
service to you.

Let our service
to others in this week
be offered up as
worship of you.

Help us always
to remember that
it all goes together
in forming
a life well lived …

Amen.

Saturday, June 21, 2014

A Prayer for Saturday, June 21, 2014

Time

O God,

Let us learn from
the past
without trying
to return to it.

Let us live in
the present
without getting
bogged down in it.

Let us live toward
the future
without being
anxious about it.

Amen.

Friday, June 20, 2014

A Prayer for Friday, June 20, 2014

Human

O God,

Help us always to be growing up
into more complete human beings.

Since one thing that characterizes
being human is the ability to be aware,
help us always to be growing in
our awareness.

Help us always to be growing in
our awareness
of you,
of the world,
of others,
and
of ourselves.

As we grow in our awareness,
increase our love
for everybody and everything
of which we are becoming
more aware.

And as we grow in our love,
increase our willingness
to show our love
through service to
and
sacrifice for
those of whom we are becoming
more aware.

Amen.

Thursday, June 19, 2014

A Prayer for Thursday, June 19, 2014

Immerse

O God,

Immerse us

in you,
in other people,
and
in life

so that we can know

you,
them,
it,
and
ourselves

as we can
and
as we should.

Amen.

Wednesday, June 18, 2014

A Prayer for Wednesday, June 18, 2014

And So On

O God,

Grant me your mercy, love, and peace
of which I am in such desperate and ongoing need

so that I might share your mercy, love, and peace
with others who are in such desperate and ongoing need

so that they might share your mercy, love, and peace
with others who are in such desperate and ongoing need

and so on and so on and so on …

Amen.

Tuesday, June 17, 2014

A Prayer for Tuesday, June 17, 2014

Don’t

O God,

As we seek greater order, don’t let us flee holy disorder.

As we seek greater clarity, don’t let us flee holy dimness.

As we seek greater faith, don’t let us flee holy doubt.

As we seek greater security, don’t let us flee holy insecurity.

As we seek greater gain, don’t let us flee holy loss.

As we seek greater knowledge, don’t let us flee holy mystery.

As we seek greater healing, don’t let us flee holy brokenness.

As we seek greater comfort, don’t let us flee holy pain.

Amen.

Monday, June 16, 2014

A Prayer for Monday, June 16, 2014

Balance

O God,

We tend to get up on Monday thinking about all that lies ahead of us in the new week. That is a good thing; help us to look ahead so as to plan and use our time in ways that will be productive and efficient.

At the same time, help us not to be anxious about what is coming; help us to think ahead so as to plan well but not so as to waste our energy fretting about what the future holds.

Help us also not to look ahead so much that we fail to pay full attention to what is happening today, to what is going on in this very moment, which is after all when our actual life—as opposed to our potential life—is being lived.

Give us a healthy balance between planning ahead and living in the moment.

Amen.

Sunday, June 15, 2014

A Prayer for Sunday, June 15, 2014

Trinity Sunday

O God,

We praise you that you have in your grace revealed yourself to us in your fullness, that you have revealed yourself to us as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

Give us grace to grow in our knowledge of you in your fullness.

Give us humility and the good sense not to think that we do or can know you fully.

Give us more of the love and community that characterize you in your fullness.

Give us the sense of awe that is appropriate in our experience of your fullness.

We praise you that you have in your grace revealed yourself to us in your fullness as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

Amen.

Saturday, June 14, 2014

A Prayer for Saturday, June 14, 2014

Leaders

O God,

Bless

our President, his Cabinet, and his staff,
our Senators, our Congresspersons, and their staffs,
the leaders of other nations, be they friend or foe,

and everyone else who has the awesome and awful
responsibility of making decisions that impact
thousands, hundreds of thousands, and even millions of people.

Thank you for those leaders who seek your wisdom.
Give them humility that will keep them from assuming
that you guide them to and bless every decision that they make.
Guard them from arrogance that leads them to believe that
because they seek your wisdom they are always right.
Give them insight into and commitment to the kind of righteousness
that is characterized by a humble walk with you
and by the kind of justice
that seeks equity and fairness,
that does not favor those who have the most and can spend the most,
and that cares about the needs of those who are
the most vulnerable,
the least powerful,
and the most voiceless among us.

As for those leaders who do not seek your wisdom, give it to them anyway.
Like you did with Cyrus of old, use them, even despite themselves, to further your purposes.

Amen.

Friday, June 13, 2014

A Prayer for Friday, June 13, 2014

Vision

O God,

Keep us focused
like a laser on
what is right
in front of us
and on
what is
at the moment
most important.

At the same time,
give us good
peripheral vision
in case something
unexpected but important
is lurking
at the edges
or
is rushing at us
from the perimeter.

Amen.

Thursday, June 12, 2014

A Prayer for Thursday, June 12, 2014

Place

O God,

Insofar as we are able
to comprehend our place
in the world,
in the universe,
and
in life,
we thank you.

Insofar as we are unable
to comprehend our place
in the world,
in the universe,
and
in life,
we ask for faith.

Give us your gracious and
mysterious guidance that
we might go as far as we can
and
do as much as we can
to fill our place,
whether at the moment we
think we know what it is,
have no idea what it is,
or
just can’t think any more
about what it might be.

Amen.

Wednesday, June 11, 2014

A Prayer for Wednesday, June 11, 2014

Motives

O God,

Guard us against
knee-jerk reactions and
unthinking actions.

Help us always
to be aware of
what motivates us
to think what we think,
to feel what we feel,
to react like we react,
to respond like we respond,
to say what we say,
to do what we do, and
not to do what we don’t do.

Give us insight
into our motives;
help us to be aware of and,
as necessary,
critical of and
repentant for
the reasons that
we are like we are.

Help us to grow
closer to you and,
by the grace and power
of the Holy Spirit in us,
to grow toward having
our one and only motive
be to do your will
by loving you with
everything we are and
by loving other people in
ways that are for their good.

Enlarge that one motive
in us until there is
no room for any others.

Amen.

Tuesday, June 10, 2014

A Prayer for Tuesday, June 10, 2014

Progression

O God,

Make us aware of our
great blessings
in ways that
cause us to experience
great gratitude
so that we will practice
great generosity.

Amen.

Monday, June 9, 2014

A Prayer for Monday, June 9, 2014

Pressure

O God,

Sometimes we wake up on Monday
feeling pressured and even overwhelmed
at what faces us this week—
and that’s just when we think about
what’s already on the calendar.

Who knows what else will come up?

Give us a calm center
where we can always be
in fellowship with you
and
where we can always be
at peace with ourselves.

Give us a consistent approach
to meeting our responsibilities
that lets us get our work done
fully and efficiently
and
that protects us from
the irresponsibility of procrastination.

Give us discernment
that can tell
what is best from
what is good
and
what is vital from
what is important.

Amen.

Sunday, June 8, 2014

A Prayer for Sunday, June 8, 2014

Pentecost Sunday

O God,

Thank you for the gift
of the Holy Spirit who

enlivens and empowers us,
convicts and comforts us,
and
imperils and protects us.

Make us more open
to the gift of the Spirit
in all of its
ramifications and implications
for us in our service
to you
and
to people.

Amen.

Saturday, June 7, 2014

A Prayer for Saturday, June 7, 2014

Forty-Ninth Day of Easter

O God,

We praise you
that the Spirit that
raised Jesus Christ
from the dead
is in us, bringing
your life to us and
empowering us to rise

above death,

above experiences that
feel like death, and

above the people who
by their motives and actions
seem to prefer death to life
and so want everybody else
to feel like they’re dying.

Make us more aware of
the presence of
your live-giving Spirit
than we tend to be
that we might experience
as fully as possible
the wonder of living
the full and free life
that you intend for us
to live.

Amen.

Friday, June 6, 2014

A Prayer for Friday, June 6, 2014

Forty-Eighth Day of Easter

O God,

Let us move away
from those ways of
thinking,
feeling,
talking,
and
acting
that take away
from our life
and
from the life of others.

Let us move toward
those ways of
thinking,
feeling,
talking,
and
acting
that contribute
to our life
and
to the life of others.

Let us grow in
those ways of
thinking,
feeling,
talking,
and
acting
that make us
more and more alive
so that,
when it comes time
for us to die,
we will be
as alive
as we possibly
can be.

Amen.

Thursday, June 5, 2014

A Prayer for Thursday, June 5, 2014

Forty-Seventh Day of Easter

O God,

Thank you for
the cycle of life
in which we
close our eyes
at night
to enter into
the death of sleep
and
open our eyes
in the morning
to enter into
the life of wakefulness.

Thank you for
the cycle of life
in which we
close our eyes
to enter into death
and
open our eyes
to enter into
everlasting life.

Thank you for
the cycle of life
in which we
experience events that
seem as if they
will drain the life
from us
only to find that
in you
we come out
on the other side having
once again found that
the life we have
in you
is always greater than
the death that
our lives can throw
at us.

Amen.

Wednesday, June 4, 2014

A Prayer for Wednesday, June 4, 2014

Forty-Sixth Day of Easter

O God,

Let what we know
of, from, and in you
lead us to show others
what we know
of, from, and in you.

Thank you that
we know your grace;
let our knowledge
of your grace
lead us to show
grace to others.

Thank you that
we know your love;
let our knowledge
of your love
lead us to show
love to others.

Thank you that
we know your mercy;
let our knowledge
of your mercy
lead us to show
mercy to others.

Thank you that
we know your compassion;
let our knowledge
of your compassion
lead us to show
compassion to others.

Thank you that
we know your kindness;
let our knowledge
of your kindness
lead us to show
kindness to others.

Then, as we show
grace,
love,
mercy,
compassion,
and
kindness
to others,
let such living
lead us back to
a greater knowledge
of you
and
of your blessings.

Amen.

Tuesday, June 3, 2014

A Prayer for Tuesday, June 3, 2014

Forty-Fifth Day of Easter

O God,

Give us the grace and strength
to put to death those
attitudes and motives
that cause us to
dehumanize others and,
in dehumanizing them,
to lessen our own humanity.

Give us the grace and strength
to put to death
lust,
envy,
greed,
jealousy,
hate,
prejudice,
judgmentalism,
vengeance,
self-righteousness,
and
apathy.

When, despite our best efforts,
such dehumanizing
attitudes and motives
show some life,
give us the grace and strength
to hit them again.

And this time,
let it be
a real
death blow …

Amen.

Monday, June 2, 2014

A Prayer for Monday, June 2, 2014

Forty-Fourth Day of Easter

O God,

Thank you for
the eternal life
that is ours
because you
by your grace
allow us to
know you through
Jesus Christ our Lord.

Help us to
bear witness to
that eternal life
in the ways that
we think, talk, and act.

Let our living
of eternal life be
humble and not prideful,
gracious and not obnoxious,
selfless and not selfish,
sacrificial and not sheltered,
bold and not timid,
fulfilled and not potential,
and
full and not partial.

Amen.

Sunday, June 1, 2014

A Prayer for Sunday, June 1, 2014

Seventh Sunday of Easter

O God,

We praise you
that your Son is
at your right hand,
where he rules
the Universe
and
sits poised to
bring all things
to their maturity.

We praise you
that your Son is
in our hearts,
where he rules
our lives
and
directs us in
moving toward
our maturity.

We praise you
that your Son is
over the Church,
where he rules
his Body
and
leads us to
grow toward
our maturity.

Help us
to acknowledge,
to celebrate,
and
to submit to
his Lordship
so that we might
grow and change
as he would have us
to grow and change.

Amen.