Thursday, December 31, 2015

A Prayer for Thursday, December 31, 2015

Seventh Day of Christmas

O God,

We praise you because your fullness
was pleased to dwell in Jesus Christ.

We praise you because you dwell as
Father, Son, and Holy Spirit in your Church.

Help us as your Church to live out your
presence in us in the same ways that
Jesus lived out your presence in him.

Lead us to make spending time
with you in prayer a priority. If
Jesus needed to do so, we surely do.

Lead us to learn how to pray without
ceasing. Then help us actually to pray
without ceasing. Let our life as your
people become a life of continuous
communion and communication with you.

Keep us aware that you listen to us.

Make us ever more able to listen to you.

Amen.

Wednesday, December 30, 2015

A Prayer for Wednesday, December 30, 2015

Sixth Day of Christmas

O God,

We praise you because your fullness
was pleased to dwell in Jesus Christ.

We praise you because you dwell as
Father, Son, and Holy Spirit in your Church.

Help us as your Church to live out your
presence in us in the same ways that
Jesus lived out your presence in him.

Lead us

to put others ahead of self,

to seek to serve rather than to be served,

to practice humility rather than cultivate pride,

and

to have love be our one and only law.

Amen.

Tuesday, December 29, 2015

A Prayer for Tuesday, December 29, 2015

Fifth Day of Christmas

O God,

We praise you because your fullness
was pleased to dwell in Jesus Christ.

We praise you because you dwell as
Father, Son, and Holy Spirit in your Church.

Help us as your Church to live out your
presence in us in the same ways that
Jesus lived out your presence in him.

Help us to live in ways
that are obedient to you.

Give us courage to pray for your
will to be done rather than ours.

Give us wisdom to realize when we
fall into the trap of assuming that
your will and our will are the same.

Let our only goals be to be who you want
us to be and to do what you want us to do.

Amen.

Monday, December 28, 2015

A Prayer for Monday, December 28, 2015

Fourth Day of Christmas

O God,

We praise you because your fullness
was pleased to dwell in Jesus Christ.

We praise you because you dwell as
Father, Son, and Holy Spirit in your Church.

Help us as your Church to live out your
presence in us in the same ways that
Jesus lived out your presence in him.

Lead us

to care more about helping the vulnerable
than about making our lives more impregnable,

to care more about feeding the hungry
than about feeding our already sated appetites, and

to care more about including those on the outside
than about being included by those on the inside.

Amen.

Sunday, December 27, 2015

A Prayer for Sunday, December 27, 2015

Third Day of Christmas

O God,

We praise you because your fullness
was pleased to dwell in Jesus Christ.

We praise you because you dwell as
Father, Son, and Holy Spirit in your Church.

Help us as your Church to live out your
presence in us in the same ways that
Jesus lived out your presence in him.

Lead us to be about your business.

Help us to put

learning of,
growing in, and
carrying out

your purposes over everything else in our lives.

Indeed, let that be the only thing in our lives . . .

Amen.

Saturday, December 26, 2015

A Prayer for Saturday, December 26, 2015

Second Day of Christmas

O God,

We praise you because your fullness
was pleased to dwell in Jesus Christ.

We praise you because you dwell as
Father, Son, and Holy Spirit in your Church.

Help us as your Church to live out your
presence in us in the same ways that
Jesus lived out your presence in him.

Give us grace to know that we can.

Give us wisdom to know how we can.

Give us courage to do what we can.

Amen.

Friday, December 25, 2015

A Prayer for Friday, December 25, 2015

Christmas Day

O God,

For light in the midst of darkness,
for peace in the midst of chaos,
for hope in the midst of despair,
for love in the midst of apathy, and
for faith in the midst of fear,

we give you thanks
on this Christmas Day.

For the coming to Earth of the
One who makes such promises real,

we give you thanks
on this Christmas Day.

For the coming to us of the
One who empowers us to live
in light of such realities and
to share them with others,

we give you thanks
on this Christmas Day.

Amen.

Thursday, December 24, 2015

A Prayer for Thursday, December 24, 2015

Christmas Eve

O God,

It is the eve of the celebration
of the birth of your Son Jesus.

Let it also be the eve of our renewed
reception of Jesus in our lives.

Let us awake tomorrow to a new found
awareness of the love, grace, mercy,
peace, and hope that Jesus brought
to Earth and that he brings to us.

Let us awake tomorrow to a new found
awareness of how his presence in us
empowers us to make his love, grace,
mercy, peace, and hope known in the world.

Jesus was born in the real world.

Help us to live out our experience
with him in that same real world.

Amen.

Wednesday, December 23, 2015

A Prayer for Wednesday, December 23, 2015

Barriers, Part Three

O God,

Just two more nights, and
Christmas will be here.

Remove those barriers that stand between
us and a full appreciation of Christmas.

Take away our need to stay really,
really busy as the day draws near.

We have a lot to do and most
of us enjoy doing most of it.

Still, sometimes we stay busy
for reasons that are not so good.

We may want to be admired for
doing more than everybody else.

We may want to avoid
remembering Christmases past.

We may not want to face our
doubts about what it’s really all about.

Give us grace to slow down—and even
to stop—so that we can reflect on the
joyous, mind-boggling, incredible,
unbelievable, life-changing, world-changing,
and mysterious event of the Incarnation.

Give us grace to slow down—and even
to stop—so that we can rest in the real
presence of Jesus Christ with, in, and
among us that brings us acceptance,
forgiveness, meaning, and peace.

Help us do what we really need to do.

Let us leave aside what doesn’t have to be done.

Let our Christmas be more about
who Christ is and who we are in
Christ than about what we do.

Amen.

Tuesday, December 22, 2015

A Prayer for Tuesday, December 22, 2015

Barriers, Part Two

O God,

Just three more nights,
and Christmas will be here.

Remove those barriers that
stand between us and a
full appreciation of Christmas.

Take away our tendency
to sentimentalize the
coming of Jesus to the world.

Give us eyes to see the harsh
conditions into which Jesus was born.

Help us to understand that your Son
was born into the real world of pain,
oppression, and poverty. Help us to
realize that, when he is born in us today,
he still comes to the real world.

Don’t let us sentimentalize our faith
and treat is as something other-worldly.

Instead, let our faith lead us to come to grips
with and to do something about the real
pain, oppression, and poverty of the real world.

Amen.

Monday, December 21, 2015

A Prayer for Monday, December 21, 2015

Barriers, Part One

O God,

Just four more nights, and
Christmas will be here.

Remove those barriers that stand between
us and a full appreciation of Christmas.

Take away our grown-up
inability to marvel.

Replace it with a child-like
willingness to wonder.

Let us lay aside our need to ask
how it happened and to pick up our
ability to celebrate that it happened.

And fill us with joy over
why it happened . . .

Amen.

Sunday, December 20, 2015

A Prayer for Sunday, December 20, 2015

Fourth Sunday of Advent

O God,

We worship you as the One

who is always near
and
who is always here.

We worship you as the One

who is always on the way
and
who has always arrived.

We worship you as the One

who is always coming
and
who is always present.

Amen.

Saturday, December 19, 2015

A Prayer for Saturday, December 19, 2015

Do?

O God,

Do they hear what I hear?
Do they see what I see?
Do they know what I know?

Do I hear what I think I hear?
Do I see what I think I see?
Do I know what I think I know?

Do I need to hear
what they hear?

Do I need to see
what they see?

Do I need to know
what they know?

Do they hear what
they think they hear?

Do they see what
they think they see?

Do they know what
they think they know?

Help us all, O God,

to listen for you,
to watch for you, and
to long for you.

Help us to all to know that
we are all in this together

and that you
are in it with us.

Amen.

Friday, December 18, 2015

A Prayer for Friday, December 18, 2015

Down

O God,

Thank you that
love came down

when

Christ came down.

Help us to
lift love up.

Help us to
spread love around.

Amen.

Thursday, December 17, 2015

A Prayer for Thursday, December 17, 2015

Wait

O God,

While we wait

for Christ to be born in Bethlehem
and
for Christ to come again,

let us fill our waiting with

service
and
sacrifice

inspired by the

love,
grace,
and
hope

with which we are filled
because Christ is born in us

today.

Amen.

Wednesday, December 16, 2015

A Prayer for Wednesday, December 16, 2015

When

O God,

When Christ came to Bethlehem,
when Christ comes to our world again, and
when Christ comes to us here and now,

it is as the full revelation of

your presence,
your love, and
your grace.

Let us live faithfully as the
bearers of that revelation.

Amen.

Tuesday, December 15, 2015

A Prayer for Tuesday, December 15, 2015

Because

O God,

Because Christ is born in
us as well as in Bethlehem,

let his purpose, his obedience, his
service, his sacrifice, and his love

grow in us so that we become his
presence here as fully as we possibly can.

Amen.

Monday, December 14, 2015

A Prayer for Monday, December 14, 2015

Since

O God,

Since we expect Jesus to
make things right someday,

lead us to do what we can to
make things better these days.

Amen.

Sunday, December 13, 2015

A Prayer for Sunday, December 13, 2015

Third Sunday of Advent

O God,

Make us open to your comfort.

Let us rest secure in the reality of your
presence that comforts us when we are
hurting, disappointed, grieving, or broken.

Make us open to your challenge.

Let us be aware of the reality of your presence
when you challenge our complacency, our presumption,
our self-righteousness, and our arrogance.

Amen.

Saturday, December 12, 2015

A Prayer for Saturday, December 12, 2015

Watch (Pt. 6)

O God,

Show us how to watch for
the coming of your Son.

Help us to watch for his
coming to us at all times.

Help us to look for the ways
he has come to us in the past.

Let us learn from all of our experiences
and from all the ways that Jesus has
made his presence known to us.

Help us to look for the ways
he will come to us in the future.

Let us anticipate his next coming
with hope, trust, and openness.

But especially help us to look for the ways
he comes to us in the present.

Don’t let us get so caught up in looking back
or looking forward that we fail to experience
fully what he is doing in, with, for, and through
us here and now. Let us live every second of
every day with our lives wide open to his presence.

Amen.

Friday, December 11, 2015

A Prayer for Friday, December 11, 2015

Watch (Pt. 5)

O God,

Show us how to watch for
the coming of your Son.

Help us to watch for his coming
to us from all directions.

Remind us to watch for
his coming from within us.

Never let us forget that he is already
in our hearts and that we need to
listen to him when he speaks to us.

Remind us to watch for
his coming from beyond us.

Never let us forget that he comes to us
in other people, in the situations we encounter,
and in whatever ways you choose to send him.

Remind us to watch for
his coming from behind us.

Never let us forget to learn from the past,
whether it is the long ago past that we read about
in our Bibles or the recent past of our own lives.

Remind us to watch for
his coming from before us.

Never let us forget that you are working
your purposes out and that in Christ all
things will be fulfilled and made new.

Help us to remember to watch
for the coming of your Son.

Help us never forget that he
comes from all directions.

Amen.

Thursday, December 10, 2015

A Prayer for Thursday, December 10, 2015

Watch (Pt. 4)

O God,

Show us how to watch for
the coming of your Son.

Help us to watch for his coming
to us in unexpected ways.

Help us to move beyond our established
categories and preconceived notions
about what it means for Jesus to come.

Help us to be alert to ways he might come
to us that could be so unexpected that,
if we don’t keep our eyes, our minds, and
our hearts open, we might miss him.

Cause us always to be aware that no
one knows what’s in your mind and
that your ways are not our ways.

Make us extraordinarily cautious
about listening to those who think they
have his next coming all figured out.

After all, it’s not like anybody
expected him to be born in a stable . . .

Amen.

Wednesday, December 9, 2015

A Prayer for Wednesday, December 9, 2015

Watch (Pt. 3)

O God,

Show us how to watch for
the coming of your Son.

Help us to watch for his
coming to us in the oppressed.

He entered the world
as one of the oppressed.

He spent his time in the
world with the oppressed.

He died as one
of the oppressed.

He taught us to look for
him in the oppressed.

So teach us to watch for Jesus to
come to us in those who are oppressed.

And seeing him in them, let us love
him by helping and empowering them.

Amen.

Tuesday, December 8, 2015

A Prayer for Tuesday, December 8, 2015

Watch (Pt. 2)

O God,

Show us how to watch for
the coming of your Son.

Help us to watch for his
coming to us in prayer.

Cause us to remember that prayer
is communion with you and that when
we pray we commune with you in your
fullness as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

So whenever we pray, the Son comes to
us along with the Father and the Spirit.

As we commune with you in our
special times of prayer, give us grace
to open our lives us completely to you.

Fill us with your love, your mercy, and your
peace that filled Jesus when he walked the earth.

Fill us up so much with them that they
flow out of us onto other people and
into every situation we encounter.

Teach us during our special times of
prayer that your Son is there to commune
with us in every moment of every day.

Help us to pray without ceasing so we can
be continually aware of his perpetual presence.

Show us how to watch for the
coming of you Son to us in prayer.

Amen.

Monday, December 7, 2015

A Prayer for Monday, December 7, 2015

Watch (Pt. 1)

O God,

Show us how to watch for
the coming of your Son.

Help us to watch for his coming
to us through your Spirit.

Keep us aware of the reality of his presence
with us day by day and moment by moment.

Make us open to the ways that he comes to us
anew, whether he intends in his coming to turn
us completely around or to move us just a little bit.

Help us to develop an ever-increasing sensitivity to
what is happening in our spirits so that we will notice
when your Son is coming to us and is working in us.

Remind us always to watch for the
coming of your Son through your Spirit.

Amen.

Sunday, December 6, 2015

A Prayer for Sunday, December 6, 2015

Second Sunday of Advent

O God,

Help us to grow in our faith
to the point that we are as
interested in being the presence
of Christ in the lives of others
as we are in having the presence
of Christ in our own lives.

Amen.

Saturday, December 5, 2015

Your Love

O God,

Give me your love
as I face every encounter

of this day,
of this week, and
of this life.

Thank you for the love I have.

But it’s just not enough.

So please give me your love.

Thank you in advance . . .

Amen.

Friday, December 4, 2015

A Prayer for Friday, December 4, 2015

Your Mercy

O God,

Give me your mercy
as I face every hurt

of this day,
of this week, and
of this life.

Thank you for the mercy I have.

But it’s just not enough.

So please give me your mercy.

Thank you in advance . . .

Amen.

Thursday, December 3, 2015

A Prayer for Thursday, December 3, 2015

Your Grace

O God,

Give me your grace
as I face every situation

of this day,
of this week, and
of this life.

Thank you for the grace I have.

But it’s just not enough.

So please give me your grace.

Thank you in advance . . .

Amen.

Wednesday, December 2, 2015

A Prayer for Wednesday, December 2, 2015

Your Hope

O God,

Give me your hope
as I face the obstacles

of this day,
of this week, and
of this life.

Thank you for the hope I have.

But it’s just not enough.

So please give me your hope.

Thank you in advance . . .

Amen.

Tuesday, December 1, 2015

A Prayer for Tuesday, December 1, 2015

Your Peace

O God,

Give me your peace
as I face the conflicts

of this day,
of this week, and
of this life.

Thank you for the peace I have.

But it’s just not enough.

So please give me your peace.

Thank you in advance . . .

Amen.