Archive for the ‘Prayer’ Category

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A Just And Welcoming Land

July 5, 2009

“This is what the Lord Almighty says: ‘Administer true justice; show mercy and compassion to one another.  Do not oppress the widow or the fatherless, the alien or the poor.  In your hearts do not think evil of each other.’ ” Zechariah 7:9-10

Lord, we are a land of many cultures and faiths.  We are a nation that provided hope and opportunity to many generations of immigrants. Indeed, we are a nation in which over 40% of the population can trace their ancestry through Ellis Island where the Statue of Liberty, the “mother of exiles,” still lifts her lamp and stands over the invitation: “Give me your tired, your poor,/Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free. . .” As we struggle with our economy and mature as a country, let us not forget our ideals of hope and freedom and opportunity.  Help us avoid oppression of the alien and the poor and those who struggle to survive, and to encourage mercy and justice at home and abroad.  Help us to reflect your love in actions and not just in words.  In Jesus’ name we pray,

Amen.

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Healing Hate

June 28, 2009

Anyone who claims to be in the light but hates his brother is still in the darkness. Whoever loves his brother lives in the light, and there is nothing in him to make him stumble. But whoever hates his brother is in the darkness and walks around in the darkness; he does not know where he is going because the darkness has blinded him. 1 John 2:9-11

Lord, we look to Iran and see that people who we feared and disparaged have more in common with our own hopes and dreams than we once thought possible. As we observe their struggle, help us to examine our willingness to label others, to judge without understanding, to fear those who are different, and to separate our world into “us” and “them”.

Hate isolates us from others, helping us to ignore those in need. Hate feeds our anger and fear, enabling others to manipulate our emotions and actions.  We fail to look within and hold ourselves accountable, preferring to  shift blame “to those people”– democrat or republican, young or old, rich or poor, immigrant or foreigner, white or black — who are our current target.

Help us Lord to move past hate.  Help us to see those in need and respond with compassion and empathy.  Whether talking to neighbors or listening to political leaders or media reports, help us to challenge the simple solutions, personalized attacks, accusations, and catch-phrases, that only serve to inflame and mislead rather than inform.  Help us to reach out to one another in respect and in love.  Help us each to take on the responsibility of working to build a country, and a world, that better reflects your grace.

Help us O Lord.

Amen

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Cynicism Leads Us Astray

June 21, 2009

If anyone thinks he is something when he is nothing, he deceives himself. . . . Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows.   The one who sows to please his sinful nature, from that nature will reap destruction; the one who sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life.  Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. Galations 6:3, 7-9.

Lord, throughout our country and in the media there are those who, with insolent self righteousness, do not hesitate to attack the virtues, values, and sincerity of others.  We scoff at efforts to reach out to others, dismiss empathetic expressions as weakness, and question those who would be honest about our history.  As we watch the struggles of others for freedom we seek to condemn and control, looking for domestic political advantage.  We challenge new approaches and policies as too little, not enough, or as destined to fail yet do not offer alternatives.  Mocking others has become a form of entertainment.

Our cynicism keeps us from hope, from looking for and finding the path you would have us follow.  As one pundit observed, “Cynicism is not realistic and tough. It’s unrealistic and kind of cowardly because it means you don’t have to try.” (Peggy Noonan).  Lord give us the courage to try.  Help us to recognize you in acts of  kindness, forgiveness, patience and love. Like King David, help us to admit our weakness before both you and others, and seek your help.  Strengthen us to do the work you have put before us and teach us to care for each other.  Help us to be “joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.” Ro. 12:12

In Jesus’ name we pray.

Amen

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Fear Cannot Be Our Guide

June 14, 2009

Do not call conspiracy everything these people call conspiracy; do not fear what they fear, and do not dread it. Is. 8:12

Lord, in our fast and noisy world it can be hard to discern which way to go. Many of the loudest voices feed our fears.  We fear enemies both real and imagined. We fear change. We fear a future we can neither predict nor control.  To calm our fears we demand immediate and simplistic fixes, forgoing the effort to understand the complex realities before us.  We turn away from wisdom.  Full of fear, we close our doors and fail to reach out to help others in our communities.  We turn away from love.  Fearing what we cannot understand, we focus on the close reality of our possessions. We fail to hear your call; we fail to seek your presence.

Yet you O Lord are with us always, ready to strengthen us and help us. (Is. 41:10) Help us to move away from our fears and hear your voice.  Let us learn to say with the psalmist, “I sought the Lord and he answered me;  he delivered me from all my fears.” Ps. 34:4  Help us to try new directions, to face our fears and speak against the voices that would mislead us. Help us to trust in you, and guide us O Lord.

Amen

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Violence Is Not The Answer

June 7, 2009

“Do not judge or you too will be judged.  For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you. Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? . . . You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.” Mt. 7:1-5

Lord, in a week where a man who was a husband, father, grandfather, friend, and physician was murdered in church, help us to see that violence is not the answer.

As we try to move forward through the difficult issues of our day, help us to look at the full humanity of others and be aware that we cannot fully understand your will.

As we each work out our own salvation in fear and trembling (Phil. 2:12), help us to respect the struggles and judgments of others whose trials are many and different than ours.  Where our judgments and values clash, help us to trust simply in the knowledge that some day you will judge the living and the dead, and to resist the temptations of self-righteousness, and of judging or demonizing others.

As your servant, Dr. Martin Luther King, taught us: “Returning violence for violence multiplies violence, adding deeper darkness to a night already devoid of stars.  Darkness cannot drive out darkness: only light can do that.  Hate cannot drive out hate: only love can do that.”
Lord, let your light shine into our lives and deliver us from darkness.  Help us each to love despite our differences, and teach us to forgive.  Lead us, O Lord.

Amen.

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Learning For A Democracy

May 31, 2009

Teach us to number our days aright, that we may gain a heart of wisdom. Ps. 90:12

In everything set them an example by doing what is good.  In your teaching show integrity, seriousness and soundness of speech that cannot be condemned. Titus 2: 7-8

Lord, may our democratic belief that all men are created equal find expression in our public schools.
Let our children be met with both compassion and the challenge of personal accountability.  Let them be safe.
Help our schools provide real mentors who demonstrate character, effort, and a passion for learning.
Help us to fund our schools in ways that in fact give real opportunity to all.
Help us to provide all students with opportunities to learn through art and music, technical training and service.  Help us to preserve our children’s curiosity, expose them to the ideas and history that will help them aspire to lead worthy lives, and also promote the analytical, independent, and rigorous thinking needed to navigate both modern politics and economies.
Let development of our educational policies be guided by leaders whose concern for our children and our democracy outweighs both the comfort of sticking with existing systems and the attraction of personal power.
Guide us, so that our schools might one day fulfill the Jeffersonian ideal of equipping our children to be the guardians of their own liberty, while teaching them to use that liberty wisely, so that our democratic form of government might survive.
Guide us toward justice and wisdom, O Lord, we pray.
Amen.

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Learning and Wisdom

May 24, 2009

Wisdom will save you from the ways of wicked men, from men whose words are perverse . . . Pr. 2:12

Blessed is the one who finds wisdom, the one who gains understanding, for wisdom is more profitable than silver and yields better returns than gold. Pr. 3:13-14.

Lord, bless our institutions of higher learning.  We thank you for the knowledge they preserve, the ideas they spark, and the spaces they provide for thinking. Help them to survive the economic and political pressures that promote credentialism over more rigorous thinking and constrain a fuller dialogue on difficult issues. Help our country place a higher value on intelligence and education, and use the resources it has to translate research into the solutions our communities need.  Help our students develop a greater love of learning and also strength of character as they study principles, data, and consequences.  Both during their time at school and as they move into the working world, give our youth the confidence to contribute their unique perspectives, experiences, and knowledge, as well as the humility to continue learning. Let them find advisors and mentors who support and encourage yet also provoke new thought and achievement, for we know “with many advisors their plans will succeed” (Pr. 15:22).  Yet let us not forget that true wisdom comes from you. And as our graduates enter the working world, do not let them be discouraged, nor become overconfident, but help them look to you for guidance that they may in finding their own paths help us find ours.

Amen

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Graduating Into The World

May 17, 2009

Who is wise among you? Let him show it by his good life, by deeds done in the humility that comes from wisdom.  But if you harbor bitter envy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast about it or deny the truth. James 3:13-14

Lord, as our graduates go into the world, carrying our hopes and dreams and pursuing their own, help them find opportunities to use their talents, help others, and grow in wisdom.

Help them to seek lives of meaning and purpose rather than “the good life” of consumerism and exclusion.

Let their ideas, ideals, and energy help us rebuild our economy in more equitable and sustainable ways.

Help them use their networks and global awareness to build and connect communities in ways that help us find peace.

Help them to value life long learning and effort, yet practice independent thinking rather than relying on conventional wisdom.  Let no one take them captive “through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the basic principles of this world rather than on Christ.” (Colossians 2:8).

Guide them O Lord, and help them to guide us.

In Jesus’ name we pray.

Amen.

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Love As The Path To Peace

May 9, 2009

Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins. –1 Peter 4:8

Lord, as we rebuild our country and our economy, help us to do so with compassion.  As we allocate resources, harden not our hearts. Let us find ways to feed the hungry, shelter the homeless, care for the mentally ill, and treat the drug addicted.  Let us invest more in prevention than in prisons, rebuild our cities with affordable housing, and share resources through community gardens and other programs that help those who are without meet their basic needs. Help us to see that safety is not found in separating from others but in reaching out and building community. Let us not judge, but seek to live in harmony with each other, following the words of your apostle Paul (Romans 12:16).  Help us to recognize our common humanity, preserve human dignity, and care for one another, recognizing that all we have is dependent on your grace.

In Jesus’ name we pray.

Amen.

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Planting The Seeds Of Peace

May 3, 2009

Peacemakers who sow in peace raise a harvest of righteousness. James 3:18

Lord, as we work through the complex issues of our time, let us sow in peace.  Help us avoid the weeds and thorns of derision, taunts, denial, sales pitches, propaganda, posturing, and wishful thinking that surround us.

Help us to listen.

Encourage us to explore and seek new information, ideas, and perspectives.

Help us to learn from each other – asking questions, inviting new input, sharing experiences.

Help us to face the reality we have before us, and accept the promise that we can change, so that we might build a better country and world: one where we act justly, love mercy, and walk humbly with you our God. (Micah 6:8)

In Jesus’ name we pray,

Amen.

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