Posts Tagged ‘courage’
July 4, 2022
Lord we thank you for our freedom and your many gifts.
O beautiful for spacious skies for amber waves of grain.*
We thank you for opportunities to grow and for a prosperous land. Help us to share so that all might thrive.
For purple mountains majesty, above the fruited plain.
We thank you for the beauty and abundance with which we are surrounded. Let it inspire and encourage us to reach out to others and share your love.
America, America, God shed his grace on thee.
We thank you for your forgiveness and mercy. May we extend that to others, forsaking tribalism, factionalism, and hyper-partisanship. Help us to love our neighbors as ourselves. (Luke 10:25-37; Galatians 3:26-29).
And crowned thy good with brotherhood, from sea to shining sea.
We thank you Lord for the many diverse peoples that make up our country. May we see the richness of your creation in this diversity and resist those who would exploit our differences and sow division.
Help us Lord to use our freedoms wisely, overcoming evil with good and serving one another with love. (Romans 12:21; Galatians 5:13).
Guide us towards peace, O Lord.
Amen
*italicized lines from the hymn America The Beautiful
Other July 4 Posts:
Freedom, 2021
Preserving Our Liberties, 2020
Pray For Our Country, 2015
Freedom From Fear, 2013
Tags:abundance, beauty, brotherhood, courage, diversity, freedom, Independence Day, July 4, love, peace, wisdom
Posted in politics, Prayer | Leave a Comment »
January 17, 2021
We are a broken and grieving people O Lord.
Broken relationships, broken promises, broken bodies, broken lives.
We are broken Lord, although not beyond repair.
Please let your grace shine through and in our broken places.
Help us to repent O Lord, and to walk in your ways.
Give us wisdom, give us courage, give us humility, give us integrity, give us compassion, give us mercy, give us love.
Help us to discern fact from folly, and turn us from false gods.
Heal us O Lord, and give us hope.
Amen
Tags:broken, brokenness, compassion, country, courage, grief, grieving, healing, hope, humility, integrity, mercy, politics, Prayer, repentance, USA, wisdom
Posted in politics, Prayer | Leave a Comment »
November 22, 2020
Today we pray for all those who are sick and dying, the grieving, and those in the healing professions. And as we ask for both wisdom and courage to navigate both our politics and pandemic, we share this Prayer for Putting on a Mask, composed by The Right Reverend Richard Bott who is the current Moderator of the United Church of Canada. May it strengthen our resolve and connection with our neighbors, whenever we wear our masks, and our awareness of the love and generosity of others when we see them wear theirs.
Creator,
as I prepare to go into the world,
help me to see the sacrament
in the wearing of this cloth –
let it be “an outward sign
of an inward grace” –
a tangible and visible way
of living love for my neighbours,
as I love myself.
Christ,
since my lips will be covered,
uncover my heart,
that people would see my smile
in the crinkles around my eyes.
Since my voice may be muffled,
help me to speak clearly,
not only with my words,
but with my actions.
Holy Spirit,
as the elastic touches my ears,
remind me to listen carefully –
and full of care –
to all those I meet.
May this simple piece of cloth
be shield and banner,
and each breath that it holds,
be filled with your love.
In your Name
and in that love,
I pray.
May it be so.
May it be so.
Amen.
Tags:care, compassion, courage, COVID-19, generosity, healing, love, masks, neighbor, pray, Prayer, United States, USA, wisdom
Posted in politics, Prayer | Leave a Comment »
November 1, 2020
Thank you Lord, for our right to vote and have a say in our future.
May we use it wisely.
Thank you for those with the courage to seek change, for those willing to wait in long lines to help secure a better future, for those with hope.
And yet our anxiety rises. Will we be able to break through our economic and political shackles? Will we overcome our sins of division, of power, of factions, of failure to love? (Gal. 5:19)
May we become a better people than we are. Guide us and forgive us O Lord. Help us to choose what is noble, what is right, and what is admirable. (Php. 4:8) Help us to trust in you and your grace.
Amen
Tags:courage, elections, hope, politics, Prayer, United States, USA, voting, wisdom
Posted in politics, Prayer | 1 Comment »
October 18, 2020
Today’s prayer is adapted from the Prayers and Thanksgivings in the Episcopal Book of Common Prayer ##22 and 24.
Almighty God, to whom we must account for all of our powers and privileges, guide us as we elect our leaders and representatives.
Help us to accept our responsibilities to our fellow citizens, to move beyond self-interest, and to cast our votes for those who would promote the well-being of all people and administer our laws fairly.
Give us grace to forgive and courage to face our uncertain future together. Guide us past our fears and resentments and help us to act so that the rights of all might be protected and our nation enabled to fulfill your purposes.
We know that our individual choices aggregate to shape our country’s path. Help us find ways to care for one another and work together. Guide us that we might choose wisely, and build your kingdom, so we might be closer to it here on earth as it is in heaven.
Amen
Tags:citizens, courage, elections, faith, fear, fogiveness, grace, guidance, guide, laws, politics, Prayer, resentment, responsibility, United States, USA, votes, voting
Posted in politics, Prayer | Leave a Comment »
July 26, 2020
Lord, give us the courage to move forward and not fall back –
- courage to work through our fears,
- courage to put aside the old patterns of exclusion and denial,
- courage to confront our hate and anger,
- courage to care for one another.
Give us the courage to challenge –
- mendacity,
- fake news,
- narratives of hate and fear,
- paranoia and conspiracy theories masquerading as facts.
Give us the courage to bridge our divides and work together to build a future better than our past –
- more just,
- more equitable,
- more merciful,
- more compassionate.
Guide us O Lord, teach us your paths, show us your ways, guide us in your truth and give us hope. (Ps. 25:4-5).
Amen
Tags:care, compassion, country, courage, facts, fear, hope, justice, mendacity, moving forward, politics, Prayer, truth, USA
Posted in politics, Prayer | 1 Comment »
July 19, 2020
We recommend this letter from the Missouri Union Presbytery.
Lord, we thank you for the life John Lewis and his dedication to justice.
Let us too hear and follow the words of your prophets –
This is what the Lord says: Do what is just and right. Rescue from the hand of his oppressor the one who has been robbed. Do no wrong or violence to the alien, the fatherless or the widow, and do not shed innocent blood in this place.
Jeremiah 22:3
And of your Son –
“Love the Lord your God with all of your heart and with all of your soul and with all your mind.” This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: “Love your neighbor as yourself.”
Matthew 22:37-39
And of your disciples –
Command those who are rich in this present world not to be arrogant nor to put their hope in wealth, which is so uncertain, but to put their hope in God. . . Command them to do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share.
1 Timothy 6:17-19
Help us O Lord to find ways to move forward together and build a more just economy and culture.
Amen
Tags:country, courage, economic justice, John Lewis, justice, neighbor, politics, Prayer, prophets, USA
Posted in politics, Prayer | 2 Comments »
July 12, 2020
Today’s prayer comes from the Episcopal Book of Common Prayer.
Almighty God, who created us in your own image:
Grant us grace fearlessly to contend against evil and to make no peace with oppression;
and, that we may reverently use our freedom, help us to employ it in the maintenance of justice in our communities and among the nations, to the glory of your holy Name;
through Jesus Christ, our Lord, who lives and reigns with you , and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen
Tags:community, courage, Creator, freedom, God, grace, justice, mercy, oppression, peace, politics, Prayer
Posted in politics, Prayer | 1 Comment »
July 4, 2020
You my brothers, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the sinful nature, rather serve one another in love. The entire law is summed up in a single command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” If you keep on biting and devouring each other, watch out or you will be destroyed by each other. Galatians 5:13-15
Lord, we know that freedom isn’t free and democracy is not self-sustaining.
Both take courage, and persistence, and regard for others.
Help us to do our part.
Help us use our freedom not just to claim “liberty,” but to seek justice for all, to care for one another even if that means wearing a mask, and to reach across partisan divides with love and forgiveness.
Open our eyes and our hearts that we might free those who suffer in our economy from want and need and loss of opportunity, and find ways to prosper together.
Help us to seek your truth and serve you O Lord.
Amen
Tags:courage, democracy, forgiveness, freedom, Independence Day, justice, liberty, love, persistence, prosperity
Posted in politics, Prayer | 1 Comment »
Prayers For Our Country 