Posts Tagged ‘democracy’
July 11, 2021
Today’s prayer borrows from Psalm 83
See how the enemies of democracy are astir.
With cunning they conspire against your people; they plot against the freedoms you cherish.
“Come” they say. “Let us destroy this diverse nation, let democracy be no more.”
With one mind they plot together; they form an alliance against us.
All those who lie, those who deny justice, those who seek power at our expense,
Make them like tumbleweed, O Lord, like chaff before the wind.
As fire consumes the forest, or a flame sets mountains ablaze, so pursue them with your tempest and terrify them with your storm.
May their efforts perish in disgrace.
Cover their faces in shame, and let those who seek your love, your compassion, your mercy prevail.
Amen
Tags:autocracy, compassion, country, democracy, enemies of democracy, love, mercy, politics, Prayer, tyranny, United States, USA
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May 31, 2021
This day Lord we remember and commit to your care all those who fought over the generations to save our world from tyranny and anarchy, and for those, both military and civilian, who are in the struggle still to preserve our democracy. John Dewey said that democracy needed to be reborn in every generation, and we confess Lord that we have been poor midwives. Help us recover and recommit to liberty and justice for all. Help us Lord extend your love and forgiveness to each other, and to move forward with care, particularly for the least among us. Amen
Tags:compassion, country, democracy, justice, liberty, love, Memorial Day, politics, Prayer, Unted States, USA
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May 23, 2021
Today’s prayer borrows from and adapts the hymn “O Holy Ghost, Creator Blessed”.
Holy Spirit, please protect, guide, and comfort our children as they bear the burden of our political obsessions and resentments.
Help us to see and repair the damage we have done that we might leave them a better democracy and country.
Come Holy Ghost, Creator blessed, and in our hearts take up your rest.
Come with your love, and heavenly aid, and heal the world which you have made.
Heal our hearts O Lord.
Amen
Tags:country, democracy, healing, Pentecost, politics, repair, United States, USA
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April 25, 2021
When the foundations are being destroyed, what can the righteous do? Ps. 11:3.
Lord please give us the wisdom to see the damage being done to our democracy by those who would mislead, deflect, disrupt for the sake of disruption and power, and deny the humanity of others.
Give us the courage to learn, witness, to speak up and out, to protect the right of all to vote and be heard.
Help us to connect to our fellow citizens and commit to their well-being.
Lord, help us renew and nurture our country’s ideal of liberty and justice for all.
And as we engage, defend, and rebuild may we trust in your mercy and justice, and follow your paths, committing our efforts to your wisdom and guidance. (Pr. 3:5-6; 16:3)
Help us Lord to resist tyranny in all of its forms.
Amen
Tags:commitment, country, defend, democracy, guidance, justice, liberty, mercy, politics, Prayer, rebuild, truth, tyranny, United States, USA, wisdom, witness
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January 24, 2021
Thank you Lord for our democracy holding and a peaceful transfer of power.
Help us to recommit to democratic values,* repair our foundations, and rebuild.
Turn us from the sins of anger, hate, factionalism, and resentment. (Galatians 5:20)
Lead us in your paths of justice, kindness, and mercy. (2 Chronicles 7:14; Ps. 25:4-5; Galatians 22-23)
May we, in the words of our Vice President,** emerge from our trials with new wisdom, imagining new possibilities. Help us to open our hearts to one another.
May we, with your help, be so zealous and successful at pursuing your justice and peace that we, like Hezekiah and his people, find ourselves rejoicing at the speed of our progress. (2 Chronicles 29:36).
Amen
*As identified in the National Council For The Social Studies C3 Framework: honesty, mutual respect, cooperation, attention to multiple perspectives, equality, liberty, and freedom.
**Paraphrased from Vice President Kamala Harris’ remarks at the Covid-19 Memorial Service, January 19, 2021.
Tags:anger, change, country, democracy, democratic values, factionalism, future, hate, healing, justice, kindness, mercy, partisan politics, peace, politics, trials, United States, USA, wisdom
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September 20, 2020
We thank you Lord for those who build your kingdom –
- for those who step forward to care for us, even at risk to themselves;
- for those who accept the call to military service;
- for those who, despite fear and threats, take action in the pursuit of justice;
- for those who speak up to defend rather than diminish our democratic ideals of community and trust;
- for those working to ensure all can vote;
- for those who feed the hungry and provide support to those who have lost their jobs;
- for those who shelter the homeless;
- for those who educate our children;
- for those who comfort the grieving;
- for those who reach out in hope and healing.
Bless all of these who are doing your kingdom work here and now.
Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.
Amen
Tags:community, country, democracy, healing, hope, justice, kingdom, politics, Prayer, service, trust, United States, USA
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August 30, 2020
Lead us O Lord, through the divisive rhetoric, appeals to fear, misinformation, and other deceits of our political times.
Help us to trust in you and follow your paths.
Awaken us O Lord, to the world as it is and to our own role in its suffering.
Help us to see the possibilities for peace and future prosperity for all.
Create with us O Lord, a democracy and a country where all might thrive.
Let us not be deceived or turned from your ways.
Amen
Tags:country, deceit, democracy, fear, God, lies, partisan politics, peace, politics, prosperity, trust, United States, USA
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August 2, 2020
Today’s prayer is adapted from the Episcopal Book of Common Prayer.
Lord, please help us protect our elections which are the heart of our democracy.
Guide us in our responsibilities as citizens that we may elect trustworthy leaders and make wise decisions for our common good.
Ensure the faithful administration of our voting processes so that the rights of all may be protected.
And in our thoughts and in our actions, help us to align ourselves with your justice and mercy and grace so that we might be a people at peace among ourselves.
Amen
Tags:democracy, elections, grace, justice, mercy, peace, politics, Prayer, United States, USA, wisdom
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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
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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.
Tags:country, democracy, learning, politics, Prayer, public schools, USA, wisdom
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Prayers For Our Country 