Posts Tagged ‘grace’
May 16, 2021
Widen our lens O Lord, well beyond the narrow aperture of our phones.
Help us to lift our heads and see the beauty and the wonder of the world around us, and know that you are with us, that we are not alone nor in charge.
Help us to see your love and and forgiveness in the people around us, so that we too might respond with compassion and mercy.
Help us to see the many revelations of your grace that surround us, inviting us to move beyond our resentful and quarrelsome ways.
Open our eyes Lord to the possibilities of our future were we to work together.
Amen
Tags:beauty, compassion, country, forgiveness, future, grace, invitation, love, mercy, politics, possibility, Prayer, see, seeing, United States, USA, working together
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April 4, 2021
Alleluia! Our Redeemer lives.
In us and through us.
He is our
living hope,
saving help,
refuge in times of trouble,
our guide towards grace.
Free us O Lord from the sins of greed and self-regard.
Fill our hearts with compassion.
Guide us that we too might live, caring for and serving others.
Amen
Easter 2020
Easter 2017
Easter 2009
Tags:compassion, country, grace, living God, Prayer, refuge, resurrection, United States, USA
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November 29, 2020
Note: Italicized text below is from the hymn “For The Fruit of All Creation”, by Fred Pratt Green (1901).
“. . . for the plowing, sowing, reaping, silent growth while we are sleeping, future needs in earth’s safekeeping, thanks be to God.”
We give thanks in this season for hope and healing, for friends and family, for cooking and cleaning and eating, for tears and laughter.
We give thanks for the beauty that surrounds us in plants and people and earth and sky and the many small crafts and things that furnish our homes, reminding us of those who have gone before.
We give thanks for the often overlooked evidence of your grace throughout our lives in ways large and small and in between. We thank you for your patient presence O Lord.
“. . . for the wonders that astound us, for the truths that sill confound us, most of all that love has found us, thanks be to God.”
Amen
Tags:beauty, God's presence, grace, healing, hope, thanks, thanksgiving, truth
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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
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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 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
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June 7, 2020
Today’s prayer is an adaptation of Ps. 33:18-22 that appeared in The Book of Family Prayer by Robert Webber (Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1986.)
Lord, we believe Your eye is upon those who fear You,
Those who have hope in You.
Lord, we wait upon you;
For You are our help and our shield.
Our hearts rejoice in You
Because we have trusted in your holy name.
Lord, let Your mercy be upon us
As we hope on You,
And send upon us
Your Holy Spirit, we pray.
Amen
Tags:country, future, grace, healing, help, hope, mercy, pray, Prayer, trust, United States, USA
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June 24, 2015
Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good. Romans 12:21
Lord, thank you for the love, forgiveness, and mercy shown by the survivors at Emanuel A.M.E. Church and for the witness they have given in the face of hate. Thank you for the politicians who departed from the usual patterns of division and denial to speak up and out in support of their brothers and sisters in faith.
As James Russell Lowell, observed in 1845*,
To us all, to every nation comes the moment to decide,
in the strife of truth with falsehood, for the good or evil side;
Let us choose good O Lord.
[N]ew occasions teach new duties, time makes ancient good uncouth; they must upward still and onward, who would keep abreast of truth.
Let us move forward O Lord, guided by your grace. Help us to learn new ways.
Heal our hates O Lord. Help us live in peace with one another (Romans 12:18).
Amen.
* Quotes from poem printed as the hymn, “To Us All, to Every Nation”, v. 1 and 2, Chalice Hymnal #634.
Tags:choices, evil, forgiveness, good, grace, guidance, hate, insight, love, mercy, peace, truth, wisdom
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December 29, 2009
For this God is our God for ever and ever; he will be our guide even to the end. Ps. 48:14
Lord as we celebrate your birth we are reminded that you are the light that shines in a dark world that does not understand. John 1:5.
Yet you are the God of truth. May the light of your truth guide us in the year to come. Ps. 43:3.
You are the God of love. In your unfailing love, lead us to greater care and compassion for one another. Ex. 15:13.
You are the God of mercy. May we find forgiveness for our pride and greed. Help us to learn to act justly, to forgive and to heal, and to walk humbly with you. Micah 6:8.
You are the God of hope. May you guide our feet into the paths of peace and help us to move beyond fear and factions so that we might live in greater harmony in the years to come. Luke 1:79.
You are the God of joy. Let us be renewed by your presence among us, accept the gift of your grace, and rejoice in your gift of redemption and promise of eternal life. Luke 2:10-14.
You are the God of grace. Let us accept the assurance you offer and move forward in faith. Guide us in the the ways of wisdom (Pr.4;11), and restore and strengthen our souls (Ps. 23:3).
Help us, O Lord, to heed your call and to trust in you. Guide us in your truth and teach us, for you are our God and Savior, and our hope is in you. Ps. 25:5.
Guide us O Lord.
Amen
Tags:confidence, country, grace, guidance, hope, politics, Prayer, USA
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December 20, 2009
I am still confident of this: I will see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord. Ps. 27:13-14
Lord, in this season of Advent, teach us to wait.
Teach us to wait with the hope that comes from the knowledge of your love. Strengthen our ability to trust in you, and help us to know you better through our waiting.
Teach us to wait with the courage that comes from faith in your mighty power. Give us the courage to face hard truths about ourselves and others, the courage to care, the courage to change, and the courage to seek and heed your call.
Teach us to wait with the peace that comes from forgiveness. Help us to accept that we are forgiven, and to forgive those who have caused us pain.
Teach us to wait with patience. Help us to let go of our own desire to control and to wait secure in the knowledge that “the plans of the Lord stand firm forever, the purposes of his heart through all generations.” Ps. 33:11. Let us say as the prophets did, “I will wait for the God of my salvation; my God will hear me.” Micah 7:7. Help us to see that, by your grace, hearts and minds are changing as we wait.
Help us to wait, O Lord, and to know that you are with us in the waiting.
Teach us to wait, O Lord.
Amen
Tags:country, courage, forgiveness, grace, hope, politics, Prayer, USA, waiting
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Prayers For Our Country 