Posts Tagged ‘Prayer’

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Increasing Love

March 2, 2017

For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; and to godliness, brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness, love.  For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.  2 Peter 1:5-8

O Lord, guide our leaders — and us as citizens — that we may pursue goodness, knowledge, self-control, godliness, and kindness in our political lives and in our communities.   Help us reach out to our neighbors, breaking down the walls of “us” and “them”.  Calm our anger and fears. Steer us from factions and petty disputes. Teach us to love. Help us live by your Spirit and find peace and prosperity together.  (Galatians 5:19-26).

Amen

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Words Matter

January 24, 2016

“A man of knowledge uses words with restraint, and a man of understanding is even-tempered.”  Proverbs 17:27

“. . . Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to become angry . . .” James 1:19

Our words matter. Words harm or heal; invite hate or love, fear or hope.  Our words define us and our relationships.  They direct us to evil or good.  Save us O Lord from the words that hurt and discourage, that inflame and fester.  Help us O Lord to use the words that heal.

 “Show me your ways, O Lord, teach me your paths; guide me in your truth and teach me for you are God my Savior, and my hope is in you all day long.” Psalm 25:4-5

Amen

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Why Jesus?

January 12, 2016

“… to shine on those living in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the paths of peace.” Matt. 1:79

“The light shines in the darkness but the darkness has not understood.”  John 1:5

The light shines in the darkness. But the darkness feels safe, the shadows fascinate, and the drama of conflict holds our attention captive.  Free us O Lord and lead us to peace.

Amen.

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Pray For Our Country

July 4, 2015

On this 4th of July as we think about our country’s past struggles, current condition, and future, we invite you to review and add your prayers to the following verses, most of which are adapted from the “Prayer For Our Nation” in the Lutheran Book of Worship:

Bless our land and people with honest industry, and an honorable way of life.

Save us from violence, discord, and confusion; from pride and arrogance, and from every evil course of action.

Make us who come from many nations, with many different languages and cultures, a united people.

Let us provide a truthful education, and informed public discourse.

Give those whom we have entrusted with the authority of government the spirit of wisdom, that there might be justice and peace in our land.

Help us to understand and value our interdependence as much as our freedoms, and help us forgive and care for one another.

We need your help O Lord, and seek your guidance.

Amen

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Prayers For Peace

September 11, 2014

O God, you will keep in perfect peace those whose minds are fixed on you . . . Isaiah 26:3

On this 13th anniversary of the attacks on the World Trade Center, we pray for an end to hate and violence throughout our world.  We remember and pray for those who died in the attacks, that they might be at peace with you. We pray for their families and friends, that in their grieving they may find the peace which transcends all understanding. [Php.4:7] And we pray for all who remain in our unstable and violent world, that we may find new ways of living together.

We pray for peace O God.

O God, our creator, look with compassion on the whole human family; take away the arrogance and hatred which infect our hearts; break down the walls that separate us; unite us in bonds of love; and guide us as we work through our struggle and confusion. [#3]*

We pray for peace O God.

O Lord you have commanded us to love our enemies:  Lead them and us from prejudice to truth; deliver them and us from hatred, cruelty, and revenge; and in your good time enable us all to stand reconciled before you. [#6]

We pray for peace O God.

Give us the grace seriously to lay to heart the great dangers we are in by our unhappy divisions; take away all hatred and prejudice, hurt and anger, and whatever else may hinder us from peaceful union and concord. Help us to seek the holy bonds of truth and peace, of compassion and charity. [#14]

We pray for peace O God.

Eternal God, in whose perfect kingdom all nations and people work in harmony, guide us in love. [#3, 4]  Lead us from dissension, factions and selfish ambitions to a world abundant in  the fruits of your Spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.  [Galatians 5:19-26]  Guide all the nations, — and each of us as individuals in our interactions with family, neighbors, and community, —  into the ways of justice and truth, peace and love.  [5]

Grant us peace O God.

 

* Adapted in part from The Book of Common Prayer, “Prayers and Thanksgivings”,  No.s 3 -6, 14.

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Freedom From Fear

July 4, 2013

“. . . where the Spirit of the Lord is there is freedom.”  2 Co. 3:17

“Then you will know the truth and the truth will set you free.” John 8:32

Lord, on this 4th of July, grant us freedom from our fears:

Fear of moving forward.

Fear that feeds cynicism and despair.

Fear that flashes into anger and hate.

Fear that is reflected in our selfishness.

Fear that fuels our partisan divides.

Fear that crushes hope.

Lead us from fear toward love and compassion, caring and community, for there we will find you (1 John 4:8).  In you there is no fear (1 John 4:18). Free from fear, we can find the way to a better future: one country, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

Amen.

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Choosing Hope Over Fear

January 21, 2013

“And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us.”  Romans 5:5

On this inaugural day, which is also the anniversary of Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation and the 5oth anniversary of Martin Luther King Jr.’s March on Washington, we pray with hope that the divisions caused by factionalism and fear will cease to constrain us and that we will have the courage to take up the work of healing.

Let us seek, as Lincoln urged in his second inaugural, a “just and lasting peace among ourselves” and work together “with malice toward none, with charity for all, with firmness in the right as God gives us to see the right”.

Help us O Lord to listen to and to learn from each other, for as  Martin Luther King, Jr. taught us, it is from other points of view that  “. . . we may indeed see the basic weaknesses of our own condition, and if we are mature, we may learn and grow and profit from the wisdom of the brothers who are called the opposition.”

Because wisdom is found in listening (Pr. 1″5), help us attend to your word:  “Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to become angry.”  (James 1:19).

Grant us courage, compassion, and self-control as we move forward, O Lord.

Amen.

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From the Electoral Season, Save Us

October 31, 2012

Lord as we approach this election, do not let us despair or be overtaken by fear.  Help us instead to embrace hope, and to trust in your words:  “There is surely a future hope for you and your hope will not be cut off.”  Pr. 23:18.

Do not let us be so overcome by adversity that we fail to vote or over-rely on simplistic pitches.  Do not let hypocrisy, arrogance,  mendacity, or hollow promises mislead us.  Let us fend off both cynicism and hate.  From a love of money, save us.

Give us the courage to acknowledge our circumstances are complex, and that real solutions will take sacrifice, sharing, hard work and a willingness to work with others.  Help us elect leaders who will place our common good over partisan loyalties and who will care for us all.  Fill us with compassion and direct us to the fulfilling of your purpose. Help us to trust in you and to encourage one another.

Grant us wisdom O Lord.  Amen

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Those Who Went Before Us

May 31, 2010

Lord, on this Memorial Day we give you thanks for those who gave us life, who taught us how to live, and whose memories bring both pain and laughter.  We thank you for the stories that shape our lives, and the gift of photography that helps us to understand our past.  We thank you for our families and our friends O Lord.

On this Memorial Day we give you thanks for those who fight for our country and those who have died in its service.  Let us be ever aware of their sacrifice and the full costs of war.  Help us be wise in our use of the freedoms they defend and in the policies we choose.  Help us to be generous in our support of those who serve and of their friends and families.  Help us to pursue peace in our lifetimes O Lord.

And on this Memorial Day we give you thanks O Lord for your presence in our lives and for your promise of eternal life.  Help us to follow in your ways, to lean not on our own understanding, and to find comfort and meaning in our memories.  Help us to guide our children to value the past, find hope for the future, and follow us in faith.

We thank you O Lord, for lives present and past, and for the cycle of life that keeps us searching for you.

Amen

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Loyalty and Justice

May 2, 2010

If you have understanding hear this; listen to what I say. Can he who hates justice govern?  Will you condemn the just and mighty One? Job 34: 16-17

. . . O my people, your guides lead you astray; they turn you from the path. Is. 3:12

Dear children, do not let anyone lead you astray . . . 1 John 3:7

Lord, when political parties require “loyalty oaths” which they seek to enforce regardless of a representative’s conscience, hear our cry for freedom.

Lord, when money decides who can run and what views the voter hears, hear our cry for truth.

Lord, when power and celebrity are the guiding forces of many who would seek to govern, raise up stewards of the public good.

Lord, when the noise and fear and confusion threaten to overwhelm us, grant us the wisdom to find our way.

We put our trust in you, O Lord, as we look to build a better future.

Amen.

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