Prayer for Epiphany 4A

Lord,

We come to you humbled by your greatness, your wonderful love, your holy wisdom.

We bring our praise of you, praise of your creation, praise of you tender mercies you bestow on us.

We come singing our love for you.

Lord , we pray for those who are poor in spirit that the may be made rich in you.

Lord we pray for comfort for those who mourn

We pray for those whose lives have been humbled by hardships that may be strengthened.

We pray for those who are hungry that their bellies be filled. But we also pray for those who hunger spiritually, may their souls be filled.

We pray for those who need mercy in their lives, may we show them your mercy in the way we treat them.

We pray for those who can’t see God that one day they may.

We pray for peace in our world especially for those places where there is great unrest and tension.

We pray for those all around the world who are martyred and persecuted that you will keep them safe and from harm.

We pray for those who are bullied, pushed around, made fun of and rejected; that others will stop the bullying, stand up for them, love them and accept them.

Lord we thank you for hearing our prayers. We thank you for being with us always.

We thank you for your son Jesus, Amen

cross posted at revgalblogpals

new year new tasks

Well

I have some new tasks in this new year that I am presently working on.

I am now working on how to keep up with new members in this large church. If you have ideas please let me know. I think we do a good job of contacting our visitors who sign in the registration book. But we are not sure we do a good job of contacting and connecting our new members. One of our Finance Committee members who works at a bank shared with us what his bank is doing now to contact and stay connected with their first time accounts. And it was a good idea.

Prayer for Epiphany 3A

Lord,
We come to you in a time of coldness and darkness,
Looking for warmth and light.
There are those whose homes are physically freezing,
And there are those whose lives are spiritually chilly
We know that we can help warm people’s homes.
We also know you can warm people’s lives.

We pray that there will be no more gloom for those who were in anguish
We pray that you lift away people’s burdens.
We pray you remove the things that oppress from people’s lives.
We pray you give courage to those who fear.

Lord your light calls us forth to follow and serve you.
Your light still shines for all to see in this world.
May we continue to reflect your light in our lives,
in our service, in our words and in our deeds.
cross posted at revgalblogpals

Prayer for Epiphany 2A

Lord we praise your name and thank you for your never ending love.
Lord, we wait on you believing that you will hear us and answer.

It is horrifying when we call to mind the shooting rampage this week in Tucson, Arizona.
We pray for those who were killed; six people -- including a federal judge, three senior citizens, a Giffords staff member, and a third grader.
We pray for the healing of the wounded; Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords in the hospital with a gunshot wound to the head, a number of others injured.
We pray for both justice and healing for the shooter Jared Loughner.
We pray a prayer of thanks for those who intervened and for the first responders.
We pray for healing for those who were there that day and traumatized by the shooting.
We pray for our elected leaders, politicians and media that there would be attitude of civility.

We pray for the people of Brazil, Sri Lanka and Australia where there have already been many people that have died in the floods..
We pray for safety for all others.
We pray hopefully for long term recovery for the people of Haiti who are still recovering a year later from an earthquake and also from a lifetime of problems.
We pray for restoration of order where there has been a breakdown of law and order in Somalia, where women are being forced into marriage or being beheaded; and in Tunisia, where riots, killings and curfews are a part of everyday life.
We pray for strengthening of the hope, faith and love of so many Christians under persecution whether in Iraq, Egypt, Pakistan, India, or Afghanistan.

We want to thank you for Martin Luther King who served you faithfully in a difficult time.
We thank you for his example in our own ministries to keep serving you faithfully.
We thank you for his work to bring justice, rights and peace to your people.
May we continue the work for justice, rights and peace for your people.


Lord, we pray that you will lift us up out of the ditches of our lives.
We pray you will pull us up out of the quagmire of our lives.
We pray you will set us down on the firm rock and keep us safe.
We thank you God for hearing our prayers and responding from your great faithfulness.

cross posted at revgalblogpals and preaching to the choir

Sunday Prayer for Baptism of Christ A

God who shows no partiality,
Show your favoritism on all your people.
Send forth your justice for all to see.
Save us your people.
Empower us to preach and testify to your great love and mercy.

God who makes and keeps covenant with your people,
You called us to be a light to the nations,
to open the eyes that are blind,
to set the prisoners free,
Help us to answer your call that these things come to pass.

God of grace and glory,
We pray for those who suffer from pains and sorrows.
We pray for those whose hearts are broken.
We pray for those whose families are fractured.
We pray for those whose lives are ravaged by war.
We pray for those who struggle with poverty, and starvation
We pray for our brother and sisters in Christ who are being martyred and tortured for their beliefs.

Thank you for hearing our prayers.
Thank you for pouring out your spirit on you son
And pouring your spirit out on us too.
May we too hear you say to us this day that "This is my son, my daughter the Beloved, with whom I am well pleased."
amen

cross posted at rev galblogpals

Prayer for the 1st Sunday in the New year

We begin our new year with you,
Hoping that this year will be different and be better than last year.
Hoping we will be better persons ourselves.
Hoping our work will be improved.
Hoping our marriages will be better.
Hoping our families will be stronger.
Lord, we place our hope in you for you are the author of our lives.

We pray for our churches that your spirit will be alive for all to experience you.
We pray for our country’s leaders that they will use wisdom in their decision making.
We pray for country that as we continue to come out of this recession; jobs will continue to become available, foreclosures will continue to decline, and that debt will be paid down.
We pray for our world that relations among all your people will be better, that strife will cease, that those who hunger will be filled.

Holy Author,
We have no idea what this year holds for us, but we know who holds us.
And because it is you that holds us, we place our faith and trust in you.
Lord help us to have our eyes open to your light, your ways, and your presence as we go throughout this year.
Amen.
cross posted at revgalblogpals