Prayer Easter 4B

Lord,

During this Easter Season we celebrate that not only did your lay down your life for us,

but that you rose from the dead.

And it is in rising from the dead that so much was changed.

act of kindness are shown by your children to people who need human touch.

We are able to show love to others in practice and deed.

We celebrate this resurrection power that is all because of you.

Lord

A year ago tornados ripped through the lives and communities of Alabama,

Leaving in its swath a path of death and destruction.

Lord those people are still rebuilding, still healing and many are still traumatized.

Help us as the community of faith to not forget them,

to continue to reach out to help them rebuild and renew their lives.

But Lord Alabama has not been the only area hit with damaging power of nature :

there have been major disasters everywhere.

A kids soccer ball showing up on the west coast of America

reminds us that there is still lots to be done in Japan,

And it reminds us of other countries who are still recovering

and that it is taking a long time due to lack of resources.

Lord these people need our prayers, our help and our care.

Lord, these people need a Shepherd, a good shepherd.

They need one that knows them, loves  them,

 cares about them, comforts them and has compassion for them.

Lord,

Truth be known we all need you as our good Shepard.

Will you be our good Shepard?

Amen

cross posted at revgalbogpals

Painting by Daniel Ridgeway Knight

The United Methodist General Conference tweets in word cloud

The Rev. Andrew Conard (@andrewconard) has taken it upon himself to analyze the Twitter conversation using the hashtag #gc2012. Each day he is posting a “word cloud” image which graphically interprets the conversation, increasing the size of the word based on the number of times that word appears in the stream. You can follow his project here.


What do you see when you see the image?
What stands out to you?
What speaks to you?
What does it say about the General Conference?
About the United Methodist?
About Christians?


Hat tip to my peeps Jay Voorhees and  Theresa Coleman

Prayer for Easter 3B/Earth Day

Oh God,

We come celebrating your love that you have for us your children of God.

And because we are your children we know that when we pray you answer us.

We know that we can bring our needs, our troubles, our questions,

our lives, our world, our hopes and our dreams to you.

We know and believe that you listen and you care.

Creator God,

We do pray for our world that we live in

this wonderful planet you created for us to live on. 

We pray for its wellbeing because you made it and called it good.

And we pray that we do our parts as stewards to take of earth.

We are so grateful for this earth, our home.

Loving God,

We pray for those in our midst who need our prayers for their lives,

 their struggles, their healing, and their restoration.

We pray for those in our communities who are without jobs, without homes, without food, without family, without food, without means and resources and without hope.

We pray for those in our world who are living in extreme poverty, violence, abuse, slavery, and cruelty.

Faithful God,

We thank you for the resurrection of you son,

we live into the hope of the resurrection.

May your resurrection shine light in our lives.

Make your presence known to us as you did to the disciples.

Open our minds also that we may understand what you have to teach us.

And how we are to live and be.

 cross posted at revgalblogpals

Prayer for Easter 2B

Resurrection God,

You are the light and you sent your son to shine your light in the darkness of this world.

Lord you know the places and times in our lives that have darkness in us.

You know the dark places and times in this world.

Lord shine your light into the darkness that we may be able to see our way again.

Resurrection God,

We marvel at the Early Church’s unity;

How they loved one another as you loved them,

How they saw to each other’s needs;

And how they cared for each other.

Lord would that we would be like that in our churches.

Empower us with Resurrection Power to be able to be that way.

Breathe your Holy Spirit on us that we too would be of one mind and heart.

Give us the peace you gave the disciples.

Resurrection God,

We admit that we are like Thomas we have our own doubts

And we too want to see and touch you.

We too have more questions than answers

And yet we want to believe.

Pour your blessing on us who have not seen and yet have come to believe.

Let your grace fall upon us all.
Amen

Cross posted at revgalblogpals

Doubting Thomas by Jonathan Hilson

One Day Without Shoes

Its Tom Shoes' One Day without Shoes day.
Here is my picture.

How about you are going one day without shoes? and where is your picture?

Prayer for Easter Sunday B

On this glorious Easter morn,

We praise your name and thank you for your faithfulness.

We marvel once again at the wonder of the resurrection

Of Jesus like kids finding hidden Easter eggs.

We are just as surprised as the women who came to the tomb that day.

We ask that this resurrection wipe away the tears from our eyes;

Bring hope to the hopeless,

Open the eyes of the blind,

Set the prisoners free and

Bring healing and wholeness to those who need it.

Lord we ask that this resurrection bring a revolution of justice.

May the hungry be fed,

The outcast be welcomed,

The downtrodden lifted up,

And those who are in poverty may been enriched.

Lord we ask that this resurrection bring renewal of our lives,

Restore our broken relationships,

Deepen our relationship with you,

Deepen our relationship with one another,

And empower us to bring the good news of your resurrection to others.

Amen

Prayer for Palms Sunday B

God,

On this Holy day of Palm Sunday and Passion,

We have so many mixed feelings in side of us.

We remember your son’s triumphant entrance into Jerusalem

With the people shouting praises and waving Palm Branches.

And we join them with our own praises and yet….

We remember too that this wonderful parade for your son, becomes

Another kind of parade before officials and the booing crowds.

And instead of the crowds singing his praises they are shouting to crucify him.

And our hearts are broken by those very shouts, and the pain and

Suffering he bore that day.

And yet we know that it is because of his choosing to enter

Jerusalem and taking the path he knew he was taking,

There is hope, grace, love and salvation for all.

And there are still many in need of hope in our world.

There are still many in need of your grace in our world.

There are still many in need of your love in our world.

And there are still many in need of salvation in our world.

Lord, enter our lives, our churches, our cities, our countries

Once again today.

Heal us, Lord.

Transform us.

Renew us.

Draw us closer to you in this journey of Holy Week,

empower us with strength and courage and

with the assurance that you are with us, world without end. Amen.

Image: Entry of Christ into Jerusalem

By: Morgner, Wilhelm, 1891-1917

From: Jean and Alexander Heard, VanderbiltDivinity Library

cross posted at revgalblogpals