Prayer for Proper 8C / Ordinary 13C / Pentecost +6

Lord,

We thank you for our freedom that we celebrate today.

We thank you for our forefathers and foremothers
who worked to set us free.
We pray for those who are not yet free
 that they too may one day be at liberty.
We pray for those who have fought to obtain their freedom.

 

But let us not forget that we have an even greater freedom,

 that comes to us through your son Jesus.
Let us not turn to our selfish desires.
But rather let us live in the spirit, walk in the spirit
with lives that show the fruit of the spirit.
May we treat each other with the love, patience, g
goodness, gentleness, and kindness that comes from you.
May we be faithful to you.
May we master self -control.

 

May the spirit lead us in our days.

Lord sometimes our days are like whirlwinds full of activities,
 meetings, and business.
We don’t know whether we are coming or going,
And we need a double portion of Elijah’s and Elisha’s spirit to make it.
Slow us down, focus us, make us to rest in you.
May we find our peace and joy in you.
Thank you again for our freedom. Amen.

cross posted at revgalblogpals

Prayer for Proper 7C / Ordinary 12C / Pentecost +5

Oh God our Rock and Strong Deliverer,


We often wonder where you are when we go through troubling times.

It often feels like you are not here that you are more far away from us.

We can’t see you, we can’t feel you and we can’t hear you.

Sometimes we think you will speak to us in a loud voice, and sometimes you do.

Sometimes we think you have to make your appearance in some form of huge supernatural event,

And sometimes you do.

Sometimes we think you have to hit us over the head with a two by four since we can be so stubborn,

And you do find a way to get our attention.

And sometimes we forget that you speak to us through the silence and so just for a moment we sit silently waiting for you to speak…..

And as our hearts calm down and our breath becomes deeper and slower

We focus on you and can hear you…..

And as the tension in our body begins to relax as we give it over to you we are calmer

And can hear you in the midst of the silence…..



And we feel closer to you, filled with your love and grace as we breathe in your goodness into our lives

And as we listen to you…..

We feel we are wrapped in your arms and yet free to move about

And we hear you in a new way……

You enable us to then love the unloved, take away the negative labels from people, see them as you see them, love them as you love them……

We are empowered to reach out to those who are the unseen, the wounded, the lonely, the outcasts, just as your son reached out so long ago to those considered unclean….

And we are given a voice to tell others of what you have done for us and what you will do for them.



And Lord we now pray for those in our lives who are sick, homebound, in nursing homes, and rehabs…

We pray for those who are grieving…….

We pray for those who deal with mental illnesses, addictions, Alzheimer’s disease, cancer, chronic illnesses…..

We pray for all these and more your son taught us to pray…….

prayer for Proper 6C / Ordinary 11C / Pentecost +4

God of our fathers and of our mothers,

We pray to you today for our fathers; fathers who were present, fathers who were absent, fathers who showed us love, fathers who did not show us love, fathers who taught us well, fathers who didn’t teach at all, fathers who held us in their arms, fathers who abused us, fathers who tried hard to be good fathers, and fathers who didn't try at all. The list goes on of the different kinds of fathers we have all had and we have been ourselves.  Most of all, we are grateful that you are the father of us all, a father who loves, cares, is always present, who forgives us and holds us in your arms. We all need that kind of father.

We pray today for all of us who are like the woman who crashed the Pharisee’s dinner party and anointed you. We break open our alabaster jar of sweet oil as we cry tears of joy, tears of sadness, tears of years of pain, and tears of sin poured out on your feet. Accept our offering of love and gratitude for your forgiving us, welcoming us and loving us.

We pray today for all of us who are like Simon the Pharisee, who are caught by religion, eyes of judgment, hearts of stone, and voices of criticism of ourselves and others. We pray father that you would set us free by your forgiveness, love and mercy.

We pray today for all of us who are like the women who had been cured of evil spirits and infirmities: Mary, called Magdalene, from whom seven demons had gone out, and Joanna, the wife of Herod's steward Chuza, and Susanna, and many others, who provided for them out of their resources. We thank you that we get to be there with you, follow you and give out of our resources especially out of who we are.  We thank you that you have healed, cured us, set us free, forgiven us, welcome us and love us.

Sunday Prayer for Proper 5C / Ordinary 10C / Pentecost +3

Gracious God,

Here we are your children coming before your throne of mercy.

We pray for healing and restoration for those devastated by the tornadoes, wildfires and flooding.

We pray for those that are sick and need your healing touch.

We pray for those who have experienced loss this week, may thy be comforted in their grieving.

We pray for our churches and our communities.

We pray for our leaders that you would endow them wisdom

We pray for countries where war continues may your peace and good will come.

May your kingdom come into our lives and into world.

Sunday prayer for Proper 4C / Ordinary 9C / Pentecost +2

On this holy day we do worship and adore you.

We bring our praises of love to you.

We bring our hopes our dreams our visions of a better world and of a new tomorrow created by.

We bring our faith in you when it seems hard to have faith.

We seek you in the midst of our sorrows, our illnesses, our broken bodies.

We seek you in the midst of mighty winds of destruction, winds of war, winds of gossip and rumors,;

We bring ourselves today as your servants to bring your good news to others.

May your love reign in our hearts.