Prayer for Sunday Proper 15B/Ordinary 20B/Pentecost 12

Oh God of wisdom,

As our children are headed back to school and college to learn anew, help us pass on to them the wisdom that has been given down to us from the generations before us.

Help our children as they learn their daily lessons to listen and learn.

Help their teachers have the patience and knowledge to teach well.

Help them as they learn life’s lessons of dealing with other people around them.

Help us as we guide them through those lessons.

We ask for your wisdom to discern your ways and path for our own lives.

We ask for your wisdom to discern how to deal with others we meet , live with, work with, shop with, drive our roads, with, wait in line with, eat with and be with daily.

We ask for your wisdom in the difficult situations we may have to deal with as we go through life.

We ask for your wisdom when voting in the upcoming elections.

We ask for your wisdom in dealing with injustices in our world.

We ask for wisdom for our leaders in our world, our countries, our states, and our communities.

We ask for wisdom for our church leaders worldwide and local .

We ask for wisdom for our Pastors as they preach your word, inspire, lead and grow us as disciples.

We ask for your wisdom as we reach out to those in need in our communities and in our world.

We ask for wisdom as we minister to those who are homebound and in nursing homes.

We ask for your wisdom as we minister to those in hospitals, in recovery and rehab.

We ask for your wisdom that not only enlightens us but transforms us and guides us in our daily walk with you.

Amen

 cross posted at revgalblogpals

Prayer for Proper 14B/Ordinary 19B/Pentecost 11

God,

You sent your son to be bread for the world.

To feed the hungry.

Feed their minds with your word.

Feed their hearts with your love.

Feed their souls with everlasting life.

Lord,

We too are hungry today for the bread of life that your son is.

There are so many hungry people  in the world, in our very own communities,

 that it is overwhelming to even think about it.

It is especially painful for us when we realize that it is mainly the children being affected.

But Lord what can one person do?

Teach us how to bring the bread of life to the physically hungry in this world.

Our minds are hungry for your word. There are so many words being said, written and spoken, that sometimes it seems our brains circuitry is overloaded with all the words. So Lord teach us how to quieten ourselves to be fed by your word.

Our hearts are hungry for your love, your grace, your joy, your peace.  Hearts are broken. Hearts are heavy . Hearts have had heartattacks. Hearts are lonely. Hearts are anxious.

Lord heal our hearts and teach us how to feed the bread of life to others in need.

Lord our souls long for everlasting life.

Our souls long to partake of the bread of life. Others in the world are hungry for your everlasting life.

Lord may we pass the bread of life onto those whose souls need feeling.

cross posted at revgalblogpals.

Prayer for Proper 13B/Ordinary 18B/Pentecost 10

Lord,

We are hungry for something greater than ourselves.

Rain down your bread for us.

We seek to care about those who are starving.

Rain down your bread for them.

The children in all parts of the world who live with much less to eat than you and I.

Rain down your bread for them.

Lord, there are those of us who hunger for the comfort you give.

Pour your comfort on  us.

There are being who don’t know what your comfort and care look like.

Pour your comfort on them.

There are those who need your comfort in the midst of their sorrow.

Pour your comfort down on them.

There are those who are seeking to know you in their lives.

Use us as your hands and feet to go tell the good news.

There are those who live in hopelessness and despair

Use us as your hands and feet to bring the good news of the hope your offer.

There are those living lonely isolated lives.

Use us to be your hands and feet to bring the good news.

Amen

cross posted at revgalblogpals

Prayer for Proper 12B/Ordinary 17B/Pentecost 9

Loving god,

We praise you.

We thank you.

We humble ourselves before you.

We take time now not only to pray but also to listen Lord,

We pray for your compassion on those who are sick and dying.

We pray you show your love to those who are lonely or feeling unloved.

We pray you show your grace to those who are stressed at work,

 those who are jobless and searching for work and Those who are retired.

We ask you show us your hope who find themselves in the midst of despair and hopelessness.

We ask that you show your peace to those who live in turmoil and unrest.

Oh Lord your whole world is hurting

And your people are hurting.

We pray for wisdom for our leaders.

We pray for families affected by the recent mass shootings.

We pray for the families of the victims of child abuse.

We pray for the families affected by alcohol or drugs.

Strengthen, guide them give them grace.

Lord, call us into Christian action to be your hands and feet to your people in this hurting world.

Empower and equip us to make real your love and grace to those in need.

cross posted at revgalblogpals 

Prayer for Sunday Proper 10B/Ordinary 15B/Pentecost 7

Lord, its all yours; this earth, this universe,
All of us. We are all yours.
And we praise your name for the beauty of it all.

We come seeking a deeper relationships with you God.

We come wanting to know you better, and
Wanting to know you better.
And so we come to worship,
come to listen and come to pray.

We ask that you hear our prayers;

Hear the cry of the needy,
fill their hearts with your love.
Hear the cry of the hungry,
Fill their bellies with food.
Hear the cry of the lonely,
Fill their lives with friendships.
Hear the cry of those who are grieving,
Fill their souls with your presence.

Lord, we would love to dance like David

Before you, but some of us are handicapped,
Some are stiffened by arthritis,
 weakened by neurological or muscular diseases,
some of us are tired from our work, and
some of us are burdened down with problems and stress.
Lord we pray for that day when we not only get to feast at your heavenly banquet,
But also for the day when we get to dance like David.

Amen

Prayer for Proper 9B/Ordinary 14B/Pentecost 6

Lord,

We lift up our eyes and our hearts.

We pray to be filled with your tender mercies,

We come to you in faith,

Asking for your steadfast love

To touch our inner most parts,

Lord we pray for your church, your denominations

especially those who have met and are meeting.

We pray for your churches that are being martyred in other countries,

especially those in Kenya.

We pray for those suffering from fires in Colorado,

the oppressive heat,  those enduring the loss of electricity and .

those who have experienced flooding.

We pray for healing for our sisters and brothers

and for our world that needs healing.

We pray for strength for those who are caring for elderly parents,

and those who are sandwiched between parents and children.

We remember our members who are homebound whether temporarily or long-term.

We remember those who are in nursing homes.

We pray for comfort and presence for those who are grieving.

Let us as your children reach out in love and care to these in need.

Lord, we thank you for all you have done and are doing in our lives, our churches and our world.

Help us to be ever mindful to hear and see you at work in our world.

Lord help us to remember that your grace is always abundantly available for us

no matter what we are going through.

Amen

Prayer for Proper 8B/Ordinary 13B/Pentecost 5

God of freedom,

As we celebrate the freedoms of our countries,

May we not forget the many who sacrificed to make that possible.

And may we not forget that there are many living in places where freedom is lacking, so

We pray for justice and liberation for them.

We are also grateful for the freedom you give us in Jesus.

We are aware that many do not know that freedom

so we pray that we are not afraid to tell others of your wonderful freedom for all.

Come, O gracious God, who led your children Israel from slavery,

keep us free from all that might hold us in bondage.

We pray for all those who are vulnerable and in need,

 that you would strengthen them and hear their cries for help.

We pray for the sick and the suffering,

And Lord there are so many in our community, our families, and friends.

We Pray for your healing to come their way.

We pray for the poor and burdened, that they may find relief and be set free from their poverty.

We pray for those suffering in this heat, those that work outdoors in this heat keep them safe.

We pray for those who are dying and for those who have had a recent death in their lives. Bring solace to their grief and pain.

We pray for ourselves as we seek to follow you and love you.

We pray for our families, Lord it can be so difficult to be a loving family these days.

We pray for our friends, and companions that we support and love each other as we walk this journey of life and faith. Amen

cross posted at revgalblogpals

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

Prayer for First Sunday of Lent year B

Lord,

We offer our thoughts and prayers to you.

We put our trust in you to hear and respond to our needs.

We pray for your tender mercies for those of us who are suffering.

We pray for strength for those of us who are experiencing weakness.

We pray for comfort for those of us who are grieving.

We pray that though we too go through our own wildernesses that you would be with us.

We pray that though the wild beast may encompass us you would protect us.

We pray that though we are tempted that your angels watch over us too.

Mark us with the sign of your love as you marked you own son.

Lord, we believe that your Kingdom is at hand;

And so we repent and believe with all our hearts your good news.

Lord remove from our lives those barriers that keep us from being in relationship with you, ourselves and others that we may truly live into the joy of your Kingdom.

cross posted at revgalblogpals

Prayer for Transfiguration Sunday B

Lord, you are the mighty one,

You created light; you send your light around the world.

You sent your son into the world of darkness as the one true light, the light that brings hope to all.

And yet we want to capture it like a firefly and keep it to ourselves so that only we have the good feelings and experience.

 At the same time there are those who would reject your light, try to find any way imaginable to cover the light.

But God you told us to be the light of the world and to let our light shine. And so today as we pray, we want to let our light shine for others whose light may have grown dim, or has almost  gone out or yes even are in the dark.

We want to shine the light of hope to those who are discouraged, dejected, desponded and disappointed.

We want to shine your light of love to those who are our enemies, are hated, are bullies, abused, bullied, disenfranchised.

We want to shine your light of grace to those who have given up, don’t believe
God loves them, and don’t feel wanted, lonely and needy.

We want to shine your light of faith, for those who are hungry to believe yet are not sure, those who have struggled a long time with chronic illnesses, frustration, anger and disbelief.

Lord, we carry your light into this world for all to see what a glorious and wonderful
God you are.

Amen

cross posted at revgalblogpas

Prayer for Sunday Epiphany 6b

Compassionate God,


We are grateful you made your compassion incarnate in your son Jesus, who healed the sick such as the leper.

We are grateful you still show your compassion in this world through your people.

There are so many in this world that need your compassion; those who are sick, those who are outcasts, those who are disabled, and those who are grieving.

Lord we pray you keep pouring your compassion on those in need.



Lord we cry out for your mercy for those who are experiencing injustice in this world.

We pray you will make right the wrongs of this world.

We pray you set free those who are prisoners of dictatorships.

We pray that you unslave those who are trapped by slavery.

And we pray for the children of this world who are often victims of injustice.



Merciful God we pray for our leaders that they may be blessed with wisdom.

We pray for our churches that we may truly be your incarnation in this world.

Sunday prayer for Epiphany 5/Ordinary 5

Holy One,
Hear our prayers oh Lord,
Our lives are often like an emotional rollercoaster in a runaway car.
We sometimes feel our lives are out of control and so we often try to get control.
We then grow weary and tired,
because just about everything we try to do on our own falls short.
And then we give up Lord.
We let go Lord.
We quit trying to be in control.

It is times like these that we need you Lord,
We need to commune with you, to become centered and whole.
We need to draw close to you, to experience your healing touch.
We need the support of one other, the love of one another, the encouragement of one another to remind us of your presence.
It is times when we commune with you that then we are lifted up on eagles wings,
Then we gain power for our faintness
Then we gain strength for our weariness
Then we who are broken hearted are healed
Then we who are wounded find healing
Then we find hope in his steadfast love

And Lord when we have received our healing,
may we then be a vessel for you to use to heal other.
May we go about proclaiming the good news to all
May our households of faith be a gathering of those in need of healing and forgiveness.
Amen

cross posted at revgalblogpals

Pray for Christmas Day on Sunday

God,
Your light has come into our world to shine brightly in our darkness.
We rejoice in your light, we are so glad because with the light you have set us free.
In fact we know and celebrate that even to this day the darkness has not overcome it.
It is through the birth of your son that your light entered into the world
and we too want to be children of light.
We are grateful for the birth of your son
who has become known as the wonderful counselor.
Our governments need him as their wise counselor
because they have often become stalemated with each other.
Our churches need him as their ideal counselor,
because they are at a loss as how to deal with our culture
that sees the church as irrelevant.
Our families need him as their counselor
because they struggle with how to be a healthy family in this day and age.
We as individuals need him as our sage counselor
to help us in how to live as your children of the light.

And we are grateful for the birth of your son who has become known as Mighty God.
We need a Mighty God to establish justice in this often unjust world.
We need a Mighty God to bring about righteousness in a world
that is often anything but righteous.
We need a great big God to believe in when it appears there is so little to believe in.
We need a strong God when we feel so small, so weak and so puny.

We are grateful for the birth of your son who has become known as Everlasting Father.
We need the everlasting father for those who are fatherless, for those who have been abandoned by their fathers, and for those who don’t have good fathers.
We need the everlasting father for his love and his mercies for all of us.
We need the everlasting father for guidance, leadership, firmness yet gentleness.
We need the father who lives forever that we get to live with forever.

We are grateful for the birth of your son who has become known as Prince of Peace.
We need a Prince of Peace in a world that is always at war with one another.
We need a Prince of Peace to help us navigate the conflicts of relationship
we often meet in life.
We need a Prince of Peace to calm and sooth our hearts, our minds, and our souls.
We need a Price of Peace to establish his Kingdom of peace in our lives forever.

Lord what a wonderful gift you have given us in your son Jesus who is the Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
We thank you for this gift today and everyday.
Amen

Merry Christmas!

cross Posted at revgalblogpals

Prayer for Advent 4B

God of Advent,
We are so close to Christmas Day, that
We can see your light shining in the dark
As we come closer and closer.
And as we draw nearer we find ourselves
tempted by all the busyness
Of the holidays to lose our focus on you.
Help us o Lord to keep our eyes on you.

God of Advent,
We have been waiting for what seems like a long time
For that special day to celebrate the birth of your son.
We have waited with hopeful hearts.
We have waited with longing for your peace.
We have waited with a desire for your joy.
And now we wait with a yearning for your love to be born in us again.

God of Advent,
When your steadfast love is birthed in us we will sing of you
And your love forever and ever.
When we are anointed by your love,
we will open our hearts and hands to the lonely, the needy,
the sorrowful, and those who are hurting.
We pray that we are able to share your love with all we meet.

God of Advent,
We pray that we are able to say yes to you when you call.
We pray that we are able to say “Here I am to you Lord.”
We pray that we can be your servants.
We pray that we can say as Mary said so long ago,
“Let it be with me according to your word.”
May all that we are glorify you, and may we rejoice in you
For you are our God, You are the rock of our salvation.
Yes, all our praise and love is focused through Jesus
On you o God.
Amen


cross posted at revgalblogpals