Prayer Of Remembrance (For Those Celebrating All Saints Day This Week)

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The following is from Bruce Prewer who writes wonderful prayers.

Living God, in whom there is no shadow or change, we thank you for the gift of life eternal, and for all those who having served you well, now rest from their labours.

We thank you for all the saints remembered and forgotten, for those dear souls most precious to us. Today we give thanks for those who during the last twelve months have died and entered into glory.

We bless you for their life and love, and rejoice for them “all is well, and all manner of things will be well.”

God of Jesus and our God, mindful of all those choice souls who have gone on ahead of us, teach us, and each twenty-first century disciple of every race and place,

• to follow their example to the best of our ability:

• to feed the poor in body or spirit,

• to support and comfort the mourners and the repentant,

• to encourage the meek and stand with them in crises,

• to affirm those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,

• to cherish and learn from the merciful,
  

• to be humbled by, and stand with, the peacemakers.

Let us clearly recognize what it means to be called the children of God, and to know we are to be your saints neither by our own inclination nor in our own strength but simply by the call and the healing holiness of Christ Jesus our Saviour.

Amen!

A Prayer for All Saints Day

Image via Wikipedia

 

How shining and splendid are your gifts, O Lord
which you give us for our eternal well-being
Your glory shines radiantly in your saints, O God
In the honour and noble victory of the martyrs.
The white-robed company follow you,
bright with their abundant faith;
They scorned the wicked words of those with this world's power.
For you they sustained fierce beatings, chains, and torments,
they were drained by cruel punishments.
They bore their holy witness to you
who were grounded deep within their hearts;
they were sustained by patience and constancy.
Endowed with your everlasting grace,
may we rejoice forever with the martyrs.
O Christ, in your goodness,
grant to us the gracious heaven realms of eternal life.
Unknown author, 10th century

(H/T to Living Water from An Ancient Well)

"We Forgot God"

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Those were the words uttered by one of my younger twins the other night as we put them down for bed.  What she meant is that we forgot to say "The Lord's Prayer."

But, then again, how often do we forget God with our kids?

More than I'd care to admit.

A Prayer of Thanksgiving -- From Augustine of Hippo

Image via WikipediaO my God,
let me, with thanksgiving,
remember, and confess unto you
your mercies on me.

Let my bones be soaked with your love,
and let them say unto you,
Who is like you, O Lord?

You have broken my chains in pieces.
I will offer unto you the sacrifice of thanksgiving
And how you have broken them, I will declare;
and all who worship you, when they hear this, will say:
Blessed is the Lord in heaven and in earth!
Great and wonderful is his name!


(Found over at Challies)

A Stewardship Prayer

Image by Hamed Saber via Flickr
Almighty God, we do not deserve the Promised Land; we deserve endless exile. We say that money does not buy happiness but then live as if money is the chief source of happiness. We are quick to be haughty, thinking ourselves better than others. The poor starve while we supersize our snacks. We place some money in a plate or jar and tell ourselves we've done our part to fight poverty. We are inconsistent stewards when it comes to what you have entrusted to us.

By the blood of Jesus the Steward-Master, forgive us. Please. Yes.

Amen.




This is a prayer by David von Schlichten and found over at Allan Bevere's blog.

My Heart Is Full...

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My heart is full.  

I sit here at my desk at the church.  "Mumford & Sons" music blaring from the speakers.  I'm working on worship and thinking and reading about AIDS.  I'm looking at numbers.  I'm picturing faces.  I'm feeling helpless.  I'm feeling hopeful.  I struggle with worship because it's just such a short time and there's so much to share.

I'm overwhelmed.

I want the congregation to feel passion and compassion.  I want them be moved and I want them to move in the world to reach out to those who are hurt and hurting, those who are lost or are losing, those many persons forget.

I want it for me, too. 


I feel burdened by God.  It is a holy thing. It is a holy moment.  My fingers can't type as fast as my heart and my mind are moving. 

I can feel my emotions in my head and in my heart and in my arms and my feet.  When the Spirit moves in me it so visceral.  It is corporal.  It is outward and inward.  It is movement and action and energy. I feel it.

It is passion.

It is peace,

I am touched.

I am loved.

I must love.

I must pray.

I must breathe.

Quote from Martin Luther King, Jr. on Prayer

“To be a Christian without prayer is no more possible than to be alive without breathing.”

A Gaelic Prayer for Peace

Image by ♥Denise A. Wells♥ via Flickr

Peace between neighbors,
Peace between kindred,
Peace between lovers,
   In love of the King of life.  
Peace between person and person,
Peace between wife and husband,
Peace between woman and children,
The peace of Christ above all peace.
Bless, O Christ, my face,
    Let my face bless everything;
Bless O Christ mine eye,
    Let mine eye bless all it sees.

Translated from the Carmina Gaelic by Alexander Carmichael

Found at Living Water From An Ancient Well

A Prayer by Maria Elizabetta Hesselblad

Image by WolfS♡ul via Flickr

"Dear Lord, I do not ask to see the path.  In darkness, in anguish, and in fear, I will hang on tightly to your hand, and I will close my eyes, so that you know how much trust I place in you, Spouse of my soul." (Blessed Maria Elizabetta Hesselblad)

Found over at Of All the Liars in the World...

Prayer I Will Read at A Wedding Today

The following is just a simple prayer that the bride and groom have requested for a wedding that I'm performing today.  I'm attracted to the simplicity of this prayer.

Lord, behold our family here assembled.

We thank you for this place in which we dwell.

For the love that unites us,

For the peace given to us on this day,

For the hope with which we expect tomorrow,

For the healthy, the work, the food,

And bright skies that make our lives beautiful;

For our friends in all parts of the earth.

Amen.

"At the Close of the Day" -- Prayer by Dietrich Bonhoeffer

O Lord my God, I thank you that you have brought this day to its close. I thank you that you have given rest to body and soul. Your hands have been over me, guarding me and preserving me. Forgive my feeble faith and all the wrong I have done this day, and help me to forgive all who have wronged me. Grant that I may sleep in peace beneath your care, and defend me from the temptations of darkness. Into your hands I commend my loved ones, I commend this household, I commend my body and soul. O God, Your holy name be praised. AMEN.

 

This is from the United Methodist Hymnal.  It's been adapted by Andy Bartel, an Alaska Friend who's no longer in Alaska to, as he says, by taking out the "thees and thous."  See Andy's post over here.

A Morning Office In the Middle of the Night

I found the prayer below over at NextReformation and it reminded me of a time that was good and, well, holy to me.  For quite some time, I kept a prayer journal.  No, it was not just a list of persons I could pray for or a list of all the world's problems.  It was a collection of prayers I liked and historic prayers.  Each day I would journey through it,  taking a slightly different path each day.

Call: Who is it that you seek?
Response: We seek the Lord our God.
Call: Do you seek Him with all your heart?
Response: Amen. Lord, have mercy.
Call: Do you seek Him with all your soul?
Response: Amen. Lord, have mercy.
Call: Do you seek Him with all your mind?
Response: Amen. Lord, have mercy.
Call: Do you seek Him with all your strength?
Response: Amen. Christ, have mercy.

Mornings seem to get away from me more often than not.  Kids going places.  And I stay up too darned late anymore.  Even now it's 12:27 AM and the TV's on and I'm coughing with this cold of mine.

What would it look like to truly alter my days and nights?

What keeps me from it?

What if every day started with that prayer above?

But, hey, I guess my day is ending with it.....  (I'll just post it later in the day)

A Hymn -- Living Water

The verse of a hymn written by Helen Kennedy:

Lord, how I thirst, my Lord I am weak.
Lord, come to me, you alone do I seek.
Lord, you are life and love and hope,
Come, fill me with living water.

For My Birthday -- A Birthday Hymn

The following was found over at Richard Hall's blog, connexions. Richard is a Methodist Pastor in Wales. The hymn was written by Kim Fabricius and first posted in a blog in September of 2008.

God of all ages, ageless Lord,
whose thoughts are deep, whose love is broad,
we of all ages offer praise
throughout the length of all our days.

We praise you for our wondrous birth,
formed from your breath and blessed earth,
shaped in the womb by your own hand –
miracle! – who can understand?

We praise you for the years of youth,
time to explore the realms of truth,
stretching our muscles and our minds,
testing new models of mankind.

We praise you for our grown-up years,
with their demands, their joys and fears;
taking the world you give in trust,
working to make it fair and just.

We praise you for retiring age,
as we approach life’s final page;
still things to do, still sights to see,
but, most of all, we learn to be.

This is our life, from birth to death,
from infant’s cry to final breath;
this is our life, our gift to you,
who gave it first, who’ll make it new.

(Tune: Ombersley)

Reflections on the Holy Trinity

John 16:12-15

The Spirit comes silently into our hearts
bringing love
bringing life
and pointing to the one who brought us life
Jesus the Christ
The Living God
In our desires to be the center
and our desires to turn inward
wrapping ourselves up in ever smaller packages
fearing that if we are not the center
there will be no center
in our emptiness
longing to find that to which we can cling
The Spirit comes
and points to the Christ
the one who walked with us
the one who lived with us
the one who was us
and died like us
only to live and bring life
This is the one to whom the Spirit points
simply
quietly
that we may know God’s love for us
and burst forth in new life
new creation


This is from Pastor Dan's Grace Notes at Christ Our Savior Lutheran Church in Anchorage.

A Prayer for Pentecost

It must be "Spirit Friday."  This is a Holy Spirit-themed prayer/poem based on John 14:8-27 by Pastor Dan of Christ Our Savior Lutheran Church in Anchorage.  He blogs over at Pastor Dan's Grace Notes and is a person I'd love to have some coffee and conversation with.

We have seen the Lord
not high in the Heavens above
but right here in our midst
living among us
living within us
and within those who do not know
they are loved
We have seen the Lord
in the eyes of a child
the eyes of a foe
and we are not afraid
for we live in the presence of the Lord
surrounded by the Spirit
filled with the peace of Christ
and called to reach out
to let others know of this love
(Peace)
calling toward the peace of Christ
that is within them
God created and said it was good
as the children of God
We see
good
God
in all that
and in all who
surrounds us
living as the children of God
Knowing
we are never alone
(Peace )

Posted via email from The Prodigal Blog

A Prayer

Be still and know that I am God.

Be still and know.

Be still.

Be.

Posted via email from The Prodigal Blog

Blue Bottle Prayer Wall

It's from a church/community in Spain.  They have a prayer area in their facility with hanging blue bottles for private prayers.  I have no idea how they get the prayers out, but it's a wonderful look.

You can find the following on their website.  

MESSAGE IN A BOTTLE
Prayers for God alone to hear
“Just a castaway, an island lost at sea 
Another lonely day, with no one here but me 
More loneliness than any man could bear 
Rescue me before I fall into despair”
Sting 



Write a prayer or a letter to God.
Tell Him your secrets, your longings, your hopes, your dreams, your fears – anything you like really.
Roll it up and put it in a bottle for no one else to read

“You keep track of all my sorrows.
You have collected all my tears in your bottle
You have recorded each one in your book’
Psalm 56 : 8

Thomas Merton Prayer

My Lord God, I have no idea where I am going.

I do not see the road ahead of me. I cannot know for certain where it will end.

Nor do I really know myself and the fact that I think I am following your will does not mean that I am actually doing so.

But I believe that the desire to please you does in fact please you. 

And I hope I have that desire in all that I am doing.

I hope that I will never do anything apart from that desire.

And I know that if I do this you will lead me by the right road, though I may know nothing about it.

Therefore I will trust you always though I may seem to be lost and in the shadow of death. 

I will not fear, for you are ever with me, and you will never leave me to face my perils alone.

Posted via email from The Prodigal Blog

"Thy Will, O Lord. Nothing more. Nothing less. Nothing else. Thy Will."

Those who attend our services for any length of time will recognize that as the prayer I saw at the beginning of my sermons.   I can't claim to have come up with it myself.   Indeed, most of what I say I probably need to credit someone else for saying it first.  This prayer is one that was said by Rev. Powell Osteen of the North Carolina Conference.  He was serving Resurrection United Methodist Church between Durham and Chapel HIll and was instrumental in some what went on with my spiritually during the last two years of seminary.

Resurrection UMC was an interesting church in North Carolina, or anywhere, in that it was multi-racial.  It's not like it was half African-American, but there were several persons and also some mixed race couples.  That's not something you'd see at every church in the early 90's or today.  Julie and I had the good fortune of visiting the church the first Sunday they were in a brand new facility.  It was an exciting Sunday and our participation in the celebration made it easier to join in events over the next couple of years.  We worked concessions at concerts for missions -- getting to see the Grateful Dead and Elton John among others. We attended church dinners.  And it was here that, as I was neck deep in religious work for school, Powell constructively criticized my lack of participation in the education program of their church.

For the two years we attended there, Powell began his sermons with "Thy will, O Lord.  Nothing more.  Nothing less.  Nothing else.  Thy will."  And, after that being a part of my life, it seemed like a humble and appropriate way to begin my own sermons.

Posted via email from The Prodigal Blog