March 1, 2011

Thank you, God, for our very breath,

For our very existence.

We have no right to complain.

We cannot be on moral high ground

Next to you.

You are all morality.

And you are the guardian of all mortality.

We thank you that even though you are master of all the universe,

You have chosen to love us.

Chosen love, even though it is not necessary for you,

But because love is your very nature,

You choose to love and sustain humanity

And the rest of creation.

Thank you, God, for your great works in heaven and on earth.

Amen.

February 28, 2011

Where are you, O God,

When the world falls apart?

When lives are broken and destroyed?

When those we love are lost to us?

When we have no strength?

You have promised that we will run and not grow weary.

Yet, we do tire.

Lord, we call upon you in those times to lift us up.

We need your healing touch.

We need to feel your spirit.

Is it because we didn’t call upon you when we were not downtrodden

That we need to go through a valley with you?

Is it because of pride

That we must be broken

So you can restore us and cause us to realized where our true strength come from?

Lord, God, help us to look to you at all times

So that we might know your presence in all our days.

Amen.

February 27, 2011

There is no one like you, O Lord.

I will sing of your great mercies!

I will shout from the highest places!

I will tell all those I meet

Of the great deeds you have done for me

And for all your people!

I will teach all I can of the love you showed to us

Through your Son, Jesus,

Who walked this earth just like us,

Willingly, and showed us how best to live our lives.

He was killed for love of us,

But he defeated death and has won the victory

By his resurrection.

Thank you, God, for your faithfulness to a faithless people.

Amen.

February 26, 2011

We have no right to call on your name, God,

But we do trusting not in our own righteousness, but in your mercy.

Save us, O Lord.

Save us from the temptations of this world.

Save us from ourselves and the ways we are easily led from you.

Save us from egoism so strong that we do not regard the problems of our sisters and brothers as worthy of our care.

Lead us in your way for us,

For your sake,

And for the sake of our eventual eternity lived with you.

Amen.

February 25, 2011

Lord, when Moses asked your name, you said simply, “I AM.”

It seems like such a simple answer, yet it is so deeply profound.

We do not know who you are, except through your actions.

We do not understand how you are without time.

We cannot fathom the answer you gave Moses, or what it means for us.

But, Lord, help us to participate in the mystery.

Help us to continue to discover who you are by reading about you and listening to you and learning of you.

Help us to know you are ever unknowable, but that does not mean we cannot know you more.

Amen.

February 24, 2011

Who are humans that you are mindful of them, O God?

Are we really different from the rest of your creation?

In the cosmos, is there nothing like humans?

Yet, you are mindful of all creation, too.

You know where all your creatures and inanimate creations dwell.

You know the number of hairs on our heads, even though we know those cells are no longer living.

Your knowledge of us is immense—greater far than our knowledge of ourselves.

I pray that we may be reminded of the way you love us, even though you know us so deeply,

Because we have great trouble loving ourselves.

Help us to love ourselves as you have shown us how to love.

Then, maybe, we will know how to love our neighbors in the way you have commanded.

Amen.

February 23, 2011

Lord, just who is my neighbor?

You have called us to love you,

And that is understandable.

You have called us to love our neighbor,

And we want to define who that is.

But, you did not define it.

I do not think it was an oversight.

Our neighbors are all other created in your image.

In fact, they are more than neighbors, they are family.

And you want us to love them as we do ourselves.

Help us to take your command seriously,

And help us to try to live it.

Amen.

February 22, 2011

Lord God,

Creator of all,

Lover of all creation and humanity,

When will people stop placing barriers between themselves and others?

When will we learn to stop looking at others in search of their differences from us,

And start realizing the beauty we all possess as children of you,

A loving God?

When will we stop hating because of race,

Orientation, either sexual orientation, or political orientation, or any other kind,

Belief, religion, cultural influence,

Or any of the other things that keep us from looking at all humans as our sisters and brothers?

Over centuries, it seems there has always been something to separate us,

To compartmentalize us,

To categorize us.

When will we realize that people are all beautiful creations

In your image,

Not part of a classification system?

Lord, let it be soon.

Amen.

February 21, 2011

The mysteries of who we are and what we will become after our lives

Are so interesting to many people,

That some forget that the things we do during this life

Are the things we have the most means to control.

We look to issues in scripture about who will get in and who will be kept out of heaven,

And sometimes we miss all the scriptural references to caring for the widows,

Taking care of the poor,

Feeding the hungry,

Caring for the sick,

And walking humbly with our Lord.

Help us to be focused on loving and caring for people in this world.

Don’t allow us to lose focus on others’ bodies by trying to save their souls.

Help us to remember that we are called to love God and others,

Before we do anything else.

Amen.

February 20, 2011

Lord God, we have covered the world with concrete and built up great buildings to keep us separated from nature.

We have often forgotten your role in the existence of all the things we have.

In the midst of all our technology, Lord,

Help us to remember that you are the creator of all things.

You are the creator of all people, and even though we use materials to build fabulous new things,

Ultimately, you are the creator of all the things we use to build.

We literally would have nothing if not for you.

Remind us, so that we do not become too proud of ourselves,

And so that we can always, no matter how powerful our technologies may be,

Remember to rely on you.

Amen.

February 19, 2011

Our sin is overwhelming.

We cannot possibly be perfect, and there is nothing we can do on our own to make up for the ways we have not followed your commands.

We are lost on our own.

We are in need of an advocate, someone who can bridge the gap between us and you, O God.

And you have provided this for us.

You gave us Jesus Christ, one with you and one with humans to make us at one with you.

We thank you for this, because it was not necessary for you to make us whole.

So, thank you for your grace,

Thank you for your mercy,

Thank you for the love you showed us by giving us a chance to be with you.

We cannot repay you, but help us to have love in our hearts for you for our lives and for our chance to spend eternity with you.

Amen.

February 18, 2011

Oh Lord,

Moses had a burning bush,

And he even tried to say no to you.

I believe that if we had a burning bush sign,

We would try to be faithful.

Fill us up with your plans for us.

If we all have a mission for you,

Show us.

Help us to be very clear on just what you want.

Make us obedient to your plans,

And please have patience with us when we resist or misunderstand.

Most of all, help us to try.

Amen.

February 17, 2011

Creator of All,

We people don’t really know much about you.

You are a mystery,

Unsolvable,

Unknowable.

Yet, we learn of you through your word.

We learn of your care and love for humans.

We learn of the wonder you placed into the universe through your divine love.

Please teach us to love you as you have loved us and all creation.

Give us love for ourselves and others,

And remind us of the incredible gift that life is.

Amen.

February 16, 2011

Some days begin easy.

This one did not.

But, Lord, you strengthened me for the journey I took today.

It was not easy,

I admit I struggled.

But, God on high, you sustained me.

Help me to never forget…

Imprint on my very being

The way you sustain me each and every day of my life.

I am your creation,

And I am special.

Amen.

February 15, 2011

Master of all things,

You have called us your children.

We know then that we shall be inheritors of your kindom.

We know we cannot merit this gift.

Only the most prideful could ever begin to believe in their worthiness to spend eternity with you.

Help us to learn how to face ourselves.

Help us to learn to look deep within,

In the silent spaces,

And see ourselves for who we really are.

Then, remind us, that in spite of who we really are,

You have chosen to love us.

There is no greater gift.

Amen.

February 14, 2011

What can be greater than love?

Lord, you have shown us that your way of dealing with humans is love.

You created us,

You cared for us,

You showed us the path of love that you took through your son, Jesus.

It is plainly stated in your word to us that love is the greatest commandment.

Love of you, and love of each other.

But we neglect this command, and we hate,

We covet, we do all types of things that create walls between us.

Help us to relearn to love all creatures, all creation, and you, the uncreated.

Amen.

February 13, 2011

Lord of all things and all people,

I pray to you today for the well being of people’s inner beings.

We very often receive requests to pray for physical ailments that people may have.

This is a good thing, I think, but in my experience, people are embarrassed to admit when they are sad,

Depressed,

Hopeless,

Scared,

Or have any emotional or mental discomfort or disease.

This, I do not think is good.

Without being able to share our hurts,

Deep as they are,

With our fellow humans,

We lose an opportunity to heal.

Lord, help us to recognize our need to pay attention to our inner beings,

Not simply our physical bodies,

And help us to value those parts of ourselves enough

That we would seek to be healed in those places, too.

Please, Lord, bless all those dealing with this type of pain,

And bring them to wholeness.

Amen.

February 12, 2011

We are all prodigals.

We have all taken our inheritance and blown it on fun times.

We have run away from the Parent and forgotten how good it was to be home.

We have all found ourselves far away from home,

Lonely,

Feeding pigs and eating what they will not eat.

What we haven’t all realized is that the Parent will take us in with open arms

If we will simply turn back and go home.

Lord, help us to remember that your faithfulness to us is always within our reach,

Even when we haven’t always been faithful to you.

Guide us home to your arms.

Amen.

February 11, 2011

Humanity has made great technological advances and incredible strides over the centuries,

And although sometimes we seem to think so, we cannot rival you, O God.

The winds, rains, oceans, and many other parts of nature

Are beyond our ability to control or even fully comprehend.

When we realize that these things, so close to us, are so uncontrollable,

It reminds us of your greatness.

Not only have you created this world, but the entire cosmos.

We praise you for your awesome power.

We are amazed by your incredible strength,

And we are thankful that you have regard for us at all.

Thank you, God.

Our only response to you can be love.

Amen.

February 10, 2011

What mortal can hope to change you, O God?

How can we begin to try to make changes in your being or in your plans?

If this is what prayer is,

It cannot be effective.

Your being is eternal and unchanging.

Yet, Lord, you have great capacity for mercy.

You know and feel the pains we suffer.

I pray that our words of prayer would always be heard by a gracious ear,

And that you would look upon these souls on earth with love instead of anger,

Grace instead of judgment.

Allow us to throw ourselves on your love for humanity,

And heal us.

Amen.

February 9, 2011

How can I keep silent?

How can I see and not be changed?

In this world, O Lord, there are so many poor,

Sick,

Wounded,

Depressed,

Lost,

And although we all have some affliction,

Instead of dwelling on my own suffering,

Lord, let me be a comforter to another.

Help me to bring healing to another soul.

Use me to comfort the world.

Amen.

February 8, 2011

Lord God,

Forgive me for the ways that I have not fulfilled your calling on me.

Sometimes I think I understand, but I fail to see all the things you have for me.

Sometimes I act too quickly, or too slowly, and I rob myself of the blessings that some from being in tune with you.

Help me to know how to live through and love in you.

Be my guide and source.

And let me share those blessings with the world around.

Amen.

February 7, 2011

You are the light of the world.

These are the words we hear, directed toward us, from scripture.

We may be the light of the world, but, O Lord,

We cannot produce light.

The only light we can shine comes from you.

Help us, O Lord, not to strive to shine so much like stars,

But to shine like the moon.

The moon gives light to the earth, but it reflects light from another source.

Help us to always know that to be true to you and your calling on our lives,

We must always show others your light through us.

Amen.

February 6, 2011

Lord, I pray that you would bless me this day,

Bless me with humility, that I might treat those I meet with charity.

Bless me with love, not only the love that I receive, but more importantly the love that I can give,

So that I can show the world your love.

Bless me with the ability to place myself third in line,

Behind you and behind others in service.

And, mostly, bless me with grace,

Totally undeserved,

But forgive the ways that I have not done all you ask of me in the past,

And help me to make the most of my chances to live for you from now on.

Amen.

February 5, 2011

Lord, I am growing older.

And as I think about growing older,

And as I visit with those who are much older than I,

I recognize that our bodies change immensely throughout our lives.

Young or old, the flesh changes dramatically over time.

We age, we ripen, we mature, we grow old and fall into disrepair.

Lord, as our bodies age, I pray that our minds would become closer in tune with you.

Just as a string on a piano,

Or the body of a guitar vibrates when the resonating pitch is played,

Help us to tune ourselves to your song in the universe.

So that when your music is played,

Our spirits may be resonators that will amplify the music

For all those around us to hear.

I pray that as we understand more about you,

Grow to love you and your creation,

And learn how to teach others about you,

That our spirits would become so in tune with your song,

That the listener may wonder,

If only for the briefest of moments,

If we are singing ourselves.

Amen.

February 4, 2011

Oh, Master,

Let me be your servant.

Where you want to give love,

Let me be your heart to the world.

Where people need bread,

Let me serve them.

Where people need healing,

Let me be your hands.

Where people need to know who you are,

Give me the words to teach them.

Lord, I ask that you allow me to be an instrument through which you would bring about beautiful changes to this world.

Please, use me.

Amen.

February 3, 2011

How often have I lost track of my blessings?

How many times have I thought “Woe is me!” when I am among the most blessed people in the world.

Our expectations of what we should have are out of balance with what we truly need.

We feel entitled to things that only one or two generations ago would have only been dreams.

We have become blind to our true needs and deaf to the ways that fulfilling our wants

Deprives others of things they really need.

Lord, help me never to lose sight of all the gifts and blessings you have given to me,

And help us to remember that all good gifts come from you.

Whatever we have, help us to be truly thankful.

And help us to make sacrifices that will benefit our neighbors throughout the world.

Help us to focus on humanitarianism instead of materialism.

Amen.

February 2, 2011

God above all things,

You rule the heavens and the earth,

Not as a king rules with power,

But with love and caring for your creation.

We are made of things that pass away,

But our spirits come from you,

So we look forward with hope to a time

When we will live with, and in, you.

Help us to focus on the things of eternity.

Show us your greatness,

And teach us to begin living with and in you now.

Come into our lives, Lord.

Break through the divide we have created.

Amen.