October 31, 2011

I feel so tired, Lord!

The things of life have gotten to me.

I feel down, low, I want to quit for a while and start fresh.

I want to just lie down.

But I know you have more for me to do,

And I know that no one can do what you have ordained for me.

Lord, give me strength. Renew my excitement about my role in the world.

Help me to push on ahead even when I don’t feel like it.

Thank you, God.

Amen.

October 30, 2011

Sometimes it seems like a long road home to you.

I have traveled away,

I have been the prodigal.

I have squandered things with which you entrusted me,

I have doubted.

Sometimes it seems the distance I have put between us is not able to be crossed.

Yet, you always welcome me,

Where I am,

With open arms.

Lord, please take me back again.

Amen.

October 29, 2011

Send us peace, Lord.

The differences in our cultures,

Our ways of relating to one another,

Our beliefs,

And especially our economics

Seem to make it impossible for us to have real peace in the world.

But, you, O God, hold all the powers of the world in your hand.

Please, move those with worldly power to have peace,

And please move all of us to enjoy and ensure the continuance of that peace.

I do not believe you created us to suffer.

Amen.

October 28, 2011

Thank you for it all, Lord.

Thank you for it all.

The way this planet is conceived,

The way it has been tended and loved,

The way it is a tiny speck in a great ocean of space,

The way you created life on it that we might exist

And that we might learn to love

And have pleasures given to us by you.

Thank you for the beauty that surrounds us

That we almost never notice,

But when we do, it moves us deeply.

Thank you for our opportunities to have loving relationships with one another,

And thank you for our opportunity to come into relationship with you.

Thank you.

Amen.

October 27, 2011

Turn me toward you, dear God.

Turn my eyes that I might see you better,

Turn my ears that I would listen for your voice,

Turn my tongue that I would sing and speak your praises,

Turn my heart that my love would go out to you

And to your people.

Amen.

October 26, 2011

Help us to overcome our callousness at the condition of the world, O God.

We look around and see strife,

We see need,

We see hunger,

We see bloodshed,

And sometimes it is so overwhelming that we feel it is just the way the world is.

That there is nothing we can do…

But, O God, with you all things are possible.

Help us to focus energy toward solving the problems others face in the world.

Help us to sow love

That it might bloom and help us come to a time of peace and justice

The world over.

Amen.

October 25, 2011

When I am feeling terrible,

When I think all things have gone wrong,

When I see others’ sorrow

And I am drawn deeply into it.

When I lose hope,

Or when I sense others have lost their hope

In you,

In themselves,

In me,

Please, God,

Restore me.

Fill me with your spirit when I do not have enough strength to get by.

Double your spirit within me when my spirit grows faint.

Thank you, God,

Amen.

October 24, 2011

Lord God,

Sometimes the silliest things get me tied up,

And I choose them over time with you.

I confess to you that sometimes I am so filled with conceit,

Or with frivolous pursuits,

That I cannot focus on spending time reading about,

Speaking to,

Or listening to you.

Help me to re-orient myself

That my highest priority

Would be getting to know you.

Amen.

October 23, 2011

We have our witnesses,

We have scripture,

We have guidance from you,

But it is still sometimes very hard to believe

All of the promises we hold so dear.

How can we know about the future?

How can we know what happens when we leave this world?

How can we know that our experiences of you are real?

Lord, help our unbelief.

Help us to know you

And to be certain that it is you we know.

Give us glimpses of the future,

Give us assurances of your love and care.

Even if we receive these and then doubt again,

Please do not tire of us.

We want to know you and to be a part of your wonderful future.

Amen.

October 22, 2011

What can I do to make you known, O God?

How can I spread your essence to the world?

I am only one person among many.

I only come into contact with such a small number of people every day.

I cannot do great things as I would like.

Yet, God, you have not commanded me to tell everyone by myself.

I am your servant, and you have asked me to show love.

You want me to show love to all those I meet

Whether it is twenty or twenty-thousand.

By doing this, I am spreading your message.

By doing this, I am living your message to the world,

And if I can help one other to love more,

I pray that message will spread to the ends of the earth.

With your help, I believe it can.

Amen.

October 21, 2011

Create in me a loving heart, O God,

Please give me the ability to greet all I meet in love.

I admit it is sometimes very hard for me.

Although I do believe that you have called me to such love,

I am often drawn to the sins of

Prejudice,

Fear,

Jealousy,

Sarcasm,

And anger.

I need your help.

I need your Spirit to heal me from these tendencies

So that I can be the person you want me to be.

I pray that you would cleanse me, O God.

Amen.

October 20, 2011

Today, Lord God, I pray for guidance.

Sometimes the path ahead seems so certain,

And it is often during those times that a major turn will change my steps entirely.

Sometimes I am afraid, and I need your guidance just to place one foot in front of the other.

Sometimes I am completely lost, wandering.

It is then I need you the most, because you know how to make my steps sure.

You know what way is best for me,

And I pray that in all times I may rely on your guidance,

So that my path would be one that would please you.

Amen.

October 19, 2011

Each of your creations points to your wonder,

Merciful God.

There are so many different creatures,

So many plants,

So many rocks and formations,

So many planets and stars,

So many people

All have so many wonders,

And all those wonders point us to you and who you are.

Teach us to see you in these things,

And teach us to show others your majesty in all things.

Amen.

October 18, 2011

Lord,

Inspire me to live a life worthy of the calling you have placed on me.

Help me to love others,

Help me to guide them toward you,

Help me to live each day for you,

In thanksgiving for the gifts I have received,

And in tribute to the ones I have yet to receive.

Help me to point to you so that whatever circumstance I am in,

People will know my strength is in you.

And, help me to live this way,

So that, when I near the end of my days,

I can look back and know I did all I could do for you,

The Creator of all things.

Amen.

October 17, 2011

Thank you God for this day,

And thank you for all the things that you have given to me.

I pray that you would bless me and use me.

I pray that you would teach me how to live and how to be more like you.

I pray that you would show me your path for my life and give me the tools

And the willingness to follow it.

I pray that my life would be conformed to your will,

And that through my life, actions and words

I would inspire others to follow you as well.

Thank you for all your gifts,

Please help me to use them well.

Amen.

October 16, 2011

Sometimes I just want to shout!

Why won’t you just fix it all?

Why won’t you take control and change it all around?

Why don’t you make it the way it’s supposed to be,

Why don’t the bad people get what they deserve

And good people get rewards?

When will it all come together?

When will your kingdom come on earth as it is in heaven?

Help us to wait and trust.

Help us to return thanks to you for all we have,

Even when we do not understand why things are the way they are.

Help us to put our trust in you.

Amen.

October 15, 2011

A look at our fellow humans,

A glance,

Is all we need to judge.

We immediately jump to conclusions.

We think we know each other by the way we move,

Look,

Talk,

Act.

What we often fail to see is the image of God in others.

O God, give us vision to see you in others

So that we can truly love them

As you want us to love them.

Thank you, God.

Amen.

October 14, 2011

We speak words all the time,

Words about God,

Words to God.

We speak them as if they are nothing,

As if they mean little, or as if they are second nature.

Yet, we often fail to recognize that we are talking about

And to

The maker of the entire cosmos!

This should inspire awe,

This should cause us to weigh our words,

This should cause us to think of how those words will be received

By God and others.

Teach us the way to speak about and to you,

O God,

So that we can always revere you by what we say and do.

Amen.

October 13, 2011

It is said to be a proof that God exists,

The way the world works together.

It is said to be as if a person found a watch,

Perfectly made, and perfectly running,

But with no visible owner.

The person who found it concluded that since it was designed so well

And it had gears and springs and hands and numbers,

It must have been made by someone, and not be an accident of nature.

This is how we are to view the world—as a perfectly running machine that professes a great designer.

But, O Lord, often the world does not seem to work so well.

We see so many problems.

Our relationships are strained at best.

People feel pain and die.

Parts of the world are killed by natural and human made processes.

What, then, proves your existence?

There is no way to prove, at least to the masses, through reason or logic,

But I know you are real.

I know you guide me.

I know you are beside me.

And I believe that individually or as a community, when we learn of you,

We err to try to learn through logic or science.

Loving and knowing you comes through faith.

Amen.

October 12, 2011

How beautiful you are, Great God of all!

Your majesty is shown in the wildernesses,

In the entire creation.

All life sings of your glory.

Our song is the flowing of the blood in our veins,

The blowing of the winds,

The changing of sunlight into energy…

All the processes that make our lives possible

Show us how wonderful you are.

Remind us with every breath

That all comes from you.

Amen.

October 11, 2011

The warmth of the sun

Reminds us of the warmth of your love.

The only difference is that the brightness of your love

Never sets.

It warms us every moment

Of every day.

Lord, thank you for the way you give us love

In every season of our lives.

Help us to return love for love,

As much as we can,

And help us to enjoy your love for us

With gratitude,

All our days.

Amen.

October 10, 2011

Grace upon Grace.

This is what we need as humans to be like you.

No amount of our good intentions can help bridge the distance we have placed between us.

So, Lord, forgive us,

Take away our sin,

Give us grace to cover ourselves in,

Let us bathe in it,

Let us cloak ourselves in it,

Let us be as if we are like you,

Because without your gift of grace,

We can never approach salvation.

Amen.

October 9, 2011

I cannot be the person I am supposed to be.

Why not?

What holds me back?

Can it be anything but greed?

Can it be anything but me wanting more for me than others have?

Can it be anything other than my desire to horde all good things,

Even you,

For myself?

Lord, take away my vanity that tells me I deserve more than others,

Or that I want you to give me more,

And simply teach me to live,

Using a small enough amount of what I have,

So that I can help meet others’ needs.

Amen.

 

October 8, 2011

We think we know so much.

We think we know how the universe began,

How it moves,

How some things will end.

We think we know so much.

In reality, we cannot even explore our own planet.

New species are found all the time.

We can’t agree on the impact our existence has on the rest of our world.

Lord God, when we are wise, we trust these things to you.

Not that seeking knowledge is futile—it is a wonderful, holy pursuit,

Yet, our knowledge is now so incomplete,

That we must remember to trust you with all things,

Remembering your faithfulness to us.

Thank you,

O God,

Amen.

October 7, 2011

Faith the size of a mustard seed can move a mountain.

That is what we are told in your word,

And we are told by your very son.

How many have that kind of faith?

How many can move mountains?

Can any?

God, increase our faith…

A mustard seed really isn’t that big,

And I would be happy to simply move a pretty small rock.

Amen.

October 6, 2011

Deep within my heart,

I fear.

I doubt.

I wonder if all the things I have trusted

Are phantoms,

Siren songs that have led me astray.

I pray that you would strengthen my heart,

Help my unbelief, O God!

Amen.

October 5, 2011

God, I pray for the poor.

So much of your word is filled with mandates to help the poor,

To give clothing,

To visit those who are in need,

To visit those in prison,

To give and help.

I pray that you would move me to do more,

And that you would move others to join with me,

To relieve the stress of poverty,

To recover those who have lost hope,

To change the world.

With your help,

And your guidance,

I know we can do it.

Amen.

October 4, 2011

The dawning of each new day confirms your faithfulness to us.

We cannot begin to match your faith,

But help us to recognize it,

So that we can return thanks to you.

You are wonderful beyond human measure,

And we thank you for your grace to us.

Thank you, O God!

Amen.

October 3, 2011

Sometimes in the busy times of our lives,

O God,

We feel that we do not have time for you.

What folly you must think of us in those times!

We forget that everything has its being in you.

All things are from and of you.

So, whatever we do, we are participating in your creation,

And in what you are.

So, whether we know it or not, whatever we do is in you.

Help us to recognize you in all the things of this world,

Whether we think they are made by humans or not,

The raw materials are from you.

All is from you.

Help us to remember.

Amen.

October 2, 2011

I can’t understand why, O God?

Why do you regard us at all?

Why would there be such a willingness to bridge the gap between us,

When it was we who created the chasm?

Why is it that humanity, who did not keep your covenant,

Would be fortunate enough

That you would repair our mistakes?

All of this, for creatures that are seemingly so insignificant

In comparison to the cosmos.

There is only one answer,

And it defies human logic,

But, O God, that must teach us of the love you have for us.

The super, above-all love that we cannot comprehend

And to which nothing can compare.

Thank you, O God.

Amen.

October 1, 2011

When the walls are closing in all around,

I ask to know that you are with me.

Whatever the case, O God,

Help me to never doubt your presence.

Always let me know that your Spirit is with me,

Whether in trouble or in good fortune,

Whether in need or in plenty,

Whether in good or bad times,

Whatever the case, as long as you and I can face it together,

I know I will be standing at the end.

Amen.