November 27, 2011

O God, you are great!

The mountains and hills announce your majesty

As they rise from the earth

Showcasing the vastness

Of your beautiful creation.

Let us always remember that you created this magnificent planet,

Not only to give us life,

But to reveal yourself to us

By your marvelous creations.

Thank you, O God.

Amen.

November 26, 2011

O God, you are great!

The mountains and hills announce your majesty

As they rise from the earth

Showcasing the vastness

Of your beautiful creation.

Let us always remember that you created this magnificent planet,

Not only to give us life,

But to reveal yourself to us

By your marvelous creations.

Thank you, O God.

Amen.

November 25, 2011

Lord,

I am sorry for all the pain I have caused

To you

And to others.

There are many to whom I may never have the chance to apologize.

There are likely some who would not accept that apology even if I could give it.

Lord, you are all grace,

All mercy.

Please forgive me the sins I have committed against you,

And please allow others to know

In some way,

That I repent of the pains I have caused them.

And,

O Lord,

Allow me,

And all those I have hurt,

Whether intentionally or unintentionally,

To have peace from those pains.

Amen.

November 24, 2011

In our times of grief, O God,

Be our shelter.

In our times of joy, O God,

Celebrate with us.

In our times of distress, O God,

Be our comfort.

Remind us that all we need can be found in you,

And help us to turn our eyes to you

Whatever the circumstance.

Amen.

November 23, 2011

Every day we owe to you, O God.

Help us to live them to the fullest,

Giving you the glory,

And giving others the best we have to offer.

Show us how to love,

In truth,

So that we can make this world

A place in which we can enjoy living.

Amen.

November 22, 2011

Thank you, O God,

For the breath that we enjoy every day.

Thank you, O God,

For the gift of life and the grace you have given.

Thank you, O God,

For continuing to bless us even though we have sinned against you.

Please, Lord, forgive us,

And help us to do the right things in our lives,

So that we can please you.

Amen.

November 21, 2011

Lord God, I pray for the broken.

They are all around in this world,

Those I can see,

And those I cannot.

There are people all around me

Who are unable to share in the simple joys

That I experience every day.

There are hungry,

Thirsty,

Injured,

Sick,

Those with broken minds and spirits.

Often these people,

Your creation,

Are ignored.

So, I pray this day

That you would restore them,

And plan in us a desire

To serve and heal all people,

Whether we recognize their brokenness or not,

Throughout this world.

Amen.

November 20, 2011

Glory to you, O God.

You are above all things glorious.

Your creation sings of your glory,

And most of it sings much more loudly than us,

Your people.

Show us your great glory

In ways that no one can deny,

And turn our hearts to you.

Amen.

November 19, 2011

What a wonderful gift is life, O God.

It is often not even recognized by us

As a gift,

But as something more like our due.

But, O God, although you desire relationship with us,

We know of no reason that you need us.

Your gifts to us are overwhelming,

And we take time

This day,

This moment,

To truly thank you.

Amen.

November 18, 2011

Lord, help us to make all our times count.

We have no promise of any number of days,

All we know is what we have right now.

And what we have to give right now

To others

Are love and respect,

To you is devotion,

And to ourselves,

Is hope for a life well lived.

Help us to devote ourselves to those things,

And let the future be.

Amen.

November 17, 2011

Why do we turn from your ways?

What could be more important than who you have called us to be?

Who could be more important to please than you, God?

Yet we continue to look inwardly

Toward our own pleasures,

And disregard your commands.

Please forgive us,

O God,

And draw us into a relationship with you

That will fill us with love for you

And an unquenchable desire to serve you in truth.

Amen.

November 16, 2011

We turn to you,

Confessing our inadequacies

And our inabilities

To be the people you have called us to be,

O God.

We care more for ourselves than others,

And we lie to you and ourselves,

Claiming that we do not.

But our actions, time, and treasures

Reflect our own narcissism,

And when we realize it,

We mourn for ourselves.

Please forgive us

And help us to look to the needs of others

In ways that will honor you,

Others,

And ourselves.

Amen.

November 15, 2011

Contemplating your works in creation

Teaches us how awesome you are, O God.

The intricate structures of animals and plant,

The way even unloving things move and change to keep this world alive,

The movement of the planets,

The movements underneath the earth’s crust,

All testify not only to your power,

But your incredible care for what you have created.

Thank you, O God, for this blessing,

And please open our eyes to see more of these blessings from you.

Amen.

November 14, 2011

Looking around at the world,

It is easy to become hopeless

In our humanity.

People hate.

People kill.

People use others for selfish ends.

It is tempting to think of ourselves as

Evil at our core.

Yet, we come from you, O God.

And you are good.

You are the source of all goodness.

Remind us to look to you for who we should be,

So we can be better—never good like you,

But better

To each other,

To ourselves,

And to you.

Amen.

November 13, 2011

God, you have given me work to do in the world.

You have called me to a certain place,

To share your good news to others

And to bring hope to those who are hopeless.

What you never promised was that I would see the fruit of my work.

Yet, today you have blessed me by showing me great things that have happened

That I was a part of.

Changes in others’ lives,

Renewal of faith,

A return to happiness.

Thank you, O God, for these and all mercies.

Amen.

November 12, 2011

O Great Creator,

Give me the ability to love and enjoy this day.

It is a day you have created,

It is a day that you have promised you want me to live in abundance.

I know that yesterday had cares of its own,

And tomorrow will worry about itself,

So,

Please allow me to put down the worries of yesterday and tomorrow,

And simply be your beloved,

Blessed,

And humble child

This day.

Amen.

November 11, 2011

I cry to you, O Lord,

Why must there be such suffering?

Why must there be such pain?

Why must people feel so helpless?

Why?

Could any answer be sufficient?

Could any response settle our minds about the tragedies of the world?

We are unable to even respond to these terrible situations.

Lord, can you make it all better?

Lord God, can you make it right?

November 10, 2011

What can we do for you, O God?

Where will you send us?

We are willing to be your servants,

We are willing to go where you want us to go.

Like the prophet Isaiah, we boldly cry out to you,

“Here am I, Send Me!”

Lord, I pray that your people in the world would ask to be sent in your name,

And I pray that you might bless us by using us.

Amen.

November 9, 2011

Show yourself to us, O God.

Teach us who you are

And what your characteristics are.

We have a difficult time knowing you

Because we cannot see you,

We cannot touch you,

We cannot easily converse with you.

But we know that if we seek you,

We will find you.

And we know that you can teach us

What we need to know to live a life pleasing to you.

Please reveal yourself,

That we can do our best to emulate you.

Amen.

November 8, 2011

Help us, God, to offer ourselves to you in a meaningful way.

So often we go about our lives,

Only thinking about ourselves,

Only spending money on our own cares,

And only wanting more and more for ourselves.

But we are called to see you first.

Please draw us into relationship with you

In a way that we would actually look to what you need first,

And we would truly look to the needs of our community

And give ourselves as an offering to you alone.

Move in us that we would be this kind of true followers of you.

Amen.

November 7, 2011

Use me, O God.

Use even me.

I am flawed,

Sometimes I feel useless on my own,

But that is just the point…

I am useless without you,

But with you, I am all powerful.

So, use me to accomplish your will in this world.

Use even me.

Amen.

November 6, 2011

I pray

This day

That you would reach down into the world.

Gently use your power

To overthrow the evils

That seem so deeply entrenched

Here on the earth.

Let goodness rule,

Let evil melt into good,

Let greed and prejudice

Be burned away

As when metal is boiled

And purified.

Amen.

November 5, 2011

I want to be an effective leader, Lord,

Balancing as I teach,

Trying to keep my students on the same page,

While still allowing the looseness that will keep the lessons fun.

I want to enjoy time in class,

Helping others to learn about and from you

While trying to model your love for your people.

And at the end of the day,

I’d really like,

Not to feel as if I’ve been run over by a truck.

Amen.

November 4, 2011

Lord, forgive me for the ways that I have not followed your path for me.

I have strayed in purposeful

And accidental ways,

And I pray that you would extend grace to me.

Show me where you want me to be,

What steps you want me to take,

And allow me to have the ability to take those steps

Toward your glory.

Amen.

November 3, 2011

In the beginning, there was you, O God.

Whoever, whatever you are,

You started the universe in motion.

However that happened,

I acknowledge and thank you for your command of the cosmos.

In the end you will be there again,

And through all eternity, you will be there.

I pray that we, your creation, will all be there with you,

Sharing in love and true fellowship.

Amen.

November 2, 2011

Lord, please renew my mind.

Help me to recognize all of my blessings

Instead of dwelling on the ways I am in want

Or ways that others have more than me.

Help me to let go of all those issues,

And help me to focus not on what I don’t have,

But on what I have that I can give to help others.

Amen.

November 1, 2011

Thank you, God, for all those who went before me.

Those who paved the paths on which I walk,

Those who blazed the trail,

Those who prepared this place for the work I am to do.

It is incredible to think of all those servants of you

Who followed you for years,

Who followed you so many years ago,

And how those live have affected mine.

Thank you for your faithful servants of yesteryear and centuries ago.

Help me to honor them in my work, dear God.

Amen.