August 1, 2011

Why do we pray, O Lord?

What are we trying to do?

We want to influence you,

You who are, “I Am.”

You who are unchangeable.

Yet, God, we believe you respond to us, your creation.

So, Lord, accept our prayers to you

Knowing that sometimes we know not what to expect,

But that we know that you can change us by our prayer

Just as much as we hope to change you.

Amen.

July 31, 2011

God,

Create buds in our hearts,

Let those buds be filled with love in the Holy Spirit,

Cause them to grow and blossom,

Until we spill love over for you and your creation.

Amen.

July 30, 2011

A prayer for all nations…

God of all nations and all peoples and all creation and the entire cosmos…

I could go on and on.

What confuses me is how many of us pray for ourselves,

Our families,

Our own communities,

Our leaders,

Our own political parties, our own section of society.

It seems to me that we should pray for all creation,

All nations,

All leaders,

All peoples,

Because you love us all,

And you have commanded us to love one another.

So, today, I pray for all people everywhere.

I pray that everyone would be drawn to you.

If that is an opportunity to bridge a great chasm,

Or a single step in your direction,

I pray that you may draw us all to you,

Because only in you can we find happiness,

And if we are all drawn to you,

We can find happiness together.

Amen.

July 29, 2011

Your mercy extends farther than any of us can imagine.

Your grace is wider than the edges of the universe.

We who are totally without merit before you

Have been proclaimed to be worthy by you.

Thank you, God.

All we can do is give you thanks and praise for your gift of grace,

And as we do, help us to live it out in our relationship with you

And our relationships with each other.

Amen.

July 28, 2011

Oh Lord,

Please use me.

I want to put myself in places where I can proclaim your goodness,

And where I can show you love.

I want to be in situations where I can testify to your mercy,

And where I can lead others to trust in you.

I trust in you to hear my longing to be used by you,

And I trust in you that the places I think you are calling me to be used

May not be the ones where you actually need me.

I pray this day for the guidance of your Spirit

To take me to the places

And help me to do the things

That you really want for me.

Amen.

July 27, 2011

Holy One,

Your people are the salt of the earth,

Lights unto the world.

But so many of us use those designations to allow us

To believe that our lights are more important than others’

Or our ability to be salt outweighs others’.

You have called us to be community, not only amongst ourselves,

But with other humans the world over.

Teach us to share our light

Instead of trying to burn others with it,

And teach us how to accept other lights into our fires

That the Spirit’s flame may grow ever brighter.

Amen.

July 26, 2011

God,

Can you help us to treat each other with the love that you have given to us?

We aren’t very good at that.

Amen.

July 25, 2011

God of all times,

What must time be like to you?

It is one more thing that we humans cannot understand about your nature.

What is space to you?

What are we to you?

With all the power and infinite wisdom in the cosmos,

How do we have relationship with you?

When we regard you as friend, we miss out on the overwhelming power,

Size,

And awe that you inspire.

When we think of you as huge and vast and sovereign,

We can miss out on the personal relationship

You want to have with us

And with all humans.

We cannot actually know what and who you are,

But I pray you will draw us into relationship,

That we may continually learn.

Amen.

July 24, 2011

God,

What shall we call you?

Father is too small a name.

Mother is also too small.

Lord is masculine and sets up a type of relationship that is not helpful for us to relate to you.

Creator is better perhaps,

But even that only describes one function of your being.

You are all

And you are in all.

We cannot name you,

Because every name will only limit our imagination of you.

Help us to imagine you in the broadest possible way we can,

Even though our imagination can never contain you.

Amen.

July 23, 2011

On any given day,

I can feel completely disconnected from your people.

I can feel that I have nothing to give.

Lord, I need you to remind me that you will supply what I need,

And when I need something to give to others,

You will supply that too.

Help me to give love

And acceptance to all who seek it.

Help me to have reserves of love

That I don’t even know about

That are fully funded by you.

And teach me to use them.

Amen.

July 22, 2011

Here I Am, O God!

Send me!

Can I truly ask you to send me whatever the cost?

It may be great.

I may have to give up things that are near and dear to me.

I may feel that I am losing my entire life.

Yet, O Lord, we are told that those who lose their lives for your sake will gain them.

So, God, please let me be one who will speak your word to the people.

Let me be one who will teach of you,

Let me be one who will serve you,

No matter the cost.

Amen.

July 21, 2011

Lord,

Let me be your servant.

Let me know what you are calling me toward,

And help me to do it.

Help me to inspire in others

A desire to do what you want them to do as well.

Give me the ability

To be a loving guide for those who cannot seem to find you

Or who cannot seem to truly trust in your love.

Amen.

July 20, 2011

Let this day be a good day, O God.

Let love rule this day.

Let mercy be the guide of the world

And of my relationships this day.

Let others see you in me,

And let me see you in them.

And in all things,

Help this world to focus on creating

Fellowship that pleases you.

Amen.

July 19, 2011

Lord, I sing to you daily

I lift praises to you

Your name is constantly on my lips

Whether it is telling someone about you

Or simply loving others so they can see you in me,

I pray that my love for you

And my compassion for others

Will not only guide my actions.

But will guide others to find you, too.

Amen.

July 18, 2011

Stillness.

Is stillness where you can be found, O God?

If it is in stillness, then I fear I have little hope of finding you.

I pray, dear God, that you would appear in the chaos,

Just as you did at creation.

I need to know that you are with me

When the winds of life are astir,

And there seems to be no way to escape their wailing.

Let me find you,

No matter where I am.

Thank you, God,

Because I believe your promises that this request

Will be fulfilled in you.

Amen.

July 17, 2011

Thank you for your word to me this day.

You spoke out,

And I listened.

I heard your voice,

And I recognized it.

Thank you, God.

It is you I am looking for

In all things.

Amen.

July 16, 2011

God,

You are everything.

I don’t know how it all works out…

I don’t know what theologies are correct or incorrect…

I don’t know how you’ve worked salvation out,

Or who will be with you for eternity.

There’s a lot I do not know,

O God,

But I do know that I want to follow you.

I want to be your servant.

I want to talk to you,

And I want to hear from you,

And I want to do what you want me to do.

Amen.

July 14, 2011

Earth is your creation, and all that is in it,

But, O Lord,

We so often fail to recognize your work in creation.

We do not you in each other,

We do not see you in nature,

We do not see you in ourselves.

We close ourselves from your love,

And we clothe ourselves in folly.

Help us to return to you,

And help us to learn of you.

Amen.

July 13, 2011

Lord God,

Be in the world.

Lord God,

Speak a new message to us.

Lord God,

Teach us to love.

Lord God,

Help us to serve.

Lord God,

Cause us to be who you want us to be.

Amen.

July 12, 2011

God in heaven,

Sometimes all I can say is why.

Why are things the way they are,

Why are things so sad,

So broken?

If we were God,

We would make so many changes.

But we trust in you,

So thank you that you are in control,

Not us.

Amen.

July 11, 2011

Lord, breathe into this world new life,

A reason to be,

A future to look forward to,

Hope,

And joy.

Help us to see you clearly,

So we can model ourselves after you.

Amen.

July 10, 2011

We have no language skills to describe you,

We have such poor capacity to understand things without language.

But, Lord God, you speak to us in the language of our hearts,

Filling us from the inside.

Perhaps you use words with some,

But for many, a simple stirring of the soul

Is the only message we may receive from you.

Yet it is your message nonetheless.

Help us to recognize those messages,

And help us to follow their directions.

Amen.

July 9, 2011

How can we know you, Lord?

How do we describe our relationship with you?

You are like a mother,

Loving us fully, no matter what we do.

You are like a father, holding us close in your arms.

You are neither father nor mother, yet you are both and more.

Help us to open our eyes to the many surprising ways you relate to us.

Amen.

July 8, 2011

All of us serve something, O God.

Let it be you.

Amen.

July 7, 2011

Great and wonderful are you, O God!

You are greater than all things,

Totally perfect,

And totally whole in yourself,

Yet you choose to have relationship with us,

Very imperfect as we are.

Help us to struggle with ourselves

So that we can learn to serve you

In all we do.

Amen.

July 6, 2011

God of all things,

And God of all people,

How have we lost sight of your universality?

Why do we think that some of us own you,

And some of us deserve relationship,

While others,

Quite comfortably to us,

Are left out?

Lord, please help those that love you

To know how you love

The entire world,

And show us how to live in community

With everyone throughout the globe.

Amen.

July 5, 2011

Silence.

Lord, let me experience and enjoy silence.

Let me hear your voice in it,

Let me tune my ears through it,

Let me focus my life in your

Undistracted,

Open,

Loving,

Breathing,

And ever speaking

Silence.

Amen.

July 4, 2011

On this day of all days, O Lord,

Help us to remember that political borders are not created by you,

But by humans.

All boundaries that separate humanity

Are created by humans,

And the things that bind us in true community

Are of you.

Remind us to forget our differences,

And bring us into true, global community.

Amen.

July 3, 2011

Simply being.

Why is that so difficult for me, O God?

Why do I feel that I cannot simply be,

But I must be constantly struggling,

Always supposedly for you,

But too many times against you.

Help me to allow myself to be

In your presence,

And with your spirit to guide me.

Amen.

July 2, 2011

Lord, speak to me,

Guide me,

Use me to touch your people.

Help me to teach others about you

So that the world can change.

And never let me forget that when the world does change,

Or when one person changes,

I did not do the changing,

I was simply your tool.

You brought the change about.

Amen.

July 1, 2011

Dear God,

Each day is a new day,

But I cannot seem to let go of the things from yesterday.

I let my past define me,

And I cannot forget my mistakes, sins, shortcomings.

They are who I have allowed myself to think that I am.

But you redefine me,

You renew me,

You redeem me.

Help me to see myself in your eyes,

The eyes of grace,

That see me as a new creation in you.

Amen.