Prayer: Your love for me is deep

Lord, you are a loving God. Your love for me is deep. Your love holds strong even as I struggle for truth, gamble on other paths, and ready myself to give in to temptation. I invite you to walk with me on my journey. Help me to see beyond the flashy, the smooth pitch, and the quick fix. Help me today to keep my eyes focused on Jesus, who knew temptation, disappointment, and pain. In the midst of temptation, he remained faithful to his heavenly Father. Help me to remember that you, Father, are always working for my good. Hold me in your grace, tender God, and help me to move beyond myself so that I can live and serve, as did Jesus. Amen.

Prayer: Give me a steadfast heart

Lord, give me a steadfast heart so that an unworthy thought will not drag me downward. Give me an unconquered heart that no difficulty or suffering can sear out. Give me an upright heart that an unworthy purpose may not tempt me to turn aside. Bestow upon me also an understanding to know you, diligence to seek you, wisdom to find you, and a faithfulness that may finally embrace you. I pray these things through Jesus Christ my Lord. Amen.[1]

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[1] -Inspired by Thomas Aquinas.

Prayer: Thank you for the gift of free will

Lord, you are gracious and loving. One of the greatest gifts you have given me is the gift of free will. You have not forced yourself upon me. You have allowed me to choose whether I will surrender to you and follow Jesus. I know that this choice is a daily one. Will I today choose my own desires or your desires? Will I run after worldly pleasure, or the true joy of knowing Christ? Give me a heart that wants to choose you and desire your leading above all else. I am so thankful that you have called me to follow you, and today I choose to obey. I find my freedom in choosing you. Thank you, Lord. Amen.

Prayer: Give me the grace to see the world as you see it

Lord, give me the grace, even if only for a little while during corporate or private worship, to catch a glimpse of the world as you see it. In my judgments, help me to measure others and myself as you judge me. In my condemnations of others and myself, make me to love the things that you love and to loathe the things that you despise. Give me that vision that is able to see your presence in the little things of life, to wonder at the sacred worth of those people whom the world considers lowly and worthless. Help me, even for just a little while in my private and public worship, to think as you think, to see as you see, and to judge as you judge. Amen.

Prayer: I praise you for binding me to others

Lord, I praise you for having bound me with humanity in a great unity of life so that each of us must lean on the strength of others. I depend upon the help and work of brothers and sisters for my comfort and safety. I ask for your blessing on all the men and women who have toiled to build and warm my home, to fashion my clothing, and to gain from the sea and land the food that nourishes me. I pray that they may have health and joy. I pray that they have hope and love. I pray such things for my family and me, so I pray such things for them as well. Grant me wisdom to deal justly with every man and woman whom I face in the business of life. Help me not to inflict suffering through selfish indifference or willful ignorance of a callous heart, even if unknowingly. Amen.[1]

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[1] Based upon  --Walter Rauschenbusch, The Communion of Saints, ed. Horton Davies (Grand Rapids, Mich.: Eerdmans Publishing, 1990), 121-22.

Prayer: You search for me

Lord, you search after me when I have gone far from you. Yet, I confess that my own affairs consume me. I seldom pause to listen for the wind in the trees or hear the happy voices of children. Sometimes, I feel that the burdens of the world fall entirely on my shoulders, and I have been slow to put my trust in you or to cooperate with others. When I take myself too seriously, remind me that I am only human. Make me patient with my mistakes, even as I am willing to forgive others. Remind me that I am also precious, not because I am good but because you have accepted me and called me to be part of your people on this earth. Amen.

Prayer: In mystery and silence you are present in my life

Lord, in mystery and silence you are present in my life. I ask you to bring new life out of destruction, hope out of despair, and growth out of difficulty. I thank you that you do not leave me alone. Rather, you work to make me whole. Help me to perceive your unseen hand in the unfolding of my life. Help me to attend to the gentle guidance of your Spirit. In such ways, I will know the joy you give to my life as one of your people. Amen.

Prayer: You see through my pretenses

Lord, you see through all my pretenses to that silent, secret space where my true spirit sojourns. I ask you to prune away the deceits that mask my best intentions and all those quick defenses that disguise who I really am. Open me to you and to all who touch the truth of my being, so that all persons may see the integrity of a life given over to you, now and forever. Amen.

Prayer: Help me let go of the past

Lord, as I enter this time of prayer, I ask that you help me to let go of what is past. Release me from anger, resentment, and hurt of days gone by. Free me from bitterness and help me to fill this space with the love of Christ. I offer my gratitude for your gifts.

• For the gift of love, I offer thanks.
• For those people in my life who love me unconditionally, I offer thanks.
• For those who provide a safe place in the shelter of their unselfish love, I offer thanks.
• For those who give, expecting nothing in return, I offer thanks.
• For those who inspire me to raise to my best self, I offer thanks.
• For those who have helped me to put the pieces of my life back together when it seemed like circumstances or my choices have shattered my hopes and dreams, I offer thanks.

I honor the past and look forward to the future with hope so that the fires of hatred in this world transform into flames of love through Christ our Lord. Amen.

Prayer: Teach me to deal with others the way you have dealt with me

Lord, teach me to deal with others the way you have dealt with me. Forgiveness is not easy for me. I find it easier to nurture my wounds, dwell upon my hurt, and focus upon the injustices I have endured. I admit that I have gnawing resentments and memories of old offenses. You have forgiven me, so help me to forgive others. You have welcomed me, despite my offenses, so help me to welcome others. You have loved me, despite my faults, so help me to love my sisters and brothers in Christ. Amen.

Prayer: You have shown grace in the changing phases of my journey

Lord, you have shown your grace. I come to this place of prayer, recognizing that I have come to you at so many different stages in the journey that is my life. I have struggled with doubt and loss as I question your presence in the midst of my pain and the pain of those I love. Thank you for the patience to let your love seep into the broken places of my life. I have come to you with uncertainties about what I believe, what you want me to do with my life and how I might serve you. Thank you for helping me to honestly doubt, so that the question of faith and servanthood might have an honest answer rather than an apathetically accepted one. I have come before you with a joy that knows no bounds in the celebration of love and the fulfillment of dreams. Thank you that you have given me the grace to share the joy with others. I have come to you in my life from a variety of pathways. Yet, I can see that each path is part of the same journey to be part of your people. Your people have a mission to bring your love to the world through the one whom we strive to follow, Jesus Christ the Lord. Amen.

Prayer: Sometimes I find it difficult to know holy places

Lord, sometimes I find it difficult to know holy places and holy times, even when I am in the midst of them. On occasion, I long for a spectacular and unambiguous showing of your grace, something like a burning bush (Exodus 3:1-15). Yet, what I know I need and what my heart longs for is that your Spirit set my heart ablaze instead. On occasion, I long for the sound of your clear and unmistakable voice. Yet, what I truly long for is that your voice ring clear through my words, through the words of others, and through the matters on which I ponder. I want to know who you are. “I am” is the mystery of your name: “I am who I am,” “I cause to be,” “I am there for you.” Such mystery allows you to address the deepest needs of my heart. If my mind and heart are open, this place and this moment in which I now pray is holy. Thank you. Amen.

Prayer: Help me to greet you when you show up in an unexpected way

Lord Jesus, you have come to humanity as the Jewish Messiah, the anointed one of God of Israel. The promise of a Jewish Messiah has become the hope for humanity. You are the power and love of God present to us. You have come to humanity as the Son of God, the actual presence of God with us. Today and every day, help me to greet you when your constant presence shows up in a surprising and unexpected moment in my life.  Enable me to lay aside my preconceptions of you. Enable me to meet you as you are rather than who I would have you to be. Help me to follow you, to walk with you where you lead, to love you as you are, and to be the disciple whom you would have me to be. Amen.

Jesus, what was it like to walk with you when you on earth?

Jesus, what was it like to walk with you when you were on earth? Would I have believed in you if I had seen you and heard your voice? I am so grateful for your word, which tells me the stories of your life, death, and resurrection. Your words challenge me. Your call to love the neighbor, regardless of how unlovable he or she may be, to love the enemy, and to love the least, continue to challenge and motivate me. Move me away from my selfishness and toward the selfless giving that defined your life. I ask you never to let me become complacent in my salvation or wary of giving my life fully to you. You gave your all for me. I give all back to you. Thank you so much, Jesus. I love you. Amen.

Prayer: The Pain and Suffering of this world are overwhelming

Lord, the pain and suffering of this world are overwhelming. I turn on the TV or open the newspaper, and I see death, disease and despair. At what point do I just throw my hands in the air and quit? However, this present suffering cannot compare with your future glory (Romans 8:18). When I pay attention to the other parts of nature, I see it also struggles with its pain and suffering. I wonder if at some level, its creatures long for its pain and suffering to end. Lord, how much longer must humanity wait, how much longer must humanity suffer? No matter how deeply I hope, hope does not cure the sick or end wars. Lord, many of us in the community of the faithful seek your glory, your presence here and now. We want the power of your Spirit to fill our entire being to overflowing. We are simply one part of your vast creation. As part of your faithful community, we long from the depths of our souls for the lifting up and revelation of the children of God. What this means, of course, is that I must wait. I am impatient at times. I wait with pain. Yet, I also wait with the firm hope in your Son, who has already experienced the glory to come in resurrection. So today, I wait and offer thankful praise for the glory to come. Amen.

Prayer: My life stretches ahead of me in its brevity

Lord, you are everlasting. The span of my life, long or short as it may stretch ahead of me today, is brief, a mere candle flame burning to the edge of the taper, when compared with the vastness of creation and the eternal quality of your divine life. My life is temporal. Regardless of when the end of my time comes, the end is always close to me. The end troubles me. The sense and awareness of the eternal quality of your divine life gives me some assurance and peace. In quiet moments, I ponder the seasons of my life, its progress and its steps backward, its dramatic changes or its slow but persistent change over time. I see mysteries around me. I ask your help to look and listen to your creation. I am uncertain of what the end of my life will bring. Yet, when I look to your Word, your Son, and his life, death, and resurrection, I approach my end with hope. Is death really a birth into a fuller life than I can imagine here? I trust your Word. Such trust will lead to life on earth with greater readiness to follow where your Spirit leads me. Amen.