New Testament

may the Holy Spirit work in the Church today

/ Eric Mathews / Leave a comment
 
Heavenly Father, in the mighty name of our Lord Jesus Christ,
    we want to thank you for the Church which is your own creation.
We want to thank you for the way you have enabled your servants,
    by the power of the Holy Spirit, 
    to propagate your Gospel throughout the world.
We thank you for the zeal that you implanted 
    in the hearts of those early missionaries
    who brought the good news to foreign lands like Africa.
It is our prayer, Almighty God, 
    that the power of the Holy Spirit may work in the Church today, 
    that the hearts of the people may grow from strength to strength,
    that they may be able to withstand the obstacles that come their way
    in their endeavors to make your word reach all corners of the world.
Revitalize your Church and let your presence 
    be with all who are called by your holy Name.
Help each of us to live according to your will 
    so that your glory may be found in your Church.
Let everyone in the Church have zeal to exalt your Name.
 
Prayers Encircling the World, slightly modified
 
________________________________
 
 
So the church throughout all Judea and Galilee and Samaria 
    had peace and was being built up. 
And walking in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit, 
    it multiplied.
 

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shepherd to the shepherds, help us

/ Eric Mathews / Leave a comment
The Good Shepherd, 3rd Century Roman Catacombs
 
 
God of peace, 
    who has restored us to each other, 
    and made the two one:
  You who set kings upon thrones, 
    who raise the poor out of the dust, 
    and lift up the beggar from the dung hill.
  You who chose David and took him away from the sheepfold,
    though he was the least and the youngest of the sons of Jesse.
  You who gave the word to those who preach the gospel
    with great power for the perfection of the gospel.
Hold me by my right hand, 
    guide me with your counsel,
    and receive me with glory.
You who are a shepherd to the shepherds and a guide to the guides,
    help us to feed your flock with knowledge,
    not with the instruments of a foolish shepherd.
Help us to serve according to the blessing,
    and not according to the curse 
      pronounced against the men of former days.
Give strength and power to your people.
Present your flock dazzling and spotless, worthy of the fold on high,
    in the place of rejoicing and in the splendor of the saints.
Do this so that in your temple everyone,
    both flock and shepherds, together may say:
Glory in Christ Jesus our Lord, 
    to whom be all glory forever and ever!
Amen.
 
Gregory Nazianzen, 329-389, Archbishop of Constantinople
 
______________________________
 
 
So I exhort the elders among you, 
    as a fellow elder and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, 
    as well as a partaker in the glory that is going to be revealed: 
 shepherd the flock of God that is among you, 
    exercising oversight, not under compulsion, 
    but willingly, as God would have you;
  not for shameful gain, but eagerly; 
  not domineering over those in your charge, 
    but being examples to the flock. 
And when the chief Shepherd appears, 
    you will receive the unfading crown of glory.

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Lord of ultimate power

/ Eric Mathews / 1 Comment

photo by Christian Lue via unsplash
      

Father, source of all power, 
We confess that we do not always use the powers you have given us as you intend. 
Sometimes we are afraid of the power we wield, 
        and so do not use it at all; 
  at other times we are careless in our use of it and harm others; 
  at yet other times we deliberately misuse it to achieve our own selfish ends. 
We confess our misuse of our God-given powers, 
    and ask for your grace to use them properly in the future.
 
We think of the power of the nations of the world. 
In international affairs it so often seems that events are out of our control, and rule us. 
Father, help us to see how national power can be wielded for the fulfilment of your will.
 
We think of the power of economic systems. 
Often we feel enmeshed in a system which is not fair 
    and yet cannot be changed without causing immense hardship. 
Father, help us to become masters of economic forces 
    and to order them for the purposes of justice.
 
We think of the power of governments. 
They now touch our personal lives at so many points. 
Father, may politicians and civil servants use their powers responsibly 
    and respect the rights of individuals.

Give us the courage to challenge them when they are wrong, 
    and willingness to share in the processes of government ourselves. 
May the power of governments everywhere be used for the good of all.

Father, yours is the ultimate power. 
We see evidence of it everywhere in the world, 
    but most of all in Jesus Christ. 
In him we see the power of your love: 
    weakness and death did not destroy him and you raised him from death. 
May that same power of love be in us.

Caryl Micklem, 1925 – 2003, English minister and hymn writer
 
______________________________
 
 
His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, 
    through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence,
    by which he has granted to us his precious and very great promises, 
    so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature, 
    having escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire.

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Father, give us all your Holy Spirit

/ Eric Mathews / Leave a comment

​Veni Sancte Spiritus, by Lawrence OP, via  Flickr, CC BY-NC-ND 2.0

 
Dear Heavenly Father, we ask you now to give us all your Holy Spirit,
    and to give him continually, that he might awaken, enlighten, encourage,
    and enable us to dare to take the small and large steps of moving 
    out of the comfort with which we can comfort each other 
    and into hope in you.
Turn us away towards you!
Do not allow us to hide from you!
Do not let us do anything without you!
Show us how glorious you are and how glorious it is to trust and obey you!
 
We would ask the same for all people,
    that nations and governments may bow to your Word,
      and that they will be willing to work for justice and peace on earth,
    that your Word may be understood and taken to heart
      by all those who are poor, sick, imprisoned, troubled, oppressed, and unbelieving;
    that through word and deed your Holy Spirit may be made known to them;
      and that you may be perceived by them as the answer to their sighs and cries;
    that all Christian churches and confessions may learn to recognize him anew 
      and serve you with renewed faithfulness;
    that your truth may remain bright in all of humanity’s error and confusion,
      until such a time as he shall ultimately enlighten all people and all things.
 
You are glorified, you who make us free in Jesus Christ, your Son,
    by confessing and standing on this: that our hope is in you. 
Amen.
 
Karl Barth, 1886 – 1968, Swiss Reformed theologian
Fifty Prayers, slightly modified
 
______________________________
 
 
May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, 
    so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope.
 

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How do I kill time?

/ Eric Mathews / Leave a comment
image via pixabay
 
 
How do I kill time?
Let me count the ways.
 
By worrying about things
over which I have no control.
Like the past.
Like the future.
 
By harboring resentments
and anger
over hurts
real or imagined.
 
By disdaining the ordinary
or, rather, what I
so mindlessly
call ordinary.
 
By concern over what’s in it for me,
rather than what’s in me
for it.
 
By failing to appreciate what is
because of might-have beens,
should-have-beens,
could-have-beens.
 
These are some of the ways
I kill time.
 
Jesus didn’t kill time.
He gave life to it. 
His own.
 
Leo Rock, SJ 1929-1998, Jesuit priest, author and spiritual director
 
________________
 
 
So be careful how you live. 
Don’t live like fools, but like those who are wise. 
Make the most of every opportunity in these evil days. 
Don’t act thoughtlessly, but understand what the Lord wants you to do.

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Praise to God in heaven

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The Throne In Heaven, by Davin Arries, CC BY-SA 4.0 via Wikimedia Commons
 
 
How small a part of you do we see, God?
Only a partial picture.
 
Who can understand the thunder of your power?
Touching the Almighty, we cannot comprehend you.
You are excellent in power, judgment , and justice.
You are exalted far above all blessing and praise.
 
You have prepared your throne of glory in the heavens, high and lifted up.
Before you the seraphim cover their faces.
 
And in compassion to us you hold back the face of that throne,
    spreading a cloud upon it.
 
You make your angels spirits, and your ministers a flame of fire.
Thousands of them minster to you, 
    and ten thousand times ten thousand stand before you,
    to do what you ask.
They excel in strength, and obey your word.
 
And we come by faith, hope and holy love into spiritual communion
    with the innumerable company of angels,
    and the spirits of just people made perfect.
We come to the general assembly and church of the firstborn,
    in the heavenly Jerusalem.
 
You are worthy, O Lord, to receive blessing, and honor, and glory, and power.
For you have created all things.
You created them to do your will and to praise you.
 
We worship the one who made heaven and earth,
    the sea and the fountains of waters.
The one who spoke and it was done.
Who commanded, and it stood fast.
The one who said, “Let there be light,” and there was light.
 
And you made it all very good, and it continues this day according to your word,
    for everything serves you.
 
The day is yours, the night is yours.
You have prepared the light and the sun.
You have set all the borders of the earth.
You have made summer and winter.
You uphold all things by the word of your power,
    and by you all things exist.
 
The earth is full of your riches; so is the great and wide sea.
The eyes of all wait upon you, and you give them their food in due season.
You open your hand and satisfy the needs of every living thing.
Amen.
 
Matthew Henry, 1662 – 1714 British Presbyterian minister and author
 
________________________________
 
 
But you have come to Mount Zion, to the city of the living God, 
    the heavenly Jerusalem. 
You have come to thousands upon thousands of angels in joyful assembly, 
    to the church of the firstborn, whose names are written in heaven. 
You have come to God, the Judge of all, to the spirits of the righteous made perfect, 
    to Jesus the mediator of a new covenant, 
    and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel.
 

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growing into the likeness

/ Eric Mathews / Leave a comment
CompositeJesus, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
 
 
Spirit of Truth, direct our attention to the life of Jesus
    so that we might see what you would have us be.
Make us, like him, teachers of your good law.
Make us, like him, performers of miraculous cures.
Make us, like him, proclaimers of your kingdom.
Make us, like him, loving the poor, the outcast, the children.
Make us, like him, silent when the world tempts us
    to respond in the world’s terms.
Make us, like him, ready to suffer.
 
We know we cannot be like Jesus
    except as Jesus was unlike us, being your Son.
Make us cherish that unlikeness,
    that we may grow into the likeness
    made possible by Jesus’ resurrection.
Amen
 
Stanley Hauerwas, 1940- , American ethicist and theologian
____________________
 
 
The Spirit of God, who raised Jesus from the dead, lives in you. 
And just as God raised Christ Jesus from the dead, 
    he will give life to your mortal bodies 
    by this same Spirit living within you.

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Give us the grace to admit . . .

/ Eric Mathews / Leave a comment
 
Lord Jesus, we are silly sheep who have dared to stand before you
    and try to bribe you with our preposterous portfolios.
Suddenly we have come to our senses.
We are sorry and ask you to forgive us.
Give us the grace to admit we are ragamuffins,
   to embrace our brokenness,
   to celebrate your mercy 
        when we are at our weakest,
    to rely on your mercy no matter what we may do.
Dear Jesus, gift us to stop grandstanding and trying to get attention,
    to do the truth quietly without display,
    to let the dishonesties in our lives fade away,
    to accept our limitations,
    to cling to the gospel of grace,
    and to delight in your love.
 
Brennan Manning, 1934-2013, American author, laicized priest, and speaker
 
____________________________
 
 
So let us come boldly to the throne of our gracious God. 
There we will receive his mercy, and we will find grace to help us when we need it most.
 

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prayer before the prayer

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Desmond M. Tutu CC BY 2.0
 
 
I want to be willing to let go, to forgive.
but dare not ask for the will to forgive,
    in case you give it to me
    and I am not yet ready.
I am not yet ready for my heart to soften.
I am not yet ready to be vulnerable again.
Not yet ready to see that there is humanity in my tormentor’s eyes
    or that the one who hurt me may also have cried.
I am not yet ready for the journey.
I am not yet interested in the path.
I am at the prayer before the prayer of forgiveness.

Grant me the will to want to forgive.
Grant it to me not yet but soon
Can I even form the words?
Forgive me? Dare I even look?
Do I dare to see the hurt I have caused:
I can glimpse all the shattered pieces of that fragile thing
    that soul trying to rise on the broken wings of hope.
But only out of the corner of my eye.
I am afraid of it.
And if I am afraid to see
How can I not be afraid to say: Forgive me?

Is there a place where we can meet?
You and me
The place in the middle where we straddle the lines
Where you are right and I am right too.
And both of us are wrong and wronged.
Can we meet there?
And look for the place where the path begins
The path that ends when we forgive.
 
Desmond Tutu, 1931 – 2021 & Mpho Tutu, 1963- South African Anglican priests,
 
___________________________
 
 
Since God chose you to be the holy people he loves, 
    you must clothe yourselves with tenderhearted mercy, 
    kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience. 
Make allowance for each other’s faults, 
    and forgive anyone who offends you. 
Remember, the Lord forgave you, so you must forgive others.
 

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teach us to love what you have created

/ Eric Mathews / 1 Comment
 
Our Father, God, Creator of all your different children,
    teach us to love what you have created.
Teach us to see people one by one
    and to acknowledge them as our Father’s children,
    our brothers and sisters:
  not to pigeonhole them;
    not to hammer them into unnatural molds of our own making,
  but to rejoice in our differences,
    accepting people as they are
    – different but of equal worth –
    each one a part of God’s creation,
    showing something of his love and glory.
 
Sybil Phoenix, 1927-, Guyanese born British community worker
 
___________________________________________
 
 
May the God who gives endurance and encouragement 
    give you the same attitude of mind toward each other that Christ Jesus had, 
    so that with one mind and one voice you may glorify 
        the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Accept one another, then, just as Christ accepted you, 
    in order to bring praise to God.
 

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