faith

Why is there so little prayer?

/ Eric Mathews / Leave a comment
 
Why is there so little urgency
    to get time to pray?
Why is there so little forethought 
    in the laying out of time and schedule
  so as to secure a large portion 
    of each day for prayer?
Why is there so much talking,
    yet so little prayer?
Why is there so much running to and fro,
    yet so little prayer?
Why so much bustle and business,
    yet so little prayer?
Why so many meetings with our fellow men.
    yet so few meetings with You?
Why so little being alone,
    so little thirsting of the soul 
        for the calm. sweet, hours of unbroken solitude,
    where You and your child hold fellowship 
        as if they could never part?
It is the scarcity of these solitary hours 
    that not only injures my own growth in grace
    but also makes me such an unprofitable member of Your church,
         and renders my life useless.
 
Horatius Bonar, 1808-1889, Scottish Preacher and Hymnist
Celtic Daily Prayer, freely modified
 
_________________________
 
 
Give ear, O Lord, to my prayer;
    listen to my plea for grace.
In the day of my trouble I call upon you,
    for you answer me.
 

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we celebrate the coming of our Saviour

/ Eric Mathews / 1 Comment
Adoration of the Magi, via Flickr, CC BY-NC 2.0
 
Blessed are you, O Christ, our God;
    you were before time began,
    and came to the world to save us.
Blessed are you, Sun of righteousness;
    you shine with the Father’s love
    and illumine the whole universe.
Blessed are you, Son of Mary;
    born a child
    you shared our humanity.
Blessed are you, son of David;
    born to rule,
    you received gifts from the wise men.
Blessed are you, Son of Man;
    baptised by John,
    you saved us from ourselves.
Blessed are you, heavenly King;
    teaching and preaching, healing and comforting,
    you proclaimed the kingdom.
With all the voices of heaven
    we celebrate the coming of our Saviour.
Let heaven and earth shout their praise.
With all the creatures on earth
    we sing and dance at your birth.
Praise and glory to you, O Lord Jesus Christ.
 
David Beswick, 1933 – , Australian Minister and Professor
 
___________________
 
 
When they saw the star, they were overjoyed. 
On coming to the house, 
    they saw the child with his mother Mary, 
    and they bowed down and worshiped him. 
Then they opened their treasures 
    and presented him with gifts 
    of gold, frankincense and myrrh.

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Jesus Christ the King

/ Eric Mathews / Leave a comment

The Christ Pantocrator of St. Catherine’s Monastery at Sinai, 6th Century via Wikimedia Commons

 
You are Jesus Christ, 
    Word of God, Begotten before the light,
    creator together with the Father.
You are the fashioner of man, all in all.
 
Among the patriarchs you are Patriarch;
    in the law, the Law.
Among the priests, Chief Priest;
    among kings, the Ruler;
    among prophets, the Prophet;
    among the angels, Archangel.
In the voice of the preacher, you are the Word;
    among the spirits, the Spirit;
    in the Father, the Son; 
    in God, God.
 
You are King forever and ever.
For you were the pilot to Noah, 
    the guide to Abraham, bound to Isaac,
    in exile with Jacob, sold with Joseph.
You were there with Moses.
In David and the prophets 
    you announced your own sufferings.
You put on bodily form in the Virgin,
    were born in Bethlehem,
    wrapped in swaddling clothes in the manger,
    seen by the shepherds, glorified by the angels,
    worshipped by the magi.
 
You were pointed out by John,
    gathered together the apostles, 
    and you preached the kingdom.
You cured the lame, 
    gave light to the blind, 
    and raised the dead.
You appeared in the temple, 
    were not believed on by the people,
    betrayed by Judas, 
    captured by the priests, 
    and condemned by Pilate.
 
You were pierced in the flesh, hung on the tree,
    and buried in the earth.
You rose from the place of the dead,
    appeared to the apostles, 
    were carried up to heaven,
    and are seated at the right hand of the Father.
 
You are the rest for those that are departed, 
    the one who recovers the lost,
    the light of those who are in darkness,
    the deliverer of those who are captive,
    the guide of those who go astray,
    and the asylum of the afflicted.
 
You are the bridegroom of the church,
    the charioteer of the cherubim,
    and captain of the angels.
You are God who is from God,
Son from the Father,
Jesus Christ the King forevermore.
 
Amen.
 
Melito of Sardis, d.180, Bishop of Sardis
Fount of Heaven Prayers of the Early Church
 
_______________________________
 
 
The Son is the image of the invisible God, 
    the firstborn over all creation. 
For in him all things were created: 
    things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, 
    whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; 
     all things have been created through him and for him. 
He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. 
And he is the head of the body, the church; 
    he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, 
    so that in everything he might have the supremacy.

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You rule this world

/ Eric Mathews / Leave a comment
The Son of Man Enthroned, Lawrence OP, via Flickr, CC BY-NC-ND 2.0
 
Blessing and glory and wisdom
and thanksgiving and honour
and power and might
to you, Lord Jesus.

You rule this world
with love and grace.

There are days when we have a hard time seeing it
but you have promised that
you are moving all creation toward that time
when God will get what God wants —
a creation where peace and goodness and compassion
shape all of life.

And you give us good work to do
in the time that is ours:
prayer and praise and hope and truth.

We are not always sure how what we do is serving your holy purposes
but we submit our lives to you.
We trust you, our crucified and risen Lord,
to take what we offer and transform it
so that it glorifies you. Amen
 
Christine Jerrett, minister in the United Church of Canada
_______________________
 
 
After this I looked, and there before me was a great multitude 
that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, 
standing before the throne and before the Lamb. 
They were wearing white robes and were holding palm branches in their hands. 
And they cried out in a loud voice:

    “Salvation belongs to our God,
    who sits on the throne,
    and to the Lamb.”
 
All the angels were standing around the throne 
and around the elders and the four living creatures. 
They fell down on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, saying:

    “Amen!
    Praise and glory
    and wisdom and thanks and honor
    and power and strength
    be to our God for ever and ever.
    Amen!”

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faith that saves from despair

/ Eric Mathews / Leave a comment
Bonhoeffer by AldrianMimi, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
 
Lord Jesus Christ,
you were poor and miserable, imprisoned and abandoned
    like me.
You know all human needs;
you stay with me when no one stands by me;
you do not forget me, but look for me;
you want me to know you and to come to you.
Lord, I hear your call and follow.
Help me!
 
Holy Spirit,
give me faith
that will save me from despair and evils.
Give me the love for God and other people
that removes all hate and all bitterness;
give me the hope
that frees me from fear and despondency.
Teach me to know Jesus Christ and to do his will
 
Dietrich Bonhoeffer, 1906 – 1945, German  theologian and martyr
 
_______________________
 
 
For to this you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you, 
leaving you an example, so that you might follow in his steps. 
He committed no sin, neither was deceit found in his mouth. 
When he was reviled, he did not revile in return; 
    when he suffered, he did not threaten, 
    but continued entrusting himself to him who judges justly.

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Grace to believe and to love God

/ Eric Mathews / Leave a comment
Flannery O’Connor, Cmacauley, CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons
 
 
Please let Christian principles permeate my writing 
    and please let there be enough of my writing (published)
    for Christian principles to permeate.
I dread, Oh Lord, losing my faith. 
My mind is not strong.
It is prey to all sorts of intellectual quackery.
I do not want it to be fear which keeps me in the church.
I don’t want to be a coward, staying with You because I fear hell.
I should reason that if I fear hell, I can be assured of the author of it
But learned people can analyze for me why I fear hell 
    and their implication is that there is no hell.
But I believe in hell.
Hell seems a great deal more feasible to my weak mind than heaven.
No doubt because hell is a more earthly seeming thing.
I can fancy the tortures of the damned
    but I cannot imagine the disembodied souls 
    hanging in a crystal for all eternity praising God.
It is natural that I should not imagine this.
If we could accurately map heaven some of our up & coming scientists
    would begin to draw blueprints for its improvement,
    and the bourgeois would sell guides 10 cents the copy to all over 65.
But I do not mean to be clever although I do mean to be clever on 2nd thought
    and like to be clever and want to be considered so.
But the point more specifically here is,
    I don’t want to fear to be out, I want to love to be in;
    I don’t want to believe in hell but in heaven.
Stating this does me no good.
It is a matter of the gift of grace.
Help me to feel that I will give up every earthly thing for this.
 
Flannery O’Conner, 1925 – 1964, American Catholic writer, 
A Prayer Journal, journalled when she was 22
 
_____________________
 
 
The Lord is good to all;
    he has compassion on all he has made.
All your works praise you, Lord;
    your faithful people extol you.
They tell of the glory of your kingdom
    and speak of your might,
 so that all people may know of your mighty acts
    and the glorious splendor of your kingdom.
Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom,
    and your dominion endures through all generations.
 

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to crave the graces of your Holy Spirit

/ Eric Mathews / Leave a comment
image, Gloucestershire, UK via Pexels
 
 
Lord God, you know I need to call on you for my daily bread.
But how much more reason have I to crave the graces of your Holy Spirit –
    for supplying my soul with heavenly food,
    especially with saving faith.
When I am tossed about with the storms of doubts and fears,
    show me how to lay hold of your word and promises.
Then all the temptations of the world, the flesh and the devil,
    will never prevail over me, since I know in whom I have believed.
Increase the light of my faith, 
    that it may daily cast forth more clear beams.
Preserve that faith in the darkness of death,
    that it may guide me to eternal life.
And rule and govern me by your Holy Spirit,
    that I may never lose faith by agreeing to do anything
    that is against the light of my conscience.
Confirm the good work you have begun in me,
    strengthen me inwardly, and preserve me blameless 
    until the day of the Lord Jesus Christ,
    that I may inherit eternal life.
Amen.
 
Robert Parker, c. 1564 – 1614, English Puritan minister and scholar
 
___________________________
 
 
That is why I am suffering as I am. 
Yet this is no cause for shame, 
    because I know whom I have believed, 
    and am convinced that he is able to guard 
    what I have entrusted to him until that day.

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Teach us to pray

/ Eric Mathews / 1 Comment
image via Flickr, CC BY-SA 2.0 DEED
 

Lord, teach us to pray.

Some of us are not skilled in the art of prayer.  
As we draw near to you in thought, our spirits long for your Spirit, 
    and reach out for you, longing to feel you near. 
We do not know how to express the deepest emotions 
    that lie hidden in our hearts.

In these moments, we have no polished phrases 
    with which to impress one another, 
    no finely molded, delicately turned clauses to present to you. 
Nor would we be confined to conventional petitions, 
    repeating our prayers like reverent mantras. 
We know, our Father, that we are closest to you 
    when we have left behind 
    the things that have held us captive for so long.

We do not want to be ignorant in prayer and, like children, 
    make shopping lists for you.  
Rather, we pray that you will give unto us only what we really need. 
We do not  want to make our prayers so that they annoy you, 
    an omnipotent God, so that you do what we want you to do. 
Rather, give us the vision, the courage, 
    that enlarges our horizons and stretches our faith 
    to the adventure of seeking your loving will for our lives

We thank you that you are hearing us even now. 
We thank you for the grace of prayer. 
We thank you for yourself.
 
Peter Marshall, 1902 – 1949, Chaplain of the US Senate
HarperCollins Book of Prayers, freely modified
 
____________________________
 
 
But when you pray, go into your room, close the door 
    and pray to your Father, who is unseen. 
Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, 
    will reward you. 
And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, 
    for they think they will be heard because of their many words. 
Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need 
    before you ask him.

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believing in the resurrection of Jesus

/ Eric Mathews / Leave a comment
image, by William Hole, via Wikimedia Commons
 
 
Almighty God,
Who through the death of your Son 
    has destroyed sin and death,
And by his resurrection 
    has restored innocence and everlasting life,
That we may be delivered from the dominion of the devil,
    and our mortal bodies raised up from the dead:
Grant that we may confidently and whole-heartedly 
    believe this,
And, finally, with your saints, 
    share in the joyful resurrection of the just;
through the same Jesus Christ,
    your Son, our Lord.

Martin Luther, 1483-1546, German Reformer
 
_______________________________
 
 
But these are written that you may believe 
    that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, 
and that by believing 
    you may have life in his name.
 

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answering our askings

/ Eric Mathews / 2 Comments
 
Lord God, 
  grant us to see that 
      even as the Word must become flesh,
      the prayer must become physical:
  grant our prayers 
      eyes to see the invisible,
      ears to hear the inaudible,
      lips to voice the unspeakable,
      hands to clutch the intangible.
Then to complete the body of yearning,
  equip our prayers with 
      legs to step out on faith,
      legs to progress one step at a time,
      legs to walk with our Savior
  in answering our very own askings.
In the name of Jesus Christ.
Amen.
 
Cecil L. Murray, 1929 – , African American Pastor and Ethicist
 
__________________________
 
 
And they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and the fellowship, 
    to the breaking of bread and the prayers. 
And awe came upon every soul, 
    and many wonders and signs were being done through the apostles.  
And all who believed were together and had all things in common.  
And they were selling their possessions and belongings 
    and distributing the proceeds to all, 
    as any had need.

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