a prayer of love

photo by didin emelu on Unsplash
 
Gracious Lord,
Your name is love,
    in love receive my prayer.
My sins are more than the wide sea’s sand,
    but where sin abounds, there is grace more abundant.
Look to the cross of the your beloved Son,
    and view the preciousness of his atoning blood;
Listen to his never-failing intercession,
    and whisper to my heart, ‘Your sins are forgiven,
        be of good cheer, lie down in peace.’
Grace cataracts from heaven and flows for ever,
    and mercy never wearies in bestowing benefits.
Grant me more and more to prize the privilege of prayer,
        to come to you as a sin-soiled sinner,
        to find pardon in you,
        to converse with you;
        to know you in prayer as
            the path in which my feet tread,
            the latch upon the door of my lips,
            the light that shines through my eyes,
            the music of my ears,
            the marrow of my understanding,
            the strength of my will,
            the power of my affection,
            the sweetness of my memory.
May the matter of my prayer be always wise, humble, submissive,
    obedient, scriptural, Christ-like.
Give me unwavering faith that supplications are never in vain,
    that if I seem not to obtain my petitions
        I shall have larger, richer answers,
            surpassing all that I ask or think.
Unsought, you have given me the greatest gift,
    the person of your Son,
    and in him you will give me all I need.
 
The Valley of Vision, a collection of Puritan Prayers & Devotions
slightly updated
 
________________________________________
 
 
God’s law was given so that all people could see how sinful they were. 
But as people sinned more and more, 
    God’s wonderful grace became more abundant. 
So just as sin ruled over all people and brought them to death, 
    now God’s wonderful grace rules instead, 
    giving us right standing with God and resulting in eternal life 
    through Jesus Christ our Lord.
 

Continue reading

to share in your reconciling mission

Veni, Dator Munerum by Lawrence OP 
 
 
Almighty God, our heavenly Father, 
    the privilege is ours to be called to share 
    in the loving, healing and reconciling mission
    of your Son Jesus Christ our Lord 
    in this age and wherever we are.
Since without you we can do no good thing,
    may your Spirit make us wise;
    may your Spirit guide us;
    may your Spirit renew us;
    may your Spirit strengthen us
    so that we will be
        strong in faith;
        discerning in proclamation;
        courageous in witness;
        persistent in good deeds.
This we ask through the same Jesus Christ our Lord.
 
Anglican Church of the West Indies
 
_________________________________
 
 
For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, 
    from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named, 
    that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you 
    to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being

Continue reading

I believe, help my unbelief

praying man by Ruth Mabee
 
 
Lord, I want to love you, yet I’m not sure.
    I want to trust you, yet I’m afraid of being taken in.
    I know I need you, yet I’m ashamed of the need.
    I want to pray, yet I’m afraid of being a hypocrite.
    I need my independence, yet I fear to be alone.
    I want to belong, yet I must be myself.
    Take me, Lord, yet leave me alone.
    Lord, I do believe; help my unbelief.
O Lord, if you are there, you do understand, don’t you?
Give me what I need but leave me free to choose.
Help me work it out my own way, but don’t let me despair.
    Come unto me, O Lord – I want you there.
    Lighten my darkness – but don’t dazzle me.
    Help me to see what I need to do and give me strength to do it.
O Lord, I believe, help thou my unbelief.
 
Bernard SSF, 1928-2007
 
______________________
 
 
And they brought the boy to him. 
And when the spirit saw him, immediately it convulsed the boy, 
    and he fell on the ground and rolled about, foaming at the mouth. 
And Jesus asked his father, 
    “How long has this been happening to him?” 
And he said, “From childhood. 
    And it has often cast him into fire and into water, to destroy him. 
    But if you can do anything, have compassion on us and help us.” 
And Jesus said to him, 
    “‘If you can’! All things are possible for one who believes.” 
Immediately the father of the child cried out and said, 
    “I believe; help my unbelief!” 

Continue reading

Forgiveness and Hope

Christ is Risen, Lawrence OP, Flickr CC BY-NC-ND 2.0
 
 
Our God, whose Son is the light of the world,
    in his penetrating light, we acknowledge our darkness;
    in his constant grace, our careless love;
    in his generous giving, our sordid grasping;
    in his equal justice, our dire prejudice;
    in his fortitude, our fearful failure;
    in his inclusive love, our deep divisions;
    in his pure sacrifice, our soiling sins.
 
But in his Cross is our forgiveness,
  and in his resurrection our enduring hope.
This pardon and the promise we now claim,
  in penitence and faith, through Jesus Christ our Lord.
 
Horton Davies, 1916-2005, Professor of Religion Princeton University
 
________________________
 
 
And Christ lives within you, so even though your body will die because of sin, 
    the Spirit gives you life because you have been made right with God. 
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.

Continue reading

Let me sustain true faith

 
 
Almighty and eternal God,
Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,
from my heart I ask that you through your Holy Spirit   
    would create and maintain in me a longing and love
    for your holy Word – 
        to pray and cry out to you always.
For I am certain of this:
    aside from your Word there is no comfort, faith, life or salvation,
    instead everything is only the way of sinners, the seat of scoffers,
    and it must, like chaff, be blown away by the wind!
 
Sanctify me in your truth; your Word is the truth.
Let me have and sustain true faith and a good, peaceful conscience,
    so that I would remain eternally green and fruitful 
        like a palm tree by water
  and that my leaves – either in this life or in eternal life –
    would not wither.
Lord God, hear me and let me be and remain yours.
Amen.
 
Nikolaus Selnecker, 1530 – 1592, German Protestant Reformer
 
__________________
 
 
Oh, the joys of those who do not
    follow the advice of the wicked,
    or stand around with sinners,
    or join in with mockers.
But they delight in the law of the Lord,
    meditating on it day and night.
They are like trees planted along the riverbank,
    bearing fruit each season.
Their leaves never wither,
    and they prosper in all they do.
But not the wicked!
    They are like worthless chaff, scattered by the wind.
 

Continue reading

All Saints Day prayer

image by geralt via pixabay
 
 
Before you, O God,
    we remember today the ones who went before us.
Not held back by the awesomeness of the task
    they followed you with tenacity and joy.
Full of courage and trust they went to new places,
    ready to stand and suffer with you.
 
Like a cloud of many witnesses
    they stand around us.
 
Before you, O God,
    we remember the saints of our day,
    who do not live by the rigid letter of the law
    but by the wild demands of faith,
    always prepared to give more,
    always ready to be turned inside out,
    knowing that new ways can only be found
    through risk and pain.
 
Like a cloud of many witnesses
    they stand around us.
 
Eternal God,
    we thank you for the witnesses of all times and all places.
May the stories of their lives show us the richness of your grace.
May they inspire us to look deep within our souls.
May they encourage us to take the risk of faith
    and to serve you in new ways.
 
Francis Brienen, United Reformed Church, UK
 
__________________________
 
 
Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, 
    let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, 
and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, 
    looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, 
who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, 
    despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.  
Consider him who endured from sinners such hostility against himself, 
    so that you may not grow weary or fainthearted.

Continue reading

how do I worship in spirit?

image / pixabay
 
O God, what is Spirit?
How do I worship in spirit and in truth?
I am such a solid, earthly creature,
    my feet planted firmly on the ground,
    my life based upon material things.
I like to touch and feel and see before I believe.
I am accustomed to dealing with houses, land, and money,
    with bread, meat and potatoes,
    with objects handled, weighed, and valued
    by my own standards.
I am uncomfortable with what cannot be analyzed
    or dissected or given a market value.
What is Spirit?
 
Yet, O Lord, the very things I handle and see
    lose meaning when they become ends in themselves.
They are all given meaning by the things of the spirit,
    by love and hope and faith.
I know when I come down to it,
    if I have all kinds of earthly goods
         and have not love,
    I have nothing.
I need the mystery beyond the tangible.
I need the things of the spirit
    to give meaning to the material things I prize.
I cannot divide life up,
    you have made it whole.
If I avoid love, diminish hope, deny faith,
    my appreciation of my house and land,
    my meat and potatoes, shrinks,
And I become a little man
     with little aims and little power.
 
Kenneth Phifer
 
————————————
 
 
But the time is coming—indeed it’s here now—
when true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and in truth. 
The Father is looking for those who will worship him that way. 
For God is Spirit, so those who worship him must worship in spirit and in truth.
 

Continue reading

Create in me a clean heart

image / pixabay 

 
I thank you, my dear God,
    that I have learned not to begin faith by my own efforts, 
    nor attempt to destroy my sin with my own repentance.
I might do this before other people
    and be acceptable to the world and its judges.
But with you, O God, there is an eternal wrath 
    which I cannot satisfy,
    and before it I would despair.
Therefore I thank you that Another 
    has seized and carried my sins 
    and has made atonement for them.
 
With joy I wish to believe this.
It seems so very right and comforting to me.
But I cannot believe it by myself,
    and I find no power in me to convince myself.
I cannot comprehend it as I ought.
 
Lord, lead me, help me.
Give me the power and the gift to believe.
I plead, as did David:
    “Create in me a clean heart, O God,
        and put a new and right spirit within me.”
I am unable to create a new and clean heart: it is your work and creation.
I cannot create the sun and moon
    and make them rise and shine brightly in the heavens
    any more than I can make the heart clean and give myself a right spirit,
    a strong and firm frame of mind that is unbending and unwavering
    and that will not doubt or mistrust your Word.
 
Help us daily to increase in faith.
Though the world should topple and all conspire against us,
    and though the devil were to destroy every creature,
    grant that I may not fall.
By your divine help let me remain in the Gospel.
Amen.
 
Martin Luther, 1483 – 1546, German Reformer
 
______________________________
 
 
Create in me a clean heart, O God,

    and renew a right spirit within me.
Cast me not away from your presence,
    and take not your Holy Spirit from me.
Restore to me the joy of your salvation,
    and uphold me with a willing spirit.

to find our constant inspiration in you

image / picryl
 
Servant Jesus,
    what love you showed to your disciples
        and what humility in your service.
    You are the Life of life, Son of God,
        yet you stooped down
        to take off the grimy sandals
        and to wash their dusty feet.
    With loving care you dried them with the towel
        make them fresh and cool.
    Since you, our Lord and Savior,
        did such lowly service for us,
        ought we not humbly to serve others also?
Lord God,
    it is not easy to walk in your way
        when we seek peace among the nations.
    We find there are many who hate peace
        and prefer to seek the victory in war.
    Even amongst our neighbors and friends
        are those who want to prepare for war.
    I am for peace;
        but when I speak, they are for war.
    In my distress I call to you, O Lord;
    give me the courage and the faith
        to speak for peace.
Spirit of God,
    you call your people to patient endurance
        that we might not fail in time of testing,
        that we might not grow weary in well-doing.
        that we should not abandon our first love.
    Help us to find our constant inspiration in you
        that the lamp may be kept burning
            as we witness by your grace.
 
John Johansen-Berg, 1935- , English Minister
 
_______________________________
 
 
When he had washed their feet and put on his outer garments and resumed his place, he said to them, “Do you understand what I have done to you? You call me Teacher and Lord, and you are right, for so I am. If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. For I have given you an example, that you also should do just as I have done to you.  Truly, truly, I say to you, a servant is not greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him.  If you know these things, blessed are you if you do them.

Continue reading

the unity of your Church

image / Psalm 133 by Kyle Ragsdale / Bellwether Arts
 
O God, 
    whose will it is that all your children should be one in Christ;
    we pray for the unity of your Church.
Pardon all our pride and our lack 
    of faith, of understanding, and of charity,
    which are the causes of our divisions.
Deliver us from narrow-mindedness,
    from our bitterness, from our prejudices.
Save us from considering as normal
    that which is a scandal to the world
    and an offense to your love.
Teach us to recognize the gifts of grace 
    among all those who call upon you 
    and confess the faith of Jesus Christ our Lord.
 
French Reformed Church
 
_____________________________
 
 
Behold, how good and pleasant it is
    when brothers dwell in unity!
It is like the precious oil on the head,
    running down on the beard,
on the beard of Aaron,
    running down on the collar of his robes!
It is like the dew of Hermon,
    which falls on the mountains of Zion!
For there the Lord has commanded the blessing,
    life forevermore.
 

Continue reading