for those involved with the law

July 14, 2022July 13, 2022 / Eric Mathews / Leave a comment

_{Jesus Before Pilate, James Tissot, Wikipedia Commons}

Lord Jesus,

You were in prison, found guilty when you were innocent,

You were executed as traitor when in fact you were Savior.

To you who died to set all free we pray for:

All makers of the laws of the land,

that they do so with reason and compassion.

All interpreters of the law – judges, lawyers –

that they be fair, honest and impartial.

All administrators of the law – prison guards and superintendents –

that they be merciful in their firmness.

All prisoners – that they may know that you are in prison with them,

in their homes with their loved ones,

and that in you is their hope.

Though bound, may they be perfectly free in you and in your service.

John B. Coburn, 1914- 2009, Bishop of Massachusetts

The Communion of Saints

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Psalm 146:5-8

Blessed are those whose help is the God of Jacob,
whose hope is in the Lord their God.
He is the Maker of heaven and earth,
the sea, and everything in them—
he remains faithful forever.
He upholds the cause of the oppressed
and gives food to the hungry.
The Lord sets prisoners free,
the Lord gives sight to the blind,
the Lord lifts up those who are bowed down,
the Lord loves the righteous.

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Ain’t gonna let nobody turn us around

January 21, 2022January 21, 2022 / Eric Mathews / Leave a comment

_{civil rights march / GPA Photo Archive / flickr / CC BY-NC 2.0}

Almighty God, Thou has called us to walk for freedom,

even as Thou did the Children of Israel.

We pray, dear God, as we go through a wilderness of State Troopers

that Thou will hold our hand.

We pray, dear God, as we must go through the Valley of the Shadow of Death,

that Thou will go with us and strengthen us for the task.

Keep us strong.

Keep us calm.

Help us to love our enemy.

And above all, keep the fires of freedom burning in our hearts,

so that no matter what happens,

ain’t gonna let nobody turn us around.

Because Thou, dear God, has set us into this place.

Thou has sent us to fight, not just for ourselves,

but to fight for this nation

so that democracy might exist here for the whole world.

Keep this vision in our hearts,

and may we one day wake up and find the state of Alabama,

where all men might vote,

where all children might get a decent education,

where every man and woman might find a decent job

according to his or her abilities,

and where every man and woman

might be able to live together as brothers and sisters

and violence and bloodshed and hatred and prejudice

shall be no more.

In Jesus’ name we pray, Amen.

Martin Luther King, Jr. 1929 -1968, American pastor and civil rights activist

“Thou, Dear God” Prayers That Open Hearts and Spirits link

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Matthew 5:6

Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,
for they shall be satisfied.

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Let me be free

May 4, 2021May 3, 2021 / Eric Mathews / Leave a comment

Jesus Christ, the beginning and the end,

the resurrection and the life,

the perfect man who gave His life for sinners,

I worship you, I adore you, I sing aloud your name.

I am one of those whom you saved, whom you set free,

when you died on the cross.

You redeemed me from the slavery of sin.

And yet I cannot escape the overpowering sense

that I am still a wretched sinner,

that my every action is worthless or evil.

I am like the dry sand of a desert thirsting for water.
I am like a criminal languishing in prison.

Good people try to help me, and I pray that you will reward them;

but their goodness does nothing to assuage my sense of wickedness.

Patient people try to teach me your ways;

but I am so stubborn that I cannot learn.

Humble people seek to serve me;

but in my pride I cannot truly appreciate their services.

Lift the burden of wickedness; break down my stubbornness; root out my pride.

Let me receive your life-giving love.

Let me be free.

Fulbert of Chartres, c.970-1028, bishop of the Cathedral of Chartres, France

The HarperCollins Book of Prayers

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Hebrews 10:21-22

And since we have a great High Priest who rules over God’s house,

let us go right into the presence of God

with sincere hearts fully trusting him.

For our guilty consciences have been sprinkled with Christ’s blood to make us clean,

and our bodies have been washed with pure water.

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go with me in a new exodus

January 27, 2021January 26, 2021 / Eric Mathews / Leave a comment

_{Saint Peter Liberated from Prison / The Metropolitan Museum of Art / CC0}

O God of fire and freedom,

deliver me from my bondage

to what can be counted

and go with me in a new exodus

toward what counts,

but can only be measured

in bread shared

and swords become plowshares;

in bodies healed

and minds liberated;

in songs sung

and justice done;

in laughter in the night

and joy in the morning;

in love through all seasons

and great gladness of heart;

in all people coming together

and a kingdom coming in glory;

in your name being praised

and my becoming an alleluia,

through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Ted Loder, born 1930, American Methodist minister

Guerrillas of Grace Prayers for the Battle

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Psalm 34:4-6

I sought the Lord, and he answered me
and delivered me from all my fears.
Those who look to him are radiant,
and their faces shall never be ashamed.
This poor man cried, and the Lord heard him
and saved him out of all his troubles.

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Great God Almighty, We Are Free at Last!

January 18, 2021January 17, 2021 / Eric Mathews / Leave a comment

_{Martin Luther King, 1964 / Wikimedia Commons / Public Domain}

God grant that right here in America and all over the world,

we will choose the high way:

a way in which men will live together as brothers.

A way in which the nations of the world will beat their swords into plowshares,

and their spears into pruning hooks.

A way in which every man will respect

the dignity and worth of all human personality.

A way in which every nation will allow justice to flow down like waters,

and righteousness like a mighty stream.

A way in which men will do justly, love mercy, and walk humbly with God.

A way in which men will be able to stand up,

and in the midst of oppression, in the midst of darkness and agony,

they will be able to stand there and love their enemies,

bless those persons that curse them,

pray for those individuals that despitefully use them.

And this is the way that will bring us once more into that society

which we think of as the brotherhood of man.

This will be that day when white people, colored people,

whether they are brown or whether they are yellow or whether they are black,

will join together and stretch out with their arms and be able to cry out:

“Free at last! Free at last! Great God Almighty, we are free at last!”

Martin Luther King, Jr. 1929 -1968, American pastor and civil rights activist

“Thou Dear God” Prayers That Open Hearts and Spirits

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Isaiah 35:8-10

And a highway will be there;
it will be called the Way of Holiness;
it will be for those who walk on that Way.
The unclean will not journey on it;
wicked fools will not go about on it.
No lion will be there,
nor any ravenous beast;
they will not be found there.
But only the redeemed will walk there,
and those the Lord has rescued will return.
They will enter Zion with singing;
everlasting joy will crown their heads.
Gladness and joy will overtake them,
and sorrow and sighing will flee away.

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