Shine your Light through us

December 19, 2025December 17, 2025 / Eric Mathews / Leave a comment

Stained Glass Window via flickr CC BY 2.0

O God, this Advent season is a time
when your light radiates through the world.
Inasmuch as we can,
let us be bright for you.

Shine your light through us
as though we were pieces of stained-glass window.
Flow through us into others
as the warm glow of colors seeps into a church.

Fill us with your light
as though we were lighthouses on the shore.
Use us to guide others
and to keep them from danger.

Set us aflame with your light
as though we were candles, even candles in a storm.
Enable us to burn steadily with your fiery spirit
and to push aside all forms of darkness.

Turn us on with your light
as though we were Christmas bulbs
all connected to one another.
Help us as a community of faith to celebrate
the sparkling good news of your Son’s coming birth.

Be present with us, God, throughout the Advent season
as we live and worship in our wait
for the One who is the world’s light.
Amen

Glen Raisley

The Westminster Collection of Christian Prayers

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Isaiah 60:1-3

Arise, shine, for your light has come,
and the glory of the Lord rises upon you.
See, darkness covers the earth
and thick darkness is over the peoples,
but the Lord rises upon you
and his glory appears over you.
Nations will come to your light,
and kings to the brightness of your dawn.

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How can you join with others in shining the Light of Jesus?

may the Holy Spirit work in the Church today

August 13, 2025 / Eric Mathews / Leave a comment

Ethiopian Rock-Hewn Church, Flickr

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.

Francis M Kamau, Kenya

Prayers Encircling the World, slightly modified

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Acts 9:31

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

July 31, 2025August 4, 2025 / 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

Fount of Heaven: Prayers of the Early Church

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1 Peter 5:1-4

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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Give us the grace to admit . . .

March 21, 2025March 20, 2025 / 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

The Ragamuffin Gospel

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Hebrews 4:16

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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Help me to live your Gospel

April 5, 2023April 4, 2023 / Eric Mathews / Leave a comment

Woe unto You, Scribes and Pharisees, James Tissot, Brooklyn Museum

Lord, it is too late for you to be quiet,

you have spoken too much;

you have fought too much;

You were not sensible, you know,

you exaggerated, it was bound to happen.

You called the better people a breed of vipers;

You told them that their hearts were black sepulchers

with fine exteriors;

You kissed the decaying lepers;

You spoke fearlessly with unacceptable strangers;

You ate with notorious sinners,

and you said that the street-walkers would be the first in Paradise;

You got on well with the poor, the tramps, the crippled;

You belittled the religious regulations;

Your interpretations of the Law reduced it to one little commandment:

to love.

Now they are avenging themselves.

They have taken steps against you;

they have approached the authorities and action wlll follow.

Lord, I know that if I try to live a little like you,

I shall be condemned.

I am afraid.

They are already singling me out.

Some smile at me, others laugh, some are shocked,

and several of my friends are about to drop me.

I am afraid to stop,

I am afraid to listen to men’s wisdom.

It whispers: you must go forward little by little,

everything can’t be taken literally,

it’s better to come to terms with the adversary . . .

And yet, Lord, I know that you are right.

Help me to fight,

Help me to speak,

Help me to live your Gospel,

To the end,

To the folly of the Cross.

Michel Quoist,1918 – 1997, French Catholic priest and writer
Prayers of Life

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John 12:23-26

Jesus replied, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified.

Very truly I tell you, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies,

it remains only a single seed.

But if it dies, it produces many seeds.

Anyone who loves their life will lose it,

while anyone who hates their life in this world will keep it for eternal life.

Whoever serves me must follow me; and where I am, my servant also will be.

My Father will honor the one who serves me.”

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Create in me a clean heart

May 6, 2022May 5, 2022 / Eric Mathews / Leave a comment

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

Luther‘s Prayers

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Psalm 51:10-12

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.