neighbor

Do you weep over my city?

/ Eric Mathews / Leave a comment
He wept over it by Enrique Simonet via Wikimedia Commons
 
This is my city, Lord:
I’ve flown over it,
driven around it,
walked through it,
and I love it.
Its concrete chasms, its quiet parks,
its massive buildings and its tiny houses,
its suburbs rich and poor.
But most of all, Lord, its people…
My city, Lord. Your city.
Remember, Lord, there was one city
over which you stood and wept.
Do you weep over this city?
With its hunger, its greed, its cruelty?
Its foolishness and heartbreak?
Lord, I believe you do.
 
prayer used over Belfast, Northern Ireland
A Procession of Prayers, edited by John Carden
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Luke 19:41-42 
 
And when he drew near and saw the city, he wept over it, saying,
“Would that you, even you, had known on this day
    the things that make for peace!
But now they are hidden from your eyes.”

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Question

How can you join with God and others 
    in praying for your neighborhood, your city, your country?

Drown my Transgressions

/ Eric Mathews / Leave a comment

image

 
O Father in heaven,
I come to You in lowliness of heart
begging You to drown my transgressions
in the sea of You own infinite love.

My failure to be true even to my own accepted standards,
My self-deception in the face of temptation,
My choosing the worse when I know the better,
       O Lord, forgive.
My failure to apply to myself the standards of conduct I demand of others,
My blindness to the suffering of others
   and my slowness to be taught by my own,
My complacence toward wrongs that do not touch my own case
   and my over-sensitiveness to those that do,
My slowness to see the good in my fellows
   and to see the evil in myself,
My hardness of heart towards my neighbors’ faults
   and my readiness to make allowance for my own,
My unwillingness to believe that You have called me to a small work
   and my brother to a great one.
      O Lord, forgive.

John Baillie, 1886–1960, Scottish theologian
A Diary of Private Prayer, slightly edited
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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. 

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Questions

What is it like for you when you come clean 

    and confess your heart’s attitudes to God?  
Have you ever felt cleansed and renewed by God’s spirit?

whatever you provide

/ Eric Mathews / Leave a comment
image via Wikimedia Commons
 
​Lord, give us all that the necessity of this life requires, day by day.

We do not want to store up a supply that would last for many years,
    to preclude all necessity of praying to you.
We do not want to forget you.
But minister it day by day,
    so that we may daily feel your benefits and never forget you.

Or if you give us an abundance above what we desire,
    then give us a heart to use it for the purpose you intend
    – including sharing with our neighbors.
Help us not to be overly attached to what you provide,
    but to remember it is yours,
    and that you may take it away whenever you like.

In that way help us to be content with whatever you do,
    always keeping in mind that whatever you provide
    is simply our daily bread.
Amen.

William Tyndale c.1492-1536 English Bible translator, martyred
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Proverbs 30:7-9

Two things I ask of you, Lord;
    do not refuse me before I die:
Keep falsehood and lies far from me;
    give me neither poverty nor riches,
    but give me only my daily bread.
Otherwise, I may have too much and disown you
    and say, ‘Who is the Lord?’
Or I may become poor and steal,
    and so dishonor the name of my God.


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Questions:

Are you content when God provides you with just the necessities?
When God provides an abundance, have you taken hold of opportunities to share?

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things I know that I should not wish for

/ Eric Mathews / Leave a comment
Do Not Covet (THE COMMANDMENTS)
image by loswl via Flickr CC BY-NC-ND 2.0
 
Father, I know that I should not wish for my neighbor’s (nicer) house, 
    or my neighbor’s (more beautiful/ handsome) spouse.  
I must not think to myself that I should have anything belonging to someone else –
    not ever the smallest thing. Not even their dog.
 
In the other nine commandments you have forbidden 
    all injuries and evil practices against my neighbors.  
Now you charge me to beware of thinking any evil thoughts against them.
 
And for this reason I have great reason to praise you.  
You care about my home and everything I own, even my dog, 
    and you command everyone else never to wish they had all my things, 
    instead of me.
 
The apostle said we should be 
    “casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you.” 
It is true, and I find it true. 
In this way you care for us, and so you would have us care for one another.
 
But gracious Lord, I must confess that I have forgotten 
    and have broken this commandment, and I still do every day.  
I am wishing and coveting every minute of every hour.  
I could have been content, 
    but I have always thought my neighbor had too much, and I too little.  
And the dregs of these things, Lord, are not quite out of my heart.  
I deserve your severe justice.
 
But keep in mind the frailty of my flesh, 
    the corruptions of my nature, and the many temptations.  
Remember how I am able to do nothing of myself – 
    and how I would come to nothing if left to myself.  
Be merciful and pardon me in this way also, for the sake of your son. 
Amen.
 
John Bradford, 1510-1555, English reformer and martyr
 
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You shall not covet your neighbor’s house; 
you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, 
or his male servant, or his female servant, 
or his ox, or his donkey, or anything that is your neighbor’s.

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my neighbor has injured me

/ Eric Mathews / Leave a comment
Photo by Rana via Pexels
My Lord Jesus Christ, 
    my neighbor has injured me,
    hurt my honor by talking about me,
    and interfered with my rights.
O God, hear my complaint.
    I would gladly feel kindly toward my neighbor,
        but I cannot.
    How totally cold and insensible I am.
 
O Lord, 
    I am helpless and forsaken.
    If you change me, I will be sincere.
O dear God, 
    change me by your grace,
        or I must remain as I am.
Amen.
 
Martin Luther, 1483-1546, German Reformer
 
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Even my close friend,
    someone I trusted,
one who shared my bread,
    has turned against me.

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loving Jesus, come into my soul

/ Eric Mathews / Leave a comment
image via pexels
 
O most gracious and loving Jesus,
    my Lord and my God,
    fountain of all grace.
  come into my soul with the fullness of your grace.
Jesus most patient, too long have I made you wait for me,
    yet come to me:  
        endure me a sinner, and make me, through your patience, 
        to endure all things, and to be patient with all.
Jesus most humble, make me through your humility so humble,
    that I may never lift up myself, 
    for anything against anyone, as to any one.
Jesus most loving, come with all your love into my soul,
    that I may love you with a burning love,
    and love each and everyone with your own love.
 
E.B. Pusey, 1800-1882, English churchman and leader of the Oxford Movement
 
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This is how God showed his love among us: 
He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. 
This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us 
    and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. 
Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. 
No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, 
    God lives in us and his love is made complete in us.

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