poor
Do you weep over my city?

let me practice pure religion

Prayers for Today A Yearlong Journey of Devotional Prayer
blessings of home

Bless those who have to live away from home
in lodgings and boarding-houses and hotels.
Bless those who have been left alone,
and who are solitary now.
Bless those who are searching or waiting for a house.
Specially bless young couples who have to live in furnished rooms,
or with relatives, and who have never had the chance
to be alone together and to have a home of their own.
Bless those who keep house for other people,
and who have no house of their own.
Bless old people who are coming to the end in some institution
which is very comfortable but which is still not home.
Help us who have the blessing of a good home
to keep an open heart and an open door
to those less fortunate than ourselves.
This we ask for your love’s sake. Amen.
from the Audenshaw prayers, UK
to see the human predicament

Cusp of midnight

God says soon
What Joseph needs now
God says not long
What the peacemakers seek now
God says hold your breath a little longer
What the hungry long for now
God says hush but a moment
What the poor yearn for now
God says, wait a little more
What the lonely hunger for now
God says shortly
What the forgotten thirst for now
God says presently
What the world aches for now
God says soon and very soon
Time is moving towards incarnation
justice is slipping into skin
peace is labouring
truth is taking human shape
this night
this hour
this moment
soon
Praise to God our King

Praise the Lord, my soul.
I will praise the Lord all my life;
I will sing praise to my God as long as I live.
Do not put your trust in princes,
in human beings, who cannot save.
When their spirit departs, they return to the ground;
on that very day their plans come to nothing.
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.
The Lord watches over the foreigner
and sustains the fatherless and the widow,
but he frustrates the ways of the wicked.
The Lord reigns forever,
your God, O Zion, for all generations.
Praise the Lord.
Prayer for Election Time

source of all truth and wisdom,
watch over our nation at election time:
that truth may prevail over distortion,
wisdom triumph over recklessness
and the concerns of every person be heard.
Lord Jesus,
who chose the way of the cross in the Garden of Gethsemane,
help us to turn our backs on self interest
and to support policies that sustain the poor,
Holy Spirit,
who brought understanding
give to all your people a passion for peace
and inspire us to work for unity and cooperation throughout the world
Lord, we give thanks for the privileges and responsibilities
Protect us from the sins of despair and cynicism,
We ask this in the name of Jesus Christ Our Lord.
Amen.
Pondering the small ways

Our dwelling places

my house or apartment, my dorm or condo;
my neighborhood, parish and local community;
where I work, where I study, where I pray;
my dwelling places are many….
First of all, I thank you, Lord,
to a place, to a room with a roof overhead,
the place I call home,
but how many in need would deem it a palace
for its locks and safety, its light and warmth, a fridge with food,
for it’s being a place to return to each night
I thank you for my dwelling place, Lord:
let me not take it for granted
and keep me generously mindful
of those who have no place they might call home…
And how lovely is your dwelling place,
O Lord of hosts…
Your dwelling is the universe and all the heavens
– and beyond the heavens, Lord…
Your dwelling has no roof, no walls,
no beginning and no end…
The beauty of your dwelling’s beyond anything
my mind might conceive or my dreams imagine
and yet – your dwelling place is with me and in me…
You who cannot be confined,
you choose to dwell within my soul
and make your home within my heart…
You, whom all creation can’t contain,
you enter my humble quarters,
the spare, simple chambers of my heart,
and there, in Spirit, make yourself at home…
And, Lord, as you can see,
I’m seldom ready for company,
for receiving any guests at all,
let alone, you, the greatest guest of all…
So, please forgive me,
(indeed, forgive me, Lord!)
for my house is not in order, not yet or ever ready
to be a place where you might dwell
a place you might call home…
And yet, you come, you enter and you stay
and you don’t leave, you don’t go away,
you remain within me, always,
and in making my heart your home
you make of your heart a home for me…
Amen.