presence

You are my God, my Life, my holy Delight

/ Eric Mathews / Leave a comment
image via Pixabay
 
 
What, then, is the God I worship? 
He can be none but the Lord God himself, for who but the Lord is God? 
What other refuge can there be, except our God?
You, my God, are supreme, utmost in goodness: 
    mightiest and all-powerful, most merciful and most just. 
You are the most hidden from us and yet the most present amongst us, 
    the most beautiful and yet the most strong, 
    ever enduring and yet we cannot comprehend you. 
You are unchangeable and yet you change all things. 
You are never new, never old, and yet all things have new life from you. 
You are the unseen power that brings decline upon the proud. 
You are ever active, yet always at rest.
You gather all things to yourself, though you suffer no need. 
You support, you fill, and you protect all things. 
You create them, nourish them, and bring them to perfection. 
You seek to make them your own, though you lack for nothing. 
You love your creatures, but with a gentle love. 
You treasure them, but without apprehension. 
You grieve for wrong, but suffer no pain. 
You can be angry and yet serene. 
Your works are varied, but your purpose is one and the same. 
You welcome all who come to you, though you never lost them. 
You are never in need yet are glad to gain, 
    never covetous yet you exact a return for your gifts.
We give abundantly to you so that we may deserve a reward; 
    yet which of us has anything that does not come from you? 
You repay us what we deserve, and yet you owe nothing to any. 
You release us from our debts, but you lose nothing thereby. 
You are my God, my Life, my holy Delight, 
    but is this enough to say of you? 
Can any man say enough when he speaks of you? 
Yet woe betide those who are silent about you! 
For even those who are most gifted with speech
    cannot find words to describe you.
 
St. Augustine of Hippo, 354-430
 
_________________
 
 
Through him then let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, 
    that is, the fruit of lips that acknowledge his name.

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Jesus, Lord of Salvation

/ Eric Mathews / Leave a comment
 
 
How is it, dearest Jesus, 
    that you graciously reached down to visit your chosen, 
    even so long before your time on earth? 
To tell your people that your thoughts were good, and not evil?
 
When you appeared to Joshua in human form 
    as Captain of the Lord’s host, 
he instantly knew your glorious character as Mediator, 
    and fell to the earth in adoration.
 
Hail then, you almighty Lord, you Captain of the Lord’s host,
    and of my salvation! 
You have entered the holy war and led captivity captive.  
You have fully conquered Satan and sin, and death, and hell, 
    for your people.
 
And you will surely conquer all those tremendous foes of ours, 
    in your people, and bruise Satan under our feet shortly. 
Indeed, dear Lord, you have already brought them under, 
    for by your sovereign grace in the hearts of your redeemed, 
    you have made your people “willing in the day of your power.”
 
By the sword of your Spirit, you have convinced my soul of sin, 
   and by the arrows of your quiver, 
    you have wounded my heart with deep contrition for sin. 
Lord, I fall before you, as your servant Joshua did, and worship you.
 
And with all the church of the redeemed, 
    both in heaven and earth, we cheerfully confess  
  “that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” 
Amen!
 
Robert Hawker, 1753-1827, Anglican Priest
 
_____________________
 
 
When Joshua was near the town of Jericho, 
    he looked up and saw a man standing in front of him 
    with sword in hand. 
Joshua went up to him and demanded, “Are you friend or foe?”
“Neither one,” he replied. “I am the commander of the Lord’s army.”

At this, Joshua fell with his face to the ground in reverence.

“I am at your command,” Joshua said. 
“What do you want your servant to do?”

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God of good ideas

/ Eric Mathews / Leave a comment
image, Bureau of Land Management, CC0 via flickr
 
 
God of good ideas,
    who began the world
    with light and word,
    who began again
    with flood and rainbow;
we acknowledge our frustrations with your church:
    its committees and structures,
    its method and systems.
These things have made us angry and sapped our energy.
 
God of new beginnings
    who began a new way
    of living with resurrection,
    who began a new community
    with tongues of fire;
    begin again here
    that structures may bend
    like dancing saplings;
    the past, present and future
    may be woven into 
    a fresh path of commitment.
 
May our ideas for your world and this community
    resonate in your presence,
    so that tested, tried, and challenged
    they may blossom in us
    as do dry places
    when longed-for rain falls.
 
Janet Lees
 
________________________
 
 
Sing to the Lord a new song,
    his praise from the end of the earth,
you who go down to the sea, and all that fills it,
    the coastlands and their inhabitants.
Let the desert and its cities lift up their voice,
    the villages that Kedar inhabits;
let the habitants of Sela sing for joy,
    let them shout from the top of the mountains.
Let them give glory to the Lord,
    and declare his praise in the coastlands.

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Just let me feel Your hands

/ Eric Mathews / Leave a comment
image, James Tissot, via Wikimedia Commons
 
I see Your hands,
not white and manicured,
but scarred and scratched and competent,
reach out –
not always to remove the weight I carry,
but to shift its balance, ease it,
make it bearable.
Lord, if this is where You want me,
I’m content.
No, not quite true. I wish it were.
All I can say, in honesty, is this:
If this is where I’m meant to be,
I’ll stay. And try.
Just let me feel Your hands.
And, Lord, for all who hurt today – 
hurt more than me –
I ask for strength and that flicker of light,
the warmth, that says You’re there.
 
Eddie Askew, 1927-2007, English director of the Leprosy Mission
 
_______________________
 
 
Then people brought little children to Jesus
    for him to place his hands on them and pray for them. 
But the disciples rebuked them.
Jesus said, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, 
    for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.” 
When he had placed his hands on them, he went on from there.
 

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wholeness of mind

/ Eric Mathews / Leave a comment
image by Elyas Pasban via Unsplash
 
 
Lord Jesus Christ,
you healed those who suffered
in mind as well as body.
Look in your compassion 
on people among us who are mentally ill.
 
We pray for all
    who are driven by depression to the depths of despair
    who attempt to end their own lives
    who are victims of obsession
    who are persecuted by the voices they hear
    who live in a world of their own
    who are violent or withdrawn
    who are plagued by religious delusions.
 
Take from them all unreality.
Help them to know that in the depths
    you search for them
  and that in your presence
    you hold them secure.
Grant to them wholeness of mind
so that they may be at peace,
    at one with themselves
    and at one with you.
We ask this for your name’s sake.
 
Neville Smith
 
________________________
 
 
Jesus traveled throughout the region of Galilee, 
    teaching in the synagogues 
    and announcing the Good News about the Kingdom. 
And he healed every kind of disease and illness. 
News about him spread as far as Syria, 
    and people soon began bringing to him all who were sick. 
And whatever their sickness or disease, 
    or if they were demon possessed or epileptic or paralyzed—
    he healed them all.

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Teach us to pray

/ Eric Mathews / 1 Comment
image via Flickr, CC BY-SA 2.0 DEED
 

Lord, teach us to pray.

Some of us are not skilled in the art of prayer.  
As we draw near to you in thought, our spirits long for your Spirit, 
    and reach out for you, longing to feel you near. 
We do not know how to express the deepest emotions 
    that lie hidden in our hearts.

In these moments, we have no polished phrases 
    with which to impress one another, 
    no finely molded, delicately turned clauses to present to you. 
Nor would we be confined to conventional petitions, 
    repeating our prayers like reverent mantras. 
We know, our Father, that we are closest to you 
    when we have left behind 
    the things that have held us captive for so long.

We do not want to be ignorant in prayer and, like children, 
    make shopping lists for you.  
Rather, we pray that you will give unto us only what we really need. 
We do not  want to make our prayers so that they annoy you, 
    an omnipotent God, so that you do what we want you to do. 
Rather, give us the vision, the courage, 
    that enlarges our horizons and stretches our faith 
    to the adventure of seeking your loving will for our lives

We thank you that you are hearing us even now. 
We thank you for the grace of prayer. 
We thank you for yourself.
 
Peter Marshall, 1902 – 1949, Chaplain of the US Senate
HarperCollins Book of Prayers, freely modified
 
____________________________
 
 
But when you pray, go into your room, close the door 
    and pray to your Father, who is unseen. 
Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, 
    will reward you. 
And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, 
    for they think they will be heard because of their many words. 
Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need 
    before you ask him.

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to share in your triumph

/ Eric Mathews / Leave a comment

painting by Duccio di Buoninsegna, via Wikimedia Commons

 
O Christ, the brightness of God’s glory
    and express image of his person,
  whom death could not conquer,
    nor the tomb imprison;
as you have shared our mortal frailty in the flesh,
    help us to share your immortal triumph in the spirit.
Let no shadow of the grave affright us
    and no fear of darkness turn our hearts from you.
Reveal yourself to us as the first and the last,
    that Living One, 
    our immortal Savior and Lord.
Amen.
 
Henry Van Dyke, 1852 – 1933, American diplomat and Presbyterian clergyman
________________________
 
 
But our citizenship is in heaven. 
And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ,
    who, by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control, 
    will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body.

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answering our askings

/ Eric Mathews / 2 Comments
 
Lord God, 
  grant us to see that 
      even as the Word must become flesh,
      the prayer must become physical:
  grant our prayers 
      eyes to see the invisible,
      ears to hear the inaudible,
      lips to voice the unspeakable,
      hands to clutch the intangible.
Then to complete the body of yearning,
  equip our prayers with 
      legs to step out on faith,
      legs to progress one step at a time,
      legs to walk with our Savior
  in answering our very own askings.
In the name of Jesus Christ.
Amen.
 
Cecil L. Murray, 1929 – , African American Pastor and Ethicist
 
__________________________
 
 
And they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and the fellowship, 
    to the breaking of bread and the prayers. 
And awe came upon every soul, 
    and many wonders and signs were being done through the apostles.  
And all who believed were together and had all things in common.  
And they were selling their possessions and belongings 
    and distributing the proceeds to all, 
    as any had need.

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to become people of your light

/ Eric Mathews / Leave a comment
Adorazione dei Magi by Bartolomé Esteban Murillo via Wikimedia Commons
 
 
On Epiphany day,
     we are still the people walking.
     We are still people in the dark,
          and the darkness looms large around us,
          beset as we are by fear,
                                        anxiety,
                                        brutality,
                                        violence,
                                        loss —
          a dozen alienations that we cannot manage.

We are — we could be — people of your light.
     So we pray for the light of your glorious presence
          as we wait for your appearing;
     we pray for the light of your wondrous grace
          as we exhaust our coping capacity;
     we pray for your gift of newness that
          will override our weariness;
     we pray that we may see and know and hear and trust
          in your good rule.

That we may have energy, courage, and freedom to enact
         your rule through the demands of this day.
         We submit our day to you and to your rule, 

                                  with deep joy and high hope.
 
Walter Brueggemann, 1933 – 2025,  American Protestant Old Testament theologian
Prayers for a Privileged People
 
________________________________
 
 
After this interview the wise men went their way. 
And the star they had seen in the east guided them to Bethlehem. 
It went ahead of them and stopped over the place where the child was. 
When they saw the star, they were filled with joy! 
They entered the house and saw the child with his mother, Mary, 
    and they bowed down and worshiped him. 
Then they opened their treasure chests 
    and gave him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh.

Reveal yourself to us

/ Eric Mathews / Leave a comment
Fresco from the great Cloister of Santa Maria Novella in Florence / Lawrence OP
 
 
O Christ, the brightness of God’s glory 
    and express image of his person,
    whom death could not conquer,
    nor the tomb imprison;
  as you have shared our mortal frailty in the flesh,
    help us to share your immortal triumph in the spirit.
Let no shadow of the grave affright us 
    and no fear of darkness turn our hearts from you.
Reveal yourself to us as the first and the last,
    the Living One, our immortal Savior and Lord.
Amen,
 
Henry Van Dyke, 1852 – 1933, American diplomat and Presbyterian clergyman
 
_____________________
 
 
As they were talking about these things, 
Jesus himself stood among them, and said to them, 
    “Peace to you!” 
But they were startled and frightened and thought they saw a spirit. 
And he said to them, 
    “Why are you troubled, and why do doubts arise in your hearts?
     See my hands and my feet, that it is I myself. 
     Touch me, and see. 
     For a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see that I have.” 
And when he had said this, he showed them his hands and his feet.
 

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