wisdom

Prayer at Election Time

/ Eric Mathews / Leave a comment

Photo by Element5 Digital on Unsplash  

 
Heavenly Father
source of all truth and wisdom, 
who knows and loves the whole creation,
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, 
the vulnerable and the frightened people of this world.

Holy Spirit,
who brought understanding
among myriad peoples and languages at Pentecost,
give to all your people a passion for peace
and inspire us to work for unity and cooperation throughout the world 
and in our political life together.

Lord, we give thanks for the privileges and responsibilities 
of living in a democratic society.
Give us wisdom to play our part at election time,
that through the exercise of each vote, 
your Kingdom may come closer.

Protect us from the sins of despair and cynicism, 
guard us against the idols of false utopias 
and strengthen us to make politics a noble calling 
that serves the common good of all.
We ask this in the name of Jesus Christ Our Lord.
Amen.
 
Unboxed Worship, Box Hill Baptist Church, Australia
 
___________________________
 
 
First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings
be made for all people, for kings and all who are in high positions,
that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way.

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Stretch forth Your hand to us

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Jesus Walks on Water, c. 1684, Ilyas Basim Khuri Bazzi Rahib, Wikimedia Commons

 
O Lord Jesus Christ, our Savior 
Stretch forth Your hand to us who are tossed about in this world 
    as You did to Peter sinking in the sea, 
    and with Your strength fortify us against the devil 
    who fights against us. 
Feed us with Your indescribable wisdom that governs all creation. 
Kind refuge for the storm-tossed, the one true course, 
    show us the way, and therein will we walk, 
    for we have offered our souls unto You.
Bestow on our foolishness Your spirit of true understanding. 
Bless our every work with the breath of Your greatness, 
    that at all times guided and sustained by Your Holy Spirit 
    we may in all things accomplish Your holy and all-perfect will.
 
Sophrony the Athonite, 1896-1993, Russian-born Orthodox Monk who lived 
 
________________________
 
 
Shortly before dawn Jesus went out to them, walking on the lake. 
When the disciples saw him walking on the lake, they were terrified. 
    “It’s a ghost,” they said, and cried out in fear.
But Jesus immediately said to them: 
    “Take courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid.”
    “Lord, if it’s you,” Peter replied, “tell me to come to you on the water.”
    “Come,” he said.
Then Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water and came toward Jesus. 
But when he saw the wind, he was afraid and, beginning to sink, cried out, 
    “Lord, save me!”
Immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him.
    “You of little faith,” he said, “why did you doubt?”

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reveal your divine authority in Palestine

/ Eric Mathews / Leave a comment
 
 
O rulers be prudent, O judges be disciplined.
Lord, many enemies desire to terminate the people of God in the Middle East.
They throw bombs at churches and blast our holy sites.
Their leaders are like Cain, Ahab, and Herod 
    because they unhesitatingly seek to kill their brothers and sisters.
 
Mercy has become extinct, and there is no compassion in their hearts.
    They destroy unity and make smiling illegal.
    All the refugees and the weak ones are crying out.
O Lord, your helpless boys and abandoned girls are suffering.
    They have been slaughtered like sheep.
Didn’t you promise to build your church?
Why don’t you listen?
 
Palestine, Syria, Egypt and the Arab world are crying out to you.
Please take away this cup.
Speak to the kings and make them reconsider.
Convince them to fear your anger and stop exterminating your people.
 
O Lord, give us great leaders.
Where is the wise Solomon? Where is David, the man after your own heart?
Where are Cyrus and Daniel who spread justice and peace?
O Lord, declare your holy anger against evil systems 
    that champion murder and defilement.
 
Have mercy on sinners but eradicate evil systems.
Deliver sinners but destroy oppressive systems.
Please annihilate slavery, bigotry, colonialism, neo-colonialism, 
    Nazism and dictatorships!
Please destroy every system that is rooted in sin.
 
Why don’t you reveal your divine authority 
    and destroy wickedness in every evil system?
May your people everywhere be able to live lives of quietness and tranquility?
You are the best judge!
 
Yohanna Katanacho, 1967 – , Palestinian Israeli evangelical theologian
 
____________________________
 
 
Why do the nations conspire
    and the peoples plot in vain?
The kings of the earth rise up
    and the rulers band together
    against the Lord and against his anointed, saying,
“Let us break their chains
    and throw off their shackles.”

The One enthroned in heaven laughs;
    the Lord scoffs at them.
He rebukes them in his anger
    and terrifies them in his wrath, saying,
“I have installed my king
    on Zion, my holy mountain.”

I will proclaim the Lord’s decree:

He said to me, “You are my son;
    today I have become your father.
Ask me,
    and I will make the nations your inheritance,
    the ends of the earth your possession.
You will break them with a rod of iron;
    you will dash them to pieces like pottery.”

Therefore, you kings, be wise;
    be warned, you rulers of the earth.
Serve the Lord with fear
    and celebrate his rule with trembling.
Kiss his son, or he will be angry
    and your way will lead to your destruction,
for his wrath can flare up in a moment.
    Blessed are all who take refuge in him.

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how the Spirit enlivens the faith within us

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Photo by Nathan Dumlao on Unsplash

 
 
O Father of all mercy, you have begun your work in us.
Continue to fill us with all the dimensions of wisdom and knowledge.
May we be fully certain in our hearts and fully aware how the Spirit,
    who has raised up our Lord,
    also enlivens the faith within us with the same power and strength.
Through him we have also risen from the dead by his mighty power,
    which works in us through your holy Word.
Help us to grow in the knowledge of your dear Son, our Lord Jesus Christ,
    and to remain firm in confessing his blessed Word.
 
Martin Luther, 1483 – 1546, German Reformer
 
______________________
 
 
Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, 
    teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, 
    singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, 
    with thankfulness in your hearts to God. 
And whatever you do, in word or deed, 
    do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, 
    giving thanks to God the Father through him.
 

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Spirit of the Lord, we need you

/ Eric Mathews / Leave a comment
image via pxhere CCO
 
 
Spirit, we know that we have done wrong by You.  
Please forgive us for grieving, resisting, and quenching You.  
We have resisted You through sin, through our rebellion, and through our hardness of heart.  
At times, we have been spiritually blind.  
At other times, we knew what You wanted us to do, 
    but we chose to ignore Your promptings.
Yet this is not how we want to live now
 
We need You to change us.  
Only through You can we truly worship.  
Spirit of the Lord, You are the one who brings us to a place where we can worship.  
You are the Spirit of truth, the Spirit of holiness, the Spirit of life. 
Thank You for the truth, the holiness and the life You give us.
 
We need Your wisdom and understanding as we seek to live this life.  
Keep us from disbelief, from fear.  
We need Your strength to help us do what you are asking us to do
    and to live how You are asking us to live.  
Speak loudly and drown out the other voices calling us 
    to conform to the patterns of this world.
 
You are the Spirit of self-control and love.  
Give us the self-control needed to deny our flesh and follow You.  
Give us a love strong enough to motivate courageous action.  
Manifest Yourself through us that we may serve and love Your bride the church, as You do.
 
Come, Holy Spirit, come.  
We don’t know exactly what that means and looks like for each of us yet, 
    in the particular places You’ve called us to inhabit.  
But, nonetheless, whatever it means, we ask for Your presence.  
Come, Holy Spirit, come.
 
Francis Chan, 1967- , American pastor and author
from Forgotten God, pg 165-166
 
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1 Corinthians 3:16

Do you not know that you are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in you?
 

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O comforting fire of Spirit

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Pentecost: Descent of the Holy Spirit,  French Mid-12th Century, CC BY-SA 2.0
 
 
O comforting fire of Spirit,
Life, within the very Life of all Creation.
Holy you are in giving life to All.

Holy you are in anointing
those who are not whole;
Holy you are in cleansing
a festering wound.

O sacred breath,
O fire of love,
O sweetest taste in my breast
which fills my heart
with a fine aroma of virtues.

O most pure fountain
through whom it is known
that God has united strangers
and inquired after the lost.

O breastplate of life
and hope of uniting
all members as One,
O sword-belt of honor,
enfold those who offer blessing.

Care for those
who are imprisoned by the enemy
and dissolve the bonds of those
whom Divinity wishes to save.

O mightiest path which penetrates All,
from the height to every Earthly abyss,
you compose All, you unite All.

Through you clouds stream, ether flies,
stones gain moisture,
waters become streams,
and the earth exudes Life.

You always draw out knowledge,
bringing joy through Wisdom’s inspiration.

Therefore, praise be to you
who are the sound of praise
and the greatest prize of Life,
who are hope and richest honor
bequeathing the reward of Light.
 
St. Hildegard of Bingen, 1098 – 1179, German, composer, Benedictine abbess
 
_______________________
 
 
But when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, 
    not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. 
He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, 
    he poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior, 
    so that, having been justified by his grace, 
    we might become heirs having the hope of eternal life.
 

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wise as serpents, innocent as doves

/ Eric Mathews / Leave a comment
dove surrounded by snake, Lichfield Cathedral, CC BY-NC-SA 2.0
 
Dear Lord, you have sent me into this world to preach your word.
So often the problems of this world seem so complex and intricate
    that your word strikes me as embarrassingly simple.
Many times I feel tongue-tied in the company of people
    who are dealing with the world’s social and economic problems.
But you, O Lord, said, “Be clever as serpents and innocent as doves.”
Let me retain innocence and simplicity in the midst of this complex world.
I realize that I have to be informed,
     that I have to study the many aspects of the problems facing the world,
     and that I have to try to understand as well as possible 
     the dynamics of our contemporary society.
But what really counts in that all this information, knowledge, and insight
    allows me to speak more clearly and unambiguously 
    your truthful word.
Do not allow evil powers to seduce me with the complexities of the world’s problems,
    but give me the strength to think clearly, speak freely, and act boldly in your service.
Give me the courage to show the dove in a world so full of serpents.
 
Henri J.M. Nouwen, 1932 – 1996, Dutch-born Catholic priest and author 
 
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Behold, I am sending you out as sheep in the midst of wolves, 
    so be wise as serpents and innocent as doves. 
Beware of men, for they will deliver you over to courts and flog you in their synagogues, 
    and you will be dragged before governors and kings for my sake, 
    to bear witness before them and the Gentiles. 
When they deliver you over, do not be anxious how you are to speak or what you are to say, 
    for what you are to say will be given to you in that hour. 
For it is not you who speak, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you.

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as we follow you down the Road to Calvary

/ Eric Mathews / Leave a comment
Old Jerusalem Ramparts / Utilisateur:Djampa, CC BY-SA 4.0 / Wikimedia Commons
 
O Christ, as we walk through the land that you loved,
    in the country where you lived and taught,
    grant us the grace and wisdom to see clearly
          and understand deeply
    that all you suffered was for the sake of redeeming humanity.
Through your life, death, and resurrection,
    you have made it possible for us to have life,
    and have it more abundantly.

O Christ, as we follow you down the Road to Calvary,
   Guide us to become active participants, not curious bystanders.
O Christ, as we stand with the mourners at the Cross,
   Give us the love that can forgive those who trespass against us.
O Christ, as we witness the new life given to us
        through your Resurrection,
   Empower us with faith to act and spread the Good News.

Palestinian women of Jerusalem 
Prayers Encircling the World

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Luke 23:26-27

As the soldiers led him away, they seized Simon from Cyrene, 
    who was on his way in from the country, 
    and put the cross on him and made him carry it behind Jesus. 
A large number of people followed him, 
    including women who mourned and wailed for him.

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important and unimportant

/ Eric Mathews / Leave a comment
image / geralt / pixabay
 
O God, our Father, forgive us that we so often give our best to the wrong things.
 
Sometimes we put far more enthusiasm and thought and effort into our pleasures and our games and our amusement than we do into our work.
 
Sometimes we keep our best behavior for strangers and our worst behavior for our own homes; and we treat our nearest and dearest with a discourtesy and disregard we would never show to strangers.
 
Sometimes we get irritated and annoyed and angry about things which in our calmer moments we know do not matter.
 
Sometimes we lose our temper in an argument about trifles.
 
Sometimes we allow very little things to cause a quarrel with a friend.
 
Help us to see what is important and what is unimportant, so that we may never forget the things that matter, and so that we may never allow the things which do not matter to matter too much.
 
William Barclay, 1907-1978, minister in the Church of Scotland
 
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Whoever restrains his words has knowledge,
    and he who has a cool spirit is a man of understanding.
Even a fool who keeps silent is considered wise;
    when he closes his lips, he is deemed intelligent.
 

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Thank You for the trials

/ Eric Mathews / Leave a comment
Photo by Dorothy Lin on Unsplash
 
Lord, I do not see many people who are happy.
I see more people who are vexed by troubles 
    and overcome with anguish at their difficulties. . . .
Sometimes, I too am derailed by trials. . . .
I am tempted to see trials as only negative 
    because I like to think that I’m in control. . . .
I am tempted to see trials as negative 
    because I tend to think that this life matters most. . . .
Remind me that there is a limit to my perspective and wisdom. . . .
I do not see all there is to see.
Remind me that Jesus suffered and He was completely innocent. . . .
If He suffered, I too may experience suffering.
Remind me that this world is temporary. . . .
I will not be satisfied in this life.
So I thank You today for the trials You have allowed in my life. . . .
I thank You for being my fortress and strength. . . .
    and for giving me perseverance. . . .
Thank You for what these trials are doing in me –
    developing maturity and completeness.
Amen.
 
Kurt Bjorklund, 1968- , American Minister and author of
Prayers for Today A Yearlong Journey of Devotional Prayer

_________________
 
 
Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters,whenever you face trials of many kinds,
   because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance

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