You, Who Are

October 6, 2021October 5, 2021 / Eric Mathews / Leave a comment

_{Transfiguration / Giovanni Bellini / Wikimedia Commons}

You, who are over us,

You, who are one of us,

You, who are –

Also within us,

May all see You – in me also,

May I prepare the way for You,

May I thank You for all that shall fall to my lot,

May I also not forget the needs of others,

Keep me in Your love

As You desire that all should be kept in mine.

May everything in this, my being, be directed to Your glory

And may I never despair.

For I am under Your hand,

And in You is all power and goodness.

Give me a pure heart – that I may see You,

A humble heart – that I may hear You,

A heart of love – that I may serve You,

A heart of faith – that I may abide in You.

Dag Hammarskjöld, 1905 – 1961, Swedish diplomat, UN Secretary General

Markings freely modified

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Psalm 24:1-6

The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it,
the world, and all who live in it;
for he founded it on the seas
established it on the waters.

Who may ascend the mountain of the Lord?
Who may stand in his holy place?
The one who has clean hands and a pure heart,
who does not trust in an idol
or swear by a false god.

They will receive blessing from the Lord
and vindication from God their Savior.
Such is the generation of those who seek him,
who seek your face, God of Jacob

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God of the high and holy places

August 24, 2021August 23, 2021 / Eric Mathews / 1 Comment

God of the high and holy places
where I catch a glimpse of your glory,
above the low levels of life,
above the evil and emptiness which drags me down,
beyond the limits of my senses and imagination,
you lift me up.

In the splendour of a sunset,
in the silence of the stars,
in the grandeur of the mountains,
in the vastness of the sea,
you lift me up.

In the majesty of music,
in the mystery of art,
in the freshness of morning,
in the fragrance of a single flower,
you lift me up.

Awe-inspiring God,
when I am lost in wonder
and lost for words,
receive the homage of my silent worship
but do not let me be content to bear your beauty and be still.
Go with me to the places where I live and work.
Lift the veil of reticence behind which I hide.
Give me the courage to speak of the things which move me,
with simple and unselfconscious delight.
Help me to share my glimpses of glory
until others are drawn to your light.

Rev. Jean Mortimer, Minister in the United Reformed Church, UK

The Complete Book of Christian Prayer

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Psalm 19:1-4

The heavens declare the glory of God;
the skies proclaim the work of his hands.
Day after day they pour forth speech;
night after night they reveal knowledge.
They have no speech, they use no words;
no sound is heard from them.
Yet their voice goes out into all the earth,
their words to the ends of the world.

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resplendent Jesus, have mercy

August 9, 2021August 9, 2021 / Eric Mathews / Leave a comment

O Lord; O King, resplendent in the citadel of heaven, all hail continually;

and of your clemency upon your people still have mercy.

Lord, whom the hosts of cherubim in songs and hymns

with praise continually proclaim, upon us eternally have mercy.

The armies aloft, O Lord, sing praise to you;

those to whom the seraphim reply, ‘have mercy.’

O Christ, enthroned as king above,

whom the nine orders of angels in their beauty

praise without ceasing,

upon us, your servants, ever have mercy.

O Christ, hymned by your one and only church throughout the world,

to whom the sun, and moon, and stars, the land and sea,

ever do service, have mercy.

O Christ, those holy ones, the heirs of the eternal country,

one and all with utter joy proclaim you in a must worthy strain:

have mercy upon us.

O Lord, O gentle son of Mary free;

O King of kings, blessed redeemer;

upon those who have been ransomed from the power of death,

by your own blood, even have mercy.

O noblest unbegotten, yet begotten Son, having no beginning,

yet without effort (in the weakness of God) excelling all things,

upon this your people in your pity, Lord have mercy.

O sun of righteousness, in all unclouded glory,

supreme dispenser of justice,

in that great day when you strictly judge all nations,

we earnestly beseech you, upon this your people,

who here stand before your presence,

in your pity, Lord, then have mercy on us.

Dunstan, c. 909 – 988, English monastic and bishop

2000 Years of Prayer

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Hebrews 4:16

Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence,

so that we may receive mercy

and find grace to help us in our time of need.

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restoring worship

July 13, 2021July 12, 2021 / Eric Mathews / Leave a comment

_{image / Lawrence OP / Flickr / CC BY-NC-ND 2.0}

O God, be Thou exalted over my possessions.

Nothing of earth’s treasures shall seem dear to me,

if only You are glorified in my life.

Be Thou exalted over my friendships.

I am determined that You shall be above all,

though I must stand deserted and alone in the midst of the earth.

Be Thou exalted above my comforts.

Though it means the loss of bodily comforts

and the carrying of heavy crosses,

I shall keep my vow made this day before You.

Be Thou exalted over my reputation.

Make me ambitious to please You

even if as a result I must sink into obscurity

and my name be forgotten as a dream.

Rise, O Lord, into Your proper place of honor,

above my ambitions, above my likes and dislikes,

above my family, my health and even my life itself.

Let me decrease that You may increase;

let me sink that You may rise above.

Ride forth upon me as You rode into Jerusalem

mounted on the humble little beast, a colt, the foul of a donkey,

and let me hear the children cry to You, “Hosanna in the highest.”

A. W. Tozer, 1897 – 1963, American pastor, author and spiritual mentor

The Pursuit of God, slightly modernized

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John 3:30-31

He must become greater and greater, and I must become less and less.
He has come from above and is greater than anyone else.

We are of the earth, and we speak of earthly things,

but he has come from heaven and is greater than anyone else.

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Risen Lord, we come to you

April 14, 2021April 13, 2021 / Eric Mathews / Leave a comment

_{At the Throne of Grace / Lawrence OP / Flickr / CC BY-NC-ND 2.0}

Risen Lord, we come to confess our sins.

Our hearts are full of impatience, frustration,

and sometimes even bitterness with one another.

We find it hard to be accepting.

Break the seals, Lord, roll away the stone,

rip open the protective bandages.

Breathe the breath of life into our cold, dead hearts.

Risen Lord, we come to petition you.

Our minds are so often full of doubt

and we are shy about sharing

the good news of your resurrection.

Break the seals, Lord, roll away the stone,

rip open the protective bandages.

Breathe the breath of life into our cold, dead hearts.

Risen Lord, we come to adore you.

We desire to know you as living Lord

and to experience your vitality within us.

Break the seals, Lord, roll away the stone,

rip open the protective bandages.

Breathe the breath of life into our cold, dead hearts.

Risen Lord, we come to worship you.

The world waits for your coming through us.

We want to be filled with joy

and to have the freedom to be your true disciples.

As we come, we thank you that you do break the seals, Lord,

you roll away the stone and rip open the protective bandages.

You breathe the breath of life into our cold, dead hearts,

and by your resurrection we are made new.

prayer from New Zealand

A Procession of Prayers: Prayers and Meditations from Around the World

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Acts 4:33

With great power the apostles were giving testimony

to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus,

and great grace was on all of them.

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to celebrate Christ’s victory

January 4, 2021January 3, 2021 / Eric Mathews / Leave a comment

Thanks be to God, the almighty,

the king of the universe, for all his mercies,

and heartfelt thanks to the Savior and Redeemer of our souls,

Jesus Christ, through whom we pray

that his peace may keep us stable and unshaken

from troubles outside and troubles within the heart.

Let me obediently sing aloud the new song,

because after those terrifying dark sights and stories

I was now privileged to see and celebrate such things

that many righteous men and martyrs of God before us

desired to see on earth and did not see,

and to hear and did not hear.

But they attained far better things in heaven; whereas I,

acknowledging that even my present lot is better than I deserve,

have been more than amazed at the bountiful grace of its author,

and am duly filled with wonder,

worshipping him with my soul’s full strength.

Eusebius of Caesarea, c. 260- c.340, Christian historian and bishop

2000 Years of Prayer freely modified

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Revelation 12:10-12

And I heard a loud voice in heaven, saying, “Now the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God and the authority of his Christ have come, for the accuser of our brothers has been thrown down, who accuses them day and night before our God. And they have conquered him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, for they loved not their lives even unto death. Therefore, rejoice, O heavens and you who dwell in them! But woe to you, O earth and sea, for the devil has come down to you in great wrath, because he knows that his time is short!”

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Praise to God our King

November 5, 2020November 5, 2020 / Eric Mathews / Leave a comment

Jesus Christ enthroned / by Ted / CC BY-NC 2.0

Before I call others to praise you,

my spirit will kneel down to honor you.

Make me today a choir

with many songs and heavenly strings that praise you.

Before I explain the futility of human salvation,

I bow down to worship you.

Before I knock at the doors of the strong,

I bend down to seek you.

Before I start unpacking my worries,

I sing and thank you.

You are the one who brings forth justice to the oppressed, feeds the poor, and releases the prisoners. You freed the oppressed Joseph and Jeremiah from jail. In the lion’s pit, you were with Daniel, and you released Peter from chains. Rhoda shared the good news that the Lord answers the prayers of the godly ones. You freed your people from the chains of oppression, just as the prophets foretold.

You opened the eyes of the blind, and my own eyes have seen the glory of heaven. How many eyes have been bound by moral darkness? But with your light, they can see heavenly glories. You have straightened the bent ones and have relieved our worries. You have searched for the marginalized and taken care of the widows, the orphans, and the strangers.

O Lord, rule over my country, and let the evil of the enemy end!

Yohanna Katanacho, 1967 – , Palestinian Israeli evangelical theologian

Praying through the Psalms

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Psalm 146

Praise the Lord.
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.

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All-transcendent God!

August 21, 2020August 20, 2020 / Eric Mathews / Leave a comment

O All-Transcendent God
what words can hymn Your praises?
No word does You justice.
What mind can probe Your secret?
No mind can encompass You.
You are alone beyond the power of speech,
yet all that we speak stems from You.
You are alone beyond the power of thought,
yet all that we can conceive springs from You.
All things proclaim You,
those endowed with reason and those bereft of it.
All the expectation and pain of the world coalesces in You.
All things utter a prayer to You,
a silent hymn composed by You.
You sustain everything that exists,
and all things move together to Your orders.
You are the goal of all that exists.
You are one and You are all,
yet You are none of the things that exist,
neither a part nor the whole.
You can avail Yourself of any name;
how shall I call You,
the only unnameable?
All-transcendent God!

Gregory of Nazianzus, 329-389, Archbishop of Constantinople
The Encyclopedia of Prayer and Praise

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Psalm 95:1-7
Oh come, let us sing to the Lord;
let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation!
Let us come into his presence with thanksgiving;
let us make a joyful noise to him with songs of praise!
For the Lord is a great God,
and a great King above all gods.
In his hand are the depths of the earth;
the heights of the mountains are his also.
The sea is his, for he made it,
and his hands formed the dry land.

Oh come, let us worship and bow down;
let us kneel before the Lord, our Maker!
For he is our God,
and we are the people of his pasture,
and the sheep of his hand.

Photo by Hugo Fergusson on Unsplash

to worship your Unity

June 10, 2020June 9, 2020 / Eric Mathews / Leave a comment

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Most blessed and glorious Trinity, Three Persons in one God,

teach us to worship and adore that absolute Trinity, that perfect Unity.

And that we may adore you, that our worship may not be a mockery,

make us to know that we are one in Christ,

as the Father is one with the Son, and the Son with the Father.

Prevent us from looking upon our sectarianism as if it were a destiny.

Help us to regard it as a rebellion against you.

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