Category: prayer

Thank you. For work


View of the sunrise on my commute to work

 
REFLECTION
The kingdom of heaven came near to Peter and Andrew at their place of work, fishing in the Sea of Galilee (Matt 4:18-20).  Pray for the kingdom of heaven to come near to us at our place of work too.

Litany of Labor

Let us pray to the Lord of all creation,
from whom comes life and work and purpose.

Almighty God,
when you formed us lovingly out of the dust of the earth,
you breathed into us the breath of life
and gave us work and purpose for living.
You placed Adam in the garden of Eden to till and keep it.
Through our work, you made us co-creators with you,
shaping the world in which we live.
You gave dignity to our labor by sending your Son to labor with us.
By our labor, you enrich the world.
By our labor, we enjoy the fruits of creation.
By our labor, we find direction and purpose.
By our labor, our families are made secure.

For providing varieties of work and for blessing us by our labor:
We give you thanks, O Lord.

For those who plow the field and those who make the plow;
for farmers and farm workers, for steelworkers and machinists;
for those who work with their hands and those who move the earth:
We give you thanks, O Lord.

For those who tend the sick and those who seek new cures;
for doctors and nurses, for scientists and technicians;
for those who keep notes and those who transcribe:
We give you thanks, O Lord.

For those who think and those who create;
for inventors and explorers, for artists and musicians;
for those who write books and those who entertain:
We give you thanks, O Lord.

For those who work in offices and those who work in warehouses;
for secretaries and receptionists, for stockers and bookkeepers;
for those who market products and for those who move them:
We give you thanks, O Lord.

For those who inspire our minds and those who motivate us;
for teachers and preachers, for public servants and religious servants;
those who help the poor and those who work with our children:
We give you thanks, O Lord.

For those whose labor is tidiness and cleanliness;
for janitors and sanitary workers, for drycleaners and maids;
for those who produce cleaning products and those who use them:
We give you thanks, O Lord.

For those who sail the waves and those who fly the skies;
for captains and attendants, for astronauts and deep sea divers;
for those who chart and those who navigate:
We give you thanks, O Lord.

You bless us all with skills and gifts for labor.
You provide us opportunities to use them,
for the benefit of others as well as ourselves.

Guard and protect those who labor in the world.
Bless the work of our hands, O Lord.

Look kindly upon the unemployed and the disabled.
Give health to the sick, hope to the bereaved.

Keep us from laboring only for greed.
Make us loving and responsible in all that we do.

Creator Lord, you are the source of all wisdom and purpose,
you are the blessing of those who labor.
Be with us in our labor to guide and govern our world.
Give all men and women work that enhances human dignity
and bonds us to one another.
Give us pride in our work,
a fair return for our labor,
and joy in knowing that our work finds its source in you;
through your Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen

— written by Rev. Thomas L. Weitzel, Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, and posted on Liturgy by TLW.
 

From the blog
Circle me, Lord
Work as an offering
In the school of prayer with Brother Lawrence
 

(You) unite us. Thank you


 

To mark this year’s Annual Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, 18 to 25 January 2026, a prayer dating back to the third century.

Prayer

Lord, we pray for the unity of your Church.
Help us to see ourselves as rays from the one sun,
branches of a single tree,
and streams flowing from one river.
May we remain united to you and to each other,
because you are our common source of life;
and may we send out your light
and pour forth your flowing streams over all the earth,
drawing our inspiration and joy from you.

 
inspired by St Cyprian of Carthage (c. 200-258)
from The Book of a Thousand Prayers by Angela Ashwin, #527

From the blog
3 Prayers for Christian unity
Theme: Called into community   [prayer sheet]
Plant us, root us, grow us
 

Thank you. For new songs

We will not keep silent

based on Psalm 96

We are people who must sing you,
for the sake of our very lives.
You are a God who must be sung by us,
for the sake of your majesty and honour.

And so we thank you,
for lyrics that push us past our reasons,
for melodies that break open our givens,
for cadences that locate us home, beyond all our safe places,
for tones and tunes that open our lives beyond control
and our futures beyond despair.

We thank you for the long parade of mothers and fathers
who have sung you deep and true;

We thank you for the good company of artists, poets, musicians,
cantors, and instruments that sing for us and with us, toward you.

We are witnesses to your mercy and splendor;
We will not keep silent … ever again.   Amen

 
— by Walter Brueggemann, from his Psalms class on January 20, 1999. Posted on the Gladly Listening blog.

Tip: 12 Song Challenge
It’s not too late to join this international community of songwriters (including Irene Bom), working together to grow in their creative gifts and serve the local church.

Also be inspired by Irene’s Make and do website, a window into her creative projects, including new songs. The index offers easy access to the songs and other creative projects that were featured in the her workshop on the Psalms, held in Lausanne (2022) and Budapest (2024).
 

Sing for joy


 

Come, let us sing for joy to the Lord; let us shout aloud to the Rock of our salvation.

 
 

Advent Prayer

Alleluia the Christ child comes,
and we await his birth.
Let us throw off our distractions,
and allow the chaos to settle.
Let us watch for the signs,
and listen to the messengers.
Let us stand on tiptoe,
and shout aloud and sing.
Something new is emerging,
something new is being birthed.

 
~ written by Christine Sine, and posted on GodSpace.

From the blog
God’s glory revealed
Longing for his appearing
Ding! Dong! Curiosity
 

Peace that makes whole


Holy Spirit Guest House, Groningen

 

“The fruit of the Spirit is … peace …”

 

A prayer

Lord, create in me a love for peace;
not peace that is the absence of struggle,
not peace that is blind to injustice,
but peace that makes whole what is now broken.

 
from The Lion Prayer Collection, compiled by Mary Batchelor, p. 365

Day of Prayer: Saturday 29 November 2025

Rt Rev Rosie Frew, Moderator of the General Assembly, is encouraging Church of Scotland congregations to join together in a special Day of Prayer on Saturday 29 November, the eve of St Andrew’s Day.

More information and resources here

Watch live stream
They will be livestreaming the first hour (11am–12noon) and the final hour (7–8pm) of the day (UK time zone). So, if you’re not able to join in person, you can still be part of this time of prayer and worship from wherever you are.

From the blog
Forget not
In the school of prayer with Terry Hinks
Unite my divided heart
 

When you reap

 

God says, “When you reap the harvest of your land, do not reap to the very edges of your field or gather the gleanings of your harvest.”

 

A prayer

Almighty God, Creator of all things,
Maker of all people,
grant that we may find a unity in you,
that we may be joined together in the bond of peace,
that we may share, with justice,
the rich resources of the world,
that no one may be in hunger, or oppressed,
that none of your creation may be spoiled or misused.
We ask this in the name of him who gave himself for the world,
Jesus Christ, our Lord.
Amen
 

by David Adam, from The Rhythm of Life: Celtic Daily Prayer, p.46

From the blog
A new nature
No more tears
Sabbath rest
 

The proper time to reap

Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.

A prayer

Almighty God,
you called us to labour in your vineyard:
Keep us faithful in your service,
whether the harvest is plentiful,
or the soil seems barren and our labour unprofitable;
knowing that the harvest is yours,
and you will reap in your own appointed time;
to the glory of your holy Name.

 
written by Eric Milner-White (1884-1963) and G.W. Briggs (1875-1959),
from The Book of a Thousand Prayers by Angela Ashwin, #552
 

From the blog
All good gifts
Joyful response
Thank you. For fruit-bearing trees
 

He took bread

The four-fold pattern of self-giving love

At the very end of his life Jesus did two things that more any other, lodged in the minds of his friends. The first, the washing of their feet, spoke as no other action could, of the plain, unromantic, down-to-earthness of the love God both shows and asks for. The second has proved even more meaningful in the two millennia that have passed since Jesus first took bread and wine and did with them four deeply significant things.

He took bread into his hands; thanked God for it; broke it; shared it. And he said, “This is my body, my blood. This is me .. this is what I am like. He is showing them the profoundly simple pattern of this one totally good human life: a life taken and lived in complete openness to the Father and so ‘offered’. A life lived thankfully at every point by one who saw God’s hand in everything. A life spent in the costly love of others and finally broken on the Cross. A life totally shared.

Those four actions of offering, thanking, breaking and sharing, together show the pattern of what self-giving love means … and if we accept Christ’s authority in our lives we are committed to trying to make that pattern our own.

 
from This Sunrise of Wonder by Michael Mayne, 2008 edition, p. 296-7

Prayer of adoration

O come, let us adore him, Christ the Lord!

Lord Jesus, preaching good tidings to the people,
proclaiming release to captives,
setting at liberty those who are bound:
We adore you.

Lord Jesus, friend of the outcast and the poor,
feeder of the hungry,
healer of the sick:
We adore you.

Lord Jesus, denouncing the oppressor,
exposing the hypocrite,
overcoming evil with good:
We adore you.

Lord Jesus, pattern of gentleness,
teacher of holiness,
prophet of the kingdom:
We adore you.

Lord Jesus, dying to save us from our sin,
rising to give us eternal life,
ascending to prepare our heavenly home:
We adore you.

Almighty and loving God, you loved the world so much that you gave your only Son to be our Saviour. You allowed him to empty himself of his heavenly glory and become a suffering servant. Yet by your grace we have beheld his glory, such glory as befits the Father’s only Son, full of grace and truth. Amen.

— written by David Beswick, posted on re:Worship

From the blog
In the school of prayer with Michael Mayne
Making, making, making
Full of air
 

Daily bread

Prayer

Lord, when we say, ‘Give us today our daily bread,’ may we remember our brothers and sisters who live below the poverty line and pray, ‘Give them today their daily bread’. Give us the wisdom and courage to challenge the policies and structures which make the poor ever poorer, while we have more than enough. Grant us more deep compassion that we will not rest while surplus food rots in one part of the world, and families starve in another, for your loves’ sake.
 
based on the words of Sister Margaret Magdalen CSMV,
from The Book of a Thousand Prayers by Angela Ashwin, #440

From the blog
Deep connection
Asking and answers
Miraculous supply