Category: prayer

Strange territory

Prayer

inspired by the Beatitudes

God of life and of truth,
Your Son invites us to see the world through your eyes and we find ourselves disoriented:

You bless the poor
You bless the meek
You bless the pure in heart.
You turn our world and its values upside down.

We have signed on to follow your Son
but this is strange territory.
It doesn’t look anything like
the life we have been taught to yearn for,
to work for,
to believe will bring us happiness.

Yet, You know the despair that besets
so many of our young people
who fear that their future has been mortgaged
by our greed and carelessness.
You hear the cries of those who
have traded their souls for power and money
and now have emptiness as a friend.
You see those who are caught in lives that
lead only to weariness and anxiety.

Set us at Jesus’ feet
so we can learn to judge our lives differently.
Awaken in us that hunger and thirst for you
which will lead us to your will
and your peace.

Open our eyes to see your unexpected blessings.
Open our hearts to welcome you
when you come to us in strange ways.

Then make us into a community of blessedness
that beckons this neighbourhood
into your joy.

We ask these things in the name of Jesus
who blesses us with your living presence
and fills our lives with your life-changing truth.
Amen.

 
~ written by Christine Jerrett, posted on her website

From the blog
Summer-friendly spiritual practices
St Patrick’s Breastplate embodied
In all seasons – grow
 

A simple “Yes. Amen.”

 
But as surely as God is faithful,
our message to you is not “Yes” and “No.”
For the Son of God,
Jesus Christ,
who was preached among you by us —
by me and Silas and Timothy —
was not “Yes” and “No,”
but in him it has always been “Yes.”
For no matter how many promises God has made,
they are “Yes” in Christ.
And so through him the “Amen” is spoken by us
to the glory of God.
 

 

Prayer

Discerning God,
help me consider this day
how I live my life
and how I choose the direction I take.

Do I make my plans according to ordinary human standards,
ready to say ‘Yes, yes’ and ‘No, no’ at the same time? (2 Corinthians 1:17)

Discriminating God,
help me understand
how crucial are the words I speak to others
as I seek relationships in my life.

“Let your ‘Yes’ be your yes
and your ‘No,’ no,
or you will be condemned.” (James 5:12)

Disturbing God,
help me find clarity in my relationship with you,
with others, and maybe especially with myself.

Let your word be ‘Yes, Yes’ or ‘No, No’:
anything more than this comes from the evil one. (Matthew 5:37)
 

~ written by Kenn Stright, posted on re:Worship

From the blog
Amazing to consider
3 Prayers to our Father
Wonder-full psalm
 

Pure and simple


 

Prayer

For the gift of faith
which sees beyond the present moment
and looks to an eternity,
we thank you.
For the gift of faith
small as a mustard seed, which has power
within its simplicity,
we thank you.
For the gift of faith
bestowed on those who would simply come,
hearts open in humility,
we thank you. Amen

 
~ written by John Birch, and posted on re:Worship

From the blog
Deeper and deeper here
Far horizon
To dance with God
 

Tune in to God’s presence


 

“Prayer is the gift
of God’s presence in our life.”

 
 

 

Praying for guidance

inspired by Psalm 16

O God our protector,
we trust in you for safety,
we depend on you for all we need;
all good things come from you –
we commit our future into your hands:

Guide us by day and teach us by night,
be near us so that nothing can shake us,
make us always aware of your presence,
show us the path that leads to life,
let your Spirit fill us with joy,
and let your service be our delight for ever.
Amen.

 
~ written by Michael Perry, from www.jubilate.co.uk

From the blog
Sola gratia – Deo gratias
In all seasons – grow
First love
 

On my mind


Philip Roth: “make the daily connections”  (Artwork: Irene Bom)
 
 
UPON RANDOMLY THINKING OF ANOTHER PERSON
God, as I hold ____________ a moment in my thoughts, I ask that you would hold them eternally in yours, remaining ever at work in their heart and life, even now directing their paths toward your good deeds.

 
written by Douglas Kane McKelvey,
from Every Moment Holy: Volume One (Pocket Edition), p. 250

From the blog
Guest post: Reflections on the word ’embrace’
Theme: The greatest is love  [prayer sheet]
In the school of prayer with Angela Ashwin
 

New memories


 

A litany: Resurrection light

Risen Christ, when darkness overwhelms us
may your dawn beckon.

When fear paralyses us
may your touch release us.

When grief torments us
may your peace enfold us.

When memories haunt us
may your presence heal us.

When justice fails us
may your anger ignite us.

When apathy stagnates us
may your challenge renew us.

When courage leaves us
may your spirit inspire us.

When despair grips us
may your hope restore us.

And when death threatens us
may your resurrection light lead us. Amen.

 
— written by Annabel Shilson-Thomas, and posted on www.cafod.org.uk

From the blog
A taste for beauty
3 Prayers for endings and beginnings
Consolation joy
 

Create a memory (game)

 

World Collage Day 2025 is this Saturday, 10 May.

I’m hoping (and praying) there’s a good turn out at our COME COLLAGE ROTTERDAM event. We will be creating mini collages in matching pairs, based on a series of prompts, to form a memory game.

World Collage Day is for everyone. There might be a World Collage Day event near you. Alternatively, set up an impromptu World Collage Day get-together where you are, with friends, family, people from your church or neighbourhood. It’s a great way to get creative and build community across the generations. You don’t need much: a place, a time, scissors, glue sticks, magazines and junk mail, and some cardboard you can cut to size to use as a base. Simple, fun and often profound.
 
For more information: kolajinstitute.org/worldcollageday/

Easter Prayer

You have made known to me the ways of life;
you will make me full of gladness with your presence.
(Acts 2:28)

Risen Lord Jesus,
as the rising sun scatters the darkness,
let fear and the memory of failure
be scattered from our souls
that we may live in the glorious freedom
of the children of God

We raise up into your resurrection light
all who are excluded from fullness of life
by poverty, unemployment or stigma,
by injustice, criminality or neglect,
by homelessness, landlessness or war,
remembering in particular the peoples of
[names may be added here]

Risen Lord Jesus,
let us be baptized by your resurrection light.
May we trust in you above all else,
hope in you above all else,
seek you in all things,
find you in every place,
meet you among all people,
know you through everything,
and love you
beyond, beyond, beyond all telling.

We pray in your name, living Lord.
Amen.

 
~ from the Christian Aid website. posted on re:worship
 

Higher – this is why

 
Let Christ himself be your example as to what your attitude should be.

For he, who had always been God by nature, did not cling to his prerogatives as God’s equal, but stripped himself of all privilege by consenting to be a slave by nature and being born as mortal man.

And, having become man, he humbled himself by living a life of utter obedience, even to the extent of dying, and the death he died was the death of a common criminal.

That is why God has now lifted him so high, and has given him the name beyond all names, so that at the name of Jesus “every knee shall bow”, whether in Heaven or earth or under the earth.

And that is why, in the end, “every tongue shall confess” that Jesus Christ” is the Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
 

Philippians 2:5-11  (J.B. Phillips New Testament)

 

A prayer

Most wonderful God,
the beauty we see in Jesus
is your beauty veiled in human flesh,
the love we witness from Bethlehem to Golgotha
is your love contracted to a span.
If Christ’s life is so holy as to fill us with wonder,
how much more would your unveiled beauty
leave us overwhelmed and trembling?
You are more than the eye could bear,
more than the mind can ever fathom.

Yet you have so carefully made us
that although we cannot fathom you,
we can yet love you.
Gratefully we bring our little lives to you,
asking that our worship may arise from love and be shaped by love,
and be directed towards that larger loving which is our soul’s desire.
Through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Amen!

 
~ by Bruce Prewer, posted on his website