The Lord is near

Rejoice in the Lord always.
I will say it again: rejoice!
Let your gentleness be evident to all.
>>> The Lord is near.
Do not be anxious about anything,
but in every situation,
by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving,
present your requests to God.
And the peace of God,
which transcends all understanding,
will guard your hearts and your minds
in Christ Jesus.

 

A prayer

Lord Jesus,
by the loneliness of your suffering on the cross,
be near to all who are desolate, and in pain and sorrow;
let your presence transform their sorrow into comfort,
and their loneliness into fellowship with you;
for the sake of your tender mercy.

 
by George Appleton
from The Book of a Thousand Prayers by Angela Ashwin, #435

From the blog
Circle me, Lord
The Holy Other
The Spirit does wonders
 

Planted near you


Harold Porter National Botanical Gardens, Western Cape, South Africa

Prayer

(inspired by Psalm 1)

Holy God,
we come before your throne
and admit that most of the time
we are too busy singing and praying and
feeling good and feeling bad and feeling so-so
to stop and listen for your tiny, little whispers.
In your word you paint for us a picture of full and abundant life,
life that can only be had by drinking your living water,
knowing you not as a title, but intimately, a mystery …

We pray that our lives would be planted near you –
that we would send our roots deep into your word and your life,
that we would draw nourishment from you,
and that with the life you give we would in turn
provide shelter and comfort and blessing
to whoever comes under our branches.

We pray that we would not walk in the counsel of the wicked,
nor stand in the way of sinners,
nor abide in the house of the scornful,
but that our delight would be in you,
in your truth, in your grace,
now and forevermore.

 
~ posted on Jeff’s Blog (adapted)
 

From the blog
3 Prayers for a clean heart (includes a blessing from Jeff’s Blog)
To keep our hearts in tune
Bend down low
 

Guest post: For peace with justice

Peace Wall, Tabeetha School, Jaffa

 

This guest post comes to us from Tiberias, on the Sea of Galilee. It’s from the Associate Minister for St Andrew’s Church of Scotland in Jerusalem and Tiberias, Muriel Pearson, as she reflects on a Christian response to the current crisis in Israel-Palestine.

Muriel writes,

At the moment we are in a ‘wait and see’ situation, but Gaza is under constant attack and all water, food and fuel has been stopped from entering. Most Israelis are totally traumatized by the horrific events of Saturday, and most will have lost someone or be concerned about hostages, or have had their faith in the military protection they thought they had shattered.

The government who have lost face massively are just now relying on massive military retaliation to rebuild confidence. The effect of this in Gaza is cataclysmic. Gaza is tiny, the size of the Isle of Arran, and has 2.3 m people, 47% of whom are children.

I am not sure what is happening in the West Bank, I don’t know if the settler violence and Palestinian resistance is ongoing. It’s not in the news.

People I know here in the north are shrunk in on themselves, not daring to lift their eyes or express an opinion, hoping for a cloak of invisibility. Things are very tense. Hezbollah has a lot of rocket power and Iran’s backing, but so far they have been relatively quiet. They see the arrival of US warships as provocation, however.

I feel the whole situation reveals a massive failure in leadership across the world, particularly the western world and here in Israel and Palestine. Palestinians feel their plight has been forgotten. We have the tools in the UN declaration of human rights to behave according to the rule of law, but this is being massively undermined on a daily basis by attacks on civilians which go unremarked, never mind unpunished.

I have found the words of Francesca Albanese the UN special rapporteur on the occupied Palestinian territories helpful. She says, ‘It is possible and it is necessary to stand with both the Palestinians and the Israelis without resorting to ethical relativism.’ And I believe this is what we must very carefully do.

This means criticizing both sides, holding both sides in prayer but standing up for peace with justice, which has to mean rights for Palestinians who for 75 years have been denied them. At the same time, the right of Israel to exist and for its citizens to live in peace must also be upheld. I have written more about this avoidance of polarization in my most recent blog post, Together in our hearts.

Points for Prayer

  • Remember the dead, the injured, the bereaved of both sides: each one made in the image of God
  • Pray for leadership with vision, courage and compassion here in Israel-Palestine and around the world
  • Pray for an immediate cease fire and humanitarian aid to Gaza, and for the safety of all hostages held in Gaza
  • Pray for leaders on the world stage to behave with integrity, in accordance with international law and respecting the human rights of all
  • Pray for those – especially peace activists – who feel God has abandoned them, that hope is lost

 
I find this Christian Aid prayer helpful:

Pray not for Arab or Jew,
for Palestinian or Israeli,
but pray rather for ourselves,
that we might not
divide them in our prayers
but keep them both together
in our hearts.

 

With thanks,
Muriel

 

From the blog
Embrace the cities and towns
A very present help in trouble
Give me a heart of flesh
 

Be near, be close

Prayer

God, we praise you,
Father, all powerful,
Christ, Lord and Saviour,
Spirit of Love,
drawing us to share in your life and your love.
One God, three Persons,
be near to the people formed in your image,
close to the world your love brings to life.
We ask you this,
Father, Son and Holy Spirit,
one God, true and living,
for ever and ever.

 
~ The Liturgy of the Hours
from The Book of a Thousand Prayers by Angela Ashwin, #869

From the blog
3 Prayers to the Sacred Trinity
Too beautiful for war
Who do you work for?
 

Gathered from far

Call to Worship

inspired by Jeremiah 31:7-9

Sing aloud with gladness:
    God is gathering the people!
From the farthest parts of the earth we come:
    All who struggle; all who labor with new life!
Those who are weeping, God will console;
    Those who get lost find a clear path home.
Let us worship the God who gathers us!

Prayer of Invocation

Ever-calling God,
We give thanks that you have gathered us into your church
    and graced us with your faithful presence.
We ponder our history, ancient and still developing,
    and marvel at the many expressions of your church.
Grant us the vision to be a part of a new reformation for the Church
    that will bring ever more joy and justice to the world.
Continue to gather us, the diverse lot of us,
    into Jesus’ vision and dream
    that your faithful people may be one in you.
Amen

 
~ written by the Rev. Bonnie Tarwater, and posted on the United Church of Christ’s Worship Ways website.

From the blog
Seed
Do this remembering
Baby steps
 

This far, no further

Praying for Wisdom

based on Job 38

Lord, you laid the earth’s foundations;
    you placed its cornerstone;
while the morning stars sang together
    and all the angels shouted for joy,
you set limits for the sea and said,
     “This far and no further!”

You gave orders to the morning
    and showed the dawn its place;
you moulded the earth until it took shape.

You alone know the springs of the sea;
    you alone comprehend the vastness of the universe;
    you alone know the laws of heaven:

Lord, give wisdom to our hearts
    and understanding to our minds.
Amen.

 
~ written by Michael Perry, and posted on re:worship

From the blog
Song in the night
In the school of prayer with Eddie Askew
Continually curious
 

Far horizon

Drawing Near

A Blessing

It is difficult to see it from here,
I know,
but trust me when I say
this blessing is inscribed
on the horizon.
Is written on
that far point
you can hardly see.
Is etched into
a landscape
whose contours you cannot know
from here.
All you know
is that it calls you,
draws you,
pulls you toward
what you have perceived
only in pieces,
in fragments that came to you
in dreaming
or in prayer.

I cannot account for how,
as you draw near,
the blessing embedded in the horizon
begins to blossom
upon the soles of your feet,
shimmers in your two hands.
It is one of the mysteries
of the road,
how the blessing
you have traveled toward,
waited for,
ached for
suddenly appears,
as if it had been with you
all this time,
as if it simply
needed to know
how far you were willing
to walk
to find the lines
that were traced upon you
before the day
you were born.
 
 
~ by Jan Richardson from Circle of Grace,
      posted on paintedprayerbook.com

From the blog
On pilgrimage
In a new light
In the school of prayer with Pádraig Ó Tuama
 

Joyful response

Call to Worship

(inspired by Psalm 40: 1-11)

O God, you called us by name to come,
and we respond with delight and gladness.
In joyful obedience,
we come to worship our God.

Rising out of the depths of despair,
we gratefully gather for worship.
In joyful hope,
we come to worship our loving God.

Our God had given us a new song
of praise to sing to our Awesome God!
In joyful trust,
we come to worship our God. Amen.
 

~ written by Joan Stott, and posted on re:worship
 

From the blog
Hear and answer
In the school of prayer with Angela Ashwin
Theme: Do not lose heart   [prayer sheet]
 

Our help is in the name of the Lord

 
Psalm for Thirteenth Sunday after Pentecost, RCL Year A

Psalm 133

A litany: a sung response alternating with spoken word (preferably with feeling)

 

 

 
Our help is in the name of the Lord,
Maker of heaven and earth

v 1-3
1 If the LORD had not been on our side—
      let Israel say—
2 if the LORD had not been on our side
      when people attacked us,
3 they would have swallowed us alive
      when their anger flared against us;

Our help is in the name of the Lord,
Maker of heaven and earth

v 1a, 4-5
1a If the LORD had not been on our side
4 the flood would have engulfed us,
      the torrent would have swept over us,
5 the raging waters
      would have swept us away.

Our help is in the name of the Lord,
Maker of heaven and earth

v 6-7
6 Praise be to the LORD,
      who has not let us be torn by their teeth.
7 We have escaped like a bird
      from the fowler’s snare;
the snare has been broken,
      and we have escaped.

Our help is in the name of the Lord,
Maker of heaven and earth

 

From the blog
my help / your protector
First steps
Prayer poem: Not forsaken