Asking One, ask us

A prayer of adoration and confession

inspired by Matthew 7:7-11, Luke 11:1-13

Seeking One,
you are the beginning and the end of our search.
Finding One,
you are the alpha and omega of all discovery.
Asking One,
you are the voice and the silence of our exploration.
Giving One,
you are the fullness and the emptiness of all yearning.
Persistent One,
you never abandon your search for us,
nor tire of our repetitive to-ings and fro-ings.
Receiving One,
you endlessly welcome us home,
and spread before us a feast
in the face of our constant requests for mere morsels of bread.

Search us, O God,
and find within us the secrets we hide.
Ask us, O God,
and receive from within us the pain we bear.
Keep knocking at the door of our lives
until we open our wills to your purpose,
our lives to your life, and our yearning to your hope.

When we forget to seek you and discover that we have lost our place:
Lord, have mercy.
Lord, have mercy.

When we ask once and leave it at that:
Christ, have mercy.
Christ, have mercy.

When we draw back from knocking, lest we disturb you:
Lord, have mercy.
Lord, have mercy.

Strengthen our courage; bolster our endurance;
spur us onward in your way in our world
through the power of the Holy Spirit
and the name of Christ.
Amen.

 
~ written by Anita Monro and posted on re:worship


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Ask for more

Benediction

(based on Ephesians 3:16-21, The Message)

I ask God to strengthen you by the power of the Spirit —
not a brute strength but a glorious inner strength —
that Christ will live in you as you open the door and invite him in.

And I ask God that
with both feet planted firmly on love
you’ll be able to take in with all Christians
the extravagant dimensions of Christ’s love.

Reach out and experience the breadth!
Test its length!
Plumb the depths!
Rise to the heights!
Live full lives — full in the fullness of God.

God can do anything, you know —
far more than you could ever imagine or guess
or request in your wildest dreams!
Not by pushing us around
but by working within us,
through the power of God’s Spirit.

All glory to the God of Creation!
All glory to the Son, our Saviour, Jesus Christ!
And all glory to the Spirit of God, at work among us and within us!

Go in the love of God!
Amen.

 
~ from re:worship


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Make us a chalice

Collage by Irene Bom

 

Prayer of Confession

(inspired by Matthew 25:31-46)

God of the people,
you have called us to walk humbly before you
and to share in the struggle with the least of these,
yet we have failed to live up to this call.
Today, we come before you
asking your Spirit to empower us
to be agents of transformation for the world.
Make us a chalice from which all the oppressed
can find the living waters of God,
who calls us to live a life of service, of humility,
and of reconciliation with you, with creation,
and with the world. Amen.
 
~ posted on Many Voices. http://www.manyvoices.org


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Jesus, pray for us

Prayer of Petition

(inspired by John 17)

Jesus,
just as you prayed for your disciples so long ago
Pray for us,
Pray for our wellbeing,
Pray for our protection.
Pray for your joy to be made complete in us.
Pray for our spiritual growth.
Pray for your truth to be made complete in us.

Jesus,
we often do not know how to pray,
So pray for us,
Pray with us,
That we may be one with you,
One with each other, and
One in ministry to the world.

Jesus,
Pray for your weak ones,
Your strong ones,
Your ones who are ill,
Your ones near death,
Your ones who breeze through life,
Your ones who struggle in life.

Jesus,
We join you in these prayers for all your people,
Amen.

 
— written by Rev. Abi and posted on re:worship (adapted)
 


From the blog
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In the school of prayer with Terry Hinks
 

Ask and receive

” … everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.” (Luke 11:10)

 

A prayer

Lord, we expect good things from you because you are good and you promise to give to those who ask. Teach us to know not only how to ask but also for what we should ask. May all our asking, seeking, and knocking be to further your kingdom in some way, no matter how small or mundane.
Amen.
 
~ from Common Prayer: A Liturgy for Ordinary Radicals, by Shane Claiborne, Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove and Enuma Okoro, p. 298
 


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