A Daily Baptismal Prayer

 Yesterday I had the joy of presiding at a baptism. Following the baptism I shared with the person, newly clothed with Christ, a prayer that Adam Hamilton shared at a conference a few years ago. It's a prayer that was intended to be said daily, or whenever a person enters water to bathe. 

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A Daily Prayer to Remember your Baptism

Lord, as I enter the water to bathe, I remember my baptism

Wash me by your grace

Fill me with your Spirit

Renew my soul

I pray that I might live as your child today

And honor You in all I do

(Thanks to Adam Hamilton, Church of the Resurrection, for sharing this prayer.) 

A Prayer in Worship, for Rest

 Prayer for 26 Feb 2023

Kind Father,  Lord of Heaven and Earth

We gather together today to worship you, for your great and mighty deeds of creation and redemption

We gather with our neighbors, friends and family - and in gathering, we join others around the world who have been moved by Your Spirit, people from every tribe and tongue upon the earth,

It is our prayer to have the power of Christ at work in us and in our world

We pray that you would strengthen us at the center of our beings

where our hearts ache, where they hurt - bind them up with your healing 

We pray that our minds would be shaped by the words of Christ, 

that what flows from the work of our hands and mouths would be fruits of your grace, 

that the fruits of the Spirit would be evident in us, so that our homes, our workplaces would be spaces of grace

We pray that our bodies would be strengthened for the work you have placed before us. When our bodies and souls are tired, grant us rest, Thank you for this day of rest.

Amen.

Prayer for 13 November 2022

A Corporate Prayer (on Veterans Day weekend)* 

Kind Father 

We have heard the call to Give Thanks and Praise

It is always right and good to rejoice in your loving kindness, tender mercy, and merciful justice

We Give Thanks 

For the Gift of Grace, of redemption born of Jesus

We Give Thanks

for the indwelling Spirit who makes your kingdom personal

We Give Thanks

for a house of worship, with neighbors, friends, and family

We Give Thanks

for our country, its veterans, its liberty and opportunity

We Give Thanks

for a new day filled with your Holy ambitions

We open our hearts anew to you this morning O Lord*

That the Love of the Father and

The Life of Christ

And the Breath of the Spirit 

Would quicken within us a greater affection for your ways

Bring comfort 

to those who are grieving

Bring healing

to those who are struggling in mind, soul, or body

Bring the warm embers of friendship

to those who feel alone

Bring the care and courage of your kingdom and church

for those who are poor

* this prayer took in three points of input - Psalm 107, Veterans Day in the US, and part of the liturgy for ‘a liturgy of the hours - before daybreak’ from Every Moment Holy. 

Prayer for 11 September 2022

11 September happens to fall on Sunday in 2022. How does one mark a day of profound significance for so many? Prayer is a fitting endeavor. In an attempt to prepare for a congregational prayer time, I worked on the following prayer. Maybe it will be helpful to you. It is written to be a together prayer. 

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Prayer for 11 Sept 2022

(Bold = everyone pray)

Holy, holy, holy Lord,

God of power and might,

heaven and earth are full of your glory.

Hosanna in the highest.

Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.

Hosanna in the highest.

We lift our voices in worship today, Kind Father, to join with the saints and the angels  in praising You

In thankfulness we come before you in prayer

Today we remember a day that marked this nation and our lives 

11 September 2001

We especially pray for those who bear the weight of grief that enveloped this generation

We are thankful that you have not left us as a desolate people

But you have called us to employ Your gifts of 

confession and courage, 

repentance and reconciliation, 

justice and joy

We pray afresh for our nation this day

Our hearts are anxious, 

our devotions mixed with idolatry and justice

Our souls hunger for truth in a land of 1/2 right prophets

Our conversations have lost civility

Forgive us, for wandering hearts

For setting aside your gifts of grace 

For seeking power and place instead of being a people of blessing

Reminded us of our confession of faith:

Chris has Died

Christ is Risen

Christ will come again

And stir up our hearts with the love of Christ.

The Lord’s Prayer

 

A Prayer of Relinquishment (a borrowed prayer)

In worship today I invited people to engage with this prayer. Afterwards several people expressed an interest in the full text. I thought readers here might find it helpful.

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A Prayer of Relinquishment (Richard Foster, Prayers From The Heart, p.29)

Today, O Lord, I yield myself to you.

May your will be my delight today. 

May your way have perfect sway in me.

May your love be the pattern of my living.

I surrender to you my hopes, my dreams, my ambitions.

Do with them what you will, when you will, as you will.

I place into your loving care my family, my friends, my future.

Care for them with a care that I can never give.

I release into your hands my need of control, my craving for status, my fear of obscurity.

Eradicate the evil, purify the good, and establish your kingdom on earth.

For Jesus' sake. Amen.

Easter Happiness - a prayer on Resurrection Day

Kind Father,
 On Friday Jesus thrust himself fully on you
  He gave his life for us and the forgiveness of our sins.

And today, RESURRECTION Day - You have not disappointed
 You raise up your Son
   Your faithful, strong love - gave Him victory over death

We confess that we do not always trust as fully as Jesus
 But your faithful and strong love is never failing
   And in faith, we rejoice that we can be found in Him
  United to You
    Full of the Spirit of life

Being found in Him, bring joy and confidence
 Joy and Confidence contend for us when the sting of death visits
   When sorrow is great
      When we are searching for direction in the fog of life

Christ meets us
  at the tomb, on the road, in daily life and work
Christ meets us
  with joy, with courage, with vision, with victory and love

This day, take our faith - little or great
 and grow in us the enjoyment of this Easter happiness
And as you do in us,
  do likewise in all nations and in all the earth

With Joy and Confidence we pray. Amen.

(The phrase "the enjoyment of this Easter Happiness" is found in a prayer by Saint Gregory the Great,   who served as Pope from 590-604)

All Things - A Prayer

Kind Father

All things come from you
All things return to you

Within an instant all things in my hands can be taken away
in the next moment
the next breath

Do not take
But let me offer all that is in my hand
Amen

A Prayer for Traveling

Tonight the sky was clear and crisp. I looked up into the sky and I saw airplanes - about 10 of them - at different places in the sky and heading in different directions. Those planes made me think about all the people traveling at this time of year; many of them  headed home for Christmas. Or in the words of the incredible radio personality Gary Burbank - home to see mamma n' them (Burbanak was on 700 WLW - Cincinnati - The Big One). 

The many travelers reminded me of the travel reflected in the story of Christ's birth. Mary traveld to see Elizabeth. Joseph and Mary traveled to Bethlehem, to Egyp, and finally to Nazareth. The Magi traveled from a distant land to behold the King of the Jews. The Angels traveled to bring God's good news to Mary, Jospeh, Zaccharias, and the Shepherds. In the midst of all this travel God was giving great joy and comfort to the world.

If you're traveling this year, maybe to see mamma n' them, or maybe on some new adventure; 

May the God who watched over the travelers of Mary and Jospeh and all the others, watch over you. May great joy, and the wonderful surprise of the Holy One greet you.  

May you journey in the comfort of God as the world, your world, knows great sadness

May the journey change you in ways that bless the world, that bring good news.

May the journey take you, finally home, where you find the people of God, dwelling in sweet communion

And may the heart of Mary, a heart that treasures and ponders all these things, be found in you. 

Amen.