Showing posts with label Prayer. Show all posts

All praise be to you, Lord Jesus, because you are the Almighty Word of God!

All praise be to you, Lord Jesus, because you are the Word made flesh. You are Emmanuel, God with us!

All praise be to you, Lord Jesus, because you, the all-powerful Word of creation, became weak and vulnerable.

All praise be to you, Lord Jesus, because you became human in order to be with us, so that you might reveal the Father to us, and so that you might save us.

All praise be to you, Lord Jesus, Word of God Incarnate, Savior of the world…and my Savior too!  

Amen.

By Mark Roberts

via

Our Father. 
Our Creator, Redeemer, Comforter and Savior.
 
Who art in heaven.
You are with the angels and the saints, bathing them in your light that they may be enlightened by your love, and dwelling within them that they may be filled with your joy. You are the supreme good, the eternal good, from whom comes all goodness, and with- out whom there is no goodness.

Hallowed be your name. 
May our knowledge of you become ever clearer, that we may know the breadth of your blessings, the length of your promises, the height of your majesty, and the depth of your judgements.

Your kingdom come. 
Rule in our hearts with your grace, that we may become fit subjects for your kingdom. We desire nothing more than to dwell in your kingdom, where we can watch you on your throne, and enjoy your perfect love.

Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. 
May we love you with our whole heart by always thinking of you, with our whole soul by always desiring you, with our whole mind by directing all our intentions to you, and with our whole strength by spending all our energies in your service. And may we love our neighbors as ourselves, drawing them to your love, rejoicing in their good fortunes, and caring for them in their misfortunes.

Give us this day our daily bread. 
In memory and understanding and reverence of the love which our Lord Jesus Christ has for us, revealed by his sacrifice for us on the cross, we ask for the perfect bread of his body.

And forgive us our trespasses.
We know that you forgive us, through the suffering and death of your beloved Son.

As we forgive those who trespass against us. 
Enable us to forgive perfectly and without reserve any wrong that has been committed against us. And strengthen our hearts truly to love our enemies, praying for them and striving to serve them.

And lead us not into temptation. 
Save us not only from obvious and persistent temptations, but also those that are hidden or come suddenly when our guard is lowered.

But deliver us from evil. 
Protect us from past evil, protect us against present evil, and free us from future evil.

I'm sorry if that came on a little strong.  It wasn't intended for you.  Really.

Nor was it intended for my cell phone in my pocket, which I was just sure was going to beep with an important text message or ring with a phone call.

It wasn't intended for my clock ticking every so loudly in the next office at church.

I didn't even mean it for the cars going by outside.

No, it was intended for my brain...my wandering mind.

There I sat in the comfy recliner in my office, all ready to enter into my 20 minutes of silent prayer.

I don't "do" silent very well. I knew this would be a challenge.  But, our discipleship small group has covenanted to 20 minutes of silent prayer every day this week. This is all about us trying to find our identity in God amidst all of the other identities we try to put on.

So, 20 minutes.

How hard could that be?

It's JUST 20 minutes.

Well....  for me....  it's a little hard.

My brain kept wandering to the various sounds I'd hear and then to the feelings I was feeling and then the people I was concerned about and the things I had to do today and the walk I was going to take and the fact that I was trying to sit there in the presence of God and I couldn't get away from the presence of my thoughts.

I did, thankfully, keep going back to some of the breath prayers I was trying to hold onto.

"Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me a sinner."

And then...

"O taste and see that the Lord is good!"

I kept coming back to them but my mind was kind of like a car driving around on our slippery roads.  Every time I seemed to get a little traction, I'd slip and struggle to get my grip again.

On and on it went. Progress.  A slip.  Traction.  Distraction.

Eventually I broke down and got up out of my seat to check the clock.  I mean, surely, it had to have been 20 minutes already.  Didn't it?

Nope.  17.

So, back I went to pray again.  But at this point it was probably a little late.  With such a short window my prayers never really found any footing.

And then it was over.

This could be a long week.

Now, if I'd just get my brain to shut up for a while.

Two rules for praying: ‘First: pray as you can, and don’t try to pray as you can’t. And second: the less you pray, the worse it goes.’

—John Chapman, Spiritual Letters, 25.

The Bible is a letter God has sent to us; prayer is a letter we send to him. 

—Matthew Henry

This is a post I wanted to write today as I prepare for Sunday.  It seems so long ago but I remember, vividly, the emotions, the words, the pictures.  It was hard to write.
....

.....

.....


On Tuesday morning, September 11th, 2001, the first plane hit the North Tower of the World Trade Center at 8:46 AM, Eastern Time.

At 9:02 AM the South Tower is hit.

At 9:37 AM the Pentagon is hit.

At 9:59 AM the South Tower collapses.

At 10:03 AM flight 93 crashes in Pennsylvania.

At 10:28 AM the North Tower collapses.

I wasn't even awake yet....

.......


.......

It was a Tuesday morning here in Alaska. We were in our previous home here in Girdwood. I got up around 6:30 AM (10:30 AM Eastern) or so to get to a prayer breakfast at 7 AM. As is often the case, I got up and went to check my email. Ten years ago this was a task that took a little bit of time because we only had a dial-up modem. I checked the email and found one from Footballguys.com. This is a fantasy football site that I frequent during the football season. I don't remember what the email said, exactly, but the gist of it was something like this,

At this time our hearts go out to all Americans everywhere due to the horrible attacks that have occurred in New York.  We don't know what has happened or what will happen from now but it appears that we're at war.  We join with you in prayer for the victims, the families involved, and for our leaders.

That was my first indication that something was wrong.  And, really, I had NO IDEA what was wrong...only that something was very, very, wrong.

At this point, my wife was up and on the phone with her sister in the Lower-48.  My son, who was six, had gotten up early and had turned on the TV to watch some PBS.  Surely there was a kids show on somewhere.  He had asked why every channel had the same thing on...the same image of planes crashing into buildings.  Julie had called her sister to find out what it was that was happening.

So, like many people around the country and around the world, we sat there in front of the TV, watching, again and again and again and again, the same planes crash into the World Trade Towers and then the Towers fall. We cried.  We had no idea how to react.

Much was made about the reaction of President Bush when he was told about the attacks while reading a children's book to a classroom filled with young kids. He sat there, stunned, with a "deer in a headlights" look. Some criticized him for not jumping into leadership mode. Instead he looked dazed.

Well...that's what I did. That's exactly what many of us did.  "Dazed" was a completely human and completely natural response.  This didn't even make sense. There was nothing in my reality that put these attacks into a framework in which I could even think about them. I knew those towers. I had grown up in New York. I had looked off the top floor many times. The World Trade Towers were symbolic of American greatness...or at least our power and economic might. And there were so many people there. There would be so many dead.

Were we at war?

At war with whom?

I don't know how long we sat watching the same scene play out, crying, worrying, confused, lost.

Eventually, I looked at my watch and realized that I had a prayer breakfast that had supposedly started already. I knew the people (sometimes "person") who would be there. I called Dick and told him that we should probably go pray. So we headed over to the Bake Shop.

We ate.

It was quiet.

We headed down to the church.

We sat in the sanctuary.

And we prayed.

We prayed for victims.

We prayed for our leaders.

We prayed for our country.

We prayed for our military.

We prayed for our community.

We prayed for the responders.

We prayed for our enemies.

We prayed for our world.

It was about 8:30 AM, Alaska time. It was 12:30 PM on the East Coast. It seemed like an eternity had passed that day.

That all happened in the first hour and a half I was up that day.

I look back and see all that's happened since then and am amazed.  Two wars.  Increased security.  Anti-Muslim sentiment.  Fear.

I'm wondering if I'm still waking up.

I saw this yesterday on the Cost of Community website of Jamie Arpin-Ricci in Canada.  (You can read more about him here.)  It made me wonder what a community which prayed this prayer regularly would be like?  The prayer is very liturgical, very rich.  I particularly love the section which reads "Remind us of our sinful brokenness and your gift of grace as we encounter brokenness in others." It's beautiful.

Is this what God thinks when we pray?

(HT/ Make Use Of)

May God bless you with a restless discomfort about easy answers, half-truths and superficial relationships, so that you may seek truth boldly and love deep within your heart.

May God bless you with holy anger at injustice, oppression, and exploitation of people, so that you may tirelessly work for justice, freedom, and peace among all people.

May God bless you with the gift of tears to shed with those who suffer from pain, rejection, starvation, or the loss of all that they cherish, so that you may reach out your hand to comfort them and transform their pain into joy.

May God bless you with enough foolishness to believe that you really can make a difference in this world, so that you are able, with God's grace, to do what others claim cannot be done.

Via

This is the pre-race prayer at the NASCAR Nationwide race on July 23rd, 2011.

It's hilarious.

There's no doubt about it.

And, perhaps the pastor uses a very much tongue-in-cheek style that would be appropriate to the occasion. After all, it is a race where people watch fast cars go fast.  This is not a solemn religious festival. 

But, it could also exemplify how the lines between Christ and culture get muddied...although "muddied" is way to mild a term for what happens here.  It's a prayer with not very much Jesus but a whole lot of racing.

Enjoy.



So, is it the best or worst?

(HT to Hacking Christianity)

                                                  Image via WikipediaO Christ Jesus,
when all is darkness
and we feel our weakness and helplessness,
give us the sense of Your presence,
Your love, and Your strength.
Help us to have perfect trust
in Your protecting love
and strengthening power,
so that nothing may frighten or worry us,
for, living close to You,
we shall see Your hand,
Your purpose, Your will through all things.


Thanks to Ignatius of Loyola (who wrote it) and Philosophy Over Coffee (who posted it)

Image by alwyn_ladell via FlickrIt was your custom,
to go to the temple,
to the noisome temple
sometime to the scandalised temple
listening to the mumbo jumbo,
but it was your custom to go.
...
Give us grace in our changing day
to stand by the temple that is the present church,
the noisome temple
the sometime scandalised temple that is the present church,
listening sometime to what again seems mumbo jumbo.
Make it our custom to go
till the new outline of your Body for our day
becomes visible in our midst.

(George MacLeod, The Whole Earth Shall Cry Glory, p. 39)

"Daddy look at me." 

Those words were shouted time and time again as we went down to the tennis courts to practice riding bikes again today.  Our youngest girls just got "big girl" bikes in the past couple weeks or so.  They must be just about the smallest two-wheeled bikes one can have.  They were hand-me-downs and are now complete with training wheels.

Learning to ride a bike for the first time is an adventure…one I'm ten years removed from with our older girls.  Yes, there are falls every once in a while.  Yes, there are tears.  Yes, it can be be frustrating. And, yes, it can be scary for both parent and child.

But it's NOT boring.

Within the last few days our girls have gotten comfortable enough on their bikes that they feel up to doing "tricks."  So, as they ride they take their hands off the handlebars…or they stand up on the pedals…or they put their feet off to the side. 

Each new move is met with "Daddy, look at me."  And I look.  And I smile.  Riding a bike may be old hat to me, but I need to remember that it's completely "new hat" to them.  Even with the training wheels on, it's an exciting moment for them when they take their feet off or make a sharp turn or go around in circles or go real fast.  As far as they are concerned, they are being very brave and adventurous.  They are testing the limits.  They are pushing the boundaries.  And they want me to look at them and acknowledge their wonderful accomplishments.

I confess that sometimes they have to yell at me more than once…and sometimes more than twice.  Sometimes it's hard for me to have quite the same excitement as they do…although I try.   Sometimes, I'm busy talking with someone or trying to get some work done.  And, sometimes, just because they are twins, I'm busy giving my attention to the other sister.   It can be hard to give attention to both at the same time.  I've yet to master the art of "bi-location."

And, yet, attention is what they crave.  And, it's what they need.  It lets them know that I'm invested in them.  It lets them know that I love and care for them.  It lets them know that they are important to me.  And, hey, these really are big steps for a 4 year old.

So often our kids just want us to "look" at them.  They want us to recognize their accomplishments and also their pains.  They want us to, not make them FEEL as if they are important, but to recognize that they ARE important as well.

This can be a problem in the church, where, often, children are to be seen and not heard…if they are to be seen at all.  We spend so much time an energy trying to keep them quiet or remove them from the "big people" worship that it can be easy for them to think that no one is looking at them and no one is hearing what it is that they have to say…or have to offer.

At Girdwood Chapel, I've tried to make it so kids feel like they are involved in worship.  It does come through during communion and the prominent role they can play there, with kids participating fully with the adults.  But, more, I think it comes through during our prayer time, our "Joys and Concerns."  For it's here that kids really are on the same playing field as their parents and the other adults in the congregation.  They get to offer up their joys and concerns amongst the gathered body.  This is not a special "Children's Time" set aside for them. It's not "Children's Church" or their own Sunday School.    And so we'll hear about the usual joys and concerns that adults bring each week, peppered with prayers for "sick goldfish" or "4th Birthdays" or "boo boos on fingers."  And yet, those are the real joys and concerns of some of our younger attendees.  And by lifting them up and having them recognized by the larger church body, we let them know that they are important and loved and that we recognize that their hurts and happiness are real.

What are other ways our congregation could "look at" and recognize the children we know and care about?

Artwork by Dallas Drotz

Image via WikipediaWe had our Stations of the Cross last night.  I worked with a friend to map out a contemporary "Stations" with images and prayers.  While our hope was to walk our way from the Catholic Church to Girdwood Chapel as we did last year, we had to change plans because it was raining so hard yesterday.  With no let-up in sight, we were pretty sure that the weather was going to keep people from participating.  It was the right decision.

So, we had nine stations over at the Catholic Church and another five at Girdwood Chapel.

We closed it out with a Prayer Labyrinth. It was a cloth labyrinth, 28 feet in diameter, laid out on the Girdwood Chapel sanctuary floor.

For the uninitiated, a prayer labyrinth has one long path to a center location.  It's designed to slow down our minds so we can focus on God.  While its use predates Christianity, Christians have found it a valuable tool for focusing hearts and minds on God.  One is directed to pray while entering and while exiting on the same path.   Tonight's participants were given a choice of ways to experience the labyrinth.  They were told they could meditate on Scripture, and verses were available to them.  They were told they could recite a favorite prayer or Scripture.  They were told they could offer up their burdens before God while entering the labyrinth, bask in God's glory and presence in the center, and then offer thanksgivings and praise to God as they exited.  Essentially, they were told there was no wrong way to go about doing this.

I played "host" for the bulk of the evening.  I made sure we had Gregorian Chant on the stereo and that candles were lit in the sanctuary where the cloth labyrinth was spread.  I walked with our four - year -olds as they "raced" through it....not quite the meditative experience I was hoping they might touch on.

So, I wasn't able to enter the labyrinth myself until most of the people had gone.

As I entered, it was hard to put away the thoughts of the day and all that needs to be accomplished over the next couple of days.  So, I tried to center myself with "The Jesus Prayer" -- which is the prayer I use when I need to do some centering or need focus on my breathing or need to calm myself down...

Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God,
Have Mercy on Me, a Sinner

Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God,
Have Mercy on Me, a Sinner

Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God,
Have Mercy on Me, a Sinner

Breathe in.

Breathe out.

The whole way in, I had trouble.  The noise of my own mind was keeping my mind from resting.  I wondered if it would be worth it to keep moving on with such a wandering mind.  But I kept going.

And I was rewarded.

As I got to the center of the labyrinth, the music kicked it up a notch, the chants went into overdrive and I got to rest in the center, with my eyes closed, soaking in God's goodness and grace and reflecting on the great sacrifice of the cross.  There was a peace that came over me.  I was truly "resting" in the presence of God. I could have stayed in the center of the labyrinth forever.

But I didn't.

I made may way round and about and out again.

The way out was easier but the realities of what the weekend has in store started creeping back into my mind.

But I walked out having been blessed by God in the center of the labyrinth.

Image via Wikipedia

And gave us new life

Prayer by Chrstine Sine over at Godspace

This is more my style...

(HT/ Heart of Worship)

Image by NASA Goddard Photo and Video via FlickrI find this prayer interesting...not because I disagree with it but because it's just not the way I talk or write. 

Father in heaven, you are the absolute Sovereign over the shaking of the earth, the rising of the sea, and the raging of the waves. We tremble at your power and bow before your unsearchable judgments and inscrutable ways. We cover our faces and kiss your omnipotent hand. We fall helpless to the floor in prayer and feel how fragile the very ground is beneath our knees.

O God, we humble ourselves under your holy majesty and repent. In a moment—in the twinkling of an eye—we too could be swept away. We are not more deserving of firm ground than our fellowmen in Japan. We too are flesh. We have bodies and homes and cars and family and precious places. We know that if we were treated according to our sins, who could stand? All of it would be gone in a moment. So in this dark hour we turn against our sins, not against you.

And we cry for mercy for Japan. Mercy, Father. Not for what they or we deserve. But mercy.

Have you not encouraged us in this? Have we not heard a hundred times in your Word the riches of your kindness, forbearance, and patience? Do you not a thousand times withhold your judgments, leading your rebellious world toward repentance? Yes, Lord. For your ways are not our ways, and your thoughts are not our thoughts.

Grant, O God, that the wicked will forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts. Grant us, your sinful creatures, to return to you, that you may have compassion. For surely you will abundantly pardon. Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord Jesus, your beloved Son, will be saved.

May every heart-breaking loss—millions upon millions of losses—be healed by the wounded hands of the risen Christ. You are not unacquainted with your creatures' pain. You did not spare your own Son, but gave him up for us all.

In Jesus you tasted loss. In Jesus you shared the overwhelming flood of our sorrows and suffering. In Jesus you are a sympathetic Priest in the midst of our pain.

Deal tenderly now, Father, with this fragile people. Woo them. Win them. Save them.

And may the floods they so much dread make blessings break upon their head.

O let them not judge you with feeble sense, but trust you for your grace. And so behind this providence, soon find a smiling face.

In Jesus’ merciful name, Amen.

(This is from John Piper and Desiring God)