April 24, 2022, Prayers of the People, Westminster Presbyterian Church, Pasadena

 Prayers of the People, Sunday, April 24

Westminster Presbyterian Church

Eternal God, Holy God, loving God, by your word we are created … we find love by your love … we see light in your light.

Help us, this day, to see ourselves clearly … to live and to laugh, to sing and to dance … to care for your earth and to build the world, a world fit for all your creatures, great and small.

Help us to pay attention to the people with whom we have commerce - the call-center voice trying to answer our questions … the receptionist checking us in for our appointment … the teen sitting in her car at the light, next to us, bouncing away with her music … the bedraggled lady in the roadway median with a sign asking for help … help us to pay attention to them, dear God … they are human beings; they have family and friends - someone knows the deeps of their soul, the struggles they have, the burdens they carry, the love they want, the life they have to live. 

We give them to you, O LORD … we give them a smile, a nod of the head, a word spoken gently - to let them know that we see them, hear them, because they are worth more than gold, created in your image … and help us, Dear God, to order our society in ways that are consistent with our better angels … the angels of compassion and generosity - a society, O God, that cares for everyone, whatever the need, however life has turned out.

Help our loved ones, O God … their wellbeing, their health, their ambitions and dreams. Bless us, too, O LORD, who gather here - we, too, need your healing, your guidance, your mercy, your love … on our own road of life. 

Help our world leaders to quiet the dogs of war, to seek the angels of peace … to back away from brinkmanship, to choose diplomacy over armed threat … to be leaders of hope rather than tyrants of fear.

Bless Westminster Presbyterian Church, Dear God, that we might grow all the more in the grace and wisdom of our LORD Jesus Christ … that our Tower would remain a beacon of hope for all the world, and our life together, a sign of your kingdom, a sign of goodness and compassion.

In the name of our LORD Jesus Christ who taught us to pray, saying:

Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy Kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread; and forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors; and lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory, forever. Amen. 

April 17, 2022 Prayers of the People - Westminster Presbyterian Church, Pasadena

In the quiet glow of the morning sun, at the breaking of the dawn,  when it seemed that death had the upper hand, and spoke the final word - you, O LORD - you rolled away the stone … and gave to the world the lasting hope, that life proves victorious, goodness reigns supreme, life and death, held and transformed, by the very hands of the Risen Christ.

We give thanks, O God, for the glories of creation, the cry of a gull, the rush of a wave … the hills alive with the sounds of music … open our eyes, we pray, to see … to really see the birds of the air and the fish of the sea … to pay attention to their distress and death … to be mindful of the policies of extraction and exploitation that threaten your earth and violate your commandments. O God, we earnestly pray for our leaders, to take up the tasks of creation-care … to learn the hard lessons of the past, and set a new course for tomorrow.

We give thanks for all our loved ones who preceded us in the journey of life - mothers and fathers, wives and husbands, children and friends … we remember them today, giving thanks for their strength of soul and purpose of body … and, now, O LORD, held in your everlasting arms, in the safekeeping of your mercy … until that great gettin’ up morning, when all shall be made new, and all tears wiped away.

Deliver us, we pray, from the false gods of hope, gods who promise so very much and take away our souls … the false gods, the gods of materialism, religion, commerce and trade  … the false gods of self-indulgence and power … O LORD our God, center us in what is true and lasting, good and right … center us, we pray, in the Risen Christ and the fellowship of faith … that at home and in work, in school and in rest, we will never lose sight of your eternal mercies and the final hope of Christ.

All of this, in the name of our LORD Jesus Christ who taught us to pray, saying:

Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy Kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread; and forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors; and lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory, forever. Amen. 

April 10, 2022 Prayers of the People - Westminster Presbyterian Church, Pasadena

 Prayers of the People, April 10, 2022 Palm Sunday

Westminster Presbyterian Church

Eternal God, creator of the heavens and the earth:

You are the shepherd of our souls … and to you we belong.

With gratitude, O God, we lay our prayers upon the the altar of Christ … with gratitude, we lift up our lives as an offering to the work of reconciliation … that we might be worthy ambassadors of the gospel.

Be with us, we pray, in our daily journey … in the mundane things we hardly notice, and in the momentous occasions, when life takes a new direction, for good or for ill … in the sorrows of life, and in its joys.

We pray for those dear to us O God … we delight in their happiness, and we feel their every pain … we pray for legions of angels to guide and to guard them … to offer council when perplexed, and protection when threatened.

We pray for the homeless on Lake Avenue … those who’ve lost hope … weighed down by emotional and physical adversity …

We pray for our world, O God … we pray for wise leaders … women and men possessed of greatness, greatness in spirit and thought, greatness in compassion and care …  

We pray for our schools and for our teachers, for administrators and school boards … protect them from the forces and factions of discord - those who dismiss science, and promote fear of children, trans, gay and lesbian children. Where there is such ignorance, O LORD, shine the light of your wisdom. Where there is fear, the light of faith. Where there is bigotry, the light of love and peace. 

With trembling trust and prayerful hope, Dear God, we affirm our faith in Christ and welcome his call to follow where’er he lead - here at home, or to the ends of the earth.

In the name of our LORD Jesus Christ who taught us to pray, saying:

Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy Kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread; and forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors; and lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory, forever. Amen. 

April 3, 2022, Prayer of the People, Westminster Presbyterian Church, Pasadena

 Prayers of the People, 4.3.22

Westminster Presbyterian Church

Eternal Spirit, LORD of all realms, seen and unseen … 

You are the Alpha and the Omega, 

The beginning and the end.

You are the love that holds us close, 

The grace that sustains our strength.

You are the mercy that sees us through the worst of times, 

The impulse of hope that awakens us to new ideas and fresh possibilities … you help us rethink who we are and what we must do … you guide us all along the way.

Eternal God, we pray this day:

For the poor and the lonely.

For the angry and the frustrated.

For the proud and the powerful

For the tired of body and the broken of spirit.

We pray for ourselves, O God - 

Life doesn’t let us get away with much - we know our frailty, of body and soul; we know the edgier stuff of our life, dear God - we want to be more than we are, and often turn out to be less than we want. Have mercy, we pray, that we might continue to serve you, and be a blessing to our neighbors.

We pray for our families, our friends, our nation.

We pray for our church, and the church around the world.

We pray for Pasadena, Los Angeles, and the nation.

We pray for the women and men of other faith traditions, their priests and imams and rabbis … for those who lead and those who teach … those who serve and those who build.

We pray for the girls and boys who dream and hope and laugh and play … 

Help us all, we pray, to protect the children of the world, so they can grow up into lively and loving human beings, even as they receive from our hands the baton of life, the baton we give to them, to continue the race of life, to keep on running, when our lap is finished.

Help us, we pray, Dear God, to embody the love and purpose of Christ … that we might be the light of the world and the salt of the earth … that we might play a pivotal role in the transformation of our nation’s life - that our words would ring true, our compassion be evident, our wisdom reflect the prophet’s call to justice and peace, that we be bold in our visions, and brave in our actions, kind in our words and deeds, daring to take the next step, to boldly go where’er the Spirit leads.

All of this, dear God, in the name of our LORD Jesus Christ, who taught us to pray, saying:

Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy Kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread; and forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors; and lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory, forever. Amen.