8.28.22 Prayers of Church & Community, Westminster Presbyterian Church, Pasadena, CA

Holy God, LORD of all time, we give thanks for the waters of baptism … the promise of life, the goodness of Christ your Son … the Holy Spirit, O God, the giver of life, who guides and guards our soul … from the first breath taken, to the last breath given … from here to eternity, world without end.

Holy God, LORD of all time, we give thanks for what has been … for all the saints who have trod the pathways of life … who gave of themselves, with forethought and patience … who bore the cross of Christ, with courage and wisdom, who have set before us examples of faith, hope, and love. Help us, O God, to be worthy of them of their work.

Holy God, LORD of all time, we give thanks for what is … for all the saints who lift high the banner of Christ, who rejoice in the name of Christ, who engage in the deep struggles of life, who seek your glorious kingdom, O God, who care for the earth, and strive for the welfare of the nations. Help us, O God, to be worthy of this work.

Holy God, LORD of all time, we give thanks for what shall be … for all the saints not yet born, those who will receive the waters of baptism, and take up the yoke of Christ … who will walk in the ways of faith, hope, and love … to be the church of Jesus Christ, for generations and generations to come. Help us, O God, to lay before them a brave and creative example of Christian goodness and human purpose, that they might light to us with gratitude.

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. 

8.21.22 Prayers of Church & Community, Westminster Presbyterian Church, Pasadena, CA

From a child’s cry of delight, O God, to the vast reaches of the universe, your love is evident, your guiding hand is felt, your purpose of creation, goodness and beauty, is manifest and commanding … 

Holy is your name, and great is your praise … may we in this place have the heart of praise, the mind of thankfulness, the power to see beyond the moment, to see through the times, and the distress of the present … to see your glory in all things, dear God, to be moved in soul and mind by your grace, to find our own world of time and concern being expanded, developed, transformed, and made new … that we might be the salt of the earth and the light of the world … ambassadors of Christ, servants of love.

We give thanks for our families … for those who gave life to us, for those who have sustained us in our daily walk, and continue to provide home and shelter, grace and love … for friends where there is no family … for your faithfulness when human bonds have failed us … for we, O God, are often given to fatigue and frustration, and love fails and goes awry. Heal our wounds and dry our tears … hold our hands and comfort our souls.

We give thanks for your Holy Spirit at work in the trends and times of this world, no matter how broken and busted things become … your Spirit continues to create anew the hopes and dreams of goodness, tranquility, and transformation … 

You are the ever-present God, and never for a moment is our world without your mercy … in all our strivings for progress and development, and in such times when your judgment lays heavy upon us, a judgment never unto death, but unto life, a judgment nevertheless for the cruelties of our heart, the selfishness of the ego, for systems and governments that serve the god of mammon, rather than you, the Eternal God of Everlasting Mercy.

Help us, we pray, as your people to point the way to justice and peace, to be the prophetic voice of truth … to lift up the cross of Christ, unmask the lies, proclaim the gospel, call the wayward to repentance, and seek further the ways of love, that the world might see our good works and give praise to you, O LORD our God.

Bless our church, we pray … we give thanks for those who preceded us, who laid the cornerstone here upon the Cornerstone of Christ … those who sang of your glory and preached of your kingdom. Help us to remain faithful to their vision, and help us to transcend it, to find new ways of ministry, new avenues of service, new angles to see what needs to be done. Give us patience and give us perseverance. Grant us grace, that we might be gracious unto one another, being a church of welcome and affirmation.

Bless us, we pray, in the remains of the day … give us peace and give us hope … give us strength and give us rest … give us, we pray, our daily bread.

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. 

8.14.22 Prayers of Church & Community, Westminster Presbyterian Church, Pasadena, CA

O Thou who art the voice of creation, your word gives life to all … your love is woven into the fabric of time … your hand moves the spheres … you know the countless millions who have lived, and now live, and will live, upon this green and lovely earth; you know them all, one-by-one, two-by-two … for all of life is from your heart, dear God, and your heart abides in all … 

On this good and happy day, O God, we ordain and install the elders, whom you have called and gifted, whom you have known from before the foundation of time, whom you have raised up for this moment, and for the tasks of being the church … 

We pray for them and their families, dear God … strengthen their spirits and stir their souls … with the glory of our LORD Jesus Christ … the wonders of creation, the power of the covenant, and the mystery of Good Friday’s cross … 

To each of them, O LORD, and to all of us, O LORD, the daily bread of mercy and peace … the daily bread of life and love … the daily bread of goodness and grace … for mind and body, heart and soul, now and forever more.

We pray for our loved ones, O God … shelter them in times of storm, and grant them strength for the journey … provide for them as needed, we pray, whatever is needed to live good and productive lives … we pray for their safety and well-being, in mind, body, heart, and soul … how we love them and long for their welfare.

We pray today for those in dire need … for whom life has lost its pleasure … who walk upon pathways of darkness, unsure of their way, crying for help.

We pray for families who have lost loved ones by suicide … families beset with unanswerable questions and painful memories … who search their souls for answers, where there are no answers at all … but only loneliness and sorrow, regret and anxious thoughts … 

O God of mercy and hope, speak tenderly to their broken hearts, we pray … remind us all that those who have taken their own life are safe in your everlasting arms … you hold not against anyone the great hurt that drove them to the extreme … you are the God of infinite mercy, and profound understanding … you know the dark pathways of life, you’re there with all of us, and especially with those who cannot any longer endure the hardships of their journey, who can no longer say “No” to death … we commend them, dear God, to your everlasting care, for the peace you bestow upon all your creatures, great and small, in the bright hallways of eternity.

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. 

8.7.22 Prayers of Church & Community, Westminster Presbyterian Church, Pasadena, CA

O Thou of a thousand tongues and dialects, you hear ever prayer, every moan and groan of every soul … every sob and every curse … you know how hard it is to be human, to make the journey every day - you know how dusty we all are, O God, made by your hands from the dust of the earth, the very dust you created, and you filled us with the breath of life … you know full well how frail is our character, how fragile our hold on things … you know how strong we can be, how gifted we are, and capable, O God, capable of great things. You know us through and through.

You are the God of a mercy … a kindness beyond all kindness … a love greater than all love … a welcome-home kind of a God … a God of open arms and bright smiles … for the lost and the weary … the broken and the defeated … the lonely and the lovelorn … those at the top of their game, and those who’ve lost the whole deal … 

Grant to us this day, we pray, the fire of your Holy Spirit … cleanse our thoughts and purify our souls … that we might hear the Good News of Christ our LORD … who gives us peace with eternity, and sees us through the days and nights of our distress, our hopes and dreams … your Christ, O God, who celebrates our victories and consoles us in our defeat … who encourages us to take one more step, to walk as fast as we can, to even run when possible, to finish the race set before us, and if we can’t run or walk any further, if one more step is impossible, to sit down beside us, until we catch our breath … to hold us in the arms of mercy … such is your great love.

Be with us, we pray, in the daily tasks of work and play … in the throes of our career, in the days of retirement, in the challenges of school … the thrill of first love or the love of many years … in the vigor of our youth, in the frailty of age … in every stage of life, O God, all along the way …

Be with our loved ones, we pray; shelter them in the care of your mercy … be with our nation in these days of trial and travail … bless those who govern; bless them with the wisdom of the ages and the compassion of angels … help us all, we pray, to work for the common good, to look upon our neighbors with kindness … to build the better world, to care for the Garden, to honor your holy creation, and all its creatures, great and small.

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.