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

 Eternal God:

Be merciful to us, we pray, that we might work all the more to heal your creation and bring

about justice for the earth, and peace for all its creatures, great and small. 

Speak truth to us, and call us to responsibility. Save us from retreating into a world too small for the gospel to breath; help us to think beyond the boundaries of caution; save us, we pray, from timidity, that we might speak out when creation suffers at the hands of those who love but themselves … blinded by their own privilege and power.

Remind us, dear God, that time has its limits, your mercy, when defied, defiled and rejected, becomes a healing wrath that demands an accounting of the nations - history, can bend toward destruction and desolation, just as it can bend toward redemption and wholeness. Remind us, dear God, that judgment comes to those nations who choose power over peace, and sacrifice countless lives upon the altars of greed.

Help us, we pray, to pay attention … give us minds and hearts ready to bear the burdens of care … even as we pray for the Holy Spirit to give us comfort and rest along the way. 

We pray for the nations of the Pacific Rim - for China and the Koreas, for Japan and the Philippines … we pray for Ukraine and the NATO countries; we pray for Russia and the Middle East. We pray for the world, O God, because it is your world, created in love, created with hope, entrusted to our care. Help us, we pray, to be those who add to the love and deepen the hope. That in the end, it will be said of us: “They were faithful to the things that counted.”

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. 

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

Holy God, creator of the heavens and the earth, speak tenderly to us, we pray, for we need to be healed, to be loved, to be given some peace.

Speak forcefully to us, we pray, for we need our emotional defenses breached, our resistance conquered, our reluctance challenged.

Speak quietly to us, we pray … compel us to listen, for there is much we have to learn, much we need to know, O God, to transform our souls, all over again, day-by-day, that we might be ready for the challenges of the hour, the trials of life, moments of loss and sorrow, tragedy and fear.

Speak assuringly to us, we pray … remind us that you are the ultimate love of the universe, a love into which we can place our lives, our daily strivings, our loved ones, and do so, with confidence, dear God, even if the world should turn into darkness and pain.

Speak that we might hear … that we might know … that we might see the glory of Christ …

upon the Mt. of Transfiguration … that we might see Moses and Elijah at his side, that we might see the disciples on that mountain of peace and hope, bewilderment and wonder … and, there, to see ourselves, lost and found, blind and sighted, with Christ on the Mt, and with Christ in the valley … and with Christ all around the town.

We have given our lives to you, O God … and you have received us with boundless love and joy - by your Holy Spirit, you lead us upon the pathways of life … you forgive us in our failures, you restore us in times of loss and hurt, you assure us when we’re discouraged and frightened, you strengthen us when we stumble and lift us up when we’re tired … you bring us to rest when the day is done … and to eternal rest, when mortal life is ended.

We pray for President Jimmy Carter and his family … we give thanks for his life and work … in all such things, dear God, you guide him to the gates of heaven, and beyond. You are a faithful and loving God.

For this day, O God, we are grateful … we are glad to be here, to be with one another, to hear the gospel, to sing the songs of Zion, to celebrate Mardi Gras, kick up our heels a bit, as the saints come marching in.

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. 

2.12.23 Prayers of Church & Community, Westminster Presbyterian Church

Eternal God, we are yours, in life and in death … there is, finally, nothing that can separate us from your great love, given to us in Christ, and given to the world in a thousand different voices, and values, stories and prayers, hymns and poems, a chanting priest, a prayer wheel in Tibet, the cries of a mother and father for their child … you are the God, supreme, of every tear and every broken heart … you are the God, masterful, in the ebb and flow of time … you are the God of eternity, woven into the fabric of every life, every creature, ever grain of wheat and in the tumult of the earth.

We are stunned, O God, we are heartbroken, by the loss of life in Turkey and Syria … death at

every turn … survivors marked for the rest of their lives - too many orphans … too many families, now without their children … O LORD our God, we give thanks for the nations and corporations rising to the task of rescue and rebuilding … the world proves to itself, dear God, what you have called the world to be - caring and kind, generous and faithful, mindful and sensitive, to the cries of bereavement now ringing across the globe. Can the world do better, O God? Yes, we must do better … and we will.

Watch over us, we pray … keep us mindful of the world, help us to feel its pain and sorrow … remind us that lament and a broken heart are part of the human story … shield us not from the sorrows of the day, but the despair of soul that paralyses our quest for your Kingdom, tempts us to withdraw into the comforts and distractions of piety or pleasure.

Bless us here, O LORD - remind us to say thanks - thanks to you, dear God, and thanks to all the folks who’ve loved us all along the way - our parents and grandparents, our families of birth, our families of choice, our children and grandchildren … and for our spiritual family, dear God, the family of faith, the church, all around the world.

Bless our Scouts, dear God … their leaders … their work. Thank you for those who’ve come before us … who taken the Scout Oath to heart, who’ve lived the values and virtues of Scouting, who’ve made this a better world.

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. 

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

 Prayers of Church & Community, Feb. 5, 2023

Westminster Presbyterian Church

Eternal God, Father of all mercies, our Mother of all hope, deliver us from stagnation of spirit and soul … keep us moving forward, looking to you in all things, striving for what is right and good, in our personal lives, in the lives we live with and for one another, even as we give thanks for our daily bread.

We pray today for the nation of Peru … its struggles for identity and democracy … its colonial past … the lingering remnants of racism and violence. 

We pray for our neighbor nations, south and north … bless their leaders, and those who continue to work for the better day.

Bless our President and his family, our Vice President and her family, our members of Congress and those who sit upon the bench of justice. 

We pray not for heaven on earth, dear God, but enough of heaven on earth to slow our drift into chaos, temper our temptations to hate and violence, stir our souls in the on-going journey of faith, hope, and love - to never give up, to never surrender the field of battle to the darkness, dear God, to seek the common good, what is good and right for all of your creatures, dear God.

We pray today for the Rev. Harlan Redmond and his family … for the Interwoven Church, and for our Presbytery … here and around the world, O God, help us to bear witness to the love of Christ, help us to stand up and be counted, for the sake of truth, liberty and justice.

Bless Westminster, O God, with fresh vision and hope … we give thanks for what was, and we look to the future, trusting your Holy Spirit to guide us to new ways of ministry and mission.

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.