12.17.23 Prayers of Church & Community - Westminster Presbyterian Church, Pasadena

 This prayer was triggered by the violent rise of hate crimes ... such a vast sadness has taken hold of the world ... in contrast to Mary's Sunday, the Second Sunday of Advent, her candle, Joy!

Holy God, LORD of light and love,

We lament the rise of hate crimes … all around us, hot-tempered voices, misplaced anger … a complete failure of the human spirit.

We pray for those who have given their souls to hatred, lost in a briar patch of twisted thoughts, wandering in a wilderness of pain and violence. LORD, free them from their sins, we pray, and lead, them to green pastures and fresh water, to find and enjoy their true personhood.

We pray for the victims of their hate:

our Jewish sisters and brothers … their safety, their synagogues … their hopes and dreams …

our Muslim sisters and brothers … their well-being, their mosques … their prayers and aspirations …

all people of color, who are regularly met with suspicion in stores and malls across the land …

the Asian-American community, often told, “go back to where you came from.”

the Latino community, often told to “speak English.” 

we pray for the children, dear God, children who want to play and laugh like children anywhere … eyes wide with fear, little hearts pounding, tears flowing.

With sorrow all around us, dear God, we set our sights upon Mary, the Mother of our LORD and Savior … her courage, her faith, her vision … her decision to welcome Christ into her womb, to bear the Savior of the World, to give to the world what the world so desperately needs, what the world too often destroys and buries, what the world longs for, even as it turns away.

Help us do as Mary does - to welcome Christ into the womb of our heart, our soul, our being … to welcome Christ, that Christ might be born anew through each one of us … to give ourselves to faith, hope, and love, that we might give Christ to the world.

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. 

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

 Prayers of Church & Community, Dec. 10, 2023

Westminster Presbyterian Church

Holy God, LORD of light and peace, 

Christ is born anew in our hearts and homes, dear God;

a star shines bright and clear in the quiet places of our soul … Mary’s love remains … O Little Town of Bethlehem … how grateful we are, O God, to lift our hearts to the heavens, and be comforted, consoled, and guided.

Revive our spirits, we pray, and give us fresh purpose … may the sweet bells of Christmas awaken ancient dreams of peace and good will for all.

Eternal God, we pray for loved ones and friends.  

We pray for our nation, our president and vice-president … members of Congress and those who sit upon the bench …we pray for those who serve the flag, and those who command their destinies … we pray for our diplomats and our civil servants … 

We pray for folks caught up in conspiracy theories and hate … ensnared by lies and bigotry, the allure of white supremacy and power … we pray for their souls … for healing, restoration, and a fresh vision of life … a return to virtue and nobility.

We pray for folks who would mislead us … the mean spirits of our age, who wield power improperly … who shade the truth and bend reality … who bow down to Baal, and worship the Golden Calf.

We pray for the victims of hate, dear God - who fear for their lives, who find graffiti scrawled on their synagogues and homes, who hear the slurs and see the face of hell - who try to shield their children and prepare them for what no child should ever have to face.

O LORD our God, preserve our Democracy … guard those who stand upon the ramparts of liberty, who remember the ideals: one nation under God, with liberty and justice for all.

Holy God, we pray for world leaders … for the United Nations … Doctors without Borders … all who work on behalf of peace.

We give thanks for the peacemakers in Palestine … we pray for Venezuela and Guyana … the people of Ukraine and Russia … and always the children, O LORD … always, the children.

We pray for Westminster … for houses of worship all around the world … religious leaders, priests, rabbis, Imams, preachers and prophets …  

O LORD, our God, we give you profound thanks for the gospel, for the Season of Advent, for the love of Christ, for the work of the Holy Spirit within our souls … you call us to life, lift us up, bring us into the light, help us along the way … Holy are you, O God, and greatly to be praised.

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. 

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

 Prayers of Church & Community, 12.3.23

Westminster Presbyterian Church

Eternal God, creator of the heavens and the earth, we give thanks for your goodness at work in all things … in ways and means beyond our grasp, beyond our understanding, yet in our hearts, O God, you speak to us the Words of Hope … in the hymns we sing, the prayers we say, thou art present … thou art the way, the truth, and the life.

Our lives, O LORD, are a jumble of good things and things not so good … our hearts, dear God, are not pure … thoughts of ill-will and envy, jealously and rage, roam around freely … we are so often slaves to ourselves, unable to love as we should, as we must, as we could. 

O LORD, help us, we pray, in our need for salvation, our need for redemption, and healing.  

With gratitude and hope, 

We pray for our nation, for the preservation of our Democracy … we pray for the House of Representatives and we pray for the Senate … guide them, we pray, by your Holy Spirit … may the virtues of liberty and justice-for-all be their guiding light … a test for what they propose, how they vote, what they tell us … 

We pray for the welfare of Westminster, dear God … this building raised to your glory, a sanctuary for all, a place of welcome and peace. 

Guide us, we pray, to new days and new ways … show to us, we pray, what can be done, what must be done … to lift up the name of Christ, to be a healing balm in the midst of our times, to welcome all who cross our threshold, to be people of good cheer, and deep faith.

We pray for loved ones and friends … we pray for George Coulter and his family … we pray for Mark Riggs and his dear mother, Jo … we pray for Dahlia Burden and her health needs …

We pray for those who grieve … those stricken with illness … those for whom life is an unbearable burden of sorrow and regret … hold them, dear God, in the hollow of your hand.

O LORD, our God, we pray for houses of worship all around the world … we pray for the People of Palestine, Jew, Christian, and Muslim - all of them, dear God, beloved children of Father Abraham and Mother Sarah … may their fear be replaced by faith, may war cease, and peace be found

Holy God, LORD of light and love, bless upon our hearts, we pray, this First Sunday of Advent - reach deep into our souls, dear God, to plant anew the power of hope - that in all things, we might turn to you in faith and trust, and follow in the ways of Christ our LORD, the hope of the world, and the light of the soul.

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.