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

 Prayers of Church & Community, July 21, 2024

Westminster Presbyterian Church

For all things bright and beautiful,

For all things good and great.

Our highest praise, to thee we raise.

The savior of our days.

Dear God, we give your our lives, 

our hearts and our minds, our homes and where we work, our schools and where we learn and play …  

Dear God, we lift up the nations of the world, and pray for their welfare … we pray for nations where freedom is limited, where women suffer indignities of soul and body, where religion is poorly used … 

We pray for America, dear God … may peace, civility, truth and dignity, prevail in our political drama … we pray for Donald Trump and his family, for J.D.Vance and his family … 

We pray for President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris, and their families …

We pray for America’s electorate … 

Holy God, we pray for those given to violence … 

We pray for those in need … folks looking for employment, seeking a future, to provide for loved ones … folks having a hard time of it … in distress and sorrow. 

O LORD our God, be merciful, we pray, and help us all, as a nation, to marshal the resources of our abundance to help everyone along the way. Save us, we pray, from limited vision and small dreams … save us from avarice and greed, hatred and bigotry … save us unto the good things of life.

Holy God, Eternal Light … bless Westminster in its pursuit of the future … help us all to say farewell to what was, and to greet what shall be with open arms, confident, O God, in your grace, mercy, and peace.

And a simple word of thanks, dear God, for the creatures who reside in our homes - they love us, and we love them … it’s quite extraordinary … for them we give you our thanks … for their wellbeing we pray, all 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. 

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

 Prayers of Church & Community, July 7, 2024

Westminster Presbyterian Church

Holy God, Eternal Light … 

Help us, we pray, to stand upon the work and words of Christ … to be faithful in all things … to pay attention … to see the world with your eyes … to apply ourselves to the tasks of life with fortitude and resolve, at peace with our limits … patient with those who fail us, even as we pray that others will be patient with us, in our faults and failings.

Speak tenderly to us, we pray … when our spirits are tired, when our souls are beset with worry … speak powerfully to us, when we’re strong and full of energy … keep us in the folds of your love, and send us forth to bless the world.

We pray for all who are parents -  the tasks of rearing a child, O God, rewarding and challenging, sometimes beyond all limits … help all who are parents find the time to care for their souls, moments of rest and renewal … for single parents, we pray … for grandparents and uncles and aunts, as well … and teachers, dear God - for all who influence our children, who shape the future as they shape the souls of our youth.

We pray for our nation - our President and his family … for the Members of Congress and those who sit on the bench … we pray for law officers and social workers - those on the front lines of social disorder and need. Preserve them, one and all, we pray, in body and soul.

We pray for peace efforts in the Middle East … Ukraine … and Sudan … O LORD our God, we’re so very good at war, and not so good at peace. 

Forgive us, we pray, and do not turn your back upon us … for we need the light of your countenance … by your mercies, O God, raise up for us women and men of good conscience and wise counsel … who tell us the truth and lead us aright … inspire us to greatness … lift our spirits with hope … broaden our love and deepen our compassion … renew our devotion to nation, reassure our dedication, to the highest ideals of Democracy.

Holy God, Eternal Light … we are grateful beyond words …

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. 

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

 Prayers of Church & Community, date

Westminster Presbyterian Church

Holy God, Eternal Light …

Creator of the heavens and the earth …

The Good Shepherd of our souls …

Open our eyes to see the glory of the world around us … the greatness of human achievement, the bravery os the soul, the songs we sing and the stories we tell.

But give us eyes to see the greatness - of a tree reaching for the sky, a blade of grass beneath our feet … ears to hear the rustle of the wind and the cheerful song of a bird greeting the rising of the sun … 

Help us to stop now and then … to see and hear … touch and smell, taste and savor, the goodness and wonder of your world.

Not all can enjoy such comfort and beauty, dear God, and we are ever so sorry for that, so help us, we pray, to be grateful, generous, devoted - to preserve and share this lovely world, for all of its creatures, great and small, for all generations to come. 

Help us, we pray, to receive the blessings of life as your invitation to use our abilities, our resources, for the greater good, to provide for those lost in drugs and abuse, who cannot rise from the depths of sorrow, who have lost their abilities, who will always need what only the more fortunate can provide.

We pray for our nation in this season of campaigns and elections … voices vie for our attention, dear God, seek our vote, want our money … help us, we pray, to sort through all of our feelings, ponder the things we cherish, consider with care what we value … help us to weigh all of this by the love and glory of Christ … his kindness and mercy, his generous words of love and hope, that Christ could be first in our lives, that we might be be the salt of the earth and the light of the world.

We pray for Westminster, our beloved church … we pray for the elders … our maintenance staff, our office administrator, our organist, and all the groups and organizations who have a home under our roof. May the shelter of these walls, and the stories they tell, be a great comfort to all who cross the threshold of worship, prayer, and praise. For you are here, O LORD … you are here!

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.