8.25.24 Pastoral Prayer, Westminster Presbyterian Church, Pasadena, CA

 Prayers of Church & Community, August 25, 2024

Westminster Presbyterian Church

Dear God, the Father of all our hope, the Mother of all our dreams …

Help us, we pray, to be your people, to be the salt of the earth and the light of the world … help us, we pray, to fulfill our promises to you, to embody the grace of Christ, the intelligence of the Prophets, the passion of the Apostle Paul.

Help us, we pray, by the power and goodness of your Holy Spirit, to believe in the very things for which we pray:

To believe in hope, because you are forever present in the warp and woof of life …

To believe in compassion, and so to live compassionate lives …

To believe in mercy, and thus to be merciful …

To believe in goodness, and then strive for it.

To believe in forgiveness, 

to forgive those who’ve done us harm …

to forgive ourselves for the wretched things we’ve done …

To believe in the renewal of life … that we can always start over, always find help, and help others to regain their footing and rebuild their lives.

We thank you:

For love sublime, 

for beauty, 

for the energy of life, 

for creative ideas, 

for our opportunities to make something of ourselves … 

For those who’ve been patient with us, who’ve taught us good things, who’ve guided and blessed our lives all along the way.

With gratitude and trust, we pray for the daily tasks required of us … we pray for those with whom we work … classmates and teachers … the butcher, the baker, the candlestick maker … bless them, one and all, we pray, and bless us with the love of Christ, all the more … that our light might shine, and the world be a better place.

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. 

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

 Prayers of Church & Community, August 18, 2024

Westminster Presbyterian Church

Holy God, Eternal Light … 

Love divine, all loves excelling …

Remind us, we pray, that we are yours … in life and in death, in time and for eternity … remind us that our trials and tribulations are held in your hands, that you are at work in all things for good … 

Instruct us in the ways of Christ, that we might be the salt of the earth and the light of the world … 

Give us this day our daily bread … forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors …

Holy God, Eternal Light,

Love divine, all loves excelling …

We pray for the people of Greece … those who fight the raging fires … who protect life and limb … who comfort the bereaved … who rebuild and restore … who live on for another day …

We pray for the scientists who study climate change … who pay attention to things we might otherwise ignore … give us, we pray, eyes to see your world of trees and creatures, and ears to hear their words … words of hope and cries of distress …

Save us, we pray, from those who speak lies to further their own interests … who confuse the matter to hide their greed … who fail the tests of credibility and decency … 

Give us, we pray, the courage to face the realities of the day … to live in the present and not hide in the past, to reach for the future, and welcome the new.

We pray for our children and grandchildren … we pray for our parents and grandparents … we pray for all who love us, and for all whom we love … 

Help us, we pray, to seek the better idea … to practice the fine arts of compassion and kindness … help us, we pray, to be patient in our decision-making, to speak the truth in love, and to live for the love of truth … we entrust ourselves to your care, dear God, and we care about thy kingdom, thy kingdom come, thy will be done … on earth as it is in heaven.

We pray for churches all around the world … we pray for synagogues and temples, mosques and monasteries … we pray for priests and pastors, imams and rabbis … 

We pray for Westminster on Lake Avenue … we pray for the Tower that still stands … may all who see it, see faith, hope, and love … may our doors, dear God, be open to all - the prodigal child, the lost coin, the wandering sheep … may everyone find shelter in this sanctuary … this home away from home, wherein the gospel is proclaimed with confidence and joy, forgiveness is the cornerstone of all that we are  … a place of innovation and creativity, fresh ideas and ancient wisdom … love divine, all loves excelling … 

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. 

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

 Prayers of Church & Community, August 11, 2024

Westminster Presbyterian Church

Your love, dear God, is our salvation.

Your kindness is the anchor of our soul.

Your mercy is a guiding light 

in every lonely darkened night.

We are yours … O God.

Your hand is upon us.

Christ in our hearts.

Christ in our dreams.

Christ all along the way.

We pray for ourselves, dear God, that we might embrace more of Christ, live more intentionally, and be ever so kind to one another. 

We pray for health of mind and body, 

we pray for the courage to speak up … in the face of ignorance and bigotry … and we pray for patience, and the wisdom, to hold our tongue, and be quiet.

we pray for peace of mind …  

we pray for confidence in your faithfulness, 

When we have done all that we can, O God, remind us of the great truth of faith:

you will complete the work that remains, 

and call into being - that which is still to come.

We pray for those who lead … for the United Nations … women and men of vision, who see the better day - a world where children are fed, women honored, a world where everyone can sit in the shade of their own fig tree and enjoy the fruits of their labor.

Bless Westminster, we pray, in its quest for the future … bless all who come here to worship … all who join with us via YouTube … bless our neighborhoods, our schools and libraries … bless the banker and the broker, the shop keeper and the postal clerk, the truck driver and the warehouse worker; the butcher, the baker, and the candlestick maker … bless the community organizer and the social worker … bless the fire fighter and the police officer … bless, we pray, the story teller and the actor, those in front of the camera, and those behind it … those who dance and sing and lift our spirits … we lift them up to you, O LORD, and hold them in our prayers.

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.