1.19.25 prayers of church & community, Westminster Presbyterian Church, Pasadena, CA

 Prayers of Church & Community, January 19, 2025

Westminster Presbyterian Church

In the smoke of our sorrows …

In the winds of our lament …

In the ashes of our tears …

O LORD, our God, creator of the heavens and the earth, we cry out for your mercies and your guidance … for your love and your strength … for the comfort and consolation of your Holy Spirit, for the gentle touch of Christ … to take our hand and lead the way … the way forward, the way through it all …

With heavy hearts, we pray for those who’ve lost their homes … and those with damaged homes … communities lost to us forever … the stores and the shops, the gatherings places of commerce and conversation … schools and churches and a billion memories …

We are, dear God, creatures of this earth … we are material through and through, and to the material things of life we belong, and in their loss, our lives are depleted … from tooth brushes and toothpicks … to cars and clothes, to pots and pans … and screwdrivers and scotch tape …

We pray for those coming to our aid … government agencies and private organizations, and personal generosity from all around the nation, the world …

Bless our nation, we pray … as we transition to a new administration … may the better angels of peace and goodness sound the trumpets of hope … may wisdom and mercy prevail.

For the Middle East, O God, we pray … may the peacemakers be heard, may arms be laid down, may justice be done …

We pray for our troubled world … we pray that humanity will find its way … we pray for all houses of worship … for imams and priests, for pastors and rabbis … for all lift their voices in song, who fold their hands in prayer …

Holy God, Eternal Light, teach us of Christ … help us, we pray, to bow the knee in humble prayer and faithful love … guide our footsteps along the difficult pathways of life … when we’re weak, O God, you are our strength … when we’re sad, O God, your love remains our joy.

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. 

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

 Prayers of Church & Community, April 28, 2024

Westminster Presbyterian Church

In the beauty of the lilies Christ was born across the sea,

With a glory in his bosom that transfigures you and me;

As he died to make us holy, let us die that all be free!

While God is marching on. Glory! Glory! Hallelujah!

Holy God, Eternal Light,

We pray for our nation, we pray for our President and those who serve with him … 

we pray for Congress, 

we pray for the courts of the land … 

we pray for our armed forces around the world … may they keep peace with the force of ideas more than the force of arms … but if arms are needed, O God, than preserve them, we pray … and may the promise of peace and freedom be realized.

We give thanks for the Founding Fathers and Mothers of this land, who dreamed a glorious dream of freedom and hope … a dream not yet fulfilled, O God, a dream still waiting to be finished.

We thank you, O God, for all whom you have brought to America - from lands to the south, and lands across the seas … an endless parade of peoples and cultures … we are all from somewhere else, dear God, and finally, all from thee. 

Help us all, O LORD, to put our hand to the plow, and not look back to what was, but to look ahead to the dreams that beckon us onward.

Holy God, Eternal Light, help us, we pray, to care for your Garden, your earth, all your creatures, great and small.

Holy God, Eternal Light … touch our souls, we pray, with the power of your Holy Spirit … shine the light of faith all around us:

If we are complacent, dear God, disturb us … 

if we are discouraged, revive us …

if we’ve wandered from Christ, bring us back …

if we’ve forgotten our promises, awaken us …

if we are tired, dear God, give us rest …

if we are frightened, give us comfort …

if we doubt our abilities, tell us again how good we are …

if we have lost our way, find us …

if we lack purpose, dear God, remind us of our baptism …

Holy God, Eternal Light … we are painfully aware of distress and sorrow all around the world … especially, we pray for our universities and colleges, their students, faculties and staff, and their families. 

We continue to pray for the people of Ukraine and Russia and surrounding nations … we pray for Israel and Palestine and the nations of the Middle East - may the wisdom of peace prevail, may the courage of forgiveness give light, may the power of tomorrow reveal a pathway through the chaos of the day.

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.

Save Us, We Pray

In a world of deep fractures and violence,
We are tempted to allege the guilt of others,
And protest our own clear and inviolable innocence..


Save us, O God, from such childish palaver,
That we might more honestly assess the nature
Of our broken and bleeding world.


For those injured, our prayers.
For the dead, our blessing.
For the grieving, our tears.


For those who can find no other recourse,
But their own death for the death of others,
We pray for the causes of such despair and hatred.


For the nations of the West which have so
Arrogantly toyed with the Middle East; the British
For the sake of India.


France for glory.
Russia for the Orthodox Church.
The United States for oil.


Bombs dropped from altitude kill, as well:
Children and babies and mothers and fathers.
And we say, "We sorry!"


And the rogue State of Israel continues
To foment outrage and instability.
While eradicating the Palestinians.


Where are the innocent?
Not in the capitals of power, that's for sure.
But the children.


Always the children, O God.
They're the innocent ones.
And Moms and Dads on their way.


O God, save us from mindless palaver.
The easy assignment of blame.
The autocratic pretense of political innocence.


Remind us, dear God, of Joshua.
Who ran to the man in the road.
Demanding to know on whose side he stood.


And the angel of the LORD said:
On no one's die.
And Joshua bowed down.


And so we pray, for the mechanisms of justice.
For a new resolve in the West to honor the Middle East.
To corral Israel and free the Palestinians.


And to pay attention to our Muslim neighbors and friends.
To honor those who seek for peace.
And correct the vast imbalances.


In a world of deep fractures and violence.
O LORD.
Hear our prayer. Amen!