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. 

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

 Prayers of Church & Community, March 10, 2024

Westminster Presbyterian Church

Holy God, eternal light, savior of our souls …

We are grateful for this moment, dear God - to be here in this place of vast memories, and unhindered hope … a place connected to the deepest currents of time and faith … a place to find ourselves … ground ourselves in the eternal truths of Christ … find strength to work and to life and to love … to sing the great hymns of faith, to read and ponder the Scriptures, to see ourselves in the light of Christ, and in the light of Christ, to see your enteral glory, O God - all that is good and right and beautiful.

Holy God, you are the rising cloud of the day and the pillar of fire at night … you are water from the rock, and manna in the morning … you are the sustenance of our lives, you are the law of the soul, you are the light ahead, and the way forward.

How many times, O God, have you parted the sea, to take us by the hand, and lead us to the Promised Land … how many times, O LORD, have you saved us, protected us, seen us through the wilderness, to make a way for us through a barren land?

How many times, O God, have your forgiven our faults and failings … how many times have you given us a fresh start, a new day, to begin all over again the tasks of living.

Holy God, eternal light, we give thanks … 

We pray for Israel and Palestine - the children of Abraham … we pray that peace will be found, justice achieved … forgive our warring ways, O God … the dogs of war devour the human soul … ancient hatreds resist healing … the merchants of death prosper … let the road to a better day be ours, O God … the green pastures and the still waters of truth.

We pray for loved ones, family and friends …

We pray for our nation, our President and Vice-President, members of Congress and the judiciary. We pray for state and local governments … we pray for our colleges and universities … local school systems and school boards … teachers and librarians … we pray for the preservation of our Democracy.

Let the bells of freedom ring loud and clear … let half-truth clouds be swept away … let the foolish notions of selfish religion be transformed to serve the welfare of all. Reveal, we pray, to one and to all, the greater truths of Christ.

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. 

Advent Waiting

Advent is a time of waiting.

A prepared waiting.

Formed in ages past.

By sorrow.

Disappointment.

Wrong turns and bad decisions.

By prophetic words.

Dreams and fancies.

Promises and hopes.

All of it, a preparing.

A shaking and a shaping.

Molding the spirit.

Advent waiting.

Pondering what has been.

Ages past, and just last year.

Everything counts in the shaking.

The shaping.

The molding.

Nothing lost.

All is used.

The good and the bad.

We learn in Advent.

To give thanks.

For everything.

Not because everything is good.

It isn't.

Some of it is downright evil.

But nothing defeats the work of God.

Everything is a tool.

To prepare the soul.

Advent invites Thanksgiving.

For the preparing and its pain.

For the journey and its joy.

And when thanks is given.

When, with love, we receive what has been.

When, in humility, we dare to see the preparing.

The future opens before us.

A star shines from on high.

And in a nearby stable, small and warm, the Christ is born anew!