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

 Prayers of Church & Community, Nov. 3, 2024

Westminster Presbyterian Church

How shall we speak to thee, O God?

What can we say?

In this sacred space … some of us too tired to move, some of us bewildered by the dark winds of time and loss, some of us full of hope and peace and love … 

How shall we speak to thee, O God.

What can we say?

Do we thank thee enough, O God?

Do we consider the lilies of the field, and the birds of the air?

Do we see with our eyes, or do we merely observe?

Can we see thee, O God.

The glory of the heavens, and the beauty of the earth?

How shall we speak to thee, O God?

With whatever is in our hearts?

Our fearfulness, our lusts, our greed, our smoldering resentments … it’s not always a pretty sight, O God … our heart can be full of things we do not comprehend, feelings that beckon us to darker places of the soul, to be lost within ourselves.

How shall we speak to thee, O God?

We have love in us, in all kinds of ways.

Love for friends and family … for them, dear God,

We pray.

We pray for their welfare … we pray for their health … we pray that they will live good and decent lives …

There is so much we want, O God.

Most of it good, some of it not so good.

We’re not always sure of ourselves.

Our best motives can hide all sorts of things, dear God.

All sorts of things …

How shall we speak to thee, O God?

By your Holy Spirit, move us closer to Christ … 

We’ve taken steps in the right direction, dear God, but we can hesitate … and we do … the chasm of fear beckons us … we turn from the mountains of hope before … we turn from Christ beside us, we go our own way … oh how stubborn can we be, dear God, how stubborn can we be?

How shall we speak to thee, O God?

With all that we are … and here we are.

We feel something of your great love for us.

And we are grateful … we pause for a moment or two in our busy lives, too busy sometimes, to say Thank You!

And in those words of gratitude, dear God, some relief.

To count our blessings … and reach for peace.

You are faithful to us, your love for us is without season, never a turn of the tide … always and forever, the LORD of life and our Creator … the God and Father of us all, the LORD of this Table, the love of our Savior.

How shall we speak to thee, O God?

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. 

10.27.24 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 heart and soul of the covenant, the God and Father of our LORD Jesus Christ … 

You are, in your glory, so much more than we could ever imagine … more than our highest love, and larger than the universe … yet small enough to curl up in Bethlehem’s manger, small enough to hang on a cross, and small enough to find a home within our hearts.

Dear God, shine the light of your truth upon us, that we might be well protected against the lies and misrepresentations of irresponsible politicians and profligate preachers … voices of hate and fear, doom and disaster.

Remind us, dear God, that we belong to the big story, your story - from the moment of creation to the end of time, to bring all thing together … you call unto yourself faith-keepers, O LORD … to walk in the light of hope, to carry in our hands the gifts of mercy and peace, to explore new avenues of understanding … to hold within ourselves the energies of gratitude and joy, creativity and vision … to face our daily tasks with resolute determination, ti seek justice and practice kindness … to do our best, and give our utmost … to cherish your holy name! 

By your grace, we belong to the big story, your story.

We pray this day for loved ones and friends … we lay their needs before you …

Holy God, creator of the nations, and all the families of the earth, we pray for President Biden and his family, we pray for the members of Congress, we pray for the judiciary … we pray for the political process of the day … we pray for the voters of America … we pray for the preservation of our Democracy … the welfare of our heritage, the dreams of a more perfect union, from sea to shining sea.

We pray for peace in our time … we pledge ourselves to the work of peace … in prayer and good works, with awareness of the times and the challenges of the day … we will not submit to the lies, we will not retreat into silence … we will serve Christ, we will proclaim good news, we will lift up the realities of hope and freedom, welcome and affirmation - for all you creatures, O God, great and small … for humanity, for the earth, forever!

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. 

10.20.24 Prayers of Church & Community - Westminster Presbyterian Church, Pasadena, CA

 Prayers of Church & Community, October 20, 2024

Westminster Presbyterian Church

O LORD our God, ever-faithful to your creation, at work in all things for good, deliver us we pray from the confusions of the day, that we might more clearly see your glory in Christ, and in Christ, see our hope and our dreams.

Help us, we pray, to be the church of Jesus Christ … not the church of Lake Avenue, or the church of the Presbyterians, not even the church where the tower still stands, but the church of Jesus the Christ, first and foremost, a church faithful to him, his words and his work … faithful to his cross and his resurrection …faithful to his commission to love one another … faithful in prayer and worship, sacrifice and service, duty and devotion … faithful in the things that count. Save us, we pray, from weak religion, and the self-centeredness of the day … that we might be free to serve Christ, and  be seekers of truth, in a time of lies, half-truths, and fabrications.

We pray for peace … we pray for the warring factions to come to their senses … for the powers of death to be countered by the powers of life … 

We pray for loved ones, dear God … our families, our friends … the world we know, and the world we love … we pray for our children and grandchildren … we pray for our parents and grandparents … we pray for uncles and aunts, and our cousins … protect them, one and all, we pray, from bodily harm and emotional injury … keep them safe and sound, we pray, in all of their endeavors … where there is sorrow, may your Spirit bring comfort … where there is disease, may your Spirit bring healing and health … where there is death, may your Spirit bring the everlasting consolation of Christ … to confirm in our souls that we belong to him, in life, and in death, no matter what, no matter where, there is no power over us greater than the power of his love.

Though our prayers seem small, dear Jesus, remind us that your cradle was small, and your cross not much bigger … remind us, we pray, that small things count .. in the breath of prayer is the breath of our Creator, your Father in heaven … in our little words there is the Eternal Word of Salvation … our little prayers are joined by the prayers of heaven and its angels, the prayers of all the saints who’ve gone before … the prayers of little children, and all the small deeds of love that hold this world together. 

In the name of our dear Jesus, 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. 

10.6.24 Prayers of Church & Society, Westminster Presbyterian Church, Pasadena, CA

 Prayers of Church & Community, October 6, 2024

Westminster Presbyterian Church

Holy God, Eternal Light … you invite our prayers, you welcome us into your heart … you give ear to what we say, what we ask, what we give.

We give you our hearts, O God … we offer ourselves to Christ … we come to the cross and raise our eyes to behold eternal mercy, Love divine, all loves excelling …joy of heav'n to earth come down …

We pray for the world, O God … those who’ve lost so much in fire and flood … families devastated by loss and grief … lands torn by war.

We pray for the leaders of the world - can people of good heart and mindful spirit staunch the flow of blood? Can the road to peace be chosen over the road to war? Might compassion replace greed and malice? 

We sometimes wonder, O LORD, about the value of prayer … do our petitions and ponderings add to the goodness of things, or is it all meaningless? Do our prayers change anything, dear God? 

Yet, every day, O God, we see the horrible evidence of a world without prayer - people who love but themselves, who tell lies and mislead others … who practice the crafts of hell … 

Remind us, dear God, that a world without prayer is a world of death … remind us, holy God, that our prayers, our love, our faithfulness to Christ, is never a lost cause, never a waste of time, never without value … eternal value for the ages … and a hedge against the evils of the day. 

With your Holy Spirit, O God, make us people of fervent prayer, all the more … people of truth and hope … people who never cease raising our minds to Christ on high, only to find him at our side, on the lowly roads of daily life. 

Cleanse our aspirations and dreams, O God, of selfish ambitions and jealous thoughts, that we might more completely love thee and more worthily serve thy cause.

With hope and courage, with trust and mercy …

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. 

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

 Prayers of Church & Community, September 29, 2024

Westminster Presbyterian Church

Creator of the heavens and earth … everything bright and beautiful … mysteries and wonder untold … things far and beyond our understanding … vast and fierce is the universe … billions and billions of stars and galaxies … our home, our place, a place we call earth.

O God our Father, dear God our Mother … give us eyes to see the glory of this earth - to feel its vibrancy, its generosity, its goodness and mercy … give us ears to hear the roar of the ocean deeps and the murmuring of the early morning … give us a heart for your creation, that we might have a heart for one another.

We pray, O God, for those in need …

Who’ve lost homes and loved ones in the winds of a hurricane … in the flames of a fire … those who suffer in lands torn by war and bitterness, beset with terrifying memories forever embedded in the soul.

We pray for the children … shield their souls from the worst of it, so they can grow up with courage and confidence … to make a difference in this world.

We pray for Christians around the world … divided by frivolous ideas and poorly framed doctrines … help us as Christians to center ourselves more fully in Christ … equip us with the knowledge needed to challenge the lies and distortions … give us the courage, we pray, to stand fast for the gospel, to defend the high ideals of the kingdom, to promote generosity and kindness, mercy and compassion … to help the victims of distorted religion, religions of greed, power, and domination.

We pray for our communities and our leaders … we pray for the film industry, those who make us laugh and help us cry … we pray for the preservation of our Democracy … help us, as a nation, to refuse the simple answers, the easy way out … help us, we pray, to be brave and bold, committed to the highest ideals of human aspiration … to be good and kind to one another, we pray … fill our souls with the Spirit of Christ, our minds with his kingdom, that each and of all of us might reflect to the world his eternal love and his everlasting peace.

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. 

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

 Prayers of Church & Community, September 22, 2024

Westminster Presbyterian Church

Away in a manger

No crib for a bed

The little Lord Jesus

Laid down His sweet head

The stars in the bright sky

Looked down where He lay

The little Lord Jesus

Asleep on the hay

And so you came to us, eternal God … 

in ways we hardly expected … 

a baby born of Mary, 

a child at play, a young man on his way,

to the Jordan River …

To a baptism of love and fire:

A life of courage, truth, and love … 

to heal the forgotten, to welcome the rejected … 

… with a cross, dear God, and a crown of thorns,

in one dramatic moment of life and death … 

where death thought it had won the day … 

You came to us, dear God … to take up the human condition,

to bear in body and soul the sins of the world,

the darkness and the demons, the lies and the violence,

the loneliness and sorrows …

our frustrations and despair.

And you dared to say to the man on the cross,

Today, you’ll be with me in Paradise.

You remain hard at work, eternal God.

Your Spirit all around the world …

Amplify our dreams, we pray … 

freshen the winds of peace …

broaden our horizons, and reveal to us great possibilities …  

That we can make a difference.

Our voices raised in praise and prayer add to the welfare of the world … our hands outstretched with deeds of justice and peace push back the tides of hate and fear … 

Help us, we pray, to love one another, to be patient in times of trial … to endure the worst of it, to find our way through … help us, we pray, to believe fervently in the goodness that lives in every human heart … to wait faithfully for the sun to rise … to believe in ourselves, to believe in one another … to believe in you, dear God, forever and a 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 9.22.24 deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory, forever. Amen.