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

 Prayers of Church & Community, Nov. 26, 2023

Westminster Presbyterian Church

We lift our hearts to you, O God, in grateful song and thoughtful prayer … 

You are the creator of the heavens and the earth!

The sun, moon and the stars are your creatures, 

incredible and vast; you know them by name, 

and they know you … 

And you know our name, as well … you know us through and through, from having watched us take shape in our mother’s womb … 

You are the quiet presence of faith, hope, and love.

You are the forceful presence of justice, truth, and equality.

You are the impulse of goodness.

You are the light of the world.

We pray today for transit workers … who drive a bus on a crowded street, who drive the subway beneath our feet   … who work the taxis, Lyft and Uber … who drive us to and fro.

We pray today for those in need of healing … healing for weary bodies and tired souls … we pray for the newly born, and we pray for those on the threshold of death.

Holy God, I pray for the preservation of our Democracy … I pray for its defenders … those who write the books and point the way, those who craft the legislation and defend the rule of law … I pray for our teachers and our school boards, for librarians and and archivists - those who stand watch on the ramparts of freedom, who guard the literature of great writers and poets.

I pray, O God, in gratitude and sorrow, with those upon whose land this church stands … those who were here in ages past … who lost their lands in the tragedies of time, when steel and gunpowder took what they wanted … I pray, O God, that I will always hear their quiet voice calling to me … calling to all of us, O God - the earth crying out with the blood of our sisters and brothers. 

We pray for Palestine … we pray that the progress made in peace between the State of Israel and Hamas will hold and grow … and pave the way for a greater peace in that troubled land of hope and sorrow … 

Help our sisters and brothers around the world to work for peace, even as we pray for it. Help the leaders of the world see the folly of their ways … help us all, we pray, to seek peace with as much effort as we wage war.

Holy God, Light Divine, thank you for the gift of life … help us, we pray, to use it well, to bring peace to our world, and love to one another.

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. 

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

 Prayers of Church & Community, Nov. 19, 2020

Westminster Presbyterian Church

Holy God, LORD of light and love, we give thanks …

For the material comforts of life … a light switch on the wall, a faucet with a sink, a refrigerator and a microwave, a computer and a smart phone … and a roof over our heads.

Even as we give thanks, O LORD, remind us of those for whom life is mean and hard, for whom life is bitter and broken … in our comfort, O LORD, remind us of the needy, and help us to live and think and behave in ways that relieve their suffering, build a good nation, and lead us to the better day.

We give thanks for our families … for those who love us, and those whom we love … parents and grandparents … children and grandchildren … brothers and sisters, nephews and nieces.

We give thanks for our YouTube members - for Anne Marie and Stan, for Charles, for Mark … and for folks all around the world … we thank you, O God, for their devotion, their prayers, and bless our prayers for them.

We give thanks for our friends … childhood friends, and the friends of our maturity … with whom we share the goodness and the mercy of laughter and tears.

Most of all, O LORD, we give thanks for you … your creation, your love, your covenant … a pillar of fire at night to protect us … a pillar of cloud by day to lead us … manna in the morning, and water from a rock … Moses and the Ten Commandments … the Prophets of truth and justice, and Jesus of Nazareth, your Son, our LORD … born of Mary, your word incarnate … your goodness and your mercy enfleshed, sharing in the toil and turmoil of time … to save us from our sin, to set us free for life, to give us hope eternal.

We give your our thanks, O God: for those who give us the gospel … parents who pray for us, ministers and priests who give us your love, teachers who instruct us in the ways of faith … and for the Holy Spirit, dear God, at work in our souls, in our hearts and minds, leading us always to Christ.

And for the gospel, O God, the Good News of your unfailing love … that which is true forever … 

We are grateful … we give you our Thanks.

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. 

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

 Prayers of Church & Community, Nov. 12, 2023

Westminster Presbyterian Church

Eternal God, your hands hold time and space … your glory shines in our souls … your grace paves the way, undoes the ravages of sin, holds before us a vision of life and liberty, a goodness greater than we could ever imagine, a plan to move forward, the possibility of love … love of one another, dear God, love of the lost and the lonely, a love that doesn’t retreat, or run away, or hide, but a love that goes to the heart of the matter, a love that welcomes the sun of the morning, and the quiet of the night, a love that welcomes all and turns none away.

We pray, O God, for our loved ones … 

Those in need of physical healing … where illness or trauma have harmed … where distress of soul is waging a battle against the future … where there is too much darkness on the horizon, and not enough light … O LORD, hear our prayer … grant the warmth of the morning sun, the light of day to lead the way, for relief and comfort, wellbeing and peace, healing and restoration.

We know all too well, dear LORD, that we’re mortal … so help us, we pray, to put our mortality into your everlasting arms, to know that all will be well … in life and in death, O Christ we belong to you, a most faithful Savior.

We pray for the influencers of the day … those who chase the dream of fame, who count their hearts and likes and loves every hour or so, who wait for the big break, and some cold hard cash.

We pray for the young who imagine wonderful things … for the elderly who recount what they did, and those in between … wondering what it’s all about anyway.

We pray for our nation … for the women and men of vision who bravely wave the flag of faith upon the ramparts of our Democracy, who lift up the torch of wisdom and freedom, who point us to the more perfect union.

We pray for Westminster Presbyterian Church … with thanks for those who built this Tower as a witness to the world, that you, O God, are the Beginning and the End, the Alpha and the Omega … you are the Creator, the Redeemer, and the Giver of Life … that in all times and in every place, our lives are caught up in your providential care for the world - that everyone counts, everyone is loved, everywhere is where you are to be found … for you are the everlasting God of grace and glory … the vast universe is your home, a child’s heart your sweet abode … you walk with the weary, you lay down with the infirm, you rejoice in a young mother’s laughter, a young father’s delight … you stand by every bedside, you hold the hands of the dying, your earth welcomes their mortal remains, your heart welcomes their soul … all in safe keeping until that great Gettin’ Up Morning, when all shall be made new.

Give us, we pray, our daily bread … the grace of Christ, the love that surpasses all our dreams, the energy to live, and to live well … to be ambassadors of Christ, holding forth the gospel in all of its integrity and goodness … the gospel of justice and peace … that which lifts up the fallen, heals the broken, and restores the lost.

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. 

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

 Prayers of Church & Community, November 5, 2023

Westminster Presbyterian Church - a bidding prayer!

Holy God, LORD of heaven and earth, creator of the stars and all the glory of our vast universe … down to the smallest elements, O God - the curve of a gull’s wing, the crash of an ocean wave, the laughter of child, and the hope that lives within our hearts.

We gather here, O LORD, as your people have done throughout the ages, in places of incredible beauty and size, in humble homes and woodland glades, in storefronts on the street, in mission stations around the world … in heat and light, cold and dark, in the best of times, in the worst of times.

Help us, we pray, to be your people, faithful, strong, and true … 

Help us, we pray, to bow down before your glory, that we need never bow down to the false gods of the day.

With grateful hearts, we lay our lives upon the altar of Christ, we give ourselves to his kingdom … we open our hearts to the love of the Holy Spirit, our minds to the wisdom of Scripture, our strength for the work at hand … we receive his bread, and drink his cup …. O LORD God, Almighty.

With humble pleas, and tears for the world … we pray:

For loved ones, family and friends … O LORD, hear our prayer.

For the children of our world … O LORD, hear our prayer.

For people of faith all around the world … for Muslims and Jews, Sikhs and Hindus, Buddhists and Christians … for all who strive for the better day, who practice the ancient arts of love, forgiveness, and peace … O LORD, hear our prayer.

For Westminster Presbyterian Church … O LORD, hear our prayer.

For our nation, and the nations of the world … O LORD, hear our prayer.

For those in despair, those who have given up, those for whom life is hard … those who can no longer cope, who are trapped in loneliness, who have given themselves to rage and bitterness … O LORD, hear our prayer.

For lands torn by war, lives shattered, homes destroyed … O LORD, hear our prayer.

For the dead, O God … in your glorious presence now they reside - we give thanks for their efforts, their love, their work … we solemnly promise to keep what they’ve entrusted to us, to promote and enlarge it, and when our time, O God, is no more, we’ll journey to be with them, while others take up our work … O LORD, hear our prayer.

You know our heart, O God, through and through … you were present in our conception and birth, you have watched our years unfold … you have laughed with us, and wept with us … you have journeyed with us on the bright side of life, you have held us in the fearsome times of loss, disappointment, and death … and we thank you … O LORD, hear our prayer.

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.