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

 Prayers of Church & Community, January 26, 2025

Westminster Presbyterian Church

Eternal God, light of the world, comfort us, we pray, in our time of need and loss …

We pray for our nation … and those who govern us … 

We pray for Wall Street and Main Street, we pray for businesses, large and small … we pray for the captains of capital and America’s working women and men … save us, one and all, from the gods of greed; that we might embrace the wisdom of true wealth, that in giving, we receive … in receiving, we learn the great truth of life - to find what we want, we must give what others need.

We pray for the frightened … folks deemed unworthy by misguided politicians, and fanatical preachers … we pray for those who proclaim hate, and call it good … we pray for those who claim the name of Christ and reject their sisters and brothers.

We pray for writers and historians, journalists and podcasters … who search for the stories behind the stories, the truth of the matter, to help us see clearly. 

We pray for our universities and colleges … professors and administrators … those who touch the minds of the young, who stir the conscience … and awaken the best kinds of dreams.

We pray for houses of worship and prayer … we pray imams and priests, rabbis and pastors … we pray for spiritual leaders and their congregations … for elders and deacons, Sunday School teachers and choirs … 

Especially we pray for those who speak truth to power, who lift up the cross of Christ, who hold forth the hands of mercy … we pray for the Rev. Mariann Budde, and the National Cathedral … 

We pray for Westminster, O God, here on Lake Avenue … fill this building with your glory, fill our hearts with your love, fill our minds with your thoughts … help us, to love justice, to do good, and to walk humbly with you, our God and Savior.

We pray for our own souls, dear God … that we might possess the integrity of Christ, the vision of your salvation, the strength of the gospel … that we might never give up on our journey with Christ … that we might have divine strength, to bear the cross and follow Christ where e’er he lead.

That we might be the light of the world, the salt of the earth … 

By mercy untold, and grace ever bright, the Tower still stands, dear God, a beacon of light, a tower of hope.

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. 

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

 Prayers of Church & Community, Dec. 8, 2024

Westminster Presbyterian Church

Oh LORD our God, in your mercy, we find our hope, in your love, our peace … deliver us, we pray, from the fears and worries that so easily grow out of hand … help us, we pray, to engage with our world, but not to be swept away in the chaos of the day.

We offer up our prayers, O God, in faith - that every prayer uttered anywhere, by anyone, adds to the welfare of the world. 

Our prayers, feeble as they are, rise to heaven’s gate, and there, our prayers, and those of all humanity, are well received.

We pray for South Korea, O God … for the people of that great nation and their democracy …

We pray for the city of Manilla … may your love comfort the bereaved … may your Holy Spirit prompt an outpouring of assistance.

We pray for Syria in the throes of civil war … we pray for the State of Israel and the Palestinians … we pray for Ukraine and Russia … we pray for the nations of Africa … may your Holy Spirit strengthen the church in all of these lands … may the gospel be proclaimed with joy and courage, integrity and mindfulness … may the right hand of fellowship be extended to all … may the works of compassion and the deeds of mercy be amplified by your love … may the church be the church of Jesus Christ, dear God … never the church of a nation, nor ever to bow down before the idols of wealth and power … but the church of the resurrection, rising to a new day of hope and peace … giving unto others the treasures of faith, forgiveness, and fortitude.

Bless us, now, we pray, in the remains of the day … see us into a new week … lead us upon the pathways of righteousness … remind us, we pray, that we never walk alone … you walk with us in the wind, in the rain, in all the storms of life … you are the silver lining in every cloud, and the rising sun of every 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. 

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

 Prayers of Church & Community, September 1, 2024

Westminster Presbyterian Church

Holy God, Eternal Light … forever present … always kind … 

A present help in the daily grind … you encourage us all along the way … 

In the best moments of life, O God, you strengthen us for the journey … in the best of times, and the worst of times.

When we walk through the valley of the shadow of death … you walk quietly beside us … 

you stop and wait with us, when we cannot walk one step further, 

you sit with us when we cannot rise … 

you lay down with us when we are laid low … 

you hold us when we tremble … 

you do not let us go, dear God … 

even when we want to run away from you, and go and hide somewhere … 

Blessed Redeemer, creator of the heavens and earth … we give thanks for the creative energies you give to our world …

Bless our schools, O God, and all the children … bless their teachers, O LORD, and the administrators, the counselors, lunchroom workers, maintenance and cleaning staff … it takes a village, O God, to raise a child.

We’re mindful, O God, of Gus Walz … and millions of children and young adults who share his world. Protect them, we pray.

Thank you, Dear God, for those who gave us Labor Day … help our nation, O LORD, to not only enjoy its wealth, but to share its wealth … to be as eager in our generosity, as we are in our gain.

Bless our nation in this campaign season … bless Kamala Harris and Tim Walz, bless Donald Trump and J.D. Vance … bless all who seek office … instill within all of us, and each of us, a fresh desire to be the more perfect union … with liberty and justice for all.

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. 

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

 Prayers of Church & Community, 6.23.24

Westminster Presbyterian Church

Holy God, Eternal Light, 

Thou art the way, the truth, and the life … 

You reveal vital things to us, dear God … you reveal yourself, in a million different ways …  the momentary glimpse we have of you in the corners of our mind … hints of holiness … notes of indescribable joy … comfort in the midst of our sorrows and sins … a way forward, O God, when all doors are closed … the rebuilding of life, the making of a new day, forgiveness, fortitude, faith … you keep us going, dear God, you lift us up, you walk with us, you sit beside us, you cry with us.

Holy God, Eternal Light, we pray for our trembling world … troubled by lies and false gods … broken by war and rumors of war … unsettled by fears and forebodings, promoted by people devoted to the destruction of Democracy.

Help us in our private lives, we pray, and in our lives together, to climb the high mountains of virtue and there to find the glories of your salvation, for all the world … to embrace the best of human goodness, and the still greater goodness of the Cross and the Empty Tomb, the mysteries and wonders of Christ our LORD.

Help us, we pray - to face the indignities of the day with the dignity of Christ … to bear patiently the faults and failures of others, even as you, O God, deal kindly with us, in our fractured and fearful moments. Remind us that we are precious in your sight - that our tears and our joys are deeply connected to everything you are.

In the waters of baptism, O God, give us eyes to see your glory … a world washed in your love, a world crowned with glory, and love abounding … 

Bless Markus Christian Thomas, we pray, his family and his future … thank you for this child, and the promise he holds in his wee little hands.

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. 

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

 Prayers of Church & Community, April 21, 2024

Westminster Presbyterian Church

The sun rises to warm the earth … birds welcome it with a chorus of songs … their music, a delight to the soul and a reminder to us all, of the greater things of God.

Holy God, eternal light,

Our world is filled with war and terror … missiles fly and bombs explode, people die and children cry, politicians shout outrage, and people pray with broken hearts … 

The streets fill with protest and clamor … nations claim right from wrong, and accuse the other of wrong from right … 

Do you grow tired of us, O God?

Do you wonder if another flood might work better than it did with Noah and his Gang?

Do you count the ways we violate your laws of love and kindness?

Do you cringe at our little loyalties, lives lived unto ourselves? The tiny circles of our love.

We turn, dear God, to Christ … not to escape our world and its sorrows, but to embrace our world and its pain through the Man of Sorrows, through the pain that Christ bore upon Calvary’s Cross, the darkness of death and the sorrow of hell he endured … the struggle with all of it, dear God, and the victory over every bit of it … his Day of Resurrection, when death met its match in the matchless grace of Christ.

O LORD our God, we pray for the nations of the Middle East … even now, as we speak, diplomats and politicians are scrambling to find justice, to find the ways of peace, to restore what has been lost, to rebuild what has been destroyed, to give to everyone a chance at life … 

Remind us, O God, the road to peace requires much courage and profound skills … greatness of soul and mind … rising above whatever loyalties we might have in the moment, to the greater loyalties of creation, covenant, and Christ.

Help us, O God, to be people of conscience, people of learning and thought and prayer, people large enough in word and deed to reflect your word in Christ.

Remind us, O God, of our purpose … to love you with all that we are, and to love our neighbor as we love ourselves … help us, we pray, to bow down to Christ, that we might stand up to serve … help us to open our minds and hearts to the greater truths of faith, hope, and love, that we might open our arms to the lost, the lonely, the weary, and the sad.

That in our work and in our leisure, with our classmates and our friends, we would bring to this world the bits and pieces of your glorious kingdom … thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.

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. 

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

 Prayers of Church & Community, January 28, 2024

Westminster Presbyterian Church

Glorious in light, 

gracious in mercy, 

good in all respects, 

Holy God, Mother and Father of us all, we give thanks for the Tower on Lake Avenue - those who laid the foundation of faith for the sake of the future - who raised their hymns and did the work of love … they did it well, O God, and sometimes they didn’t … they were true to your Christ, dear God, and sometimes not …  

In our weakness, dear God, may your Holy Spirit provide guidance and correction … in our strength, O God, may your Holy Spirit provide humility and gratitude.

This day, O God, we pray for poets and writers - as they take the language of words and shape them like clay in the potter’s hand, to create an image, a story, a world, wherein we can find ourselves, our goodness, our sorrows, our best, and our worst.

This day, O God, we pray for the engineers and scientists, the technicians and staff, of JPL - they map the universe and take us to the stars. They build the machines of exploration, dear God, they probe the mysteries of the universe, they help us dream.

This day, O God, we pray for the medical faculties of our universities and hospitals … we pray for the technicians who manage the machinery of our health, the housekeepers and the cooks, administrative staff and archivists … as they care for our bodies and minds, and seek cures for our ailments.

Bless us, we pray, in this time of worship and wonder … set our spirits soaring with the glories of Christ and the joy of our redemption … give us patience, we pray, in the midst of distress and grief … give us energy when we’re tired, give us rest when we need it, give us love …  

We pray, O God, for our YouTube Family … may this time together bring healing and hope, to all … we pray for Stan and Ann Marie, for Charles, for Francie and for Cheri … separated though we be by many miles, we are intimately bonded together by the Holy Spirit.

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. 

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

Eternal God … your love is a perfect power, your power is a perfect love … and to you we turn, with hope and gratitude.

We give thanks for the rising of the sun this day, for the mountains to the north, for our neighbors and our friends … we count our blessings, when we think about it … and we pray for the gift to think, to think often, and deeply … about our faith in you, O God, and your faith in us. … 

Encourage us, we pray, by your Holy Spirit, to pursue our faith with all that we are … to be grateful and content … to focus less on what we want, and more on what we need … less thought, O LORD, on what we lack, and more on what we have.

We pray today for friends and family … if there is pain, may there be healing … if there is despair, may there be patience … if there is shame, may there be pride … if there is sorrow, O God, may there be comfort … if there is loss of purpose, may fresh dreams be kindled … if there is anger, may there be peace … if there is fear, may there be confidence in your unfailing love.

We pray for our nation, O God … our President and Vice President, and their families … for the members of Congress, the Supreme Court … our military leaders and the women and men who sail the seas, fly the skies, and carry the arms of war.

We pray for the nations of the world … for Russia and Ukraine, the nations of the Middle East, for the European Union, for the Pacific Rim nations, for China and Taiwan, Australia and Indonesia … we pray for our neighbors, Canada and Mexico, and the nations of Central and South America … 

We pray for the nations of Africa … and especially Uganda, O God, and its move into hatred for the LGBTQ community. May your Spirit, O God, change the minds and hearts of those responsible, those who promote this terror, and may your Church, O God, here and around the world, have the courage of good convictions, and the good convictions of a liberating and joyful faith, because of the love of Christ, for every body.

Bless now, we pray, Westminster Presbyterian Church … and those who built it as a symbol of your grace … who gave us the Tower, that we might look upward, to find solace in your vast love, and then, with joy and hope, reach beyond ourselves to be the best we can be, and never lose ourselves in the moment, but keep ourselves in the majesty of your great love.

In the name of our LORD Jesus Christ, our Savior, our Peace, our Goodness, 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.