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. 

1.1.23 Prayers of Church & Community, Westminster Presbyterian Church Pasadena

 Eternal God, to whom all things belong, from whom all love proceeds, we give thanks that you are the God of love woven into the fabric of time -  in the best of it, and in the worst of it … in our joys, and in our sorrows … in the suffering of millions even now, displaced by war and climate change … you’re heart, too, is broken, by the sins and sorrows of humankind.

It’s almost too much for us to comprehend, but we pay attention, dear God, because attentiveness is our task - to be fully human, fully aware, eyes open, ears listening to the children of our world crying out to us for justice and peace …  

Help us, we pray, to give priority to love and kindness, mercy and mindfulness … to be faithful to Christ, to be creative and playful, prayerful and thoughtful, to be the church alive and full of life and hope … in such times, O God, as these, changing times, tables overturned, the old ways disappearing, remind us that you are at work in all things for good … Christ is our companion … the Holy Spirit guides and directs our steps, reveals new pathways, new procedures and new practices … help us, we pray, to resist the temptation of Lot’s wife, the temptation to look backward, the temptation to give the past more honor than it deserves … to be those who look to the future, who look for you, O God, in the pathways before us, for you are always and forever the God of Tomorrow.

We pray now for loved ones… for family and friends … our children and grandchildren, our parents and grandparents … our brothers and sisters, neighbors and co-workers … all around us, O LORD … and for them we pray.

We pray for Ukraine and Russia, for Europe and NATO - we pray for the air and water, the earth and the animals … we pray for a just peace.

We pray for Taiwan and China … we pray for the nations of the Pacific Rim … 

We pray for Westminster, O LORD … we pray for our elders and our members, for our friends around the world, who join with us via YouTube - we pray a blessing upon them 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. 

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

Give us your ears, O God, to hear the blood of Abel crying from the earth … to hear the lament of the lost … the cry of the frightened … give us your ears, O God, to hear the sounds angels singing in the highest of heavens, and the sounds of life all around us … every word of hope, every song of peace … give us your ears, we pray, to hear the whole song of the earth … the sweet refrains of love, and the laments of loss.

Holy is your name, O God … worthy of our praise and our prayers … for you are the God of hope, the God of peace and the God love … you hear every prayer in every tongue … you answer every prayer with tender regard and mercy. 

With faith, hope, and love, O God, we worship you in this place of peace and welcome … we set aside the cares and worries of the day … we lay down our burdens at the foot of the cross … we tarry with Christ in that darkness, to find the light of love … 

With the saints of old, we join in the chorus of hope … that our lives count for great things … that every prayer we utter spins this world a bit closer to you … 

In these moments of prayer and contemplation, we pray for those in distress … and especially we pray for Ukraine and the powers that be, that the present conflict escalate no further, that wise heads and thoughtful hearts would find a just peace.

We pray the youth of our nation … that we’ll do well by them … with good schools and safe neighborhoods … with plenty of family support and social wisdom. Remind us, O God, that we are all sisters and brothers of one another, that the welfare of one is the welfare of all … do not let us slide, we pray, into sectarian camps and social constructs hedged by walls and suspicion. For we are of Christ, O God. The Christ of the world, and not the Christ of the few.

All of this, 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. 

6.5.22 Prayers of Church & Community, Westminster Presbyterian Church PasadenaL

LORD God Almighty, maker of heaven and earth, we give thanks for the gift of Christ, and the

work of the Holy Spirit … your goodness at work all around the world … in time and in space; in the bright avenues of life, and in the shadowy corners and darkened alleys of disappointment and sorrow … you are present, with grace, mercy, and peace … no place beyond your reach, no life beyond your touch, no sin greater than your forgiveness, no sorrow too vast for your kindness … no time or place surpassing your all-surpassing love.

Our world, dear God, has trouble aplenty … give us the strength, we pray, to live in this world, honestly, creatively, patiently, to yet see the good that remains: the cup of blessing and our daily bread - friendship and faith, folks who care … the love that remains.

Strengthen those who uphold the best and the noblest of the human story. 

Help us, we pray, to carry the cross of awareness, the cross of care and concern, the cross of love … yet give us rest, O God - when we’re tired, troubled, and tested … when we cry out and weep … you stand by us when we can no longer walk; you lay down with us when we cannot rise.

This day, O God, we pray especially for the children of Ukraine - little hearts and tender minds, impacted by unimaginable savagery … the sounds and smells of war - scarring their souls. Be merciful to the little ones, O LORD, for they are so utterly vulnerable to the sadness and misery of war.

Bless our church, we pray, that we might know the love of Christ all the more, that our church would remain a safe and welcoming place, a sanctuary of healing and hope … ready for a new day, a new era of mission, a new chapter to be written.

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. 

March 27, 2022 Prayer of the People - Westminster Presbyterian Church, Pasadena

With grateful hearts,  Dear God, we gather together in a place we love … a place filled with

history and memories, friendship and faith, learning and much love … a place wherein the call of Christ is proclaimed with joy … the challenges of life are faced with courage. A place, O LORD, you have sanctified with your presence! A place where you have promised to meet us.

We dedicate this moment to the high and holy purpose of Christ - to bring good news to the poor, release to the captives; recovery of sight to the blind; and to let the oppressed go free.

We vow anew, Dear God, to follow Christ where’re he lead … to live his truth, and trust his grace. Deliver us, we pray, from ideas and behaviors that harm our loved ones, and damage our souls. 

With grateful hearts, O God, we pray:

For loved ones, family and friends … for your mercy in all they undertake, your love in every moment, the power of forgiveness to hold them, and the peace of Christ to guard them.

We pray for the leaders of our nation - for the women and men who wear the mantle of politics … we pray that your Holy Spirit will guide their thoughts and frame their words. And may they, one and all, reflect the great ideals of our nation, and the highest ambitions of humanity.

O LORD our God, We pray for the people of Ukraine - surrounded by death and destruction - we pray that the nations of the world will provide adequate support in all regards, and peace will win the day.

We pray for the people of Russia, that the light of truth will help them counter the instincts of war, to find a better pathway to national security and their future.

And here in this blessed moment, we consider ourselves, Dear God - we know so well how fragile we are … we carry burdens no one else can see … we’re often afraid and dispirited … that you should love us is our comfort; that you should hear our prayers, and guide our ways, is our 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.