2.2.25 Prayers of Church & Community, Scout Sunday, Westminster Presbyterian Church, Pasadena, CA

 Prayers of Church & Community, Feb 2, 2025

Westminster Presbyterian Church

Holy God, Eternal Light … 

We pray for those who lost loved ones in the Potomac plane crash … our hearts are broken, our minds awhirl with sorrow … 

We pray for the families and friends who lost homes to the fires, and those who lost loved one … we’re mindful of our Scouting Family, dear God, many of whom lost their homes - all the things of life: mementos, the bits and pieces of memory … souvenirs … awards and trophies, childhood toys, and good books.

On this day, O God, we lift up our Scouts - we give thanks for all who have taken up the mantle of Scout leadership, to help our youth find their way in life … we thank you, O God, for the great values represented in the program … patriotism, honor, decency, and faithfulness.

Bless our Scouts, we pray, with your Holy Spirit … bless their families and see them through the challenges and crises of the moment … give to them, we pray, the solace of your mercy, the guidance of your wisdom, the courage of your love … to face forward and to look upward … to reach out to help others, and from others, to be helped  … to maintain the human bond, the commitments and loyalties that keep us connected and working together … help us all, we pray, to be good Scouts, good citizens of this land.

We pray for our nation … caught up in political distress … help us, we pray, with the light of Christ, to discern what is true and what isn’t … to cling to the ideals we all share … to help one another, to level the playing field, to confront bigotry, racism, discrimination - all the ways, O God, we have of hurting one another … help us, we pray, to rise above the evils of nationalism to find true patriotism, to seek justice for all, and peace for the world.

Bless, we pray, the churches of our land … bless synagogues, mosques, and temples … communities of faith and prayer … may the light of truth shine brightly … may the lies of pride and power be exposed … may courage be the hallmark of faith … may open arms be our life …  

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.

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

 Prayers of Church & Community, April 28, 2024

Westminster Presbyterian Church

In the beauty of the lilies Christ was born across the sea,

With a glory in his bosom that transfigures you and me;

As he died to make us holy, let us die that all be free!

While God is marching on. Glory! Glory! Hallelujah!

Holy God, Eternal Light,

We pray for our nation, we pray for our President and those who serve with him … 

we pray for Congress, 

we pray for the courts of the land … 

we pray for our armed forces around the world … may they keep peace with the force of ideas more than the force of arms … but if arms are needed, O God, than preserve them, we pray … and may the promise of peace and freedom be realized.

We give thanks for the Founding Fathers and Mothers of this land, who dreamed a glorious dream of freedom and hope … a dream not yet fulfilled, O God, a dream still waiting to be finished.

We thank you, O God, for all whom you have brought to America - from lands to the south, and lands across the seas … an endless parade of peoples and cultures … we are all from somewhere else, dear God, and finally, all from thee. 

Help us all, O LORD, to put our hand to the plow, and not look back to what was, but to look ahead to the dreams that beckon us onward.

Holy God, Eternal Light, help us, we pray, to care for your Garden, your earth, all your creatures, great and small.

Holy God, Eternal Light … touch our souls, we pray, with the power of your Holy Spirit … shine the light of faith all around us:

If we are complacent, dear God, disturb us … 

if we are discouraged, revive us …

if we’ve wandered from Christ, bring us back …

if we’ve forgotten our promises, awaken us …

if we are tired, dear God, give us rest …

if we are frightened, give us comfort …

if we doubt our abilities, tell us again how good we are …

if we have lost our way, find us …

if we lack purpose, dear God, remind us of our baptism …

Holy God, Eternal Light … we are painfully aware of distress and sorrow all around the world … especially, we pray for our universities and colleges, their students, faculties and staff, and their families. 

We continue to pray for the people of Ukraine and Russia and surrounding nations … we pray for Israel and Palestine and the nations of the Middle East - may the wisdom of peace prevail, may the courage of forgiveness give light, may the power of tomorrow reveal a pathway through the chaos of the 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.

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. 

12.11.22 Prayers of Church & Community, Westminster Presbyterian Church, Pasadena

With adoration and gratitude, O God, we lay before you our prayers of the day: you are a most generous God, working tirelessly to sustain the world you love, to guide the creature you endowed with remarkable abilities.

You forgive us that we might always have a way forward … you lead us our tomorrows … and along the way, you are the companion, the Good Shepherd.

We pray for our President and Vice President … we pray for our Senators and House Members, we pray for the judges of the land.

We pray for the leaders of industry, particularly our railroads … we pray for the women and men who assemble the trains, their hands upon the throttles, the switches, the lights and the gates … who make it all happen. We pray for them, their unions, and those who make the decisions …  

Bless and keep our loved ones, we pray … our children and grandchildren, our parents and grandparents … extended families and co-workers … all the people through whom we find our identity and purpose.

In this Season of Advent, dear God, we rehearse the great themes of our faith: grateful for the love of Christ, born anew in our hearts.

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.