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

 Prayers of Church & Community, August 6, 2023

Westminster Presbyterian Church

Our world trembles, O LORD … climate change and political instability, war and rumors of war … bombs and bullets, and too little butter … news, 24/7, hammers away at us … pundits and politicians, saints and sinners, ghouls and goblins, the glib and the gullible, crooks and grifters, voices of fear and alarm … we are weary to the bone, O LORD … our hearts are heavy … we cry out for the truth, Dear God, we look for hope, for a way forward, a way to peace.

We give thanks for the church, O God … the message of faith, the love of Christ … all who have travelled this way long before we were here … and all who shall follow in our footsteps.

We pray for ourselves, like Solomon prayed - for a clear mind, good judgment, to know something of the truth, that we might govern our lives well, and set before our friends and family an example of wisdom and kindness.

Impress upon us, we pray, the gift of your forgiveness …because we’re not all put together … far from it …

Remind us, Dear God: there is room at this Table for each of us … just as we are … when we’re like Peter, slow to faith and quick to deny;  when we’re like Judas, selling his soul for quick money. Remind us, O God, that we belong to you; you will never turn us away.

If the Evil One, O God, should whisper into our ear that we are unworthy, that we are not good enough, that our sins are too many, our failings too great, come Holy Spirit come quickly to our aid, to quiet the lies of Satan, to calm our fears … to assure us, there is a place for us at this Table, a place in your family, a place in your heart, for each of us.

Bless, we pray, the work and life of Westminster … bless our families and our friends … help us all along the way …  

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. 

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

 Prayers of Church & Community, July 30, 2023

Westminster Presbyterian Church

Holy God, Eternal Light, Everlasting Mercy, 

May our home be a home for God!

Great is your name, and greatly to be praised.

In this place,  O God, you give us a chance to think deeply, pray wisely, and grow into the love and goodness of Christ.

You invite our prayers, you invite us to engage with you, in the on-going work of creation … you welcome us to your kingdom, to your realm of faith, hope, and love.

With gratitude, we offer ourselves to you, as best we can … all that we are, and all that we hope to be … we give to you, in joy and in peace.

We pray this day for the homeless - we pray for Mayor Bass and the other mayors of our cities … we pray that good decisions will be made, projects funded … we pray that all of our citizens will support the efforts that make for a prosperous society, a prosperity for all, and not just the few, a prosperity for the sad and the lonely, the broken and the challenged, and all the children … that our nation will take a deep breath, and we’ll come together, and pay our taxes and elect to office, women and men of good conscience and soul.

We pray for loved ones today - give them encouragement, O LORD, and give them peace … help them along the way, to find themselves, to find your love, to discover new avenues to explore. 

We pray for our children and grandchildren … may they be safe and sound, may their schooling go well, may summer-break be fun, may their days be bright, and their sleep peaceful.

We pray for the Writers and the Actors, we pray for the studios, and for all the ancillary occupations dependent upon the Industry. May a just and reasonable agreement be found.

We pray for the hospitalized … we pray for doctors and nurses and technicians and staff … we give thanks for the institutions of healing and health, for research and new discoveries … all of this, from your kindly hand, dear God. As your Spirit continues to create and recreate the world

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. 

7.23.23 prayers of church and community - Westminster Presbyterian Church, Pasadena, CA

 Prayers of Church & Community, July 23, 2023

Westminster Presbyterian Church

Holy God, creator of the heavens and the earth, we give thanks for the glories of creation, the sky above, the earth beneath … all of your creatures, O God … the pulse and power of life … 

We pray this day for scientists hard at work to understand climate change, what’s happening to our environment, the stress and strain of warming oceans, the onset of savage winters, and then unbearable heat. 

We pray this day for the policy makers of our world … sometimes, LORD, I wonder just how many of them are listening to the earth, to the cries of the seals and the polar bears, to the fish of the sea, and the creatures that crawl upon the face of the earth.

Help us all, we pray, to listen to the earth as it speaks, as it cries out in pain and distress, for the harm we’ve done, the hurt we’ve inflicted with mindless extraction, proving ourselves to be more wanton than wise.

Save our nation, O LORD, save our world, from those who see life only in terms of dollars and dimes … who forfeit the future for present gain.

We pray for our immediate friends and family in the film industry, for the writers and actors on strike, for all the ancillary workers dependent upon production … we pray that a just settlement will be found … a good balance achieved.

Bless us here at Westminster, we pray, as we begin the search for a new minister … remind us, O LORD, that your hand is upon us, your love all around us, your purpose unfolding.

Bless our loved ones, O God - help them along the way of life … give them what’s needed for good living …

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. 

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

 Prayers of Church & Community, July 16, 2023

Westminster Presbyterian Church

God of Creation and Cross, we thank you for the wonders of your world, the power of love - to love, and to be loved, and the glory of your Christ, the little one of Bethlehem, the man of the road, the healer and the teacher, who bore the Cross to Calvary, and gave up his life, to face down the demons of hell and death.

Thanks be to you, Eternal God, for our new Elders: Barbara Barrett, Lee Powers, and Susan Sulak … bless them, keep them, guide them and guard them, as they take up the burdens and joys of leadership … 

Thanks be to you, Eternal God, for our new Search Committee … its quest, its search, its decisions … we pray for the new minister, whoever it will be, wherever she or he is … that even now, your Holy Spirit is at work, preparing someone’s heart for this momentous task, this moment in time, this church, our church, with it all of its hopes and dreams.

Today, O God, I pray for young adults, young families … I pray your Holy Spirit to protect them from the allure of cheap religion, religion with too little of Christ, and too much of self … religion pumped up by technology and entertainment, loud and funny with too much energy and too little purpose … spiritually thin and spiritually weak … give us all, we pray, the greater wisdom, to sort out the false from the real, the lie from the truth, the authentic from the counterfeit … to see the living Christ, high and lifted up … to hear his voice, the call to discipleship, to leave ourselves behind to gain the truest self we can be.

Holy God, strengthen us for the days ahead … keep our hearts sensitive to the cries of the many, all around the world … those deprived of home and hope, victims of war and famine, pestilence and injustice … give us the eyes of Christ, give his us compassion and his purpose, that we might be the light of the world and the salt of the earth.

We pray for the writers and actors on strike … we pray for the studios and all the other elements affected by the turmoil. We pray women and men of good conscience to prevail - that wages and benefits be appropriate, the drive for profits be tempered by the requirements of justice. Save us, we pray, from  the God of Mammon.

We pray for our families, our friends … our immediate world, O LORD - work and school, home and neighborhood … we pray for our communities, civic associations, fraternal organizations … for school boards and book clubs and governing bodies … for the mundane and the magnificent … for all who seek the greater good, who strive for the high ideals of faith, hope, and love.

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. 

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

Eternal God, creator of the heavens and the earth … we give thanks for your grace, mercy, and peace … you have reached into our minds and deep into our hearts, to give us Christ … 

You have reshaped our souls and rebirthed our spirits.

You have given us, O God, our salvation:

The salvation of our souls and our bodies … 

the salvation of our hopes and dreams … 

the salvation of our faith and trust … 

We are new creatures in Christ … and we are servants of your glory!

We give thanks for the earth and all of its beauty … the wonders and mysteries of life … the stars above, the endless expanse of time and space, the enduring qualities of faith, hope, and love … and for your patience, O God, as your Spirit strives with humanity, and humanity strives with itself, wondering if life is but an accident, or if life has an eternal purpose and plan. Speak tenderly to our hearts, O God, that we might find in your love the eternal grounding of who we are, and all that we want to be.

We give thanks, O God, for the rains and snow that have eased the drought throughout the western states … we give thanks for the growers and workers of the San Joaquin Valley … we mindful of the changes there with the rebirth of Lake Tulare … displacement, hardship, loss - may your love ease the necessary adjustments, and may the workers be respected and helped.

Bless all who produce the food of the world … farmers and workers, agents and packers … give us the presence of mind, dear God, to recognize in our daily bread the hands of thousands who’ve made it possible, the glory and goodness of the earth and its seasonal patterns, and your love, O God, an enduring love that creates the universe, our earth, our sun, and the spinning galaxies.

Bless, we pray, Westminster Presbyterian Church, that we might know your glory and the goodness of the Gospel, all the more, as we apply ourselves to your calling, to be faithful to Christ, to be loving of one another, to let our shine in this trembling world, that we might be a trustworthy example of your glory and grace.

We pray, O God, for our families and friends … where there is sorrow, may there be comfort … where there is uncertainty and distress, may there be guidance … where there is hurt and pain of soul or body, may there be healing … where there is misunderstanding and conflict, may there reconciliation and peace.

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. 

6.4.23 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. 

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

, 

Eternal God:

We give thanks for this Pentecost day … for your love at work in all things … in all things bright and beautiful, in all things sad and broken … your everlasting work, your Holy Spirit work - to create and recreate the world.

It’s Memorial Day, O LORD, for our nation … we remember the dead and the maimed, the victims of human folly, that humankind remains suspicious and given to armed conflict … 

We confess our penchant for war, our wars and rumors of war, our failures to live with one another … Cain killed his brother, and we’re still doing it, O LORD … violence on our streets and in our schools, wholesale death in Ukraine and Sudan and Palestine … and other places on the face of your beautiful earth, churned and burned in our madness, our fear, our failure to live well.

Yet on this Memorial Day, we breath a sigh of thanksgiving for the soldiers who marched out to defend their land against the fascists and dictators of the world. Our policies, O God, haven’t always been the best, but our Constitution, dear God, our Statue of Liberty, our hopes and our dreams, have the ring of truth about them and the bright light of decency. Help us, we pray, to live up to our best intentions, our highest ambitions, our finest words of life and justice for all.

O God, help people of faith to be faithful to the best and to the highest found in every faith and philosophy worth their salt … Muslims and Jews, Sikhs and Christians, Buddhists and Hindus … philosophers and humanists, artists and writers, the story tellers and the dreamers, the scientists who search the heavens, and probe the human body; the engineers who build the machines of the future … versions and variants of the human dream, reflections of your dream, dear God … your dream, for a world safe and sound, healthy and whole - for all your creatures, great and small.

Bless our friends, O God … I pray today for Ann Marie and Stan - for the love of Christ in their lives; the peace of the Holy Spirit.

We pray for one another here in our pews, and those by their computers and TVs … to one, and to all, dear God, grant the assurance of your Holy Spirit, the joy and goodness of Pentecost.

Help us all, dear God, to make the faithful journey … to set our sights upon the glory of Christ … heed his call to follow him where e’re he lead … to know how fully we’ve been accepted; how powerfully we are love … and to set aside of some of ourselves, that we might have more of Christ. 

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.