Prayer for August 28-September 3, 2016

Sermon Text: Luke 14:1, 7-14

That we may be humble agents of your healing love

God of compassion, we rejoice in the healing works that You accomplished, through Jesus Christ, even in the face of the silent resistance of those who could not acknowledge the goodness of his action.

Enable our full commitment to your agenda of forgiveness, healing, liberation and justice. Enable bold action on our behalf.

Forgive us when we are hard-hearted toward those who need a healing touch. Forgive us when we will not acknowledge holy works that fall outside the narrow boundaries of our expectations.

Do not let us get caught up in games of power and prestige, but enable us to respond to You, and to our many neighbors, with humility and love. Amen.

Prayer for August 21-27, 2016 

Sermon Text: Luke 13:10-17

That we may live as signs that your reign is surely near

Healing God, we rejoice in You! We rejoice that in Jesus’ presence many found and still do find healing, freedom from bondage, and new life.

We rejoice that Jesus was not diverted from speaking and enacting good news by either the cold silence or the threatening opposition of others.

Enable us to speak and act with similar courage. Enable us to live as signs that your reign is coming, slowly and surely, in spite of ongoing opposition from many quarters, even from within our own hearts.

Forgive us when the healing and liberation of others draws no praise from our lips. Forgive us when we act holy, but lack the life-giving energy of holiness. 

Energize us for praise, and energize us to do the works that Jesus did, as Jesus’ faithful followers. Amen.

Prayer for August 14-20, 2016 

Sermon Text: Psalm 80

That we may find our voice when our hearts are desolate

God, we have not often felt such abandonment and despair that tears became our food and drink. We have not often felt such desolation that it seemed that You had fully and angrily rejected our prayers.

When we have felt such rejection and hopelessness, we have not been quick to speak about it. We have typically kept silent and told no one.

Enable us to find our voice. Enable us to speak truly to You when we are feeling desolate and desperate.

Draw our hearts to you in faithfulness. Where there has been slippage between our faith claims and our faith practices, enable our repentance, heal and restore us, and enable us to praise You with our full being.  

Turn your face to us! You are our healing and our delight! Amen.

Prayer for August 7-13, 2016

Sermon Text: Hebrews 11:1-16

That You will deepen our hope for your full reign    

O God, give us confidence in your many promises. Give us assurance that what You have said You will do. Fill our hearts with hope in your presence and in your faithful action that is creating a realm of justice, peace, and love that is not easily visible to us now.

Enable us, as your holy people, to offer ourselves to You as gladly and completely as You have given yourself to us. Enable us to please You by faithful action. Enable us to be agents of restoration of the world that You made and love so deeply.

Give us enough faith that we will venture to unknown places in order to experience the abundant life You desire for your children. Let new life emerge from that which is as good as dead in us and among us.

We rejoice in all that we have seen and received as fulfillment of your saving promises. But we await, with anticipation and hope, the city that You are preparing, the New Jerusalem that You will establish among us by your power, your mercy, and your love.  

We trust You, the Beginning and End of all things. Amen.

Prayer for July 31-August 6, 2016 

Sermon Text: Luke 12:13-21

That we will not allow greed to isolate us from You and our neighbors

Jesus, though You did not come to judge, our thoughts and actions stand continuously under the judgment of your teaching and action that call us to repentance and change.

When we carefully examine our lives, we see that greed is masked in many ways. We may call it a desire for fairness, or practical wisdom, or good common sense, but we are easily deceived, by our own anxiety, when it comes to the accrual, management and significance of money and other forms of wealth.

Most of us have more than enough, but we also have more than enough rationalizations about why what we have is not enough.

Forgive us! Change us!  

Prevent us from allowing our resources to isolate us from You and from our neighbors. Free us from our bondage to the idol of wealth. Enable us to see your desire for us when we think about our varied resources. Enable us to see our neighbors in their need and respond with glad generosity.