Prayer for August 11-17, 2019
Sermon Text: Luke 12:32-40

That we may constantly be ready for Your presence

Comforting Teacher, help us to trust God daily for generous provision of our needs. Help us trust God for welcoming inclusion in the divine reign of forgiveness, justice, peace and compassion.

Move us beyond our fears. Move us beyond the deception that our possessions will provide meaningful life. Move us to generosity that arises out of gratitude and trust. Enable us to see our neighbors, and their well-being, as more valuable than the treasures we might amass.

Let our focus on God’s realm energize us for courageous and compassionate action in our daily lives. May we be constantly ready for service and for your presence. When You return among us, may we be found doing the ministry that You have trained us for and entrusted to us.  

We rejoice at the prospect of living in your presence and receiving your celebratory gifts. You are the fulfillment of our deepest hopes. Amen.

Prayer for August 4-10, 2019
Sermon Text: Luke 12:13-21

That we may identify and resist those forms of greed that control us

Jesus, we are so steeped in a culture of greed that we probably cannot perceive or label all of the ways that greed has infected and controlled our lives. We want what we want when we want it, and we are easily angered by anyone or anything that interrupts our accumulation of more.

Help us to see ourselves truthfully. Help us to identify our greed, whether for power, control, praise, money, land, sex, drugs, alcohol, food, travel, books, emotional highs, or anything else.

Help us not to assign value only to those things that seem to enhance our lives or give us good feelings. Help us to assess the value of things based on our ability to use them in ways that honor You and in ways that enhance the lives of our many neighbors.

Lead us into deeper relationship with You and with our diverse neighbors, so we may see, more clearly, the creative possibilities for use of the resources that You give us as your stewards. Amen.