Prayer for April 21-27, 2019

Sermon Text: John 20:1-18; Acts 10:34-43; 1 Corinthians 15:19-26

Hallelujah!

     God of new life, we rejoice in You! Hallelujah!

     We rejoice that You raised Jesus from death. Hallelujah!

     We rejoice that You made him who was rejected by so many the cornerstone of your plan to reconcile all creation to yourself. Hallelujah!

     We rejoice that You have defeated sin and death through Jesus. Hallelujah!

     We rejoice that You have given us new life in Christ Jesus. Hallelujah!

     We rejoice that in making Jesus the “firstfruits” You have given us hope of being part of a great resurrection harvest when he comes again. Hallelujah!

     We sing and pray and offer all our worship with deep delight in You.

Hallelujah! Hallelujah! HALLELUJAH!

PRAISE AND GLORY: PRAYERS OF PRAISE ENGAGING THE UNITED CHURCH OF CHRIST STATEMENT OF FAITH

DAY 40 - SATURDAY

Blessing and honor, glory and power be unto God.  Amen.

There is no glory like yours –

God of Israel and God of Jesus Christ –

whom we serve with gladness and worship with joy.

You are incomparable in your creative ability

to shape form from nothingness and establish order out of chaos.

You are incomparable in power, shaping Creation and human history

in order to achieve your purposes.

You are incomparable in justice and righteousness,

rescuing the poor, weak, disabled, exiled and imprisoned

from brutal structures and harsh exploitation.

You are incomparable in love,

giving of your very identify in order to seek us

and invite us into lasting fellowship with You.

You are incomparable in forgiveness,

covering our sins and hurling them away,

giving us an advocate and removing our fear of condemnation.

We bless your name, God of our many fathers and mothers in faith,

and our God too.  Amen.

Scripture: Genesis 1:1-2; Exodus 9:13-26; Luke 1:46-55; Psalm 146; John 3:16; Micah 7:18-20; 1 John 2:1-2; Romans 8:1-4

PRAISE AND GLORY: PRAYERS OF PRAISE ENGAGING THE UNITED CHURCH OF CHRIST STATEMENT OF FAITH

DAY 39 - FRIDAY

Blessing and honor, glory and power be unto God.  Amen.

God of Jesus Christ, and God of all Glory,

our hearts overflow with praise and we bless your name

as we consider your sovereign action.

You have created a universe of such vastness and complexity

that we cannot plumb the mystery of all we see

or imagine all that lies beyond the reach of our senses.

You feed us, and all other creatures,

from the abundance of your generosity.

You water the earth with rain and snow.

You preserve life.

By your own choice, you came among us, in Christ Jesus,

serving in humility, enduring death, and defeating all powers.

You invite us to intimacy and adopt us as your children.

You forgive all of our sins.

You instruct us in truth.

You enable us to enter deep communion

with others whom You have raised to new life.

You give us spiritual gifts to strengthen each other.

You comfort and encourage us,

and instill hope for eternal communion with You.

We praise You with exuberance,

You whose action has shaped and given meaning to our lives.

We honor your name by our worship and obedience.  Amen.

Scripture: Psalm 147; Genesis 1-2; John 1:1-14; Colossians 2:13-15; Revelation 3:19-22; 1 Corinthians 12; John 3:16;

PRAISE AND GLORY: PRAYERS OF PRAISE ENGAGING THE UNITED CHURCH OF CHRIST STATEMENT OF FAITH

DAY 38 - THURSDAY

Blessing and honor, glory and power be unto God.  Amen.

O Enduring One, You who are called Ancient of Days,

You who make all things new, You who are the First and Last,

the Initiator and Fulfiller of all things,

we worship and praise You with one voice.

We bless your name for we have been abundantly blessed by You.

We have seen grace multiplied by grace and we rejoice in You.

We give You honor, knowing that only You are worthy,

only You have shown yourself wholly true and wholly faithful.

Your glory endures, outweighing all other glories,

shining forth in your creation and in the merciful acts

by which You have shaped us as your people,

who once had been no people, who were,

instead, enemies with hearts hardened against You.

By your own choice and action, your effective ability,

You have whirled words into worlds,

built and toppled dynasties, shaped history for your purposes,

defeated all opposing powers at the cross,

and brought forth your Chosen One as firstborn from the dead.

We rejoice that by that resurrection power

You raised us to new lives of faithfulness.

We cannot praise You enough,

but we sing and say our praise with endless gratitude.  Amen.

Scripture: Daniel 7:9-10; Revelation 21:1-7; John 1:14-18; 1 Peter 2:9-10; Romans 5:1-11, 8:29; Genesis 1:1-2:3; 1 Corinthians 15:50-58; Colossians 1:15-21

PRAISE AND GLORY: PRAYERS OF PRAISE ENGAGING THE UNITED CHURCH OF CHRIST STATEMENT OF FAITH

DAY 37 - WEDNESDAY

God promises to all who trust in the gospel eternal life in that kingdom which has no end.

You who are Alpha and Omega, the Beginning and the End,

we praise You for your faithfulness, from age to age,

as well as for the newness that You bring, in surprising ways,

to situations that seem changeless.

Because You are faithful and because your imaginative creativity

eclipses all that we can imagine,

we cling to your promise of eternal life

with a mixture of dread and delight.

We taste a bit of your eternal realm now,

in the life of the Church, as we worship You

with people who are diverse in many ways,

yet are united by your Spirit in a single body that lives for your glory.

We anticipate the full revelation of your glory.

We rejoice that You will abolish sorrow and tears,

and that You will dwell among your people

in unbroken fellowship, with great feasting

and jubilant song and unending love.  Amen.

Scripture: Rev. 5:9-10, 7:9-12, 19:1-10, 21:1-7; Isaiah 43:14-21; Lamentations 3:22-24; Ephesians 4:1-6

PRAISE AND GLORY: PRAYERS OF PRAISE ENGAGING THE UNITED CHURCH OF CHRIST STATEMENT OF FAITH

DAY 36 - TUESDAY

God promises to all who trust in the gospel the presence of the Holy Spirit in trial and rejoicing.

Always faithful God, we take courage from Jesus’ promise

that he will never leave us or forsake us.

Indeed, we praise You because your Spirit has been

our constant companion and guide

for all the days and all the miles of our journey in faith.

In your presence

we have faced even the darkest valley with boldness.

In your presence we have discovered comfort

in the midst of crushing circumstances that pushed us toward despair.

In your presence we have found clarity

when everything seemed chaotic and confusing.

We have also known overwhelming joy

as You have given us moments

of heightened awareness of your nearness,

and as we have walked and worshiped

with other companions on the journey

whose faith nurtured and challenged our own.

O Faithful Companion, in your nearness You have given us

the deepest desire of our hearts.

We will never cease worshiping you,

But will glorify your name with the best of our energy.  Amen.

Scripture: Hebrews 13:5; Matthew 28:20; Psalm 23, 37:4, 145:19; 2 Corinthians 1:3-11

PRAISE AND GLORY: PRAYERS OF PRAISE ENGAGING THE UNITED CHURCH OF CHRIST STATEMENT OF FAITH

DAY 35 - MONDAY

God promises to all who trust in the gospel courage in the struggle for justice and peace.

God of justice and peace, You have shown your great compassion

in your desire for justice for all people,

but particularly for the poor among us.

We thank You that in the midst of many circumstances

You have declared, “Be not afraid!”

and have calmed our fears, declared your peace to us,

given us a peace we did not expect and cannot explain,

and called us to be makers of peace.

Even now, You help us to “Be not afraid,”

so that we may work for justice

alongside all who are oppressed and who cry out to You

for mercy and justice. 

By the presence of your energizing Spirit,

You have made us sources of friendship and hope

for all who live in poverty,

for all who grieve without someone to comfort them,

for those who are sick, diseased, injured or disabled,

for those who are in prison,

for exiles who live as strangers in strange lands,

and for many other people who are treated

as though they are less than fully human.

You encourage and energize us for advocacy,

So that by speech and communal action

we are able to work for change

of the many structures that increase poverty,

aggravate grief, prolong incarceration,

intensify the impact of physical ailments

and permanent disabilities, and further silence those

who have already been silenced and sent away.

O God, you enable us to dream of a world

in which justice and peace become reality.

And you give us endurance to work on, in hope,

when the results of our efforts seem invisible

and change seems impossible.

O God, bring glory to yourself as You bring peace and justice

that overturns the great inequities we see at every hand.  Amen.

Scripture: Luke 1:5-13, 2:6-38, 2:8-12, 4:16-21; Isaiah 58:1-12; John 14:27; Philippians 4:4-7, Matthew 5:9