prayer – Page 30 – katyandtheword

Links of Prayer: Narrative Lectionary for Lent

Links of Prayer Resources for Lent.

A broad number of prayers from a variety of pastors/denominations. All variations of theology and kinds of prayers were accepted to show the vast richness of God’s work.

These prayers are meant for personal spiritual practice or for congregations who follow the narrative lectionary.

They include a Call to Worship/Opening Prayer, Prayer of Confession, Assurance of Pardon, Communion Prayer, Prayer of Dedication/Offering and Some are Paired Psalm-Prayer Station Guide by Rev. Shea Zellweger

Feel free to use/edit. Credit to the original author (i.e. based on prayer written by XXX) appreciated.

March 1st Ash Wednesday by Rev. Mary Austin

March 5th The Good Samaritan by Rev. Dr. Robyn Provis

March 12th The Lament Over Jerusalem by Rev. Courtney D. Arntzen

March 19th Lost Coin, Lost Sheep, Lost Son by Rev. Mike Williams

March 26th Rich Man and Lazarus by Rev. Tracy Spencer-Brown

Apr 2nd Zacchaeus by Rev. Katy Stenta

Apr 11th Triumphal Entry/Palm Sunday by Rev. Jeanne Gay

Apr 13th Last Supper by Rev. Amy Fetterman

Apr 14th Crucifixion by Rev Lee Ann Higgins

Good Friday Liturgy of the Nails http://wp.me/p2rhxZ-25W

Apr 16th Resurrection/Easter by Rev. Dr. Barb Hedges-Goettl

The Good Samaritan: Narrative Lectionary Lent Prayers

Image

Invitation to Community by Rev. Dr. Robyn Provis

Feel free to use/edit. Credit to the original author (i.e. based on prayer/prayers written by Rev. Dr. Robyn Provis) appreciated.

Luke 10:25-42 and Psalm 15 or Psalm 15:1

Call to Worship

Good and merciful God, you call us to gather along the road we know as community,

With our neighbors all around, speak to us in these complicated times.

We are people of the covenant, called to care for one another without exception.

Within and beyond our walls, our neighbors are struggling. Within and beyond these walls, we may be the one who is struggling.

Just as Jesus lived a commitment of coming near, abide in with and through us. Send us. Encourage us to come near in your name.

We are ready to open our hearts to receive new strength and to open our lives to new understanding. Gather us near.

Invocation

Holy God, as we come together in this house of prayer, we open ourselves to your spirit. Who is our neighbor and who was this Samaritan called good? Bring fresh understanding to why he alone drew near to danger, unafraid, giving compassion, and bringing hope. Guide us in being open to helping the stranger, the outcast, and the one without community. Amen.

Call to Confession

God calls us to relationships of trust and hope. As your children we are drawn to the good and the holy. We come now to confess that we sometimes have too narrow a view of what is good, missing the holy even when we are in its midst.

Prayer of Confession

God we pray, inspire courage and compassion and open us beyond the usual boundaries that come with fear and privilege. We name that we have failed to see our neighbors unless it is convenient and scheduled. We know that the Good Samaritan comes near as one who knows the Kin(g)dom is near. And the Kin(g)dom of God comes near when we do the same. But Creator God, coming near is not easy. It’s easier to withdraw and to hide in our homes. The division that plagues our nation will require a new kind of coming together in understanding and love. Forgive our hesitation and make bold our faith. Make bold our witness. Amen.

Assurance of Pardon

Be at peace as the people of God who daily find strength in hope. Be at peace knowing that God draws near; that God is omnipresent and walking with us in our struggle to follow boldly. May we be bold ambassadors of courage and Christ.

Communion Prayer

From these simple gifts of grape and grain, you have consecrated us as your children, called and sent to share your extravagant love with others. Open our eyes that we might see you near. Open our lives that we might be agents of hope and love for our world. When we forget our holy calling, speak anew to our hearts and draw us back. This is our prayer in the name of all that is holy. Amen.

Offering Prayer/Prayer of Dedication Gathered we have given in your name– blessed to be a blessing. Generous God, bless and consecrate these gifts and use them to bring hope and healing to our community and beyond. Enliven us to share even ourselves with the world you love. Amen.

Prayers of Intercession

God of love, give us a deep love for you, so that we can see the world as you see it, feel the compassion you feel, and be a people whose lives mediate your love to others. God in your mercy. Hear our prayer

Open our eyes that we might see what the Good Samaritan saw. Grant us the insight to see the need in others, the wisdom to know what to do, and the will to do it. God in your mercy. Hear our prayer

We pray for all those people, who in many and various ways, have been stripped, beaten and left for dead. We pray for children who are growing up in the most awful of circumstances, especially for those starved of love or food, shelter or security. May they receive the future you have planned for them. God in your mercy. Hear our prayer

We pray for those we might cross the road to avoid, those who have been excluded socially because of their race, financial status, or history. May the dignity that is theirs be restored to them. God in your mercy. Hear our prayer

God give us a deep love for you, that we might see your love at work in this world, and that we might go and do likewise. God in your mercy. Hear our prayer

Prayer Station by Rev. Shea Zellweger

Psalm 15

1 Lord, who may be a guest in your home?

Who may live on your holy hill?

2 Whoever lives a blameless life,

does what is right,

and speaks honestly.

3 They do not slander,

or do harm to others,

or insult their neighbor.

4 They despise a reprobate,

but honor the Lord’s loyal followers.

They make firm commitments and do not renege on their promise.

5 They do not charge interest when they lends their money.

They do not take bribes to testify against the innocent.

The one who lives like this will never be upended.

Guide:

Read the psalm once, and ponder it for a moment.

Using one of the tools in the sandbox, or your own hands, create a shape in the sand which signifies the Lord’s home.

Read the psalm a second time, this time looking for a single phrase which speaks especially to you.

Select a rock. Allow the rock to represent you. Hold it in your hand as you contemplate the phrase you found.

Place the rock inside the Lord’s home. God has welcomed you home.

Read the psalm a third time as a prayer of thanksgiving.

More Narrative Lectionary Lenten Themed Prayers

Narrative Lectionary: Ash Wednesday Links of Prayer

Ash Wednesday

“Invitation to Lent” Author Rev. Mary Austin

Feel free to use/edit. Credit to the original author (i.e. based on prayer/prayers written by Rev Mary Austin) appreciated.

Luke 9:51-62 and Psalm 5:7-8 or Psalm 5:8

Call to Worship

We are dust and ashes,

bone and breath,

full of frailty and limitation.

Lent calls us into reflection and repentance,

drawing closer to God.

Lent calls us to see ourselves as dust and ash,

alive only with God’s breath.

Lent invites us to be pilgrims,

moving with Jesus toward the truth.

In Lent, we travel with Jesus,

moving toward an end and a beginning.

Let us worship the God of glory,

with all that is within us.

Call to Confession

Keeping up appearances is exhausting. Pretending to be something we are not takes a toll on our spirits. The illusion of perfection makes us weary. Lent invites us into a place of freedom. Let us speak the truth about ourselves, and know the truth about God.Trusting in God’s abundant, living mercy, let us pray. (time for silent reflection)…Amen

Prayer of Confession

God who breathes life into dust,

and fills ash with glory,

we come to you knowing that we are broken,

not by your doing,

but by our own.

Forgive us for chasing shiny gods,

instead of turning to you.

Forgive us for trusting our own abilities

more than your goodness.

Forgive us for seeing other people as stepping stones,

instead of as your beloved ones.

Breathe life into our dust again, we pray,

and claim us once more as your own.

In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Assurance of Grace/Pardon

Who are we, that God is mindful of us? God’s fingers have shaped us, and God’s breath gives us life. God’s abundant mercy follows us with each step. In the life of Jesus Christ, we see a new way to live. In following him, our lives are redeemed. Through Jesus Christ, we are all forgiven. Be at peace in God’s grace.

Invitation to Communion

My friends, dust and ash we are, and also God’s beloved people. Jesus, who knows both death and resurrection, invites us now to the table. Here, even on this day, we see a glimpse of God’s table. At the table of God, there is hunger is no more, and all of God’s people feast together. There death is no more, and we see our beloved ones and God’s people of all the ages. There tears are no more, and we rejoice in the presence of God’s living grace.

In the name of Jesus our host, Jesus whom we follow into Lent, Jesus who gives us living bread, we are all invited to come and share in the feast.

Prayer after Communion

Holy God,

with the taste of ash still in our mouths,

you have fed us with the bread of heaven

and the cup of new beginnings.

Lead us now, we pray,

into a Lent of somber reflection

and committed service,

spreading the taste of your love to all people.

In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Offering Prayer / Prayer of Dedication

Merciful God,

our gifts are as limited as our lives,

but we offer them to you with gratitude,

knowing that they really are your gifts,

loaned to us.

We offer them with praise,

that you invite us to share in your work.

We offer them with hope,

knowing that you can transform them

into instruments of love and justice.

In Jesus name, Amen.

More Narrative Lectionary Lenten Themed Prayers

A Short Good Shepherd Ash Weds Service

#God is at #Starbucks

In my life, I am too busy…

I have always been a Martha, I don’t even want to be Mary.

But in the midst of the children screaming, the messiness of the house and the juggling of the schedules, God is there.

In my life, I am too busy…

I have always been a Martha, I don’t even want to be Mary.

But in the midst of the children screaming, the messiness of the house and the juggling of the schedules, God is there.

Just like Goodnight Moon, where each and every object is remembered and names, God keeps track of us, and loves us.

God is there in the mounds of paperwork, the long to do list and the phone that is ringing–in every worry that is a part of the church.

I know God is in these things, in the sunny walks to buy milk, where everything goes smoothly, in the car rides where everyone is yelling at each other for no reason. God is there.

But although God is there, the time I get to spend with God, is often not at worship where I’m trying to remember everyone in my prayers, or at home where we say our Amens or at the office where its a game of finish the most things. The moment I get to to spend with God is in the coffee shop–at the Barnes and Noble or the Starbucks, its when I go grocery shopping late at night, its when I get time to exercise.

And so I treasure the time I get to spend with God, taking comfort that God is always spending time with me.

#rejectedsermontitles Really Your Thoughts and #Prayers? That’s all you got?

Prayers are so much more than a comforting platitude

Context:

At the beginning of the week, and saw that the passage was about prayer. Thank God, because no matter what happens this week, I know that it will apply.

Then the African-American caretaker of an autistic man was shot……

I am the mother of an autistic child. Right now he is small and cute. When he flaps his hands giving “exclamatory hands” to excitement or frustration, its not very threatening, and if he does throw a tantrum he is still small enough that I can pick him up in a worse-case-scenario.

As the mother of an autistic child I can say, I don’t care who this police officer was aiming for, this was a terrible action.

So what am I supposed to do, pray?

What can others do for me and my son, pray for us?

Sermon:

Prayer is often used as a comforting action–but that is not its only purpose.

When you pray for someone, you are placing them in God’s hands. You are enacting love. You are opening yourself to be in relationship with them.

Whenever there is a harsh disagreement in the church congregation, session (board of leaders) or the Presbytery (our higher governing board). I will be the first to raise my hand and call for prayer.

And I’ll tell you what it is difficult to immediately stop and pray, the temptation is to continue arguing, the temptation is to prove that I am right, and that you should be listening to me!

This is exactly when prayer is needed, though, because you are trying to focus on God, to change your own individual perspective. Prayer is an act of Holy Imagination, where the world is viewed as the beginning of what God wants for us. God’s priorities and love are given voice and precedent over our own perspective. True prayer, opens oneself to actively love others, and that love is changing. That action is one in which we practice persistence to build a practice and discipline of prayer.

Time after time the most effective antidote to bigotry and prejudice is not education or knowledge. Its not about who is on the “right side of history.” Its having a relationship with someone who is different than you. Its knowing and loving a queer person or a person of color or one who is trans, female in leadership, or living in poverty.

Love is dangerous, because love changes your perspective.

Praying for someone is looking at them and loving them. Praying for another person an act of loving God, one where you recognize the other person as a child of God.

Just as Jesus looked at Martha, and then loved her, and then spoke to her last week.

So too are we called to love each other. Prayer is a discipline by which you practice seeing the world as God wants it to be, so we are more equipped and enabled to bring that world into being. Praying for one another is loving them through all the joys and hardships and struggling to find community with them, especially when we disagree.

Prayers are so much more than a comforting platitude, prayer is one of many disciplines by which we are able to get things done.

Lord teach us to pray….

Martha’s Confession (Belhar & Luke 10:38-42)

We are all too ready to separate ourselves from others. We live in comparison.

Prayer of Confession (unison) God, forgive us. We are all too ready to separate ourselves from others. We live in comparison. Separating ourselves to be better, harder working or more in need. We like to be the insiders, the ones who deserve things. Let us therefore reject any teaching which legitimize separation from those we consider to be less worthy. Lead us on the path of obedience and reconciliation, casting out of prejudice, fear, selfishness and unbelief we pray…. (Silent Prayer)…Amen

Assurance of Pardon: Lord, though death is at work in us, life is at work in us too, because you Jesus Christ are reconciling our very flesh. Let us tell each other the good news: In Jesus Christ we are Forgiven. Amen

#mothersday Litany (which means list #prayer)

For those who feel their family is not normal, who feel motherless or childless, we pray forgiveness for forgetting or ignoring those for whom mother is a complicated word, for whatever reason.

For all Kinds of Mothering People

I’ve heard the original words this plays off of are by Amy Young.

Mothers come in many different forms, and today we celebrate them all!
We confess ourselves as the children of God: each of us is son or daughter/or enby of God.
Bless those who are mothering in strange ways and times, for we know that God is with them.
We remember Elizabeth who had a child in old age, we remember Mary who had a child as a teenager
For all those mothering people who are not here, for whatever reason and help us to take some time today to give thanks for their lives, and to grieve their absence.
We remember Esther who grew to be a mother of faith, without having a mother of her own.
We give thanks to all those who have acted in love, mothering those who need it in their lives: the single fathers, the aunts, the grandmothers, those not tied to us by blood all of whom provide the care we need.
We remember the Pharaoh’s daughter, who took in Moses in his time of need and became mother to him.
For all those parents who have lost a child, we pray and honor their parenthood
We remember Naomi who grieved the death of both of her sons.
For those who feel their family is not normal, who feel motherless or childless, we pray forgiveness for forgetting or ignoring those for whom mother is a complicated word, for whatever reason.
We remember Sarah who was taunted by her own mother and sisters for her infertility.
For those for whom the church is their family, and see God as the mother they need, we give thanks.
We remember Ruth who committed herself to her mother-in-law’s family, fortune and faith.
We give thanks for all the mothering people who practice waiting, waiting for a phone call or a visit, who are far away from the children of their heart for whatever reason.
We remember other unnamed mothers, like the mother who had to wait for the prodigal son.
Help us to celebrate the full meaning of mother today.
Lord let us celebrate all motherhood in all its forms, today and everyday in honor of you God: who birthed all creation into being. Amen.

#confession #change #race & #Birth pangs

God of hope, we confess that we are frightened by so many things. We do not like birth pangs of change. Yet we confess the world is not as it should be. Justice is often put off, because changing the way things are structured is hard. Youth is discounted, racial tension is ignored, the patterns of overwork are lauded and certain groups in perpetual need are accepted as normal. Its difficult to be the church sometimes, Lord. It is hard to sound the call on what needs to be changed. Give us the courage and conviction to work towards change, especially when it seems impossible. For we never know when your kingdom will come, but we do know that its already on the way. Help us to do this we pray….

Prayer at #Christmas

for
the misunderstood, misnamed, misplaces & misgendered…

At Christmas I find myself praying

for
the Homeless & the Homebound
for
the sick & the caregivers
for
the wandering & the trapped
for
the lonely & and the overburdened
for
the sleepless & the sleepy
for
the misunderstood, misnamed, misplaces & misgendered
for
those who have lost the music & the magic
for
those who feel like Christmas is a to do list
or that its a list of all that is missing in life.

I am praying for each and every one of you to find hope.
And if you can’t find hope….maybe you can hope to be hopeful

May my love reach you wherever you are.

#magi & #cupcakes

Instead of doing the Kings at the end of Epiphany, we are joining them at the beginning of their journey this year.

I’m going with the idea that the wise men saw the star and actually made it to Bethlehem when Jesus was a baby (there is an idea floating 0ut there that the “three kings” came later, when Jesus was a toddler).

stars

This is an interesting story to be included in the narrative. We are given even less specifics than usual.

Some Magi, more than one, maybe men, maybe women, saw a star and traveled to find a baby in the manger. If they really began their journey in time to see Jesus as a baby, then they were the first ones to hear about Jesus (besides Mary and Joseph and Elizabeth)…weren’t Jewish, they weren’t even local. They were probably African.

The message then, is clear that Jesus has come for all people, for the different ones.

And I, for one, am amazed that this story made it to the birth narrative, because its about some strangers. However, those who were finally getting around to writing it down they included this.

It reminds me of the cupcake story From Jan Edminston (see her blog here https://achurchforstarvingartists.wordpress.com/!). She said one day her church handed out cupcakes, just to share some joy. They weren’t advertising, and if asked they said we are from the church over there and waved vaguely down the way.

It had an impact, because years later, people still remember when that church handed out cupcakes?

Who are your magi? What are your cupcakes.

New Covenant did a flash survey (one day, just whoever was there) and we filled out how we serve God in the community (please write down things that are not directly connected to the church) through prayer, goods, money, talent and time. Keep in mind that attendance maxes out at about 40 adults, and this was not a full Sunday

We support 40 different community charitable organizations through goods and money (and some organizations had multiple donors on top of that!)

We give time and talent to 20 separate community needs!

Prayer is utilized in 17 discrete situations.

These are our cupcakes, these are our magi. This teeny tiny church is nourished and supported and so we go out and make a HUGE difference.

And it doesn’t matter which church over there is the center for all this, but that we have been and will continue to be lead by God to extend love and BUILD THE COMMUNITY!