Category: prayer

God Bless the Church, a Prayer!

This is a prayer

for all the babies in church

loud and crying,

breastfeeding or stinky

sleeping and beautiful

and for all of the kids,

squirmy or cute or talkative or shy

and the people who can’t sit

and the ones who can’t stand

and the people who whisper throughout

and the elder who falls asleep

and the ones who can’t hear

and the faithful who always sit in the same spot

and the teen who scribbles or is on the phone and seems to ignore everything

You are a part of the Church and you are Blessed!

…

This is a prayer for Easter/Christmas attenders,

the one time attenders,

the homebound church members

the ones who attend every week but will never ever, ever join!

You are a part of the Church and you are Blessed!

…

This is prayer for the livestreamers

who some say “aren’t really” at church

for the latecomers who enter by the inconvenient door

for the Pastor who forgets the words to the Lord’s Prayer

for the one responsible for the misprinted bulletin

You are a part of the Church and you are Blessed!

…

This is a prayer for the worship service that was too quiet

or too loud

or whatever.

This is a prayer, for those who couldn’t give for offering,

for the ones who dressed differently, or immediately felt rejected

for the ones who felt left out–or overwhelmed when they walked in the door.

You are a part of the Church and you are Blessed!

…

This is a prayer for all those

who came to church and didn’t feel welcome

Because there is no apology for that

…

This is a prayer for the church

The invisible, miraculous Body of Christ–

however you are a part of the church,

for you are Beloved, and always Blessed!

…

We are made up of all of these pieces.

The eye cannot say to the hand, you are not a part of me.

Praise Jesus.

Praise Jesus, that this is true of the Church of Jesus Christ!

…

Let us continue to be the Body of Christ,

This thing we call Church

and continue to Bless us, in all of our parts we pray.

Amen.

Feel free to use/share/adapt with credit to Pastor Katy Stenta

Disability Glorified, A Prayer

Ableism kills,

Jesus you were not ableist.

What kind of diagnoses did your twelve disciples have?

Who limped, who was “ugly”

Who had voices, who had ADD or Autism or OCD?

….

As you healed and were asked,

What sin was committed that this person is blind?

The people asked, and, then our Savior said

None. Neither he nor his parents!

…

And then Jesus, you touched lepers,

those who were lame or blind or bled,

the poor, the oddly shaped and the dirty,

the ones who humans avoided even looking at–

because in our hearts of hearts,

we are so scared of disabilities that we avoid eye contact

afraid of catching it,

embarassed that we still

even today,

do not know how to interact

with people who exist differently than us.

—-

In some ways Jesus’s resurrection

might be the scariest thing of all.

Jesus you were young and healthy,

and died anyway, and the disciples

(of course) fled death.

Except for the women,

who probably had the most intimate

relationship with death and dead bodies.

…..

Jesus the Good News is not just that you returned

but you returned with holes in your arms and legs–

who were still wholly you, but unchanged.

You were still perfect, but your body was still yours!

What hope for those with disabilities.

It leads us to ask, are there wheelchairs and mobility aides in heaven?

Is it a place where your body is not weighty and there is no more pain,

but you are still you?

Are those with Dyslexia, ADD, OCD, Bipolar, Down Syndrome, Autism and more are–

Beloved and understood!

….

Jesus, I am so thankful that you got it,

that you get it,

that ableism kills

That you do not promise wealth and health!

That you do not need our bodies to be perfect for us to enter heaven–

You know Jesus I am not yet 40 and relatively healthy,

and I would definitely fail that test.

….

Jesus, I am thankful that as humans

make decisions that are more and more ableist

and fall more and more in the vein of a death cult–

(ignoring all those who aren’t fit or rich or whatever)

that I am hanging on

with every breath I take

that Jesus is not ableist.

….

And, maybe Thomas wasn’t either.

And as sure as the holes remained

in Jesus sacred body–

Holes that I am invited to touch

whenever I doubt or feel alone or scared of my own imperfections

I can breathe in

Jesus wasn’t ableist

and breathe out

And Jesus affirms all people.

..

Thank God for the Risen

holy, hole-y body!

Amen.

Feel free to use/adapt/share with credit to Pastor Katy Stenta

If you want to support my work, Please Contribute to my Doctorate in Ministry in Creative Writing at Pittsburgh Seminary. It is a degree as a Public Theologian!

Image: https://image.shutterstock.com/image-vector/hands-jesus-christ-isolated-hand-260nw-186438794.jpg

Bullshit, A Prayer

Jesus,

Your coming back was such good news,

that the disciples called it bullshit–

we translate it nicer in church;

can you imagine that?

……

Jesus did you think that our job

maybe

perhaps

as Christians was to do

such extraordinarily good things

that when we did them

people would say

Bullshit! No one would ever do that!

……

And not so like, anyone would become Christian

or perfect

(because lets face it Jesus,

people are onto you when you are trying to steal their souls)

But just like, treat humans with respect.

……

Sometimes I imagine that churches paid every single person a living wage

or rallying for the forgiveness of debts (Reminder: Jubilee is a Biblical concept)

and working hard for universal healthcare for our congregants (the stories I could tell)

or even just make it so every sanctuary was a sanctuary for immigrants

……and

LGBTQIA folks

and those who are mentally Ill

and Those with addictions

and people with disabilities

and those who were houseless

……

If all those could feel welcome, accepted, heard and be essential to the leadership!

A place for teens to hang out without anyone worried about lawsuits.

And we got past tokenizing everyone who is different than us (hello white church).

I bet if we worked on a couple of these things, the church would become more Christ-like–what do you think Jesus?

……

Sometimes I dream that churches were changing the world–

and then I wake up, amazed that no one has cried out

Bullshit!

……

God I’m praying for that kind of church,

until then, I hope I hang our more with

Mary, Mary and Martha,

and keep saying things that make people say

……

Universal Basic Income for everyone? That sounds like bullshit!

……

Can’t wait Jesus, Till then,

I’ll keep praying

Idle Prayers,

And doing the work to make them

Working Prayers again.

Amen.

Feel free to use/share/adapt with credit to Pastor Katy Stenta

Like my work? Please support my Doctorate in Creative Writing in Ministry–as a Public Theologian at Pittsburgh Seminary

Image: https://www.cbeinternational.org/sites/default/files/styles/article_image/public/2020-05/ChristIsRisen1200_0.jpg?itok=pikHhKoE

Good Friday/Empty Saturday Prayer

Jesus
Tonight is when you
We’re so human
You experienced
Godlessness
You hit rock bottom
You died
And knew what it was to be
Abandoned, forgotten
& unloved.

Because all of these feelings
All of these experiences
Each of these realities
Are part of being human.

Jesus, you truly
Utterly
Emptied
Yourself for us
In a Friday that
Wasn’t good!

(Yet)

And Jesus
Even without you there—
You invite us
To sit in that emptiness
All of Empty Saturday.

(How do you even do that?)

Thank you
For the emptying
And the emptiness
Jesus.

Thank you for being that human.

Amen

Feel free to use/share/adapt with credit to Pastor Katy Stenta

If you enjoy my work please consider supporting my D. Min In Creative Writing in public Theology from Pittsburgh Seminary: https://gofund.me/aaeb4910

Maundy Thurs (or Resurrection Promises) a prayer

Jesus

You promised to show up

Whenever we feed one another

In your name…

You promise that we can celebrate

Communion

With one another and you

Whenever we want/need to

How is this possible?

Jesus let me hang onto your promises,

And remind me,

Even if I let go—your promises remain

They are better than time or borders

Or any other human invention

God, I’m going to stand on your promises,

Or hide in them

Or even if I lose them—

I’m going to wait for them to find me again

Like Ruth and Naomi,

Like Joseph in Egypt,

Like Paul

Your promises don’t find us because we are perfect

Or deserving

They find us simple because we are loved.

May we feel beloved today.

Amen.

Feel free use/adapt/share with credit to Pastor Katy Stenta

God of Pronouns, A Prayer

O God of Pronouns,
We give Praise to the Great One
the one who is identifiable as God

“I am, what I am” you say!
The great They!

The Incarnate He and She–
the God of Trans-Being!

Impregnating Mary,
Fathering God,
Breastfeeding God of Many Mounds/Breasts*
God of Mountains and Might!

You shatter all stereotypes!

Making every single person, male and female, in your image.
Exactly in your image!
male-and-female, intersex, nonbinary,

Spectrum, rainbow God who put your promise for nonviolence
in the symbol for queer love,
before humanity knew

Because you knew
who had Joseph, who could not sleep with a woman
in a beautiful lady’s cloak, perhaps of rainbow colors,
before we knew,
you knew.

God of pronouns, who said, you can call me
he or she or they; whatever makes you feel closest to me.

Invisible and Visible God: on this day where visibility is not enough
where celebration, belovedness, affirmation and acceptance is the bare minimum

Remind us that you are the God of Pronouns,
so of course you affirm and celebrate them.

God of Saul/Paul, Jacob/Isaac, Mara/Naomi, Abram and Sarai and Abraham and Sarah–

God of Joseph of the Coat of Many Colors, of the Ethiopian Eunuch of the Virgin Mary,

God of all the found families in the Bible.

Remind us that you affirm us in our full identity: Name, Pronoun, Found Family, All of it.

And for this we give you thanks and praise, to the great I am, the great They/Them.

Thank you God!

Amen.

Feel Free to use/adapt/share with credit to Pastor Katy Stenta

*In Hebrew the word we often translate as Almighty means God of many mounds which can mean the God of many mountains (places to worship) or the God of many breasts (places to get nourishment)

Fiercely Listening, a prayer

God

sometimes I think about

how much of my job

is listening to those

who are hurt

Sometimes I pray about

all those without ears to hear

Those who are quick to judge

or center themselves

or say, if they had just…

So…

I think about how often Jesus just sat

and listened, really listened

and validated people’s pain,

and then called them by name.

Sometimes I think about

how much of the community’s job

is listening,

Fiercely listening to those

who are unheard, or drowned out our ignored

Fiercely listening

who are hurt,

without judgement

or agenda

…just listening fiercely

to those who have been

especially hurt

and then I

try to practice

that fierce listening

taking to heart

the cries of injustice

opening my ears to hear

and my heart to be melted

Help me me to do my job I pray.

Amen.

Feel free to share/adapt/use with credit to Pastor Katy Stenta

Affirming Prayer

I want to pray for you and affirm

As the ashes have just been smudged

On your forehead

And we feel a little fragile these days

With war, and pandemic and climate change

And racism

And transphobia and homophobia

And all the Ableism

And all the hate—

So much hate that it’s bitter on our tongues

And it polluted the air we breathe

And we can feel it—

trying to X us out of existence

Because hate hurts all of us;

Even as it tricks the hater into feeling powerful.

But anyway I’m praying that you..

Yes you, know that you

Are created in the image of God

Exactly as you are.

With all of your so called flaw

And imperfections

And differences,

Remember that our God is

Manifold, and that they

Love multiplicity and variety

And invented rainbows

And galaxies

And microbes we can’t even see—

So trust me, and be affirmed

Even in, especially in your fragility

That you are known, created and beloved

By God, exactly as your are

And take their blessings I’m your heart I pray.

Amen.

Feel free to use/share/adapt with credit to Pastor Katy Stenta

Empty Handed Prayer

Ok God,

You know that sometimes,

Ok let’s be honest,

All too often,

My hands are outstretched!

Not because I’m throwing my hands up in praise

but rather

because they feel WAY too empty.

And I can’t find a way to help–

So I pray.

So here I am Sweet Jesus,

In the middle of a veritable plague,

on the edge of what could be World War 3,

while dictators invade innocent nations,

while families are treatened to be ripped apart

for supporting and loving and affirming

your God imaged trans and lesbian and gay and nonbinary children

and black and brown people are still killed without warrant or warrants

and books are being banned and burned

and gun violence is up everywhere

and home prices are through the roof–

Is this how it felt Jesus, when you were born

in the middle of occupied Jerusalem

Is this how the disciples felt

when they asked you the same questions

over and over (and over) again.

Did you have compassion for them,

because you knew their questions were a form of prayer?

God why is this happening?

How do we stop it?

Why do we fall into these patterns of evil again and again.

Hosanna! Save us! Help us!

God, as we enter this lonely time time of Lent,

Help me to walk with you, I pray.

because, God knows,

You know,

I at least don’t want to walk it alone.

And so here I am,

with an empty handed prayer,

knowing that I’m asking for something to do

and what you ask will not be easy…

but I choose to pray anyway,

Because I don’t want to be empty handed anymore!

Lord hear my prayer,

Amen.

Amen.

Feel free to share/adapt/use with credit to Pastor Katy Stenta

With thanks to @Thomaslhorrocks for the inspirational tweet