Orange Skies

Lord, today I wonder what you think when you see our skies in California, stretched orange with smoke.

When Karachi is flooded.

When Superstorm Laura winked out the power before a heat wave.

When Beirut explodes, and Typohoon Haishen blows through Japan and South Korea.

Did you have a big messy cry when violence erupted not once but twice in Kenosha, WI?

I did.

God I cannot even grasp the news. I can feel people falling through the gaps as children go hungry and try to sign online to education.

Are there days when you feel like you can’t look at the news anymore–does God wish God could close God’s own eyes sometimes? And yet I know you never do.

You work for that justice that has been delayed and therefore denied too long! No justice, no peace.

For you have promised that one day justice and peace will make love!

I worry about the jobless, the homeless, the sick.

I worry that I haven’t upheld my promise to be anti-racist today. (I haven’t, and the work continues)

I am continually angered by the hotspots that people don’t seem to want to control.

I cringe at how in policy, protection and politics about how all lives–don’t!–matter. Cringe and taste vomit in my mouth.

Today, I think the orange skies pretty much exactly show how absurd my emotions have become.

And though I really don’t think you punish us with disasters–I highly suspect there are a million exit signs on the road that we willfully ignore–I do wonder how you process them all.

Lord God Almighty. What do we do when the sky turns orange?

Please take my messy cries, my absurd emotions, my mistakes, my exhaustion, my cringing and the vomit in my mouth. And shape them into a prayer.

An embodied prayer, so that we can do that which needs to be done.

With my entire self I pray.

Amen.

Feel free to hit share or use or adapt with credit to Pastor Katy Stenta

Image

God’s Promise to Abraham

God With Us

More Narrative Lectionary Resources

God’s Promise to Abraham Bulletin and Sermon & Consider Prayer
Genesis 15:1-6 alt Gen 17: 1-8
Luke 3:8 Opt. Psalm 8

Sermon by Rev. Stephen Cook: please attribute https://day1.org/weekly-broadcast/5d9b820ef71918cdf2004067/stephen_cook_on_beyond

Consider Prayer

Bulletin
Prelude Be Not Afraid John Michael Talbot
https://youtu.be/wQr4udSiEew?t=2

Opening Prayer
God of our forebears, as your chosen servant Abraham was given faith to obey your call and go out into the unknown, so may your church be granted such faith that we may follow you with courage for the sake of Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, on God, forever and ever.  Amen.

(Book of Common Worship, Westminster John Knox Press, 1993. pg. 245.)

Call to Worship
In days of old God called Abraham and Sarah:
Come—I am with you; step out in faith.
God speaks still, claiming people of every land and race:
Come—I will bless you, that you may bless others.
In the dark of night, Jesus confirms God’s gift of abiding love.
Come—I will bless you with eternal life.
Heirs of the covenant, let us continue the journey:
Come—let us worship the Lord!

(Rev. Barb Hedges-Goettl)

PC(USA) Online Hymnal worship suggestions for March 8, 2020. https://hymnal.pcusastore.com/Home/

Opening Hymn The God of Abraham Praise
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DZovXddne9I
The God of Abraham praise, who reigns enthroned above,the Ancient of Eternal Days, the God of love!The Lord, the great I am, by earth and heaven confessed,we bow before your holy name, forever blest.


Your spirit still flows free, high surging where it will.In prophet’s word you spoke of old and you speak still.Established is your law, and changeless it shall stand,deep writ upon the human heart by your strong hand.


Your goodly land we seek, with peace and plenty blest,a land of sacred liberty and Sabbath rest.There milk and honey flow, and oil and wine abound,and trees of life forever grow with mercy crowned.

You have eternal life implanted in the soul;your love shall be our strength and stay, while ages roll.We praise you, living God! We praise your holy name:the first, the last, beyond all thought, and still the same!

Prayer of Confession and Assurance of Pardon
Call to Confession
If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. But if we confess our sins, God who is faithful and just will forgive our sins and cleanses us from all unrighteousness. In humility and faith let us confess our sins before God and one another.

Prayer of Confession
Holy and merciful God, in your presence we confess our sinfulness, our shortcomings, and our offenses against you. You alone know how often we have sinned in wandering from your ways, in wasting your gifts, in forgetting your love.
Have mercy on us, O Lord, for we are ashamed and sorry for all we have done to displease you. Forgive our sins, and help us to live in your light, and walk in your ways, for the sake of Jesus Christ our Savior.
(Time of silence for personal confession.)

Assurance of Forgiveness
Hear the good news! Who is in a position to condemn?
Only Christ! And Christ died for us, Christ rose for us, Christ reigns in power for us, Christ prays for us. Anyone who is in Christ is a new creation. The old life has gone, a new life has begun. Know that you are forgiven and be at peace. In Jesus Christ, we are forgiven. Thanks be to God!

(Book of Common Worship, pages 52-56. Reprinted by permission from Book of Common Worship, © 1993 Westminster/John Knox Press.)

Gloria Patri: (Blue #579) Glory Be to the Father
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QUBxpypSblw

Prayers of the People/Lord’s Prayer (traditional)

Celebration of Birthdays and Anniversaries
Doxology (Blue, #592) Praise God, from Whom All Blessings Flow https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ivaDXu27_IY

  • Prayer of Dedication Please place gifts in the plate on your way out.

In a world of give and take, in a culture of mend and break,
give us minds, hearts, hands, and wallets for sacrificial care,
to satisfy hunger and thirst everywhere. These and all prayers we offer,
in the name of Love himself, Jesus the Christ.
Amen.

(Todd Jenkins, Happy To Be a Presbyterian PC(USA) https://www.facebook.com/groups/happy2pcusa)

Hymn of Invocation: Spirit of the Living God5
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ccaFnRYLTok
Spirit of the living God, fall afresh on me (repeat)
Melt me, mold me, Fill me, use me.

Prayer for Illumination
God of mercy, you promised never to break your covenant with us Amid all the changing words of our generation, speak your eternal Word that does not change. Then may we respond to your gracious promises with faithful and obedient lives; through Jesus Christ. Amen.
Old Testament Scripture Genesis 12: 1-4a
Now the Lord said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. 2 I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you, and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. 3 I will bless those who bless you, and the one who curses you I will curse; and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.” 4 So Abram went, as the Lord had told him; and Lot went with him.
Psalm: 1216
I lift up my eyes to the hills; from where does my help come?
My help comes from the Lord, the maker of heaven and earth.
The Lord will not let your foot be moved; nor will the one who watches over you fall asleep.
Behold, the keeper of Israel will neither slumber nor sleep,
the Lord watches over you; the Lord is your shade at your right hand;
the sun will not strike you by day, nor the moon by night.
The Lord will preserve you from all evil; and will keep your life.
The Lord will watch your going out and your coming in from this time forth forevermore.

Old Testament Scripture Romans 4: Selected Verses6
What then are we to say was gained by Abraham, our ancestor according to the flesh? 2 For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God. 3 For what does the scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness.” 4 Now to one who works, wages are not reckoned as a gift but as something due. 5 But to one who without works trusts him who justifies the ungodly, such faith is reckoned as righteousness.
13 For the promise that he would inherit the world did not come to Abraham or to his descendants through the law but through the righteousness of faith. 14 If it is the adherents of the law who are to be the heirs, faith is null and the promise is void. 15 For the law brings wrath; but where there is no law, neither is there violation.
16 For this reason it depends on faith, in order that the promise may rest on grace and be guaranteed to all his descendants, not only to the adherents of the law but also to those who share the faith of Abraham (for he is the father of all of us, 17 as it is written, “I have made you the father of many nations”)—in the presence of the God in whom he believed, who gives life to the dead and calls into existence the things that do not exist. 18 Hoping against hope, he believed that he would become “the father of many nations,” according to what was said, “So numerous shall your descendants be.”
20 No distrust made him waver concerning the promise of God, but he grew strong in his faith as he gave glory to God, 21 being fully convinced that God was able to do what had been promised. 22 Therefore his faith “was reckoned to him as righteousness.” 23 Now the words, “it was reckoned to him,” were written not for his sake alone, 24 but for ours also. It will be reckoned to us who believe in the One who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead, 25 who was handed over to death for our trespasses and was raised for our justification.
Message Rev. Elizabeth Wagner

Affirmation of Faith from the Brief Statement of Faith, 1983

In life and at death we belong to God. Through the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God and the communion of the Holy Spirit, we trust in the one triune God, the Holy One of Israel, whom alone we worship and serve.

(Book of Common Worship, page 91. Reprinted by permission from Book of Common Worship, © 1993 Westminster/John Knox Press.)

Closing Hymn Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gPKpkrqBwNs
Come, thou Fount of every blessing; tune my heart to sing thy grace;streams of mercy, never ceasing, call for songs of loudest praise.Teach me some melodious sonnet, sung by flaming tongues above;praise the mount! I’m fixed upon it, mount of God’s unchanging love!
Here I raise my Ebenezer; hither by thy help I’m come;and I hope, by thy good pleasure, safely to arrive at home.
Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it, prone to leave the God I love;here’s my heart; O take and seal it; seal it for thy courts above.
Jesus sought me when a stranger, wandering from the fold of God;he, to rescue me from danger, interposed his precious blood.
Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it, prone to leave the God I love;here’s my heart; O take and seal it; seal it for thy courts above.
O to grace how great a debtor daily I’m constrained to be!Let that grace now, like a fetter, bind my wandering heart to thee.Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it, prone to leave the God I love;here’s my heart; O take and seal it; seal it for thy courts above.
Charge and Benediction

Postlude Be Not Afraid The Orchard Enterprises https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pEOt7yXCaJI&feature=youtu.be

More Narrative Lectionary Resources

Consider

Lord,

I know when I am frustrated or stuck,

When I’m lamenting or angry, that you tell me to consider

Consider the lilies of the field, who neither toil nor spin

Count the stars, the grains of sand, if you can

Consider who made the mountains, all animals and food.

Who made the flood, the earthquake and the hurricane.

Consider who God is, and then remember,

No matter what you say or do.

God says, “Consider,

Consider, I have made a promise, a holy covenant that cannot be broken,

that I will always be your God, and you will always be my people.”

God proclaims that God is not constrained by place or time or ethnicity.

You promise to be present. You promise to be.

“I am, what I am”

The burning bush, the pillar of fire, the whirlwind, the rainbow.

You can be praised by all types of people in all types of circumstances: the enslaved woman Hagar on the run in the desert, the imprisoned and abused Joseph in Egypt, the triumphant and loving sister Miriam.

You are present in Black Lives Matter, in the beauty of being Trans, in all those marginal places we refuse to see: mental illness, drug addition, homelessness, sex trafficking, war zones.

In the midst of trial and tribulation, you are with us. Your rod and your staff comfort us. You remind us “I am, what I Am”

You are God, always and forever, empowering the powerless.

Let us be the kind of people who consider who your are. So we no longer define you by our own constraints, but instead are liberated to worship the multitude that is the trinitarian, relational God.

God, the great I am, let us worship you through the all considerations of who you are–and when we forget remind us to look at the stars we pray.

Amen.

More Narrative Lectionary Resources

Enough for Grace

Holy Spirit, as I live and breathe I consider my requirements and hold them up against your grace.

How is it I am enough for you? On the one hand I am never enough. I have this drive to achieve and perfect. But though this drive is a part of being human, I know this is by no means your requirement.

For who is perfect but you, God?

Sometimes, when I imagine heaven, I know I get it all wrong. Picturing it like a Hall of Fame of acheivements or a place of perfection.

When, instead, you promise it to be the feast where everyone gets fed, and no one is too late to join.

Instead, you promise it to be a place where participation is valued, not perfection.

What a balm, to remember that you want each of us to participate.

There is no such thing as perfect communion. If you required perfection for communion, it would unravel–becoming a practice of the singular being a Christ.

Instead, you invite us to come, in all of our messy, fumbling, clumsy ways of love. Instead you encourage any and all to participate in whatever way we can. Jesus stands at the table with open arms, tearing the bread apart with his own hands, his eyes twinkling.

And then, God you make communion: miraculously happen, by being present!

You are there when the lips of the ill or frail touch the elements. You are there when the cup of grace is overfilled and drips and spills over. You cross the great expanses of screens and bring us into communion with one another and you even over the internet. The miracle of your promised presence each and every time we practice communion is perfection itself.

Communion is perfect.

And we are it’s participants, not its perfecters.

Lord, help us to remember you value true and honest participation over any attempt at perfection. You are perfect so we don’t have to be. You created communion so we can be a part of perfection, a part of you, together.

Only you, O God, would see perfection as something to partake in, rather than something to strive for.

In this way communion is truly a foretaste of the kingdom meal. And for that I give you thanks and praise.

Amen.

This Prayer can be used/adapted with credit to Pastor Katy Stenta 

More Mundane Prayers: for surviving the Day to Day

Here is the Link for Pandemic Prayers and Resources: Top Posts are “In an Abundance of Caution” “The Lord is My Shepherd: What kind of Sheep are You” and “Masks: A Prayer”

Childcare

Lord God Almighty, you know that childcare is a tricky endeavor.

I remember when I had three preschoolers and the babysitter would cancel, and I would get to feel like a bad professional and a bad parent both at the same time.

Today, I still feel like “balance” is a misnomer for what it is a parent has to do to care.

As we enter into this new kind of school year it is with many deep breaths (Come Holy Spirit, Come!) and the attempt to set reasonable expectations.

You know, God, that caring for a child never ends.

How many times have I told my children “Nope, sorry can’t stop worrying and caring it’s my job” (although I do try not to worry all the time).

Help all those who have inadequate childcare in their life right now, which I’m going to guess is pretty much every parent of a young or disabled child. Please Lord, walk with them as they try to do all the things that need to get done.

Lord God, this is a new landscape. One in which we in my country are asking ourselves the very important question–do we care about our children? Is child-care a part of our community?

I’ll never forget the one church I worked at, where children ran around and were loud and were let to be children. And my baby was always being held by someone else. Because it was a church that valued nurturing my child.

When my child was baptized there, I knew they took their baptismal vows seriously.

Does the kingdom of heaven look like childcare?

Today I think it does, please God help us to bring that reality to this kingdom here today.

Amen.

All Prayers can be used/adapted with credit to Pastor Katy Stenta

More Mundane Prayers: for surviving the Day to Day

Here is the Link for Pandemic Prayers and Resources: Top Posts are “In an Abundance of Caution” “The Lord is My Shepherd: What kind of Sheep are You” and “Masks: A Prayer”

Parenting Take Five Podcast

Hey folks I got interviewed by the amazing Jen Evans who is super wonderful to talk to about faith and parenting and priorities on her podcast which is designed to be quick check in

I love Parents Take Five | Episode 56 – Special Needs Parenting with Katy Stenta, let’s play it! https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/parents-take-five/id1452300981

Confessions in the Garden of Eden

(Genesis 2:4b-7, 15-17, 3:1-8 and Genesis 3:20)

Lord God Almighty,

I confess know how hard it is, to see your child stumble and fall.

o stand by why they make mistakes. 

Someone once said the hardest thing in their lives was when when their children were no longer old enough for their parents to solve all of their problems anymore. It started in sixth grade with algebra, and all went downhill from there.

How hard must it have been to watch not one but both of your children take the bite from the apple. Did you cringe and shudder when you watch? Did you put your hand over your mouth so that you wouldn’t interrupt their free will?

Was it then you started planning how to set them on their own, to learn what they had to know? Was it before, during or after that you realized you could at least clothe them in love before you sent them on their way?

Lord, I know how hard it is to balance free will and responsibility. I confess that we do not always practice it well when we see others making decisions. How often do we just want to swoop in and judge or try to put our ideas onto others’ lives. Forgive us we. pray. 

Help us to find the right balance with all kinds of people: those in power, those with all of their needs met, those who struggle with addiction, those who are hard working yet poor, those who are confused or uncertain or unable to take on too many responsibilities. 

Teach us to be family, to love and clothe one another. Teach us to keep safe boundaries and practice responsibility. And, always, always, teach us to practice grace we pray in your son Jesus Christ’s name, we pray.

Amen.


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

More Narrative Lectionary Year 3 Resources Here

Art Prints available here

More Narrative Lectionary Resources

Bulletin Genesis 2

God With US

More Narrative Lectionary Resources

Creation and Fall: Bulletin & Confessions in the Garden of Eden
Genesis 2:4b-7, 15-17, 3:1-8
Luke 11:4 Opt Psalm 18:31-36

Prelude The Warrior is a Child Twila Paris
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Tu0vJg3RSA

Opening Prayer (1)
O Creator God,
open us to a new awakening, a new beginning,
where we look through the lens of the goodness of Your creation,
experiencing all possibilities in You.

Turn us away from the negative lens, and lead us to the light.
In the name of Jesus, who leads us into life, and the Spirit who sustains us,
we pray. Amen.

Call to Worship (from Psalm 33:6-9 Good News Version) (2)
6The Lord created the heavens by his command,    the sun, moon, and stars by his spoken word.
8 Worship the Lord, all the earth!    Honor him, all peoples of the world!7 He gathered all the seas into one place;    he shut up the ocean depths in storerooms.
8 Worship the Lord, all the earth!    Honor him, all peoples of the world!9 When he spoke, the world was created;    at his command everything appeared.
8Worship the Lord, all the earth!    Honor him, all peoples of the world!

Opening Hymn How Great Thou Art https://youtu.be/1NnLRMWj1Z0?t=22 (3)
O Lord, my God, when I in awesome wonderConsider all the worlds Thy Hands have madeI see the stars, I hear the rolling thunderThy power throughout the universe displayed

CHORUS: Then sings my soul, my Savior God, to Thee,
How great Thou art, how great Thou art (repeat the two lines)

And when I think that God, His Son not sparing,
Sent Him to die, I scarce can take it in
That on the Cross, my burden gladly bearing
He bled and died to take away my sin CHORUS (interlude)

When Christ shall come with shout of acclamation
And take me home, what joy shall fill my heart
Then I shall bow with humble adoration
And then proclaim, my God, how great Thou art CHORUS
God calls us to repentance and new life.
Let us confess together our need for God’s mercy and forgiveness.

Prayer of Confession (4)
Gracious God,
You are always looking out for us: finding us when we wander away, waiting for us when we are stubborn, loving us when we can’t love ourselves, welcoming us when the world has turned us away, comforting us when we are hurting.

We forget that we should live that way, too. We forget that what everyone needs most is a hand to hold, a place to belong, a word of hope. Forgive us, Lord, and remake us in your image.
(Silent Confession)

Assurance of Forgiveness
God calls us as light in the darkness, a voice for the powerless, grace in the midst of chaos, and a reminder of divine love. Thanks be to God for the Good News:
In Jesus Christ, we are forgiven.


Gloria Patri: (Blue #579) Glory Be to the Father https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QUBxpypSblw Sharing of the Peace: The peace of Christ be with you. And also with you.
Prayers of the People/Lord’s Prayer (traditional)
Celebration of Birthdays and Anniversaries

Hymn of Dedication Fight the Good Fight https://youtu.be/2oxRRxtQdaE?t=3 (5)

  • Doxology (Blue, #592) Praise God, from Whom All Blessings Flow https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ivaDXu27_IY
  • Prayer of Dedication (6)
    Creator God,
    As we are made in Your image, we give You thanks for the seed of creativity 
    You planted within each person. We praise you for the clean lines of the sculpture, the complexity of the concerto, the beauty of the poet’s words. We thank you also for the simple gifts of daily life: gracious words, soft hearts, impassioned actions. Make these gifts and all of our lives live up to who you create us to be. In the name of the One who was, who is, and who is to come, Amen.

Prayer for Illumination He Lives https://youtu.be/MLKGO5FzDsY?t=89 (7)
In all the world around me I see Christ’s loving care
And though my heart grow weary, I never will despair
I know that he is leading through all the stormy blast
The day of His appearing will come at last.

He lives, He lives, Christ Jesus lives today!
He walks with me and talks with me along life’s narrow way.
He lives, He lives, salvation to impart.
You ask me how I know he lives? He lives within my heart.

Old Testament Scripture: Genesis 2:4b-7, 15-17; 3:1-8

New Testament Scripture: 2 Timothy 4:6-8

Message The Run of Your Life Rev. Dr. Len Hedges-Goettl

Confession of Faith (2 Timothy 4:6-8, New Living Bible ) (8)
6 As for me, my life has already been poured out as an offering to God. The time of my death is near. 7 I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, and I have remained faithful. 8 And now the prize awaits me— the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give me on the day of his return. And the prize is not just for me but for all who eagerly look forward to his appearing. Thanks be to God!


*Closing Hymn Now Thank We All Our God https://youtu.be/6g0BSC7eNXQ (9)
1 Now thank we all our God with heart and hands and voices,who wondrous things has done, in whom his world rejoices;who from our mothers’ arms has blessed us on our waywith countless gifts of love, and still is ours today
2 O may this gracious God through all our life be near us,with ever joyful hearts and blessed peace to cheer us,preserve us in his grace, and guide us when perplexed,and free us from all ills till heaven we possess.
3 All praise and thanks to God the Father now be given,the Son and Spirit blest, who reign in highest heaveneternal triune God, whom heaven and earth adore;for thus it was, is now, and shall be evermore.
*Charge and Benediction

Postlude Make My Life a Prayer to You Keith Green https://youtu.be/PNww8F6G9U8?list=PLF0C522B84843C1D4

(1) Adapted. from a prayer written by Rev. Mindi, and posted on Rev-o-lution. http://rev-olution.org

(2) Good News Translation (GNT) Copyright © 1992 by American Bible Society

(3) Tune: © 1949, 1953 The Stuart Hine Trust CIO. All rights in the USA its territories and possessions, except print rights, administered by Capitol CMG Publishing. USA, North and Central American print rights and all Canadian and South American rights administered by Hope Publishing Company. All other North and Central American rights administered by the Stuart Hine Trust CIO. Rest of the world rights administered by Integrity Music Europe. Text: © 1949, 1953 The Stuart Hine Trust CIO. All rights in the USA its territories and possessions, except print rights, administered by Capitol CMG Publishing. USA, North and Central American print rights and all Canadian and South American rights administered by Hope Publishing Company. All other North and Central American rights administered by the Stuart Hine Trust CIO. Rest of the world rights administered by Integrity Music Europe.

(4) Adapted from prayer from The Village Presbyterian Church, Prairie Village, KS 66208, found at https://www.villagepres.org/uploads/3/1/1/5/31151741/vpc_bulletin_06_05_16_readers.pdf

(5) Music © OCP.

(6) Inspired by a prayer written by Jennifer G. Brownell and posted on RevGalBlogPals.
http://revgalblogpals.org/2016/01/23/with-thanks-for-creativity-saturday-prayer/

(7) Words and Music ©1990 Belwin M

(8) Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

(9) Words and Music – ©OCP

More Narrative Lectionary Resources

God of Gaps

Dear God of all things missing, imperfect and forgotten, I appeal to you today.

Fill in the gaps, like kintsugi, remolding them with gold to make them beautiful.

I am aware that when we humans fill in the gaps, we do so clumsily. Like children trying to fix a things with school glue.

And oftentimes I can feel overwhelmed with all the gaps that exist: gaps that lead to homeless, the gaps that lead to human injustices, the racial gaps, the gendered gaps, the disability gaps, the hetereo-normative gaps, the gaps in environmental care.

There are so many gaps once you start looking gap years, gap employment, gap babies, gap relationships….

And I confess we are a people of gaps. Trying to place everyone into easy categories of work and care. God. Help me to see and accept that we are a people of gaps.

And when I see the gaps, help me to truly acknowledge and try to understand where those gaps come from.

Help me learn how to handle others’ gaps of knowledge, which are perhaps even more frustrating than my own. (It’s easier to ignore my own gaps than others).

Remind me to love my neighbor, and their gaps, as I love myself and my own gaps.

And encourage me to know that you don’t ignore or just fix gaps.

God, you inhabit the gaps. Those small hidey-holes we hide or forget.

These places of mysterious are a part of your very Godly Being!

You are the God of gaps.

How wondrous is that.

Be the God of Gaps today and everyday we pray.

Amen

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

For More Mundane Prayers: For Surviving Day to Day Life click here

More Pandemic Prayers and Resources: Top Posts are “In an Abundance of Caution” “The Lord is My Shepherd: What kind of Sheep are You” and “Masks: A Prayer”

Mundane Prayers: Prayers for surviving Day to Day

Procrastination as a Spiritual Practice

The Lord is My Shepherd: Sheep Scale Prayer

Stealing Time: Sabbath & Rest

End of My Rope Prayer

God of Gaps Prayer

Childcare

Enough for Grace

God Hold My Anxiety

Looking for a Sign

Dropping you a line: A Prayer

A Different Kind of Rest

A Week of Hard Questions (Anti-Racism)

Here is the Link for Pandemic Prayers and Resources: Top Posts are “In an Abundance of Caution” “The Lord is My Shepherd: What kind of Sheep are You” and “Masks: A Prayer”