Blessed Lord, who caused all holy Scriptures to be written for our learning: Grant us so to hear them, read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest them, that we may embrace and ever hold fast the blessed hope of everlasting life, which you have given us in our Savior Jesus Christ; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
Category: Prayer
Evil in our world and what lasts
The weariness of terrorism and racism in our news last week can exhaust us. There are times when we truly wonder: How long, O Lord?”
The psalm in my reading this morning gives me a reminder on perspective:
“You love evil more than good; you love lying more than speaking what is right. Selah You love all destructive words; you love the deceiving tongue. But God will take you down permanently; he will snatch you up, tear you out of your tent, and uproot you from the land of the living! Selah”
Psalms 52:3-5 CEB
The Lord’s Prayer
From the Common English Bible:
Matthew 6:9-13
Pray like this:
Our Father who is in heaven,
uphold the holiness of your name.
Bring in your kingdom
so that your will is done on earth as it’s done in heaven.
Give us the bread we need for today.
Forgive us for the ways we have wronged you,
just as we also forgive those who have wronged us.
And don’t lead us into temptation,
but rescue us from the evil one.
What to pray for others
These are some notes I have taken in my walk through Ephesians 1. This part of Ephesians has always helped me focus in prayer. Continue reading “What to pray for others”
Prayers for the day
For Our Enemies
O God, the Father of all, whose Son commanded us to love our enemies: Lead them and us from prejudice to truth; deliver them and us from hatred, cruelty, and revenge; and in your good time enable us all to stand reconciled before you; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
For Social Justice
Grant, O God, that your holy and life-giving Spirit may so move every human heart, that barriers which divide us may crumble, suspicions disappear, and hatreds cease; that our divisions being healed, we may live in justice and peace; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
We must pray!
“If we don’t pray, we remain attached to earthly things, we become small like them, we get pressured by them, we sell ourselves to them — because we give our love and our heart to them.
“We must pray!” — Karl Rahner, Why We Need to Pray
Prayers for the Church in these times
The Lord seems to have increased my burden in prayer for the American Church. I ran across this prayer (in part) this morning:
Revive your Church, Lord God of hosts, whenever it falls into complacency and sloth, by raising up devoted leaders… and grant that their faith and vigor of mind may awaken your people to your message and their mission; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, forever and ever. Amen.
