Great Provider, let us be aligned with You, O God. Mend the broken and embrace the forgotten. Remind us, that “our glory cannot save us, but the Glory of God is eternal” (Jonathan Cahn). Speak to us directly and cure the infection of hate, so that we can be propelled into the Light of the world and be instruments of healing. Don’t let us get lost in the desert of unused life. Open up the floodgates and wash away the hurt and the shame. And from our nothingness, create in us a clean heart and a clear mind that seeks You in everything that we do.
Calm the storms when we are overwhelmed by the hunger of the multitudes. Remind us that it is not what we have that will provide but that God will always provide when we come up short. “In Jesus, there is not one category of people who heal and one who need wholeness. There is not one category of people who minister and one who needs care. There is just one category: Hungry sinners in need of a Savior” (Nadia Boltz Webber). So let’s claim our miracle today and grab hold of the only truth that matters: That there is salvation and hope in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.
Tags: Christianity, Church, ELCA, God, Jonathan Cahn, lutheran, Nadia Boltz Weber, Prayer
Original Oil Pointing commissioned by New Song Church
Let us be aligned with You, O God. Allow us to embrace the changes that resonate with God’s Holy plan. Calm the storms around us and within us by letting “love diminish our fears” (Rev. Zelda Kennedy). And even when we’re caught in the winds of the world, please don’t let us ever stop witnessing the gospel of Jesus Christ. For “sin (will) happen whenever we refuse to keep growing” (Richard Rohr). So nourish our growing relationship with You, O Lord, and remind us that “hope will never be silent” (Harvey Milk).
“Love cannot be taught. Love comes from God alone, and must be incarnated and experienced” (Rev. Jeff Hood). “Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about the things that matter” (MLK). The love of God will not be silent and neither will we. We will not look away from those whom we can help. We can and will be the transformed compassionate children of Almighty God, so that all will know that they are loved. So that all will know that they are healed and forgiven. So that all will know that they truly belong.
Tags: Christian, Church, ELCA, God, Jesus, love, lutheran, Martin Luther King Jr, Prayer, Rev. Jeff Hood, Rev. Zelda Kennedy, Richard Rohr
Lord, guide us to respond to the movement of Your Spirit and not resist it. “What we are not, make us. What we know not, teach us. What we have not, give us… (Teach us) “about hope instead of weariness; love instead of fear and (reveal) the power of amazing grace instead of evil and hate – hold nothing back” (Rev. Zelda Kennedy).
Give us the courage to examine ourselves and “allow us to see where we have been blind” (Obama), blind to the pain of those around us, and blind to our shared humanity. Let us be the sanctuary from a harsh world. Let our actions tell those we meet, that their lives matter. Let grace surround us. Let light restore us and let love unite us as the body of Christ.
“Don’t let us slip back into comfortable silence and avoid the uncomfortable truth that plagues our society” (Obama). “Our calling, is not just within the walls of this congregation, but the life and community in which it resides” (Rev. Clementa Pinckney). Break the cycle of repeating the same mistakes of the past and open our hearts to the revelation of God’s Word that “the church is freedom, freedom to worship, freedom to be fully what God intends us to be and have equality in the sight of God” (Rev. Clementa Pinckney).
Tags: Christian, Church, ELCA, God, Jesus, lutheran, Mother Emmanuel AME CHURCH, President Barack Obama, Rev. Clementa Pinckney, Rev. Zelda Kennedy, South Carolina Shooting
From Northwest Community Church UCC in Las Vegas, NV
Great physician, bring healing to all that are here today. We cannot heal our selves so let Your Spirit wash over the wounds of our hearts and minds. Fade away the anger, the resentment and the ignorance that we’ve allowed into our lives. “Take the mess of our past and turn it into a message” (Christine Cain) by shifting our hearts and minds into a new chapter where ordinary people do extraordinary things. Write our destiny so that we can make Grace real to everybody and that all people can live in the full experience of humanity, dignity and respect.
Nothing in creation can make us any less human. We are all sinners redeemed by the same loving Creator. So “let us find words that comfort rather than congratulate. Let us seek to be a community of grace and forgiveness rather than of protest. Let us use our hands not to (applaud) but to wipe away every tear” (UCC General Synod) from the brokenhearted people right next to us. Let us be heroes and champions of the gospel and not it’s opponents.
Tags: Christian, Christine Cain, Church, ELCA, God, Jesus, lutheran, Prayer, UCC General Synod
“Like a rose trampled on the ground…”
Lord God, the broken come to You today because “no stone, nor steel, nor diamond is so hard as the impenitent heart of man(kind)” (Martin Luther). Soften our hearts and open our vision to a world larger than ourselves. Anchor our lives in the steadfast truth of Your love so that we will know that “a few bad chapters does not mean that our story is over” (TobyMac). Remind us that we were meant to be human and that we all fall short of the glory of God. Give us the wisdom to just pause and be silent, so that the truth of God can be heard.
Yes, there will always be disagreements within the body of Christ, here on earth, but there is one thing that we can always agree on…love. “Love is God manifested. To lead with Love is to go with God” (Claire Danna). “Darkness cannot drive out darkness, only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate. Only love can” (MLK). The world can change and it will. And as it changes, let us respond with the same Love that was first given to us when God was crowned and crucified by an angry mob.
Tags: Christian, Church, Claire Danna, ELCA, God, Jesus, lutheran, Martin Luther, Martin Luther King, Prayer, TobyMac
Cross at St. John’s Lutheran Church in Mounds, Minnesota
Lord God, “be in our head and our understanding” (Sarum Primer, 1558), for You are not so much the object of our knowledge as you are the cause of our wonder” (Kallistos Ware). Let Your good news come crashing down into the deserts of our hearts and invite us to join in the flow of the Holy Spirit.
Like a wind, take us to where it is that You go, so that we can live beyond ourselves. Communicate to us the mystery that is God and the truth that we don’t have all the answers. Give us the strength to dream and the courage to inspire others on their journey towards salvation and everlasting life.
You give us the gift of living in between the now and eternity. Let us dare to fight for the weak, poor and the forgotten. Jesus extends grace, love and mercy for all people. So shall we. Jesus identified with the outcast, the lowly and the despised. So shall we. Jesus gave healing and forgiveness. So shall we. Lord, “don’t let us transmit our wounds unto each other, but instead help us to transform others and to change the world” (Rev. Ed Bacon).
Tags: Christian, Church, ELCA, God, Jesus, Kallistos Ware, lutheran, Prayer, Rev. Ed Bacon, Sarum Primer
My friend’s car decal
Almighty God, You are the engine that caused creation and life. Out of chaos you stepped into our experience so that we could experience You. Move in us today and help us to sense the prompting of Your Spirit so that we can go above and beyond what is expected.
Usher us into a vision larger than just our egocentric view, so that we can share in the perspective of the whole and not the few. Give us the words to speak across boundaries and the mind to transcend our differences. Don’t let us ever place ourselves above others. Let us always be led by the truth of God’s amazing and radical grace for all.
You forgive us and give us the power to forgive. “There is no future without forgiveness” (Desmond Tutu) and “the work of God is never static” (Dr. Amy Butler). “With the Holy Spirit by our side, we can do so much more than what we could have ever hoped for by ourselves” (Rev. Ed Bacon).
Tags: Christian, Church, Desmond Tutu, Dr. Amy Butler, ELCA, God, Jesus, lutheran, Prayer, Rev. Ed Bacon
Lord God, bring us together as children of God. Shield us from this dysfunctional world. Through Your Son, Jesus, You connected us to God and to each other. Remind us today of that connection. Remind us that we are all sinners redeemed by the same God.
Give us the wisdom to stop fighting battles that don’t need to be fought and to let go of the things that just need to be given to God. Give us the patience and the strength to just simply wait for You because “You can do more in one second that we could ever do in an entire lifetime” (My Emmanuel Prayer Team).
You are the Alpha and Omega. You are the source of everything that we are and will ever be. It is because of You that we have hope. It is through You that we have love. It is by You that we can live.
Tags: Christian, Church, ELCA, Jesus, lutheran, My Emmanuel Prayer Team, Prayer
Gracious and Holy One, come into our lives and minds today. Let us return to Your truth. Remind us, that even in the ordinary moments of life, that we are surrounded by God’s extraordinary presence.
Don’t let us just return to business as usual, but instead lead us into the new possibilities of God’s amazing grace. Do not let us do good works simply to earn Your favor or the favor of others, because we’re not in this life for business. We are in this life to be among the living, and because of Your Son we can truly live as children of God.
You laid down Your life for this mess of a world because “in our desire to control love, we lost our way” (Jeff Hood). But love found us and continues to guide us. Each time we mess up and fall, the cross reminds us that the Holy Spirit lives and dwells within all of us, and that we are never ever alone.
Tags: Christian, Church, ELCA, Jesus, lutheran, Prayer, Rev. Jeff Hood
Creator God, we meet You at this point in our life because we want a connection with the truth. Flood our minds with the wisdom to stop thinking as the world does. Challenge us to apply Your Word in every aspect of our lives. Don’t let us look elsewhere for recognition, love or value for “the mind and the heart will be restless until we rest in the arms of God…and God is the totality of Love” (Rev. Jeff Hood), so we don’t need to fear life’s challenges but instead trust in the One who is the source of our strength and our hope.
Love has been spoken loudly, clearly and definitively the through the life, death and resurrection of God’s only Son. It is through Jesus that we are transformed from sinner to saint and receive the gift of eternal life. It is His Love that surrounds us. It is His Love that will sustain us. And it is His Love that will deliver us evil.
Tags: Christian, Church, ELCA, Jesus, lutheran, Prayer, Rev. Jeff Hood
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