One Prayer a Day

A Prayer of Richard Slater

I have not much to give Thee, Lord,
For that great love which made Thee mine;
I have not much to give Thee, Lord,
But all I have is Thine.

A Spring of Living Water

Abba, Father, Lord God Almighty,
make me a spring of living water,
rising up and rushing forth.
Let my ministry, my life,
be an outflow of your gracious work in me,
in Jesus' name, amen.

My Enemy plays games with me; I know that. And my mind and moods, on a natural level, play games with me, too. Maybe it's also in the nature of things, working with people, to periodically be overwhelmed, panicked, attacked, misunderstood, whatever. So, Lord, when will I be "grown up" enough to greet such times with "My help is in the name of the Lord," or "The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear?" and truly KNOW it? Let it be soon, please, even now--from now on. Amen.

Exceedingly Blessed

Lord, thank you that my son is a much better, healthier, brighter, more talented man than I am, and thank you that my daughter is better, healthier, brighter, and more talented than me...and so very much like her lovely mother! I am abundantly blessed, beyond all that I could ever have asked or even imagined! Oh, my, if their children exceed them as much as they have exceeded me, oh, what will be?

My Psalm 83

O God, do not keep silent;
O Lord, don't choose now to hold your tongue.

Your enemies are not holding back;
they are yet plotting and scheming.
Evil takes no holiday;
their cunning has not ceased.

Though they may hide,
they still act against your people.
Though they may lie under cover,
they continue to oppose you,
to hinder your work,
to divide your people,
to prevent your kingdom from expanding.

Do to them as you did to Midian,
as you did to Sisera and Jabin at the river Kishon;
defeat all evil
and rout all workers of evil
and drive them from our midst.

Blow them away,
like tumbleweed, O my God,
like chaff before the wind.

As fire consumes the forest
and sets whole mountainsides ablaze,
so pursue them with your fury
and dispel them with your rage.

Humiliate our Enemy,
break his teeth before our eyes,
so that men will seek your name, O LORD,
so that all will know that you, LORD, King of my heart,
that you alone are the Most High over all the earth.

God of New Things

Abba, Father, God of new things,
how I praise you and thank you
that I wake this morning with a new granddaughter,
born yesterday.
How great are your works,
and this tiny girl among them,
Mia Marie,
who has been growing
under your all-seeing eye
for almost nine months now,
whom I just met
but you have known from eternity past,
in your omniscience.
Grant her grace and health and growth,
as you have granted her life and beauty and love,
and wonderful parents as well.
And grant too that today,
in and through the worship of your church,
you will reveal yourself as God of new things
as you did in introducing this world
to Mia Marie,
in Jesus' name, amen.

I Love You As

Oh, Lord, you have been good.
I love you, Lord, with all my heart.
I love you as a child loves a perfect father.
I love you as a slave loves his redeemer.
I love you as a near-victim loves the rescuer,
as an orphan the adopter,
as a wanderer the guide,
as a student the teacher,
as a lover the beloved.
Grant that today I may love you even more,
in Jesus' name, amen.

First Learner

Lord God Adonai, as I study your Word today
in preparation for the privilege of preaching,
please come to me
and teach me
that I may be merely the first learner
and the first life changed
of all those you will reward
for having given attention
to your Word,
in Jesus' name, amen.

Another Prayer of Christina Rossetti

O God the Holy Ghost
Who art light unto thine elect
Evermore enlighten us.
Thou who art fire of love
Evermore enkindle us.
Thou who art Lord and Giver of Life,
Evermore live in us.
Thou who bestowest sevenfold grace,
Evermore replenish us.
As the wind is thy symbol,
So forward our goings.
As the dove, so launch us heavenwards.
As water, so purify our spirits.
As a cloud, so abate our temptations.
As dew, so revive our languor.
As fire, so purge our dross

A Prayer from Mozart's Requiem

Remember, merciful Jesu,
that I am the cause of your journey.

A Prayer of Gerard Manley Hopkins

Thee, God, I come from, to thee go,
All day long I like fountain flow
From thy hand out, swayed about
Mote-like in thy mighty glow.

What I know of thee I bless,
As acknowledging thy stress
On my being and as seeing
Something of thy holiness.

Once I turned from thee and hid,
Bound on what thou hadst forbid;
Sow the wind I would; I sinned:
I repent of what I did.

Praise Belongs to You

Praise belongs to you, Lord.
I praise you for your faithfulness,
your kind and merciful willingness
to hold onto me in spite of all my sin and stubbornness.

I praise you for your constancy
and at the same time your creativity;
you are always merciful,
yet your mercies are new every morning.

I praise you for your power,
your purity,
your sweetness,
your majesty,
your holiness,
your goodness,
your patience,
your truth,
your love, your great love,
and your grace, in Jesus' name, amen.

A Prayer of Christina Rossetti for the Lord's Day

Open wide the window of our spirits, O Lord,
and fill us full of light;
open wide the door of our hearts,
that we may receive and entertain you
with all our powers of adoration and praise.

Valentine

Like summer snow
floating from a sun-filled sky,
draping airy-white on flowered fields,
Your love astonished me.

No frilly show,
no assorted-chocolate pledge,
no candy hearts or silver kisses
disclosed your care for me;

But unsparing,

cross-bearing, thorn-wearing love
that opened hands and feet and side
to spill your heart for me,

To recreate,
inundate my longing soul
with giving, holding, accepting,
enfolding love for me.

Whom have I in heaven but you? And being with you, I desire nothing on earth. My flesh and my heart may fail, but you are the strength of my heart and my portion forever (Psalm 73:25, 26).

God, Renew Me by Your Spirit

God, renew me by your Spirit!
Come and touch my weary soul.
Grant me joy so I can share it;
Oh, restore me; make me whole!

God, revitalize our mission!
Bless your church from pole to pole!
May we overcome division!
Oh, restore us; make us whole!

God, revive my congregation!
Be our center and our goal!
Help us join in adoration!
Oh, restore us; make us whole!

God, refresh your whole creation!
Timeless is salvation’s role!
Grant us boundless celebration!
Oh, restore us; make us whole!

(Revised from GOD, RENEW US BY YOUR SPIRIT! © 1992 John Dalles)

Your New Word Amid Our Anxiety

On reading 1 Kings 2:1-9

The promises roll of your lips
and into our ears:
I will be with you;
I will love you faithfully;
I will be your God;
My covenant is forever.

We count on your words that flow from our ears
to our hearts, and we are glad.

But even while we listen,
we live much of our lives underneath the table.
We read these old stories, and
we know about intrigue and fear and
anxiety and near violence
and deception.
We mostly do not act out our violence
but we imagine and ponder and scheme;
and then we, too, must cover up
and the cover-up ferments;
our lives become complex and burdened.

We keep inventing ourselves and our underneath selves turn out
to be less than adequate
and we wish we were other than we are.
We juggle your good purposes and
our hidden yearnings and
try to serve two masters,
try to live two narratives,
try to live two dreams,
and we are weary.

Because we know our hearts of anxiety so well,
we seem fated to disease.
But because we know your heart of fidelity so well,
we know you will defeat our demons
and make us new.

We know about your abiding fidelity in
Jesus of Nazareth.
Give us patience and steadfastness as we
process the ragged edges of our lives.

Amen.

(a prayer by Walter Brueggemann, from his book, Prayers for a Privileged People)