A prayer to be courageous in our different callings

  We are counted your people.

    We are grateful to be called by you, and

      glad for our special way of faith in the world.

  You have marked us and named us and signed us,

    and we are different,

           different memories,

           different hopes,

           different fears,

           different commands,

           different ways of being.

  That difference we find glorious, but at times a burden too severe.

    We yearn to be like the others,

           like the others in power,

                    in money,

                    in freedom,

                    in certitude,

                    in security,

           like the others,

             uncalled, unburdened, unembarrassed.

  We come to you in that deep trial of difference and likeness.

    Engage us in our difference,

    Give us courage for our different vocations,

      and energy for our different hope.

  In the name of your crucified, Easter One, so unlike all the others.

  Amen.

Source: Brueggemann, Walter. 2003. Awed to Heaven, Rooted in Earth: Prayers of Walter Brueggemann. E

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1 Corinthians 1:26–29 (ESV)

26 For consider your calling, brothers: not many of you were wise according to worldly standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. 27 But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; 28 God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, 29 so that no human being might boast in the presence of God.

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A Prayer to Begin Your Day

Lord, 

I don’t know what is before me today, but I commit it all to You. 

Please give me strength and courage to get through the joys, challenges and happenings.  I thank You for my life and for all that I have; I commit this day to You. No matter what happens, I know You have me in the palm of Your hand. 

I ask that You would guide my path today and, more specifically, my thoughts, words and actions. Please be with me throughout the day and help me navigate whatever comes my way. Most importantly, help me to reflect and live out my life in a way that is honoring to You. 

In Jesus’ name I pray,

Amen.

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a prayer for when a friend is going through hard times

Compassionate Lord,

I lift up my friend who is going through a hard time.

Please grant them strength and courage to overcome their struggles.

Give them patience and resolve to hang in there with a good attitude.

Wrap them in Your peace, and help them feel your presence and comfort.

Calm any fear or anxiety they may be feeling.

Help them to know that they are not alone.

Guide them with Your wisdom and let them find hope in You.

Amen

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a prayer for provision and guidance

O Great Spirit, our Father from above, your name is sacred and holy.

Bring your good road to us, where the beauty of your ways in the spirit-world above is reflected in the earth below.

Provide for us day by day — the elk, the buffalo, and the salmon. the corn, the squash, and the wild rice. All the things we need for each day.

Release us from the things we have done wrong, in the same way we release others for the things done wrong to us.

Guide us away from the things that tempt us to stray from your good road. 

-Luke 11:2-4, 

First Nations Version: 

An Indigenous Translation of the New Testament

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A prayer for forgiveness of sins

The apostle John tells us, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9, KJV). Here we find the promise of God to forgive our confessed sins. To ignore or to neglect this promise is to steer a perilous course. God commands us to confess our sins and promises to forgive our sins. That we should confess our sins daily is clear. What confession means and what it involves are matters that need some elaboration.

We can distinguish between two kinds of repentance: attrition and contrition. Attrition is counterfeit repentance, which never qualifies us for forgiveness. It is like the repentance of a child who is caught in the act of disobeying his mother and cries out, “Mommy, Mommy, I’m sorry, please don’t spank me.” Attrition is repentance motivated strictly by a fear of punishment. The sinner confesses his sin to God, not out of genuine remorse but out of a desire to secure a ticket out of hell.

True repentance reflects contrition, a godly remorse for offending God. Here the sinner mourns his sin, not for the loss of reward or for the threat of judgment, but because he has done injury to the honor of God.

 

(R.C. Sproul:  Does Prayer Change Things?).

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Lord, help us to truly confess our sins that we may experience true forgiveness of our sins.

Help us make it a daily and regular discipline to reflect on our lives, our thoughts, attitudes, and actions. Help us to be open and honest with You to let you reveal to us any sin in us that we may confess and experience forgiveness.

Psalm 139:23–24: 

23 Search me, O God, and know my heart! Try me and know my thoughts! 24 And see if there be any grievous way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting!

In Jesus' Name

Amen

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The Heart of God

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A Prayer for Unity

Father God, 

Because of Your death and resurrection, we are part of Your body—the global Church. Help us take our role in it seriously, knowing that our choices reflect how Your Church is perceived. Use mus to bring hope, love, and joy to the world, and empower us to build others up. 

We pray that Your people will serve as an example of the unity that only Your love can bring. Help us promote unity in every environment we enter, seeking to understand others and keeping my focus on Christ. Grant us the ability to speak with understanding and compassion, reflecting Your love. Remove our pride in wanting to be right and replace it with a heart that seeks harmony.

You alone have the power to unite Your children. You cleanse sinful hearts, heal broken families, and bring divided nations back to You. Bring us together and give us a desire for unity. 

 Please mend the divisions within us and in the world around us. 

In Jesus' name, 

Amen.

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when our prayers are unanswered

As a deer longs for flowing streams, so my soul longs for you, O Lord.

My soul thirsts for you, the living God.

Come in power Almighty God!

My tears seem to be my food day and night.

My tears seem to speak to me and say, “Where is your God?”

Answer my tears O compassionate Father!

Yet these things I remember as I pour out my soul -

How sweet your presence is and how exhilarating it is to worship you.

I rejoice in you O joy giving Lord!

Yet I wonder why my soul is sad and in turmoil within me?

I want to hope in you God. I want to experience your power.

O come sweet Holy Spirit!

Yet even now, when my soul is cast down within me,

I remember you in this land of trials and testing.

I trust in you Jesus!

I want to hear your voice like the sounds of great waterfalls.

I long to hear you speak with power and having powerful affects.

Come O Holy Shepherd!

You are my rock, the One in whom I have trusted.

Come O God of deliverance!

My soul will not be cast down forever - the turmoil will end.

My hope is in you Lord. I shall praise you afresh.

Jesus is my salvation and my Lord!

Amen

... adapted from Psalm 42     

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A prayer for church leaders

Father God, we pray for those whom You have called to lead the church. We thank you for them. We thank you for calling them to this task, to be shepherds of the flock. Thank you for their obedience and faith to accept Your calling.

We pray that you will guide them and equip them. As they wait on you, may you speak to them through Your Word, guided by the Holy Spirit.

Help our leaders to be godly men and women whose lives reflect the character and teachings of Christ himself.

Give them wisdom to understand the times we live in and the direction we should go.

Give them the burning desire to go deep into Your Holy Word.

Give them the required gifts to lead us in a godly manner. 

Give them the passion to constantly seek Your face in prayer and worship.

Give them the commitment to seek to live holy lives before You.

Give them the courage to make difficult decisions as directed by You.

Deepen their trust in you. Daily breathe Your life into them in a fresh way.

Renew us, too, Lord! Give us the spiritual discernment and humility to pray that our lives will reflect the very same things we ask of our leaders.

In Jesus’ name, we pray.

Amen.

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a prayer to be guided

 

Teach us, dear Lord, to number our days;
that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom.
Oh, satisfy us early with Thy mercy,
that we may rejoice and be glad all of our days.
And let the beauty of the Lord our God be upon us;
and establish Thou the work of our hands.
And let the beauty of the Lord our God be upon us;
and establish Thou the work of our hands, dear Lord.

 (From Psalm 90) 

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a prayer for a change in perspective

Lord,

I come with a heavy heart and tearful eyes.

I am so often stuck in what I see and how I feel.

Please change my perspective.

Help me see beyond my frustrations, my disappointments, and my fears.

Open my eyes to see you at work, even in places that feel broken.

Give me the patience to wait on you and the faith to trust in your goodness.

Teach me to see my life, my struggles, and my blessings the way you see them.

I praise you and thank you for being in my life.

Amen.

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a prayer for when we need joy

 

Dear Heavenly Father,

Thank you for the gift of Your presence - where there is fullness of joy.

I ask for comfort in my pain and in my sadness.

Help me to see the good in my life and in the world.

Guide my heart to remember your love and mercy in these times.

You are the source of all my joy and in you I know peace.

Help me not to be weighed down by the cares and worries of life.

Bless me to trust in your provision and to give my cares to you.

Pour out an overflowing joy on me that transcends my circumstances.

Manifest your Spirit in me that I might reflect your presence to all.

In Your Name, Amen. 

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Lord, help me be attentive to You

Lord Jesus, Free me from the many things that occupy and preoccupy me. Help me just to be with you. To pray with you, glorify you, thank you, worship you. I want to be attentive, more ready to hear you, more willing to understand the mystery of your birth and life, your dying and your rising. Make me still, Lord, make me quiet, and speak to me in that silence. Amen.

“Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.”   - Mark 14: 38

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Joyful in HOPE

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Protect and Bless

 

Calm me, O Lord, as You stilled the storm.
Still me, O Lord, keep me from harm.
Let all the tumult within me cease.
Enfold me, Lord, in Your peace.

Father, bless the work that is done,
and the work that is to be.

Father, bless the servant that I am,
and the servant that I will be.

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a prayer for when the season changes

Our Dearest Unchanging God,

You are the Creator of all seasons,

the author of both the ebb and flow of life.

Thank you for the beauty of your changing creation,
the changing skies, the wind's soft touch, and the deep colors of autumn.
 

As the seasons change and the weather shifts,

we are thankful for your constancy.

Help us to embrace each new life phase with an open heart,
finding peace in new beginnings.

Guide us in every change, to adapt and find gratitude in the moment,

recognizing that even in difficult seasons of trial or pain, You are with us.

Thank you for your steady presence and sure promise.
In every season of life, there is a time and purpose for everything.

As life changes comes and seasons unfold,

grant us the wisdom and discernment we need to adapt.

Help us to be like trees planted by streams of water,
yielding fruit in each season, with leaves that do not wither.

Thank you for your enduring love that anchors us,
and for being with us through every season of our lives. 

In Your Name,
Amen.

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a prayer to be merciful

Help me, O Lord, that my eyes may be merciful, so that I may never suspect or judge from appearances, but look for what is beautiful in my neighbour's souls and come to their rescue.

Help me, that my ears may be merciful, so that I may give heed to my neighbours' needs and not be indifferent to their pains and moanings.

Help me, O Lord, that my tongue may be merciful, so that I should never speak negatively of my neighbour, but have a word of comfort and forgiveness for all.

Help me, O Lord, that my hands may be merciful and filled with good deeds, so that I may do only good to my neighbours and take upon myself the more difficult and toilsome tasks.

Help me, that my feet may be merciful, so that I may hurry to assist my neighbour overcoming my own fatigue and weariness. My true rest is in the service of my neighbour.

Help me, O Lord, that my heart may be merciful so that I myself may feel all the sufferings of my neighbour.

I will refuse my heart to no one. I will be sincere even with those who, I know, will abuse my kindness. And I will lock myself up in the most merciful Heart of Jesus. I will bear my own suffering in silence.

May Your mercy, O Lord, rest upon me.

Amen.

... a prayer by Sister Faustina Kowalska    

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God loves you. Have you told Him lately that You love Him too?

Ephesians 1:3–6 (ESV)

3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, 4 even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love 5 he predestined us for adoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, 6 to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved.

Psalm 103:17–18 (ESV)

17 But the steadfast love of the LORD is from everlasting to everlasting on those who fear him, and his righteousness to children’s children, 18 to those who keep his covenant and remember to do his commandments.

Lord, 

Thank You for loving me! Thank you for choosing me to bless me.

Help me to do experience Your presence and blessing Your will by doing Your will.
Forgive me when I forget to say "I love You too!" 
Lord, I love You, and I thank You, and I bless You!

Amen

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