Prayers for Advent Week 4 ~ Sign's A-Wastin'

Formal Prayers of the People are used in Liturgical (Worship) Services in various Christian denominations.  By request, I have been composing them for the four weeks of the Season of Advent and posting them with brief commentary on my other blog.  They are being used in several congregations and posted on several Facebook pages.  They were the impetus for this blog.

Beginning with Christmas Eve 2013, they will be posted here in addition to the usual fare of People's Prayers.  For this Sunday I invite you to visit

http://leeosophy.blogspot.com/2013/12/advent-4-signs-wastin.html

for a bit of commentary and to pray as in community for the last hours of waiting for our Messiah's joyous birth.  This week, it's "Signs A-Wastin.'" While you're there, scroll back and see what the other weeks have been about!  Blessings... more People's Prayers to come, stay tuned!  And don't forget, if you have any ideas, topics, or concerns you'd like prayers for, just let me know!


Please feel free to request a prayer to be composed for a particular concern or topic for posting in this space. You may leave your request in the comments section or contact me directly at Leeosophy@gmail.com  All compositions remain the property of the owner of this blog but may be used with attribution as long as they are not sold or charged for in any way.  Requestors will remain anonymous.

Prayer for Getting My Ducks in a Row

           Dear Leader of the Flock - I spoke to You yesterday, it just wasn't in this particular space. Some of those conversations will show up in the next day or two here and in a couple of other places. The day before yesterday, though, I was here marveling at one of your amazing creations, geese.  Now today, I seem still to be in a fowl sort of mood and so I turn to You.

                Life is short, and time is of the essence always. It is important to me to slow down and pay attention to how my words and actions connect. These times are troubling - our tongues wag ahead of our thoughts; our fingers hit the keyboards so fast with reactionary comments we cannot take back once they hit the ether. Suddenly the "Us" vs "Them" camps are dividing friends and families.   Help me, please, before I speak, before I write a post for Facebook or Twitter, even before I think a thought impulsively, to remember and live into the prescient and life-giving words of Your servant Paul:

1 Corinthians 13:1-13 

13 If I speak in the tongues^[a] of people or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. ² If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. ³ If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast,^[b] but do not have love, I gain nothing.

⁴ Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. ⁵ It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. ⁶ Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. ⁷ It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
⁸ Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. ⁹ For we know in part and we prophesy in part, ¹⁰ but when completeness comes, what is in part disappears. ¹¹ When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became an adult, I put the ways of childhood behind me. ¹² For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.
¹³ And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.      AMEN!

 

Prayer for a Silly Goose

   Why do we call geese silly?    I guess they are a bit ungainly in their gait on the ground and certainly noisy in their discussions, but aren't we all!?  This morning was cold and frosty, clear and sunny and there they were winging across the sky honking encouragement to each other.  The V-formation is beautiful in its symmetry and purpose.  Instinctive, normal, practical. Geese travel together and when one can't go or falls from the formation because of illness or injury, two stay behind to help, to care, to be there until the downed bird can fly again or dies. Then the trio or pair join another passing

formation. The leader leads for a time flying just above the others to increase lift and reduce the effort of the flock. Then the leader moves to the back of the formation and another leads for a time and moves to the back of the formation, and so on until the destination is reached. Everyone takes a turn to lead.  Everyone works together for the good of the entire flock. 

     Dear Lord, help me be a reliable part of the flock I'm in, taking my turns to lead and to fall back. Give me extra grace to be thankful for those who stop to care for me and to be even more willing to stay on the ground to help another. Geese make me look silly - they are a model of Your vision for the rest of us.  My prayer is for the awareness of the lessons of interconnectedness and interdependence that You provide in each and every part of Your Creation.  Amen.


Please feel free to request a prayer to be composed for a particular concern or topic for posting in this space. You may leave your request in the comments section or contact me directly at Leeosophy@gmail.com  All compositions remain the property of the owner of this blog but may be used with attribution as long as they are not sold or charged for in any way.  Requestors will remain anonymous.

Prayer in a Discouraging World

Creator God,

It's true, we really do "love our neighbors as we love ourselves" although not in the way you intend.  The world is such a discouraging place. Everyone I know has their own personal laundry list of the frustrations, disappointments, trials, and tragedies in their everyday lives and then there's the "news" from around the globe.  It serves to push many of us into de-sensitizing, self-medicating and sometimes self-destructive behaviors. At the very least we avoid and deny.

Let me feel Your breath in my soul, my Lord.  Surround me with Your presence and whisper to my heart.  Call me out of my hesitation to spend a little time with you each day. Kick me out of my whining and self-absorption and draw me closer.  Only by consciously, deliberately, and willingly loving You, can I begin to love myself.  Then, I can consciously, deliberately, and willingly, love my neighbor and discover what positive differences I am to make in Your world. 

Call me, definitely.     Amen.



     

Prayer to Find and Renew My Faith

  
   O You of the Great Beyond, are You really "up there" or "down here" or both?   I know people who have no doubt in Your presence, in Your whereabouts, in Your intervention and grace.  What's wrong with me? 

     I used to know with certainty that You were in charge of the Universe.  All According to Your Will. And then -  right after that day - I had a question.  My question led to wonder.  My wonder led to doubt.  I haven't always been the best person I could be - does that make my Grace Account smaller?  I wandered away.  And now, I miss having You in my life.  I go through the motions but I miss knowing You, even feeling that I'm part of Your Creation.  But recently I became aware that I am certain of one thing, I want to find my way back.  I know I won't get all the answers, and there is much I won't understand.  But I know I will have something more in my life if I can get back to You. 

      Please, help me, Great One, I want to find and renew my faith in You.  How do I begin?  Let me try by borrowing from another and ask:  Please lift my spirit to Your presence where I can be still and know that You are my God, with Your Son our Savior Jesus Christ and with Your Spirit Who will lift my veil of doubt.  Amen.

Prayer for a New Week

 

 

Dear God,

 

       The week is beginning and there's so much to do.  How do I find me in the midst of what everyone else wants, demands, requires.  I know I should make You the focus of my life.  Drop everything, follow, and all that, but I don't really know how to do that.  I keep hearing that if I were a better Christian I would work in a shelter, volunteer as a driver, give more money to the church and the charities and the panhandlers and the social justice centers, speak up on behalf of all the brutality and injustice in the world, spend more time at the church, read the Bible everyday, pray, pray, pray... I'm tired just thinking about it all. SO, for now, here's my prayer:  Thank you, I know You're there, I will give my time, talent, and treasure as I am able if only in taking care of myself and those that need me, and mostly, I will try to remember to say hello to You every day and thank You for being with me.  Maybe, with Your help, I will find ways to do more.

 

With love from, Me  

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Please feel free to request a prayer to be composed for a particular concern or topic for posting in this space. You may leave your request in the comments section or contact me directly at Leeosophy@gmail.com  All compositions remain the property of the owner of this blog but may be used with attribution as long as they are not sold or charged for in any way.  Requestors will remain anonymous.

 

 

 

 



Prayer for Our Relationship

 

Where are we going?  Where have we been?  Where are we now?  Who are WE?  

 

Dear God, I’m feeling lost again in the midst of what is a loving relationship.  I’m confused about our commitment to each other – IF we are committed to each other, if we are committed to the same things and at the same level.  Some days are better than others but there are always those nagging questions in the background about what we should do next, what plans we should make, are we moving forward?  That all creates anxiety and conflict between us.

 

Life is too short and I am spending so much time and energy on worry and doubt.  Please Lord, help me to relax, breathe, and enjoy what is now. Be present with us as we move through the small moments of each day. Help us to rest in You and wait patiently.  Your Time will find us when the questions will be answered and the decisions made.  And, if you don’t mind, would you sprinkle a little extra blessing on us so we recognize and acknowledge our moments of joy?!

 

Thank you, Amen.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Please feel free to request a prayer to be composed for a particular concern or topic for posting in this space. You may leave your request in the comments section or contact me directly at Leeosophy@gmail.com  All compositions remain the property of the owner of this blog but may be used with attribution as long as they are not sold or charged for in any way.  Requestors will remain anonymous.