Season 15 Prayers
Embedded Files
The method in which we pray is never as important
as the spirit in which we pray.
Prayer grows in us not because of the technique or discipline
in which we pray;
it grows because of our willingness to open ourselves again and again,
in times of darkness as well as in times of enlightenment,
to the One who continues to love the world into being.
- Mark Yaconelli
Nexus, may you go now into the summer,
not in pursuit of what is
merely right or practical,
but in search of what is beautiful.
May awkwardness never hold you back
from pouring out love.
May the fragrance of your kindness
fill the rooms you walk into.
May you do what you can
with what you have
for those you love.
And when the days grow short,
may the aroma of beauty linger with you -
reminding you that in God's economy,
nothing done in love is ever wasted.
So now, go in peace,
and do something beautiful.
Blessing for Sunday June 15, 2025
FOR BELONGING - by John O’Donohue
Image credit: ArsAdAstra from pixabay
May you listen to your longing to be free.
May the frames of your belonging
be generous enough for your dreams.
May you arise each day
with a voice of blessing
whispering in your heart.
May you find a harmony
between your soul and your life.
May the sanctuary of your soul
never become haunted.
May you know the eternal longing
that lives at the heart of time.
May there be kindness in your gaze
when you look within.
May you never place walls
between the light and yourself.
May you allow the wild beauty of the invisible world
to gather you, mind you,
and embrace you in belonging.
Prayer for Sunday May 25, 2025
A prayer to the one who taught us to pray
by Steven James
Image credit: Creative Vix from Pexels
When I actually take the time to look,
I see you've formed
thousands of deep rivers
in the hidden canyons of my soul.
But for some reason,
when I approach you,
I so often dip my prayers from
such shallow, muddy pools instead.
Today, I drop all the platitudes,
and the safe, comfortable
shiny prayers
that I typically offer you.
Today I bring you
the rough-cut boulders of my heart.
Here are my nagging questions,
my disquieting loves,
my troubling secrets,
and my very human needs.
I give them all to you today,
no holding back, no playing it safe.
Here are my unfulfilled longings,
my unmet demands,
my deeply rooted disappointments,
and the things I fear
but pretend to control.
Here, for you,
I offer my unquenchable worship.
my wordless groans,
my deepest needs.
No more veneer.
Simply thoughts of pain,
of regret,
of hope,
of you.
Today, I give you the rushing,
tumbling waters of myself.
Prayer for Sunday June 1, 2025
Finding your Prayer of the Heart, adapted from Teresa A. Blythe
Get comfortable, sitting with your weight distributed evenly so you feel stable. Take about five deep, slow breaths and allow any tension to flow out with each exhale. After five deliberate breaths, turn your attention away from counting and let your breath find its natural pace.
Ask yourself: What is my deepest and truest longing for life with God at this moment? Or simply ask, What do I need right now? If an answer comes, along with a judgmental word about it (that’s too simple or shallow etc) try pausing the judgment and instead, look deeper...what's at the base of that desire? When you check in with your deepest and truest self, what it is that you might seek from God? Give that longing a short phrase. For example, if your deep desire is inner freedom, then your phrase would be "freedom" or "inner freedom." Give yourself a moment to develop a phrase.
Now consider: What is my favorite name for God? How do you imagine our Creator? Choose a name that seems to fit best for you. Eg: Jesus, Wisdom, Love, Mystery. Be as creative as you’d like.
When you're ready, combine your name for God with your longing. Eg: If my phrase is "freedom" and the name I choose for God is Christ, my prayer of the heart might be "Freedom, in Christ." Take a moment to come up with your two-part prayer.
Now begin to silently say your phrase, combining it with your breath. You might inhale on the name for God and exhale on the desire, or vice versa. Spend a few moments breathing this prayer. Make it your own. Allow God to inhabit this prayer. Consciously repeat it for a while, then sink into silence as you allow the love of God to fill you and surround you. Enjoy this time.
You could write the prayer down somewhere you'll see it often, returning to it again and again, or you may develop others...see what feels good to you, and keep exploring.
God, lover of life, lover of these lives,
God, lover of our souls, lover of our bodies,
lover of all that exists:
It is your love that keeps it all alive….
May we live in this love.
May we never doubt this love.
May we know that we are love,
That we were created for love,
That we are a reflection of you,
That you love yourself in us
and therefore we are perfectly lovable.
May we never doubt
this deep and abiding and perfect goodness.
We are because you are.
Prayer for Sunday May 18, 2025
by Karla Drader based on Brad Watson's Three Exercises
Image credit: selimaksan
For an important relationship:
God of connection, I invite you into this space between us.
And into the way I think and feel towards this person.
Thank you for your compassion toward the needs of my heart.
I receive it and bask in its grace.
Help me share it with myself and with them.
Help me loosen my grip on this person.
Help me loosen my ideas of what they need to be for me.
May I accept that this person cannot be everything for me.
Here are my expectations (whether I’ve fully realized them or not).
Show me what expectations can go.
Show me what’s important to keep.
Give me courage to invite others to meet me in my neediness
and to witness my vulnerability. Just a little more.
I also give you the sense of heaviness I have
as I imagine their expectations of me.
Give me compassion and humility
to acknowledge and accept my own limits.
Release me from the burden of trying to be everything to them.
And God, there are more than a few things
that frustrate me about this person.
There are differences that I find intolerable sometimes.
Help me listen to my anger and resentment,
rather than being gripped and controlled by them.
Help me learn from what these feelings can reveal.
Deliver me from bitterness and blame.
Have your good way in this place of our differences God.
I commit this relationship to you, Source of Love and Wisdom.
Amen.
For Sunday May 11, 2025
Prayer by Kate Bowler & Jessica Richie - for when you feel lonely
Image credit: Ella Wei
God, there is a space here in my heart, in my life,
I wish others could fill.
Would it be embarrassing to admit that I'm lonely?
I need someone walking with me, whose eyes see what mine do,
whose ears are open to hear my thoughts,
and whose heart can be cracked open a smidge more.
I was not built to do this alone.
I feel it in the transitions, God,
in the moments I need someone to call,
after a memory I don't want to forget.
It feels like leaning back without knowing
if I will feel the comfortable weight of being held.
Could you remind me first that I am loved?
That my needs aren't too much.
That my personality isn't too absurd.
That the details of my life deserve a record, kept by another.
Give me courage to look in new places,
to risk reaching out,
making plans with acquaintances who might turn into friends.
Give me peace.
Give me hope.
Give me people.
And, in the meantime,
remind me that lovely moments are still ahead.
For Sunday May 4, 2025
by Chris Woroch
Image credit: Emmaus Door by Janet Brooks-Gerloff
Lord, give us eyes to see Jesus.
Dispel our clouded theological presumptions and biases concerning how things work while travelling the Jesus path. Transform our scriptural misunderstandings, our misplaced visions and versions of the Kingdom of God.
Help us to see what lies behind what we see, to see the hidden Jesus, the elusive Jesus, the surprising Jesus, the ever trustworthy Jesus.
The Emmaus traveller’s eyes were opened to the greatest reality of all, via a meal blessing. Amidst rumour, controversy and scandal, Jesus appeared. And they recognized him. They knew. Clarity.
On the heels of yet another federal election, woven within the turbulence to the south of us, not to mention world-wide disarray, fear, anger, violence and hatred, culminating in a number of realities that we face and live with every day, Lord....
Give us eyes to see the really real Jesus and the way of his Kingdom,
That we might live our lives within this really real reality... in faith, hope and love
toward one another, and the world we are a part of, with praise, thanksgiving and steadiness. Seeing is believing and following.
Lord, give us eyes to see Jesus... Amen.
For Sunday April 27, 2025
Reflection by Gerard Kelly
Prayer by Karla Drader
Image credit: by tonjung from ภาพของtonjung
Reflection: Let Down Your Nets - Gerard Kelly
Let down your nets on the other side, Peter
On the other side of your fears
On the other side of doubt
On the other side of your certainties
On the other side of who you think you are
On the other side of staying in the boat
Step out onto the waves towards me
On the other side of panic, reach out your hand to mine
On the other side of your reputation, Simon
Become Peter, the movable rock
On the other side of haste, of your hot head, of violence
Put away your sword
On the other side of the lake, on the other side of town
Follow me to the other side of the tracks
Explore the other side of life
Seek the sheep on the other side of the mountain
See the other side of the coin
Find the other side of the father
In the other side of his lost son
On the other side of religion, the other side of law
On the other side of the temple, the other side of the wall
On the other side of obedience, the other side of love
On the other side of forgiveness
Hear the seventy-times-seven other sides of the story
Though tears will fall on the other side of the sunrise
You will laugh on the other side of your face
On the other side of this side of Heaven
On the other side of denial
On the other side of loss
On the other side of Pentecost
Let down your nets
----
So help us tune our ears and our hearts to Love
May we listen to and open to Hope
Trusting your Grace
Believing in the power and possibility
Of the other side
Of second chances
And may we offer them to others.
Amen.
We stand, like Mary of Magdala, at the entrance to the opened tomb, wondering what it means. We pause, and look at our lives, inviting you, God, to visit the places that seek the gift of restoration the empty tomb signifies.
We turn our hearts now to the risen Christ. We listen for his voice calling our name. We open ourselves to receive what this beloved presence bestows to us. We let this offering rest confidently within us.
And we pray:
Spirit of the risen Christ, nurture our hope. Continue to lead us to experiences that roll away the stone of entombment. Be the radiance that lights our way. Guide us toward a life dedicated to loving unconditionally.
We turn to you, risen Christ, and pray:
for those whose dreams have been shattered, may we turn toward restored hope,
for those who have grown weary from constant turmoil, may we turn toward peace,
for those who feel disheartened, may we turn toward a spirit of encouragement,
for those who have stopped believing in happiness, may we turn toward a reason to rejoice.
We turn to you, risen Christ, and pray:
for those who find little value in their work, may we turn toward fresh motivation,
for those with faltering relationships, may we turn toward a disposition to love,
for those whose outlook on life is bleak, may we turn toward a rekindling of joy,
for those who lack self-worth, may we turn toward their imperishable goodness.
We turn to you, risen Christ, and pray:
for those who are sorrowful, may we turn toward you and find renewed gladness,
for those who suffer in body, mind, or spirit, may we turn toward healing,
for those in challenging transitions, may we turn toward trust in your guidance,
for those who have lost their inner direction, may we turn toward home.
We turn to you, risen Christ, and pray:
for those troubled in their faith, may we turn toward confidence in your love,
for those who feel burdened, may we turn toward reliance on your strength,
for those seeking vengeance, may we turn toward a heartfelt desire to forgive,
for those who doubt joy will ever arise, may we turn toward your resurrection.
Risen Christ, we turn to you with full reliance on your resurrected presence with us here and now. We renew our trust in your grace to restore our joy when it lies hidden in our entombed self. Turn us again and again toward hope. Open our hearts to recognize you in the garden of our everyday lives. Amen.
Prayers for Good Friday April 18, 2025
Image credit: rattanakun
"Do this in remembrance of me."
A slaughtered lamb on an ancient altar,
on a splintered cross,
with a crown of thorns.
A slain Saviour in the darkened day,
on a lonely hill,
between two thieves.
A bloody gift to give the damned,
to remind that life
is a sip away.
The mystery of a prince's death,
turned to glorious life,
and a sacrifice,
and a meal of grace.
Bloody wine.
Fleshy bread.
Broken.
Poured.
I remember.
Yes, I remember.
You.
Prayer by Steven James
Upon you was laid the grief of us all.
It is finished.
God of endings,
God of darkness,
God of the tomb,
God of dark days and great loss,
be with us now as we wait with Jesus.
Prayer by Carole Penner
Prayer for Sunday April 13, 2025
adapted from Steven James
Image credit: "Going Into the Fog" by Artush
Stable-born King,
Carpenter Rabbi,
You invite me to follow you
Instead of my own agenda
I want to (most of the time)
Though I don’t know where the road leads.
So lead me. Shape my choices.
Keep me walking on the kingdom path,
Instead of the road toward myself.
O, Light Above the Darkness, Truth Above the Lies,
Ruler of the Galaxies, King Above the Skies,
Mystery of Ages, Wonder of the Tale,
Calm me in the tempest, Guide me through the gale.
Lover of the Wanderer, Prince of Those Who Stray,
I bow before your majesty, Rule in me today.
Prayer for Sunday April 6, 2025
by Steven James
Image credit: Jesus and Judas - The Betrayal
by Paolo Gaetano from Getty Images
Sculpture by Ignazio Jacometti (1854)
To the Christ.
What kind of love is this?
A love so pure and perfect
that it cannot help but die for its beloved.
A love so everlasting
that eternity is swallowed up in its wings.
A love so unfailing
that it remains faithful through a thousand betrayals.
A love so tender
that it washes away the tears of the world.
A love so powerful
that it breaks the teeth of death
and conquers all the powers of darkness.
You suffered and the world laughed;
you died and everyone went back to work.
you rose and now my moments matter at last.
Sunday Mar 30, 2025
Image credit: pamela_d_mcadams
Jesus' body,
broken for us.
His blood,
shed for us.
King of the Path,
Lamb of the Cross,
Sacrifice of Heaven,
Prince of Fools,
Wonder of the Stars,
Weaver of Eternity,
remind me how
wonderfully,
awkwardly,
frighteningly,
gloriously
I am made,
and how alive
and in love with you
I can actually be.
Prayer for Sunday Mar 16, 2025
For a New Home - John O'Donohue
Image credit: Rachel Claire from Pexels
May this house shelter your life
When you come in home here,
May all the weight of the world
Fall from your shoulders.
May your heart be tranquil here,
Blessed by peace the world cannot give.
May this home be a lucky place,
Where the graces your life desires
Always find the pathway to your door.
May nothing destructive
Ever cross your threshold.
May this be a safe place
Full of understanding and acceptance,
Where you can be as you are,
Without the need of any mask
Ot pretense or image.
May this home be a place of discovery,
Where the possibilities that sleep
In the clay of your soul can emerge
To deepen and refine your vision
For all that is yet to come to birth.
May it be a house of courage,
Where healing and growth are loved,
Where dignity and forgiveness prevail;
A home where patience of spirit is prized,
And the sight of the destination is never lost
Though the journey be difficult and slow.
May there be great delight around this hearth.
May it be a house of welcome
For the broken and diminished.
May you have the eyes to see
That no visitor arrives without a gift
And no guest leaves without a blessing.
O God, I want so to belong;
teach me to accept.
I want to be close;
teach me to reach out.
I want a place where I am welcome;
teach me to open my arms.
I want mercy;
teach me to forgive.
I want beauty;
teach me honesty.
I want peace;
show me the eye of the storm.
I want truth;
show me the way
to question my unquestionable convictions.
I want joy;
show me the way of deeper commitment.
I want life;
show me how to die.
Prayer for Sunday Mar 2, 2025
The Art of Enduring by Jan Richardson
Be a rock of refuge for me, a strong fortress to save me. —PSALM 31:2
Image credit: sezer66
This blessing can wait as long as you can.
Longer.
This blessing began eons ago
and knows the art of enduring.
This blessing has passed
through ages and generations,
witnessed the turning of centuries,
weathered the spiraling of history.
This blessing is in no rush.
This blessing will plant itself by your door.
This blessing will keep vigil and chant prayers.
This blessing will bring a friend for company.
This blessing will pack a lunch and a thermos of coffee.
This blessing will bide its sweet time
until it hears
the beginning of breath,
the stirring of limbs,
the stretching, reaching, rising
of what had lain dead within you
and is ready
to return.
Prayer for Sunday Feb 23, 2025
Image credit: sezer66
O Christ of the poor and the yearning,
Kindle in my heart a flame of love
For my neighbour
For my foe, for my friend,
For my kindred all.
From the humblest thing that lives
To the Name that is highest of all
Kindle in my heart a flame of love.
You are the love of each living creature O God,
You are the warmth of the rising sun
You are the whiteness of the moon at night
You are the life of the growing earth
You are the strength of the waves of the sea.
Speak to me this [day] O God
Speak to me your truth.
Dwell with me this [day] O God.
Dwell with me in Love.
J. Philip Newell
Prayer for Sunday Feb 16, 2025
Image credit: DAPA Images
Curiosity Prayer
Close your eyes and breathe deeply. Imagine breathing in the love of God that surrounds us. Recall a moment when you felt loved, a moment of awe, of belonging–to yourself, others, God, the Great Mystery. Go back in your imagination to that moment and reenter the scene. Breathe in that moment, letting the love and gratitude you experienced in that moment fill you once more. Let it remind you of your lovableness and your goodness. Open your eyes and consider these questions:
What are my names for God right now?
What is my name for myself right now?
What name might God have for me right now?
What do these names have to say about my experience of God?
See if one of these questions appeals to you and draws your attention, or if another comes to mind. Allow yourself to be with your question, bring your curiosity and imagination as you and God look at it together. Just be, noticing what you notice. Stay with this for a few moments.
Consider journeying with what you noticed throughout the weeks ahead.
Keep Me in Touch with My Dreams
O Lord, in the turbulence and the loneliness
of my living from day to day and night to night,
keep me in touch with my roots,
so I will remember where I came from and with whom;
keep me in touch with my feelings,
so I will be more aware of who I really am and what it costs;
keep me in touch with my mind
so I will know who I am not and what that means;
and keep me in touch with my dreams,
so I will grow toward where I want to go and for whom.
O Lord, deliver me from the arrogance of assuming
I know enough to judge others;
deliver me from the timidity of presuming
I don't know enough to help others;
Deliver me from the illusion of claiming
I have changed enough when I have only risked little,
that, so liberated, I will make some of the days to come different.
O Lord, I ask not to be delivered
from the tensions that wind me tight,
but I do ask for a sense of direction in which to move once wound,
a sense of humor about my disappointments,
a sense of respect for the elegant puzzlement of being human,
and a sense of gladness for your kingdom
which comes in spite of my fretful pulling and tugging.
O Lord, nurture in me the song of a lover,
the vision of a poet, the questions of a child,
the boldness of a prophet, the courage of a disciple.
O Lord, it is said you created people because you love stories.
Be with me as I live out my story.
Prayer for Sunday Jan 26, 2025 by St. Thérèse of Lisieux
Image credit: Alfo Medeiros from Pexels
O Jesus! When You were a Pilgrim on earth,
You said: “Learn of Me for I am gentle and humble of heart
and you will find rest for your souls.”
O Mighty Monarch of Heaven,
yes, my soul finds rest in seeing You,
clothed in the form and nature of a slave,
humbling Yourself to wash the feet of Your apostles.
I recall Your words that teach me how to practice humility:
“I have given you an example
so that you may do what I have done.
The disciple is not greater than the Master…
If you understand this, happy are you
if you put them into practice.”
Lord, I do understand these words
that came from Your gentle and humble heart
and I want to practice them with the help of Your grace.
But, You know my weakness, Lord.
Every morning I make a resolution
to practice humility and in the evening
I recognize that I have committed again many faults of pride.
O my God, I want to base my hope in You alone.
O Jesus, gentle and humble of heart,
make my heart like Yours!
Amen.
Prayer for Sunday Jan 19, 2025 by Steven James
Image credit: Alfo Medeiros from Pexels
O Light of the World,
a single word from your lips
can scatter the deepest darkness.
So say the word,
break through the stillness,
change my heart that I might seek you,
change my mind that I might know you,
change my eyes that I might find you,
change my ears that I might hear you,
change my life
that I might
actually,
finally,
truly,
fully,
Live.
The Lord's Prayer - Expanded for Sunday Jan 12, 2025 From the Prayer Liturgy App
Audio version of the prayer, led by Brad
LPE.mp31. God’s Presence
Creator God, your Presence with us is our ultimate desire and joy. You are Love and you put our desires onto our hearts. The desires of our hearts are good, when we use them to draw closer to you. I pray with gratitude for those desires.
What do you truly want / desire? What do you want for this day, this week, this year? Can we allow ourselves to be grateful for these desires? Can we use these desires to draw closer to God?
2. God’s Reign
In your Kingdom, there is no grief, pain, disease, death, violence, selfishness, or inequality. Your Kingdom is available here and now through the Power of Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit and I pray for faith enough to experience your Kingdom today.
Where do we need help seeing and experiencing God’s Kingdom at work?
Where might we sow comfort in a world of grief, pain, and disease?
Where might we sow peace in a world of death, violence, selfishness and inequality?
3. God’s Provision
Lord, we thank you for the gift of each day and for your promise to provide just what we need to make it through each day. We confess that we do not always depend on you for basic needs, but that we can look back on our lives and see that you have faithfully provided. We thank you for your past blessings and for giving me/my family ___________, for blessing our community with ____________, and our world with ____________.
4. God’s Forgiveness
Forgive us for coveting the possessions of others, for taking pride in the stuff you have given us, and for behaving as though we receive our daily needs through our own strength, effort, and performance. Strengthen us by your spirit to forgive people that have hurt us and people that are different than us in ways we find offensive. I pray specifically to forgive and be forgiven in connection with ____________.
5. God’s Guidance
God, we take comfort in the guidance of your Holy Spirit, the example of Jesus Christ, and the wisdom of the Holy Scriptures. We seek your guidance specifically in how to respond to the problems in our families with ____________, the challenges in our local community, specifically, ____________, and the problems in our wider world, such as ____________.
6. God’s Protection
Protect us from the temptations that make the passions on our hearts replacements for you, especially when we depend on our own possessions, talents, ambitions, appetites, and need for approval from those around us. Protect us from the lies that divide us.
What in your own heart do you need protection from? Are there desires, addictions, or appetites that threaten to overwhelm you? Do you have possessions or talents that draw you away from God towards self-reliance and pride?
Prayer for the New Year for Sunday Jan 5, 2025 by Karla Drader
Image credit: Paweł L. from Pexels
Emmanuel, God with us
we’ve waited for you to be born in us,
Now we welcome you
in our hearts, our homes
in our struggles and frustrations,
In our joys,
our hopes, our fears.
Be with our people and our plans,
Our calendars and our bank accounts,
Our resting, our working,
In all our beginnings
And all our endings.
May we trust your grace
Sharing the goodness we enjoy
And celebrating others’ good things,
Accepting what is and what is not.
Ground of our being,
Walk with us, grow in us.
Love through us.
Invite us forward
Into this new year and all it brings.
Reflection for the fourth Sunday of Advent,
Dec 22, 2024
Adapted from the Salt Project
Image credit: RomoloTavani from Getty Images
Advent means “coming.” It is a time of longing, watching, and praying for God’s healing, transformative presence to be ever more vibrantly present in the world...
It's a time when we pray: “Thy kingdom come.”
LOVE
People all over the world are suffering, and we’re often too distracted to notice, and too many of our conversations are laced with conflict and bitterness. In the face of suffering and enmity, we light the candle of love, alongside hope, peace and joy.
May the light from these candles strengthen our hearts as we seek to live the truth that peace is more enduring than war, hope is more powerful than despair, joy is more resilient than sadness, that love is stronger than hate. May the fire from these candles burn away whatever would prevent God’s love from being born among us. May the light from these candles illuminate the valley of the shadow of death and overwhelm the world.
God’s love is at hand. God’s love is overwhelming the world, on earth as it already is in heaven!
Blessing of the Magi - for the fourth Sunday of Advent, Dec 22, 2024 by Jan Richardson
Image credit: kb group
And having been warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they left for their own country by another road. MATT 2:12
There is no reversing this road.
The path that bore you here goes in one direction only,
every step drawing you down a way
by which you will not return.
You thought arrival was everything,
that your entire journey
ended with kneeling in the place you had spent all to find.
When you laid down your gift,
release came with such ease,
your treasure tumbling from your hands
in awe and benediction.
Now the knowledge of your leaving comes
like a stone laid over your heart,
the familiar path closed
and not even the solace of a star to guide your way.
You will set out in fear. You will set out in dream.
But you will set out by that other road
that lies in shadow and in dark.
We cannot show you what route will take you home;
that way is yours and will be found in the walking.
But we tell you, you will wonder
at how the light you thought you had left behind
goes with you,
spilling from your empty hands,
shimmering beneath your homeward feet,
illuminating the road with every step you take.
Reflection for the third Sunday of Advent,
Dec 15, 2024
Adapted from the Salt Project
Image credit: donald_gruener
Advent means “coming.” It is a time of longing, watching, and praying for God’s healing, transformative presence to be ever more vibrantly present in the world...
It's a time when we pray: “Thy kingdom come.”
JOY
In this world, there is much pain. All of us experience loss and grief. For some, this Christmas is the first without someone dear to them.
As followers of the Jesus path, may we watch and work, hope and love with the light of God's love, to share joy in the world.
May our hearts be strengthened as we seek to find the joy that can exist alongside sorrow. May we live the truth that peace is more enduring than war, hope is more powerful than despair, that love is stronger than hate.
In the face of sadness, grief, painful memories, and isolation, we light a candle of joy…
May we know that God’s joy is coming,
on earth as it already is in heaven.
God’s joy is at hand.
May this joy overwhelm the world.
Blessing for the third Sunday of Advent,
Dec 15, 2024 by Joyce Rupp
Image credit: dom1706 from pixabay
A blessing for us, who like the magi, are "seekers, who travel by faith, not knowing how long or how far we must go before we encounter Christ, the One Love of our hearts. Like the Wise Ones, we see the Star, lose sight of the Star, find the Star again. Like them, we do not give up our desire to discover the One Love who waits to guide our way."
May you listen to your soul-stirrings urging you to leave the home of your satisfactions, to risk new discoveries by traveling into the "land of don't know."
May you allow yourself to be guided by the Star of Grace, with the assurance of an abiding faith, as you seek the path of spiritual growth.
May you be willing to journey with vulnerability in the land of darkness and obscurity when the way fills with uncertainty.
May you have the gift of discerning what draws you forward, and what leads you away, in seeking the One Love.
May you find inspiration, courage, and hope through your kinship with others who also journey by faith on the road of life.
May you have openness of mind and heart so that you recognize the divine Star in those whose demeanor conceals this light-filled love.
May you daily bring the gift of your truest self and offer this to the Revealer of Love, who knows the bounty of your virtues.
May you be filled with gratitude each time you discover the One Love in some aspect of your life.
May the joy that the Wise Travelers expressed upon discovering the Christ Child also dance within your heart.
Reflection for the second Sunday of Advent,
Dec 8, 2024
Adapted from the Salt Project
Image credit: Andre Moura from Pexels
Advent means “coming.” It is a time of longing, watching, and praying for God’s healing, transformative presence to be ever more vibrantly present in the world...
It's a time when we pray: “Thy kingdom come.”
PEACE
There is war in our world, and still so much violence in our communities, still so much unrest in our hearts. Hatred is still so strong and so many swords have not yet been remade into ploughshares.
As followers of the Jesus path, may we watch and work, hope and love with the light of God's love, to dispel the shadows of shame cast by violence, suffering, sorrow, and contempt.
May we not be afraid as we seek to live out the truth that peace is more enduring than war, hope is more powerful than despair, that love is stronger than hate.
In the face of war, violence, unrest, and hatred,
we light a candle of peace.
May we know God’s peace is coming,
on earth as it already is in heaven.
God’s peace is at hand.
May this peace overwhelm the world.
Reflection for the first Sunday of Advent,
Dec 1, 2024
Adapted from the Salt Project
Image credit: bernswaelz from pixabay
Advent means “coming.” It is a time of longing, watching, and praying for God’s healing, transformative presence to be ever more vibrantly present in the world...
It's a time when we pray: “Thy kingdom come.”
HOPE
When we look around, we see shadows of hunger. So many neighbours, nearby and around the world, will go to bed hungry tonight…We see shadows of injustice... the rich getting richer and the poor getting poorer — and someone somewhere will fall asleep under a bridge tonight…
As followers of the Jesus path, may we not be afraid as we seek to live out the truth that love is stronger than hate, peace more enduring than war, hope more powerful than despair.
May we watch and work, hope and love with the light of God's love, to dispel the shadows of shame cast by violence, suffering, sorrow, and contempt.
In the face of hunger, injustice and despair, we light a candle of hope.
May we know God’s hope is coming, on earth as it already is in heaven. God’s hope is at hand. May this hope overwhelm the world.
Prayer for Sunday, Nov 24, 2024
In the Silence Name Me - Ted Loder
Photo Credit: herbert2512 from pixabay
Holy One,
Untamed by the names I give you,
In the silence
Name me,
That I may know
Who I am,
Hear the truth
You have put into me,
Trust the love
You have for me,
Which you call me to live out
[In the community of] your human family.
Prayer for Sunday, Nov 17, 2024
Loneliness (with a dash of Kate Bowler)
by Chris Woroch
Photo Credit: Suwinai Sukanant
Lonely people...Let us pray together.
Proactive God, we offer ourselves
and especially our loneliness to you,
the One who is always reaching out to us in love.
We confess that our loneliness
can cause us to withdraw, to cocoon,
and hinder the touch of others.
And while there may be many reasons and triggers
that move us into loneliness,
the creation account words ring true...
”It is not good for man (or anyone) to be alone”.
Thank you, God, for Karla’s words
of concern and insight on loneliness.
Help us to reflect on them, chew on them
and allow them to change us, by your Spirit.
Give us courage to honestly face and sit
with our loneliness.
Let the pain of our loneliness
motivate us to reach out to others.
And if we happen to be one of those “others”
who is being reached out to,
let us listen, let us care,
let us be Jesus to them.
Help us to grow through our loneliness,
to find beauty and thus,
to grow within and without.
God, open your heart to our hearts
and pour in your peace,
because
when all is said and done,
our loneliness does not have the final say.
For there is yet Another who has the final say,
from whom we receive
insight, clarity, steadiness, rest and hope.
And because of this we can go
with peace and go in peace.
Amen.
Prayer for Sunday, Nov 10, 2024
A Benedictine Prayer for Enemies
Photo Credit: Meinzahn from Getty Images
May you be happy. May you be free.
May you be loving. May you be loved.
May you know the fulfillment
of what God has planned for you.
May you experience God’s deep, profound love for you.
May you receive and grow
in the fullness of the graces Jesus has won for you.
May Jesus Christ be formed in you.
May you know the peace
that passes all understanding.
May all good things be yours.
May Jesus’s joy be in you,
and may that joy be complete.
May you know the Lord
in all His goodness and compassion.
May you be protected from the evil one
amid every temptation that comes your way.
May the Holy Spirit fill and permeate your entire being.
May you see His glory.
May you be forgiven of every sin.
I forgive you (or will try to forgive you)
of every wound and hurt with all my heart.
May God’s goodness and mercy
follow you all the days of your life.
Amen.
Blessed is the One
who comes to us
by the way of love
poured out with abandon.
Blessed is the One
who walks toward us
by the way of grace
that holds us fast.
Blessed is the One
who calls us to follow
in the way of blessing,
in the path of joy.
Loving God, through your goodness
we have this bread and wine to offer,
which earth has given
and human hands have made.
May we know your presence
in the sharing of this bread,
so that we may know your touch
in all bread, all matter.
We celebrate the life that Jesus has shared
among his community through the centuries,
and shares with us now.
Made one in Christ,
and one with each other,
we offer these gifts
and with them ourselves,
a single, holy, living sacrifice.
Amen.
God, I want my inside world to match my outside.
So I invite you in, turning my life over to you.
To my mind,
Bring order, truth, goodness.
To my heart,
Bring hope, courage, and true love.
To my soul,
I receive all you have for me.
Live and Love through me, God,
Through every aspect of my life.
Amen.
Blessing for Sunday, Oct 13, 2024
A People Full of Guilt & Accusations
Modified by Murray Baker from Walter Brueggemann’s “A People with Many Secrets”
Photo Credit: Pexels from pixabay
You are the God
from whom no secret is hid,
and we are a people,
often with so much hurt
anger and accusations
lacking willingness to forgive.
We know we need to tell
these truths about ourselves
but we dare not tell them
because they are deep and painful
and we know we will be rejected
- at least sometimes.
But you are the God of truth.
So we ask you to hear our truths
about which we will not bear false witness.
The truth of grief, unresolved.
The truth of pain, unacknowledged.
The truth of our fear - so child-like.
The truth that in our private thoughts
we accuse others.
The truth of our fear
of being taken advantage of,
of being used, manipulated, slandered,
so we are the first to lash out
with accusations,
The first to show others wrong and lost.
We judge proactively.
And...
We trust the great truth
of Your wondrous love
So, we now work
to reveal all these struggles
because in you there is no rejection.
As we confess the monstrous truths
we have brought to Your Church,
Be the God of All Truths, even ours.
We pray this in the name of Jesus
who lived among us and fully understands.
Amen
God bless us with wisdom
to respond well to what confronts us,
whether it be harsh or foolish words from others,
or our own emotions...
Shall we greet them as friends and invite them in?
Are they guides to follow without question?
Shall we see them as warning lights on the dashboard
or as trailheads indicating a path to take?
Maybe we should armour ourselves against them, as bitter enemies?
Show us God, what you see
And give us courage to face what must be faced
With grace, with love, with hope.
Blessing for Sunday, Sept 29, 2024
written by Chris Woroch
Photo by Delpixart
Thank you for this place where we can meet together,
a place to visit,
a place of friendship,
a place of refuge,
a place to listen and learn,
a place to give and a place to receive,
a place to grow in faith.
Having heard Brad’s words and the words of Scripture,
we pray for a realignment of mind and heart.
Save us from a faith that is ego-driven
with a desire to impress and enhance our self-image,
a faith from “the neck up”,
knowing all the right words, but void of love,
and steeped in our own biases and prejudices.
As we scuffle along the Jesus Path, activate our faith,
that every part of us may be alive and aware
unto a faith that is word and deed
driven from a Jesus-informed mind and heart.
And as we scuffle along,
thank you for your present tense
patience, love, grace, mercy and peace.
A new week has begun.
And as we step into this week we confess:
We…….Need…….You…..
Help us, we pray…
Amen
Blessing for Sunday, Sept 22, 2024
for when hope seems lost — Kate Bowler
Photo by Kasuma
"Weeping may endure for a night, but joy comes in the morning."
-Psalm 30:5, NKJV
Hope is only a half-remembered dream behind a closed door.
All is lost.
God, this reality is a current so strong
I feel certain, at least for now,
that it will sweep us all away.
Could you bless this honesty that feels like despair?
Can we whisper that, somehow, blessed are we,
with spirits starved for what is good?
Allow our eyes to see the small, sealed space
where pain has isolated us.
We cry: God, help me. I can't break out of this.
So please, break in.
Cut through the walls of this hard prison,
and flood it with the light of your presence.
Make prayer as natural as breathing
to release to you all that I know and think and feel,
and inhale deeply
some of your goodness and strength.
Blessed are we when we realize
that suddenly, already,
you never leave. You insisted on
breathing life and hope and truth
into my lungs,
filling everything,
until the pain dissolves
and I am free to move in faith again.
Blessed are we who have
a glimmer of certainty
that in that dark expanse,
and as sure as day follows night,
hope returns.
P.S. Take a deep breath.
Let a yawn come, and another.
See what new thing begins.
All by itself.
Ground Me in Your Grace - Ted Loder
Eternal One,
Silence
from whom my words come;
Questioner
from whom my questions arise;
Lover
of whom all my loves are hints;
Disturber
in whom alone I find my rest;
Mystery
in whose depths I find healing and myself;
enfold me now in your presence;
restore to me your peace;
renew me through your power;
and ground me in your grace.
Blessing the New Season - for Sunday, Sept 8, 2024
by Eliza Mills, inspired by Kate Bowler
photo by grapix
God of fresh starts and new beginnings,
We bring ourselves, our big feelings, our backpacks,
to you.
In our backpacks, we carry blank pages,
sharpened pencils, and pointy crayons,
In our hearts, we carry big feelings,
unanswered questions, and hopeful expectations.
God our Teacher,
who helps us to understand the world around us,
thank you for the privilege of education.
No matter our circumstances,
even if we aren’t going back to school,
September often feels like a fresh beginning.
Here at Nexus, it’s a new season, in a new location.
And there are endless possibilities
of what this new year might bring —
of what we might learn, who we might meet,
and who we might become.
God, our Friend who is always with us,
be with us through it all.
Be with us as we ride the bus.
Be with us as we walk.
Be with us as we buckle seat belts,
zip-up jackets, and tie shoes.
Be with us as we meet new people
and do new activities.
However we get there, and whatever we wear,
bless this journey into something new.
We celebrate the beginning of this school year
and hold in our hearts the children, the educators,
and the families who support them.
We celebrate all the new beginnings
of our community and of the individuals within it.
Thank you that you are with us.
For the grown-ups going back to school,
With-Us God, be with them too.
Thank you for our teachers, helpers,
caregivers, and leaders,
and for all they do to help us learn and grow.
God, our Full-of-Wonder Friend,
who came as a child to show us
how to be children of God,
You call us to listen to the Spirit speaking
through children - their words, actions,
play, and feelings.
You have given our children minds
that grow and develop in unique ways,
at unique speeds,
and we are astounded by that miracle.
Teach us to value the child in us and in others,
and to be open to the newness around us.
Loving God,
help us know the bedrock miracle of your presence
with us
in every single ordinary, sacred moment.
Lead us this year
into life-giving rhythms of grace and light,
where our regular routines
become the framework for worship and blessing.
Help us learn to see the God Glitter in the mirror.
Help us learn to see it in our classmates,
in our teachers,
in our neighbours and co-workers
and family members…
in all your children around the world.
Amen.
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