leadinginworship

Congregational Prayer for the Little Things

God of grace,
thank you for the little things.
For the gift of this one little day in the great span of time.
For the little beauties;
the sunlight on blankets in the morning,
the fragrance of coffee,
the smile of someone who cares for us,
the texture of the day unfolding as it should.
Thank you for the gift of normal days,
peaceful, pleasant, ordinary.
Open our eyes to the little blessings we so often take for granted.
Thank you for sending a Saviour 
who knew the pleasures of everyday life,
who grew up in a family,
and saw the sky every day just like we do.
Help us learn from the little things he did:
stopping to talk to children,
even when he was being hurried to more important things.
Jesus noticing the woman giving two pennies to God,
or making a barbecue on the beach for his friends.
Presentness, thankfulness, hospitality:
we need these in our lives, in our community.
Thank you for this community,
the simple act of coming together to praise you,
the little offerings we give,
the small ways we try to show we care.
We do care, and we want to care more.
We want a love as deep and rich as someone who died for our sins:
Jesus, you were true to us even in the face of cruelty,
even to your last breath.
Fill us with that spirit of love so much
that it comes out of us in a thousand little ways this week.
Returning kind words for harsh words.
Giving freely when we see a need.
Forgiving easily and daily, and not holding grudges.
There are big needs and big problems in the world,
we trust that you will take our offerings,
our little actions for peace,
and multiply them the way only you can.
We trust in you, together, as your people,
and so we pray together, the prayer you taught us to pray: 

[The Lord's Prayer]

Maternal God Prayer

Maternal God
you conceive us
give birth to us
nurse us
smile at us every day
protect us
feed us
give us words to say
show us how to walk
cheer for us in our successes
wipe our tears when we fail
encourage us
dream big for us
and love us for who we are.

Thank you that you
do not give up on us
when we
don’t call home
forget to visit
disappoint you
neglect what you’ve done for us
and think we did it by ourselves.
 
Open our eyes
to see those
who need the embrace
of your mothering love
who need
someone to be their champion,
someone to always give
the cup of cold water
and a second mile.
Help us this week
to take your love to heart
and embody it
like Jesus
deeply and tenderly.
Amen

Candle of Peace Fourth Advent Prayer

Hear our prayer for peace this morning;
the peace of the earth, felt bodily,
our feet on this good ground,
our eyes towards the stars;
the peace of fellowship, around us now,
Christians joining here to worship
and to praise the God who made us;
the peace of the ages, because we know
we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses,
who rest in your presence;
the peace of harmony and love,
people working together to care and to comfort,
making sure that no one is forgotten.
There is so much peace to celebrate,
gifts from your hand.
Hear our prayer for places where we still need peace:
for all who are in pain, or facing sickness, especially ______
for the newly bereaved, who are trying to go on alone,
for the places in our world where violence reigns,
we think especially of Syria, and Gaza,
and for the homegrown violence in our own communities
where people are hurt by those they love.
We want peace to grow,
we want to be your ambassadors for peace.
Show us this week how we can make a difference,
through our presence, through our resources, through our prayers.
The angels came with a message of peace on earth so long ago;
that message still echoes, it still calls our name.
We want love on our lips as we go this week,
looking to see you in the faces of all we meet.  Amen

A prayer for muddlers

Hear our prayer for muddlers everywhere.
People with good intentions doing the wrong thing, diligently.
Seekers heading in the wrong direction, energetically.
Helpers choosing the wrong methods, heartily.
Do-gooders rushing in to make a difference,
not realizing that the difference they are making
is not in a positive direction.
It’s so easy to see this in others;
give us insight into our own missteps,
our own misguided blunderings.
We aren’t setting out to do harm,
and we truly want to help,
help our unhelpfulness.
Give us ears to hear the voices of victims,
as we ask them what they need, what they want.
Take our pride and desire for recognition,
and replace it with humility and compassion.
We want to be your servants,
walking faithfully in your footsteps,
day by day, day in and day out.

Constant Calling Congregational Prayer

Great God:
Thank you for the constant call we hear from you every day.
The wind whispering around our ears,
the birds singing to us from the trees,
rain pinging on the window,
the good earth inviting our steps.
We hear that call again and again,
through kind hands and warm hearts around us.
Open our ears to your call, 
which is as expansive as the world,
and as particular as a poor man walking a dusty road
to a cross on Calvary.
Like him, help us to love, not just in word, but in deed:
love for our neighbours who are hard to love,
love for newcomers in our community,
love for people who are cast out by others.
Forgive us for the times we have failed to share your love,
choosing to hoard what is freely given, 
fearful that we have limited resources, limited time...we're too tired.
Thank you that even then, your consoling voice calls us.
Help us to respond with cheerful hearts as we do your work.
Strengthen those among us who face heavy burdens,
who live with pain; physical, emotional, spiritual.
Holy Spirit, bind us together as a community
to sing your chorus of love faithfully, heartily.
Multiply your call in us and through us.
In the name of Jesus we pray, Amen.

Empowered Benediction

Go into your week
knowing you are
loved perfectly,
saved eternally,
and empowered
as a disciple of Jesus
to share God’s love
with everyone you meet.

Prayer for Those Addicted to Drugs

Lord, we are praying for those we love
whose lives are chained by the power of drugs.
They have sacrificed everything to this cruel master :
work, home, relationships, honesty,
even love seems barely to matter.
And still more is demanded of them:
we fear it will take their very life.
We need a miracle
because we’ve done everything we can think of.
Where there is recklessness, bring caution,
where there is compulsion, bring freedom,
where there is desperation, bring hope,
where death looms,
we need your power to save.
You broke the power of the grave,
you can rescue this dear one.
Thank you that your gaze is on us continually,
even those lost in the maze of addiction
are dear to you, you call them by name.
Nothing can stop your love.
Give us strength to walk this journey faithfully.
You walk with us, 
the journey is long.

End of the Year Prayer

We’re still here, God,
another year come and gone 
like a freight train.
Some parts are clear and memorable,
and there are blurry parts that went by too fast.
Thank you for every hug and handshake,
every smile and look of reassurance.
At the end of the year, we sit across the table,
and say “Here we are," like a benediction.
Our feet are on the ground, this good earth,
thank you for the way we are paying more attention.
Touching, tasting, drinking in the beauty,
inhaling the melodies on the wind that sing the world.
And yet, if we are honest,
there are too many broken hearts here on planet earth,
too many too broke, too hungry, too beaten, too forsaken.
Who knew the garden of Gethsemene could be this big?
Our knees aren’t made for this kind of praying,
and we’re not good at it either.
This year has found us torn between life as normal,
with all its dear particularities,
and life in a heap at the edge of the road, torn and bloody.
God of Hope, where is your relief?
Thank you for a Saviour who can say #MeToo,
and who lives to tell us the way through.
Hear our prayer for the year ahead,
help us believe in rainbows, sun after the bleakest storms.
Help us believe, against all odds, in love.
This time next year we want to be telling you
about another trip around the sun.
And its been glorious.

Advent Angel Prayer

God, the message of the angels of Bethlehem was true.
Good news of great joy came with Jesus’ birth,
with his life, with his sacrifice for us,
and with his glorious resurrection, also announced by angels.
We wait so hopefully for great joy.
Open our eyes to the angels who walk among us,
caring for the sick, comforting the brokenhearted,
standing up for those whose voices are silenced,
doing the hard and holy work of bringing your peace on earth.
Thank you that you have never stopped sending angels.
Help us to be angels, heralds of love,
believing in your power to bring down the mighty,
believing that truth will triumph over lies,
and that hated will never have the last word.
Help us this week to resist the power of lies,
the ones we tell ourselves, 
and especially the ones we tell our loved ones.
Lying is so easy and simple to do, and so devastating.
We pray especially today for the peace of Jerusalem.
A holy city for so many, it is torn by tension,
and just as when Jesus was born,
giant empires dictate its rise and fall.
Raise up peacemakers who can speak truth to power,
and unmask violence of every type.
Thank you for the way you are entering into our world
every day, being born again in the humblest of places,
wherever love shines.
Come, Lord Jesus. 

Family Prayer

Loving God, thank you for our families.
Thank you for the people who light up our lives,
whose tender presence is dear beyond all words,
people who have enriched our lives beyond all measure.
Give us love for our families,
accepting them as they are,
encouraging them to be all they can be,
appreciating them as we want to be appreciated.
Sometimes the people we love the most
can be the people with whom we have the most conflict,
help us persevere in our love.
You know our relationships inside out,
you know that we have people in our family we love,
but there are also people in our family we only tolerate,
and people in our family we can hardly stand.
Give us patience with our families this week.
When we would keep track of hurtful words,
call to mind the thoughtless words we have spoken.
When we would count the ways we have been neglected,
teach us to remember that we too overlook others.
Jesus, you walked a fine line of love with your own family;
help us know when to stay, and when to walk away,
when to hope, and when to draw a line.
Help us to live in peace while still respecting ourselves;
to refuse to abuse, and not to let others abuse us either.
Be our familiar guide in all we do and say this week. Amen.

Prayer for the Future

All-seeing God,
hear my prayer for the future that I will not see.
For all the children of my children's grandchildren,
and all the others born when this century
is a long ago memory.
Let their feet touch this good earth,
let it still be good, growing green as it always grows.
Let their hands be reaching to connect,
not grasping, not fighting.
I want to pray that we would be beyond all that,
but I think that's asking for too much.
Instead, I pray for what we have survived.
The upheavals I cannot imagine or name,
the suffering that is beyond speaking.
I pray that we could still be good,
still loving in the face of hatred,
still hoping in the face of despair,
I pray that we would be skilled at beginning again
even when it seems like the end of everything.
For you are with us.
Time can't stop you from loving us.
Your everpresent ear takes this tiny message,
and transports it forward through the years.
My dear future friends:
Believe. Love. Cherish.
Look up at the distant stars 
and say prayers for the future.
We pray together, you and I,
that hope will arrive in time.

Breath of Spring Congregational Prayer

We listen this morning to the sound of our own breath,
and the breathing of those around us. [pause for 30 seconds]
Thank you God for breath,
for life flowing in and out of each of us.
It is wonderful to be alive—thank you for life!
Thank you for the sweet scent of the breath of spring;
for blossoms--apricot, cherry, peach,
for daffodils and sweet hyacinths,
for the good earth, turned over and ready for seed,
for the strong sun and its power.
Thank you that you are a God who hears our breath.
You hear our slow steady breaths as we’ve slept,
the panting of children as they run and play,
the deep breaths of hard work and manual labour,
our slow sighs when we are weary or filled with grief.
You hear our first little baby breath,
you are the one who hears and knows our final breath.
Your Spirit moves over the earth, enlivening us all.
Help us to exhale hatred, and inhale your love
Help us to exhale greed, and inhale your generosity.
Help us to exhale despair, and inhale your hope.
Breathe life into peacemakers,
in the conflicts in our own town and country,
where class and race and ideology divide us.
Breathe life into peacemakers in ___________
where war has ruled so long.
Breathe inspiration into our government leaders and diplomats,
helping them work for peaceful solutions.
Forgive us when we are not outraged by war and violence,
and instead are numb to every new story of destruction.
On this most beautiful of days,
with your Spirit blowing over this land,
thank you for giving us this chance
to be part of your breathtaking work,
humble servants in the service of Jesus Christ our Lord, Amen

Delightful benediction

My brothers and sisters,
this service has come to an end.
Go into your week, serving your Saviour with love,
delighting in the life God has given you.
God be with you till we meet again.

Social Fabric Prayer

The transgender man beaten,
and the woman harassed on the bus.
The disabled student not accommodated,
and the bomb threat at the Jewish child-care centre.
Racial profiling at the border
and another refugee told to go home.
A million tiny teeth
ripping at the webs that connect us,
fissures fracturing the social fabric.
Reading the news my heart feels tattered,
and all that’s good seems lost
and left behind.

Can we defend, say, “Not here!" to hatred,
hold firm to every last strand of civility?
We are not over and done with.
Threads of mercy shuttle between us
and even when we feel like running,
we are being woven, a work in progress.
For every breaking thread,
a new wisp, strong as spider web.

On a night like this,
when darkness looms
and every light seems small,
I stitch a prayer into the night sky.
God of all graces, rip every seam
I’ve sown in hatred.
I want to be stranded in love,
reaching out to touch,
in this material world,
the hem of your garment. 

A New Year prayer of thanks

For every closed mind

that has creaked open just a crack;

For every call to arms

that was not heeded;

For every homemade bomb

that was not left in the shopping mall;

For every generous gift

that made the difference between life and death;

For every time past mistakes

have given us pause;

For every estranged family member

who took a deep breath and went home;

For every sudden decision

to say the encouraging word after all;

For every small action taken

to heal our harms to Mother Earth;

For every time someone actually went back

and said thank you thank you

to one who made a difference in their life;

these things rest on our mind at the end of the year.

God of every blessing, for your protection

and all the good of this past year,

accept our heartfelt and humble thanks,

scraps falling from the feast of love.

A prayer for when I am self-destructive

Lord, I am an instrument of your peace.

Where there is self-hatred, let me sow love;

where there is negative self-talk, kindness;

where there is loathing of my body, acceptance;

where there is nursing of old injuries, release;

where there is envy of others, gratefulness;

where there is perfectionism, humanness.

 

O Divine Mother, grant that I may not so much seek

to be self-hurting, as self-healing;

to be self-denying, as self-cherishing,

to be numb, as to feel.

For it is in being loved by you, that I know I am lovable;

through your confidence in me, I confidently face each day,

it is in being yours now and eternally, that I live in peace.

 

Your language of love

Words dance into space
bouncing off satellites:
my voice rocketing
through the stratosphere here
ricocheting into your ear there.
Your thumbs type text
and even as you press send,
I receive your message.
Across the miles
the image of your presence
hovers on my screen,
our voices intertwining on this internet.
My grandparents were as proud
of their telegraph, reliable mail service,
and the wonder of the telephone.

And for all this, Lord,
are we better connected?
Has all this technology
enabled us to live more peacefully,
more in tune with one another?
Have all our inventions
increased our capacity for compassion
or changed the desires of our hearts?
As our means of communication
increase in clarity and capacity
and speed and sophistication,
touch our hearts.
May our longing to reach one another
be matched by our yearning
to learn your language of love.

Loving Call to Worship

Our Call to Worship is from John 13:34-35, the words of Jesus:
“I give you a new commandment, that you love one another.
Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another. 
By this everyone will know that you are my disciples,
if you have love for one another.”
Let’s pray:
Loving God,
we come to worship today because we love you,
and we want to love you more.
We come to worship needing love in our lives:
love for family, friends, strangers, enemies.
In this hour of worship,
touch our hearts,
fill our hearts,
open our hearts
to your love which passes all understanding. Amen.

 

Mercy and Love Responsive Prayer

Lord, you give us choices each and every day.
This week we have seen your path,
and turned away from it.
We have seen our brother or sister in need
and we did not turn to help.
Lord, have mercy.
We have said cruel or unkind words,
or refrained from saying helpful words
when they were needed.
Lord, have mercy.
We have been critical of those
who failed to offer us a helping hand,
while ignoring our own apathy towards others.
Lord, have mercy.
We have used our resources, gifts from you,
to help only ourselves.
Lord, have mercy.
We give you thanks that in spite of ourselves
you show your love to us in many ways
each and every day.
Lord, your love sustains us.
We give you thanks for life and breath today,
for health and food to eat,
and a beautiful world to live in.
Lord, your love sustains us.
We give you thanks for the many people in our lives
who love us, who care for us,
whose presence brings us joy.
Lord, your love sustains us.
We give you thanks for this community of faith,
faithful in every season, singing your praises,
encouraging us to give our utmost to our Saviour.
Lord, your love sustains us.
We give you thanks for sending your son Jesus Christ
through whose death we receive pardon,
through whose resurrection we have hope.
God of grace, everything we are belongs to you,
be with us this week as we go from this place.
Lord, your love sustains us and gives us peace.

 

Golden

The gold band stays the same,
a bit warped maybe,
the edges worn down,
some scratches.
Still hugging my ring finger
since the day
you put it there
round about an age ago.
Like your love,
still surrounding me
these many years,
still holding me
still cherishing me
still honouring me.
Thank you for being
a man of your word,
steady through all these seasons.
A partner is hard to describe,
our roots entwined so tight;
so many comings and goings
but always there’s a home
when you walk in the room.
Your voice, your laugh,
your walk are still a magnet
drawing my eyes in any crowd.
You are a good companion;
thoughtful, intelligent, funny
(you laugh at almost all my jokes).
You’ve worked hard to support us.
We’ve held our babies, raised them,
and reveled together
as we’ve watched them launch.
Sick or healthy,
through every up and down,
from east to west,
you’ve been my faithful friend.
So much behind us,
(we are rich in the Memory Bank)
who knows what’s before us.
I hope that God will gift us
with many more anniversaries
which we will ring in
with deep smiles and thankfulness
for a family, our family,
a happy golden life together.