Prayer for Newtown and Sandy Hook Elementary Families

Then what was said by the prophet Jeremiah was fulfilled:

“A voice is heard in Ramah, weeping and great mourning,

Rachel weeping for her children and refusing to be comforted,

because they are no more.”

Matthew 2:16-18

Dear God!

The loss of our children is too great.  Our hearts lament with deep sadness, our minds cannot comprehend, and our lives have emptiness never imagined as we grieve with those whose loss is greater and much closer than our own.

There is no explanation that will bring us to understand or ease the pain of these lives lost, O God.  Whether power-hungry kings, wars and greed, violence on the streets of our cities, or one trapped in a mental illness that few might understand, the resulting loss of life of innocent children will never make sense in any sense.

Give to those parents, siblings, families, teachers, responders and all of the Newtown Community, O Loving Father, a peace that passes understanding. Cause them to know in the midst of pain and loss that “God is with us”  in the midst of great tragedy and loss. Give peace, comfort and divine care through shock, through preparations, through funerals, through many long days, months and years ahead.

Bring to us, O Loving Jesus, a love to share and a compassionate care for all those with pain, with questions, with doubts, with grief and with numbness. May the sharing of love, expressed in tangible ways bring strength, support, and help to all in need.

Bring the comfort that we cannot bring, O Holy Spirit, O Comforter; for even in our best attempts, we are overcome ourselves, we say the wrong thing at the wrong time, and we are not perfect in our love for those around us.  Guide us O Holy Spirit, to love and comfort in the midst of things we do not understand and cannot control.

Lord, hear our prayers, our groans, our laments, our cries, our silence. Love us and heal our torn-up hearts. Save us, O Savior, who came to live in this world and redeem all that is evil, violent, lost and broken…

 

A Christmas Prayer – Luke 2:8-14

And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has be born to you; he is Christ the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find him wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.”

Suddenly a great company of the heavenly hosts appeared with the angel, praising God and saying, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to all whom God favors.”  – Luke 2:8-14

May Your glory shine upon us O God.

Calm us and take away all our fears.

        Incline our ears, our hearts and our minds to hear the good news which brings great joy to all; the news of   Christ the Savior.

            May we, together with family and friends and all of your people, join with the angels in praising You.

                May our lives bring glory to You O God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, and bring peace to all we meet.

                     Amen.

 

Psalm 103

Praise the Lord, O my soul; all my inmost being, praise his holy name.

Praise the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits.

We lift our hearts, our minds, our voices, and our lives to you, O God, our Father and our Savior.  We praise      you from our inmost being. And as we are gathered to worship you, we do not forget all your benefits.

You, O God, forgive all our sins. And we need forgiveness.

You, O God, heal all our diseases.  And we need your healing.

You, O God, redeem our lives from the pit and you crown us with love and compassion. And this we need.

You, O God, satisfy our desires with good things, so that we are renewed over and over. And yes,                  Lord, we need to be renewed.

We give thanks to You, for you have made known your ways to us and have shown us in Christ how to live a holy and good life.

We give thanks to You, for you are compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love.

We give thanks to You, for you do not treat us as our sins deserve or repay us according the wrongs we have done.  For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is you love for all who fear you.  And as far as the east is from the west, so far have you removed our great sin from us.

As a father has compassion on his children, so You, o Lord, have compassion upon us.  You know how we are made, and remember that we are dust, that our days are limited and that all of us will face death.  But, You O Lord, are eternal, and your love is from everlasting to everlasting.  And your goodness is with our children’s children.

Because of you great love and your many mercies, we trust in you God.  Hear our prayers today for:

• family members and marriages
• friends and loved ones
• the poor and those in need
• Christian witness throughout the world
• the needs of the world

Therefore we join all the angels and heavenly hosts and all your servants everywhere, with all that you have made to praise and worship you this day.  Praise the Lord, O my soul.  Hear us O Lord, we praise you!   Amen.

 

“Can’t this life of faith just be easier?”

Lord, why do you seem so far from me?  Have I moved from you?

I am tired Lord:  tired of striving, tired of thinking, tired of analyzing, tired of fighting within. Can’t this life of faith just be easier; not so much to think about, feel about, wonder about all the time?

I serve You, but I question whether I serve or if it is You I serve at all. I love You,  yet I question whether it is You I love or if I love at all.  I praise You, but I question my motives. It seems as if I am never free to just live in freedom from some deeper thinking or questioning. Sometimes I feel like a mad man!  Does any one else feel it too.

O God, hear my prayer; draw near to me, encourage me, deliver me from sin, bring me a deep satisfaction and joy in knowing You. Let me bask in Your love and learn of the delights of living in Your Loving Presence every moment. Let me live as a loving person because I live continually in Your Loving Presence.

Amen.

 

“A Prayer for Renewal” – Psalm 51:10

“Create in me a clean heart O God, and renew a right spirit within me.”

Create in me a clean mind, O God,

For my mind is filled with thoughts, evil thoughts, thoughts of lust, thoughts of plans to make and possessions to have.  Thoughts of pleasure. Self-centered thoughts.  Anxious thoughts. At times, wicked thoughts. Not “You” thoughts. “Your ways are higher than ours, Your thoughts are higher; yes much higher.”

So, create in me a clean mind O God, and renew a right spirit with me.

Create in me clean ears O God,

For I love to hear what I should not hear: Praises to affirm my worth, gossip to control others, sound that is noise to crowd You out.

Create in me clear ears, to hear Your voice alone.

Create in me clean eyes O God,

For I love to see that which inspires the mind to sin; to see riches, sexy bodies, the faults of others and much more. Grant that I may see this world with eyes of faith, not eyes of sin; eyes that see hurts and needs of fellow ones on the journey, eyes to see Your beauty, eyes to see good, eyes to see aright.

Create in me clean eyes; loving eyes, redeemed eyes, eyes to see You.

Create in me a clean mouth, O God

For I am full of words; lofty words, prideful words, hurtful words, venomous words. Words that shoot to injure and to kill, words that aim to hurt, words that are meant to make me look good and others look bad.  Words, unholy words!  Teach me to be “slow to speak and quick to listen.”

Create in me a clean mouth, O God.

Create in me clean hands and feet O God,

For my hands and feet are often occupied serving me, my interests and my concerns. O God, give grace that these hands and feet would be cleansed of unrighteousness and used only as instruments of Your grace.

Create in me clean hands and feet O God.

CREATE – because there is a need beyond that which exists in me, because I can not stir it up from within.  You alone can create it.

     IN ME – because “I” am in need, not only “the others.”

          CLEAN – because of sin, filth and dirt encountered in this life and this world; because I live “among a       people of unclean lips.”

               HEART – because it is only at the heart where I can be transformed.

                     GOD – because You alone can create and Your alone can clean, and You alone can transform my heart.

“Create in me a clean heart O God, and renew a right spirit within me.”

 

An Advent Prayer

Keep us awake gracious God, to your saving work in the world, that we might join you in it.