Gracious God, all around me people are suffering. When I turn away from my own problems, I feel sorrow for the problems of others. Through the news, the media, and my conversations, I am daily confronted with the pain and suffering of so many innocent people in my life and in the world.

Suffering seems to eagerly eat at the edges of life until people are worn down with sadness and despair. Even though I do not understand the reasons for suffering, I believe that you are a God of love, a God of compassion. I pray that you will be with all those this day that are in pain, who suffer silently and alone, who feel abandoned and left by the side of life’s road. Wrap your arms of grace around them, until they know they are safely held in your embrace. And, I pray, that you will fill my heart with the same compassion, and give me eyes to see how I can lovingly be a part of their healing. I ask this for the sake of your great love. Amen.

[Source: ExploreFaith.org]

Related posts:

1. Prayer for the Week: Thanksgiving
2. Prayer for the Week: Winter Prayer
3. Prayer for the Week: Bless the Children

Gracious God, in the vulnerability of a child, we recognize our own fragility. In their tender innocence, we are reminded that life is meant to be lived with curious and joyful abandon. Help us, who are no longer children, to retain the freshness of childhood and to be the protectors and mentors of those whose lives are just beginning. May we see in their eyes the clear window of heaven. Guide us in the ways to keep all children safe and in your great love, O Lord, hold them in your peaceful embrace so they are not overcome by loneliness, fear, or danger. We ask this for the sake of your love. Amen.

[Source:  ExploreFaith.org]

Related posts:

1. Prayer for the Week: Thanksgiving
2. Prayer for the Week: Suffering
3. Prayer for the Week: Winter Prayer

Gracious God, the leaves have fallen, the air has become cold, and bare trees now seem to open the sky. Remind me that this is a time to slow down in order to be attentive to the stark stillness winter brings. Help me breathe deeply the frigid air and know myself to be held in the warmth of your love. When the sun is high, let me look up and be bathed in your gift of winter’s gold. When the moon lights up the night, let me look up and drink in your gift of snowy calm. I ask this for the sake of your love. Amen.

[Source:  ExploreFaith.org]

Related posts:

1. Prayer for the Week: Suffering
2. Prayer for the Week: Thanksgiving
3. Prayer for the Week: Bless the Children

Gracious God, these days of special remembrance can so easily pass without my being attentive to the reasons behind them. Open my eyes and heart to the many graces and blessings that blanket my life with joy. Help my soul awaken with the gratitude that will make me attentive and expectant for the imprint of your hand in my world. I ask this for the sake of your love.  Amen.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

[Source: ExploreFaith.org]

Related posts:

1. Prayer for the Week: Computer Time
2. Prayer for the Week: Winter Prayer
3. Prayer for the Week: Suffering

For all my cyber-savvy(!) friends and readers, who’ll spend much of your week behind a computer screen …

Gracious God, even in the wondrous tangle of wires and connections, you make yourself known. May my computer be more than a machine of information and become an altar on which I am able to offer my thanks for the abundance of gifts in this richly textured world. As I scan through images, as I learn and explore, as I create and produce, bring my soul to the awareness that I am not alone in this vast world of human energy. Fill me with that energy and give me a heart of gratitude. Amen.

[Source: ExploreFaith.org]

Related posts:

1. Prayer for the Week: Thanksgiving
2. Prayer for the Week: Suffering
3. Prayer for the Week: Winter Prayer

I thought this prayer, from The Book of Common Prayer, was an appropriate one for this coming week:

Grant, O God, that your holy and life-giving Spirit may so move every human heart (and especially the hearts of the people of this land), that barriers which divide us may crumble, suspicions disappear, and hatreds cease; that our divisions being healed, we may live in justice and peace; through Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen.

Related posts:

1. Prayer for the Week: Bless the Children
2. A Parent’s Prayer
3. Prayer for the Week: Winter Prayer

For all of you who have children, or who care for children, the The Book of Common Prayer offers this prayer.  It has become something I pray for my four children regularly.

God our Father, you see your children growing up in an unsteady and confusing world.  Show them that your ways give more life than the ways of the world, and that following you is better than chasing after selfish goals. Help them to take failure, not as a measure of their worth, but as a chance for a new start. Give them strength to hold their faith in you, and to keep alive their joy in your creation; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

The most poignant part for me right now is the part about how they take failure.  This is my earnest prayer for one of my boys during this season of life.

Related posts:

1. Prayer for the Week: Bless the Children
2. Prayer for the Week: Computer Time
3. Prayer for the Week: Suffering

These thoughts are offered as a follow-up to a message I gave on April 26th at The Bridge Community. This post is intended primarily for those who were in worship Sunday, although I hope everyone will benefit from these thoughts on meditative, or contemplative, prayer.

On Sunday, I began what will hopefully be a community-wide experience of meditative prayer. I don’t mean meditation in the popular sense of getting in touch with your inner self or relaxation or stress relief. Meditation in the Christian tradition is about getting in touch with Another — we seek to to know a God who is wholly and completely “other.”

First, a review of Sunday’s main ideas:

• Meditative, or contemplative prayer, requires time.
• It trains us to have a more quiet mind.
• In prayer, we come just as we are, yet we expect to be changed.
• Meditation corrects our vision.
• The appropriate posture is one of helplessness.

And now, some practical suggestions for how to integrate this practice in our lives. Much of this is drawn from the writings of Ignatius of Loyola and the Jesuit tradition of prayer which he founded. You can read more about Ignatius here.

An excellent, web-based guide for meditative prayer, perfect for use at work or home, can be found here.

A good start for daily, meditative prayer is an “examination of consciousness.”  Psalm 139 says, “Search me, O God, and know my heart.”  This prayer is an intentional application of that desire. It can be made anywhere: in a car, at home, in the library. Many people pray in this way twice daily: once around lunchtime and again before going to bed.

There are five simple steps, which should take 10-15 minutes to complete, and what follows is just one interpretation of these five steps in discerning the movement of God’s Spirit in your day. Through this method of praying you can grow in your knowledge of God and sensitivity to his presence in your life.

Before you start: Try to be in a place where you are least likely to be disturbed, and where there is the least amount of external noise. Perhaps you might light a candle or change the lighting when you pray to mark the start of this activity. Sit comfortably and still yourself; relax, be aware of your breathing, your body and how you are feeling.

1. Recall that you are in the presence of God. No matter where you are, hilltop or valley, country or city, in a crowd or alone, you are a creature in the midst of creation. As you quiet yourself, become aware that God is present within you, in the creation that surrounds you, in your body, in those around you.  The Creator who brought you into being is concerned for you. The Spirit of God, sent by Christ, will remind you that you are gifted to help bring creation to its fullness. Ask the Holy Spirit to let you look on all you see with love. “Love is patient, love is kind, love is not jealous or boastful, it is not arrogant or rude. Love does not insist on its own way; … it does not rejoice at wrong but rejoices in the right … Love hopes all things.” (1 Cor 13)
2. Spend a moment looking over your day with gratitude for this day’s gifts. Be specific and honest and let special moments or pleasures spring to mind! Recall the smell of your morning coffee, the taste of something good you ate, the laugh of a child, the fragrance of a flower, the smile brought forth by a kind word, a lesson that you learned. Take stock of what you received and what you gave. Give thanks to God for favors received.  Also look at your permanent gifts that allow your participation in this day. Recall your particular strengths in times of difficulty, your ability to hope in times of weakness, your sense of humor and your life of faith, your intelligence and health, your family and friends. God the Father gives you these to draw you into the fullness of life. As you move through the details of your day, give thanks to God for His presence in the big and the small things of your life.
3. Ask God to send you His Holy Spirit to help you look at your actions and attitudes and motives with honesty and patience. “When the Spirit of truth comes he will guide you into all truth.” (John 16:13) The Holy Spirit inspires you to see with growing freedom the development of your life story. The Spirit gives a freedom to look upon yourself without condemnation and without complacency and thus be open to growth. Ask that you will learn and grow as you reflect, thus deepening your knowledge of God and yourself.
4. Now review your day. This is the longest of the steps. Recall the events of your day; explore the context of your actions. Search for the internal movements of your heart and your interaction with what was before you. Ask what you were involved in and who you were with, and review your hopes and fears.  Many situations will show that your heart was divided—wavering between helping and disregarding, scoffing and encouraging, listening and ignoring, rebuking and forgiving, speaking and silence, neglecting and thanking. Remember, this is not a time to dwell on your shortcomings; rather, it is a gentle look with the Lord at how you have responded to God’s gifts.  Notice where you acted freely—picking a particular course of action from the possibilities you saw. See where you were swept along without freedom. What reactions helped or hindered you? See where Christ entered your decisions and where you might have paused to receive His influence. “Test yourselves,” St. Paul urges, “to see whether you are living in faith; examine yourselves. Perhaps you yourselves do not realize that Christ Jesus is in you.” (2 Cor 10)  His influence comes through His people, the Body of Christ. His influence comes through Scripture, the Word of God. Now, as you pray, Christ’s spirit will help you know His presence and concern. As you daily and prayerfully explore your actions you will grow more familiar with your own spirit and become more aware of the promptings of God’s Spirit within you. Allow God to speak, challenge, encourage and teach you. Thus you will come to know that Christ is with you. Christ will continually invite you to love your neighbor as yourself and strengthen you to do this.
5. The final step is our heart-to-heart talk with Jesus. Here you speak with Jesus about your day. You share your thoughts on your actions, attitudes, feelings and interactions. Perhaps during this time you may feel led to seek forgiveness, ask for direction, share a concern, express gratitude, etc.  Having reviewed this day of your life, look upon yourself with thoughtful, sober judgment and see your need for God and try to realize God’s expressions of compassion for you. Feel sorrow for sin, the obscuring darkness that surrounds us all, and repent from the actions that resisted God’s light today. Give thanks for grace, the enlightening presence of God, and especially praise God for the times you responded in ways that allowed you to better see God’s life. Resolve with Jesus to move forward in action where appropriate. You might like to finish your time with the Lords Prayer.

Once you’ve prayed like this a few times, you will find your own rhythm and method. Cover all five points daily with freedom to dwell more on one than another, as the Spirit moves you. You might also like to add some music, candles or images to help you pray.

I’d love to hear from you as you begin to practice this kind of meditative prayer. What is your experience? It may be difficult to do at first, but I hope you’ll stick with it and it will be a tool God can use to work in you.

Related posts:

1. Prayer for the Week: Suffering
2. Prayer for the Week: May Barriers Crumble
3. A Parent’s Prayer

Have you ever eaten so frequently at a restaurant that you were willing to ignore the menu and tell the server, “I’ll have whatever the chef is preparing”? You’re a “regular” and you’ve gotten to know the kitchen staff over time. You trust that whatever they prepare will be excellent! Sometimes you get a familiar house favorite, and other times it’s something unique (you would have never ordered it on your own) but you always enjoy it and appreciate being introduced to the new flavors.

Have you ever experienced something like that? It’s pretty rare.

More than likely, you eat at restaurants where you feel the need to specify exactly what you want and how you want it prepared. My most recent order at a fast food counter went like this: “single with cheese, no onions or pickles, and easy on the mustard …”  And during a recent lunch with a friend at an unfamiliar Mexican restaurant, I found myself pointing to the pictures on the menu, describing in great detail how I wanted my dish prepared, and even specifying where on the plate I wanted the rice and pico de gallo!

Most of my life, prayer has been something like this. I approach God as though I were pulling up to a divine drive-thru window or speaking to a celestial waiter. I have picked out what I want and I place my order. And I often speak to God with such directness and specificity that I wonder if there’s any trust at all.

Jesus taught us to bring our requests to God and he even seemed impressed by childlike appeals. Martin Luther’s first instruction on prayer was to “open wide our aprons” and boldly ask what we want to receive from our Father. But lately, I find myself wanting to be more like the “regular” in a familiar restaurant than the one who insecurely lists out everything — the what and the how.

What if I set aside my “menu” and simply asked for whatever he was preparing? There would be times that I would be served exactly what I had come in thinking about and craving! Other times, it would be something different, a “unique” answer to my hunger pangs. But because I’ve learned to trust the Chef and know that everything that comes from him is good, I would dig in, exploring the new flavors on the plate!

This approach to prayer will involve more trust than I normally extend. But it also promises more adventure and suspense!

I won’t know what’s coming in advance.

I’ll be at the mercy of the Host.

Related posts:

1. Prayer for the Week: Winter Prayer
2. Meditative Prayer
3. Prayer for the Week: Thanksgiving

Amen.

May discomfort, anger, tears, and foolishness be ours in abundance!