09.30.08
Pslam 51 (NIV)
Have mercy on me, O God, according to your unfailing love; according to your great compassion blot out my transgressions.
Wash away all my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin.
For I know my transgressions, and my sin is always before me.
Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight, so that you are proved right when you speak and justified when you judge.
Surely I was sinful at birth, sinful from the time my mother conceived me.
Surely you desire truth in the inner parts, you teach me wisdom in the inmost place.
Cleanse me with hyssop, and I will be clean; wash me, and I will be whiter than snow.
Let me hear joy and gladness; let the bones you have crushed rejoice.
Hide your face from my sins and blot out all my iniquity.
Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me.
Do not cast me from your presence or take your Holy Spirit from me.
Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me.
Then I will teach transgressors your ways, and sinners will turn back to you.
Save me from blood-guiltiness, O God, the God who saves me, and my tongue will sing of your righteousness.
O Lord, open my lips, and my mouth will declare your praise.
You do not delight in sacrifice, or I would bring it; you do not take pleasure in burnt offerings.
The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.
In your good pleasure make Zion prosper; build up the walls of Jerusalem.
Then there will be righteous sacrifices, whole burnt offerings to delight you; then bulls will be offered on your altar.
09.29.08
Help my unbelief
You say that all things work for the good of those who love you.
Lord, I believe, help my unbelief.
You say that you will never leave us nor forsake us.
Lord, I believe, help my unbelief.
You say that anything we ask for, you will give us.
Lord, I believe, help my unbelief.
May my unbelief drive me ever deeper into your mysterious presence.
Lord, I believe, help my unbelief.
Amen.
-Arthur Stewart
based on Mark 9:14-30
09.25.08
A Prayer for Mission
Lord, our God, help us to walk with you on the pathway of the beatitudes and to live out your mission in today's world. Bind us to all men and women of our time so that together we may bring the Good News to the ends of the earth. Open our hearts and our Christian communities to the needy, the afflicted, the oppressed. May we radiate the Living Christ and transform our lives in the hope of the Resurrection. This prayer we make to you who are living God now and forever. Amen.
(Extracted from The Society for the Propagation of the faith evangelization of the Nations.)
09.24.08
Morning Prayer – Kierkegaard
O Lord,
let Yourself be found with a good gift
to everyone who needs it,
that the happy may find courage
to accept Your good gifts,
that the sorrowful may find courage
to accept Your perfect gifts.
For to humans
there is a difference of joy and of sorrow,
but for You,
O Lord,
there is no difference in these things;
everything that comes from You
is a good and perfect
gift.
- Søren Kierkegaard (1813-1855)
(adapted from a posting at CQOD)
09.23.08
Ipsissima Verba? (Muriel McNair)
You are the salt of the earth.
Gather it together in heaps lest it be polluted;
keep it in the jar.
Let society rot in its sin and be redolent in its putrefaction
the saints pristine in their whiteness shall be gathered together as a memorial pillar to me.
You are the light of the world.
Guard it carefully lest the darkness puts it out.
Build a beautiful shrine for the lamp of God
where it may be kept safe for you to admire.
Do not take it out into the storm to look for the lost:
the wind might blow it out.
Let the lost look out for themselves
– if they are lucky they will see the chinks of light through the shutters and try to come in.
You shall be my witnesses,
so witness faithfully, on Sundays, come what may, and at as many meetings as you can
give money, make long prayers, sing hymns, and listen to sound sermons.
Teach my lambs, in particular, to get their priorities right
and keep the fold nice and tidy:
then it will be easy to find you when I come back, already gathered
from the rest
and glorifying God in your holiness.
You are my body.
Treat it gently, keep it warm,
make sure it gets enough to eat and lives respectably.
Keep it out of politics of course and the crush of the common people.
Avoid confrontation with the realities of evil.
One crucifixion was enough.
09.22.08
Mary’s Song (Magnificat)
My soul glorifies the Lord.
and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,
for he has been mindful
of the humble state of his servant.
From now on all generations will call me blessed,
for the Mighty One has done great things for me—
holy is his name.
His mercy extends to those who fear him,
from generation to generation.
He has performed mighty deeds with his arm;
he has scattered those who are proud in their inmost thoughts.
He has brought down rulers from their thrones
but has lifted up the humble.
He has filled the hungry with good things
but has sent the rich away empty.
He has helped his servant Israel,
remembering to be merciful
to Abraham and his descendants forever,
even as he said to our fathers.
Amen.
based on Luke 1:46-55
09.19.08
contributors needed
our friday contributor needs to drop from the rotation. so, we could really use someone who would like to write one post a week. would love to also add authors for the weekend, but definitely need a friday person.
if you are interested in participating in this project, please let us know.
thanks. and thanks for reading/praying with us.
09.18.08
A Prayer for Unity
O God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,
our only Saviour, the Prince of Peace:
Give us grace seriously to lay to heart the great dangers we are in by our unhappy divisions.
Take away all hatred and prejudice,
and whatsoever else may hinder us from godly union and concord;
that, as there is but one Body and one Spirit and one hope for our calling,
one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of us all,
so we may henceforth be all of one heart and of one soul,
united in one hole bond of truth and peace, of faith and charity,
and may with one mind and one mouth glorify thee;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen.
From A Book of Common Prayer for the Church of South Africa, 1954
09.17.08
You Have Loved us First – Kierkegaard
Father in Heaven! You have loved us first, help us never to forget that You are love so that this sure conviction might triumph in our hearts over the seduction of the world, over the inquietude of the soul, over the anxiety for the future, over the fright of the past, over the distress of the moment. But grant also that this conviction might discipline our soul so that our heart might remain faithful and sincere in the love which we bear to all those whom You have commanded us to love as we love ourselves.
You have loved us first, O God, alas! We speak of it in terms of history as if You have only loved us first but a single time, rather than that without ceasing You have loved us first many things and every day and our whole life through. When we wake up in the morning and turn our soul toward You – You are the first – You have loved us first; if I rise at dawn and at the same second turn my soul toward You in prayer, You are there ahead of me, You have loved me first. When I withdraw from the distractions of the day and turn my soul toward You, You are the first and thus forever. And yet we always speak ungratefully as if You have loved us first only once.
- Soren Kierkegaard, “Prayer Two”
09.16.08
Psalm 51 (Eugene Peterson)
Generous in love – God, give grace! Huge in mercy – wipe out my bad record.
Scrub away my guilt, soak out my sins in your laundry.
I know how bad I’ve been; my sins are staring me down.
You’re the One I’ve violated, and you’ve seen it all, seen the full extent of my evil.
You have all the facts before you; whatever you decide about me is fair.
I’ve been out of step with you for a long time, in the wrong since before I was born.
What you’re after is truth from the inside out. Enter me, then; conceive a new, true life.
Soak me in your laundry and I’ll come out clean, scrub me and I’ll have a snow-white life.
Tune me in to foot-tapping songs, set these once-broken bones to dancing.
Don’t look too close for blemishes, give me a clean bill of health.
God, make a fresh start in me, shape a Genesis week from the chaos of my life.
Don’t throw me out with the trash, or fail to breathe holiness in me.
Bring me back from gray exile, put a fresh wind in my sails!
Give me a job teaching rebels your ways so the lost can find their way home.
Commute my death sentence, God, my salvation God, and I’ll sing anthems to your life-giving ways.
Unbutton my lips, dear God; I’ll let loose with your praise.
Going through the motions doesn’t please you, a flawless performance is nothing to you.
I learned God-worship when my pride was shattered.
Heart-shattered lives ready for love don’t for a moment escape God’s notice.
Make Zion the place you delight in, repair Jerusalem’s broken-down walls.
Then you’ll get real worship from us, acts of worship small and large,
Including all the bulls they can heave onto your altar!
