December 28, 2012
New Year’s Prayer by Ted Loder
I Hold My Life up to You Now
Patient God,
the clock struck midnight
and I partied with a strange sadness in my heart,
confusion in my mind.
Now, I ask you
to gather me,
for I realize
the storms of time have scattered me,
the furies of the year past have driven me,
many sorrows have scarred me,
many accomplishments have disappointed me,
much activity has wearied me,
and fear has spooked me
into a hundred hiding places,
one of which is pretended gaiety.
I am sick of a string of “have-a-nice-days.”
What I want is passionate days,
wondrous days,
dangerous days,
blessed days,
surprising days,
What I want is you!
Patient God
this day teeters on the edge of waiting
and things seem to slip away from me,
as though everything were only memory
and memory is capricious.
Help me not to let my life slip away from me.
O God, I hold up my life to you now,
as much as I can,
as high as I can,
in this mysterious reach called prayer.
Come close, lest I wobble and fall short.
It is not days or years I seek from you,
not infinity and enormity,
but small things and moments and awareness,
awareness that you are in what I am
and in what I have been indifferent to.
It is not new time,
but new eyes,
new heart I seek,
and you.
Taken from: Guerrillas of Grace: Prayers for the Battle by Ted Loder
December 25, 2012
A Litany for Lighting the Christ Candle
Sing to the Lord a new song, for God has done marvelous things;
God’s right hand and holy arm have worked salvation.
Today in the city of David a Savior has been born to you.
The Lord has made salvation known and revealed righteousness to the nations.
Today in the city of David a Savior has been born to you.
God has remembered his love and faithfulness to the people; all the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of God.
Today in the city of David a Savior has been born to you.
Shout for joy to the Lord, all the earth, burst into jubilant song with music; make music to the Lord with the harp, with the harp and the sound of singing.
Today in the city of David a Savior has been born to you.
Let the rivers clap their hands, let the mountains sing together for joy; let them sing before the Lord, for God comes to judge the earth. The Lord will judge the world with righteousness and the people with equity.
Today in the city of David a Savior has been born to you.
We have now light the four outside candles of the Advent Wreath. The first candle reminds us of hope. The second candle is the candle of peace. The third candle represents our joy. The fourth candle is for love, our love of God, and God’s love for us. We now light the center candle, the Christ candle. Jesus Christ is our HOPE. Jesus Christ gives us PEACE. We can have JOY because Jesus has come to us. Jesus is God’s greatest gift of LOVE. And because of God’s loving gift of Jesus Christ, we have life now and forever.
Today in the city of David a Savior has been born to you.
We Pray Together:
Loving God, we are thankful that the waiting of Advent is over. We rejoice that today in the city of David a Savior is born. We rejoice that our hope is fulfilled, and God’s peace has come to earth. We rejoice that we can fully know God’s love in Jesus Christ. Help us to celebrate today and always that a Savior has been born to us. Amen.
Taken from:
Readings for Advent and Christmas by Charles Wiessner
http://images.rca.org/docs/discipleship/advent-readings.pdf
December 22, 2012
O Oriens – Madeleine L’Engle
O come, O come Emmanuel
within this fragile vessel here to dwell.
O Child conceived by heaven’s power
give me thy strength: it is the hour.
O come, thou Wisdom from on high;
like any babe at life you cry;
for me, like any mother, birth
was hard, O light of earth.
O come, O come, thou Lord of might,
whose birth came hastily at night,
born in a stable, in blood and pain
is this the king who comes to reign?
O come, thou Rod of Jesse’s stem,
the stars will be thy diadem.
How can the infinite finite be?
Why choose, child, to be born of me?
O come, thou key of David, come,
open the door to my heart-home.
I cannot love thee as a king–
so fragile and so small a thing.
O come, thou Day-spring from on high:
I saw the signs that marked the sky.
I heard the beat of angels’ wings
I saw the shepherds and the kings.
O come, Desire of nations, be
simply a human child to me.
Let me not weep that you are born.
The night is gone. Now gleams the morn.
Rejoice, rejoice, Emmanuel,
God’s Son, God’s Self, with us to dwell.
~Madeleine L’Engle
December 20, 2012
Prayer for Fourth Sunday of Advent
Shepherd of Israel,
you gently support the one who is with child
and call forth the Lamb who dances in the womb,
Stir our hearts to recognize Christ’s coming,
as Elizabeth recognized his presence
in Mary’s radiant obedience to your desire,
an open our souls to receive the one
who came to love your flock. Amen.
Taken from: Online Revised Common Lectionary, Vanderbilt Divinity Library
http://lectionary.library.vanderbilt.edu/prayers.php?id=98
December 16, 2012
Advent Prayer
God in this season ,
Suspended between hope and fulfillment,
Let we never forget what you have done.
May we be overwhelmed by your mercy,
Which flows in wave after wave.
May we be honest about the darkness within us,
And perceptive of the light around us.
May we make straight the path for the Lord,
That together we may see God’s glory revealed.
Taken from:
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Light-for-the-Journey/143510882359774
(Adapted from weekly Advent reflections by Mark Pierson,
http://adventinart.org/)
December 14, 2012
Prayer for the Third Week of Advent
God of hope,
you call us home from the exile of selfish oppression
to the freedom of justice,
the balm of healing,
and the joy of sharing.
Make us strong to join you in your holy work,
as friends of strangers and victims,
companions of those whom others shun,
and as the happiness of those whose hearts are broken.
We make our prayer through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen.
Taken from: Online Revised Common Lectionary, Vanderbilt Divinity Library
http://lectionary.library.vanderbilt.edu/prayers.php?id=97
December 11, 2012
Waiting and Longing ~ Prayer from Walter Brueggemann
God of the seasons,
God of the years,
God of the eons,
Alpha and Omega,
before us and after us.
You promise and we wait:
we wait with eager longing,
we wait amid doubt and anxiety,
we wait with patience thin
and then doubt,
and then we take life into our own hands.
We wait because you are the one and the only one.
We wait for your peace and your mercy,
for your justice and your good rule.
Give us your spirit that we may wait
obediently and with discernment,
caringly and without passivity,
trustingly and without cynicism
honestly and without utopianism,
Grant that our wait may be appropriate to your coming
soon and very soon,
soon and not late,
late but not too late.
We wait while the world groans in eager longing.
Taken from: Prayers for a Privileged People, Walter Bruggemann
December 7, 2012
Prayer for the Second Week of Advent
Out of the embrace of mercy and righteousness,
you have brought forth joy and dignity for your people,
O Holy One of Israel.
Remember now your ancient promise:
make straight the paths that lead to you,
and smooth the rough ways,
that in our day
we might bring forth your compassion
for all humanity. Amen.
Taken from: Online Revised Common Lectionary, Vanderbilt Divinity Library
http://lectionary.library.vanderbilt.edu/prayers.php?id=96
December 5, 2012
Prayer for the First Week of Advent
We seek the mighty God
in the most unlikely places
as a child in a stable,
and in an empty tomb.
May God hear these prayers,
which come from the unlikely corners of our lives.
Prayers of the People, concluding with:
Give us ears to hear, O God,
and eyes to watch,
that we may know your presence in our midst
during this holy season of joy
as we anticipate the coming of Jesus Christ. Amen.
Taken from: Online Revised Common Lectionary, Vanderbilt Divinity Library
http://lectionary.library.vanderbilt.edu/prayers.php?id=95
November 30, 2012
Advent Prayer by Ted Loder
I Am Silent…and Expectant
How silently,
how silently
the wondrous gift is given.
I would be silent now,
Lord,
and expectant…
that I may receive
the gift I need,
so I may become
the gift others need.
Taken from: Guerrillas of Grace: Prayers for the Battle by Ted Loder
Prayers & Creeds 