A Prayer of the Day from the Methodist Church
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A prayer for God's presence
Wed, 30 Oct 2024 00:05:47 +0000
Dear God, we pray that each one of us feels your presence now and every day, whatever the circumstances, time or place. May we all reflect you, in our own particular words, thoughts and deeds, in such a way that others too can come to feel and know your presence throughout the whole world. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
A prayer that we see the world through God's eyes
Tue, 29 Oct 2024 00:05:37 +0000
If we see the world through your eyes, Lord,
then we see a vision of our world as your love would have it:
a world where all who are weak are protected and none go hungry;
a world where your riches of creation are shared for everyone to enjoy them;
a world where mutual respect is expressed between different races and cultures and harmony descends;
a world where peace is built with justice, and justice is guided by love.
Give us the inspiration and courage to build it how you see it Lord!
That all may praise together and the only power exerted is the power of your love. Amen.
A prayer for purity of understanding
Mon, 28 Oct 2024 00:06:12 +0000
God of all understanding,
the more I learn about your holy justice
the more I realise that even my prayers can be
riddled with sin.
In praying for other people
I have thought that I know best what they need.
I have taken the seat of judgement
and found others wanting.
I have not challenged the ground
of my own understanding,
allowing prejudice and stereotypes
to flourish unchecked.
Forgive me.
Help me to kneel before your throne of grace
with both confidence and humility.
Remind me to leave the judging and directing to you.
Enable me to pray for others
not by way of the gulfs that divide us
but via the love in which you hold us all in common,
revealed to us in Jesus. Amen.
A prayer of adoration
Sun, 27 Oct 2024 00:03:15 +0100
You are the One, the Holy One,
who looks on all you have made, with love.
You gaze at me, and your faithful kindness overwhelms me.
I fall silent before you, my words stalling,
as my heart breaks open and pours out my thanks, my delight in you.
The more I gaze back at you,
the more I see through your eyes;
I am born again in your devotion to your creation.
Let my words fall before you,
but grant me the words and the acts of love
you long for me to have for your world. Amen.
A prayer for peace in the world
Sat, 26 Oct 2024 00:03:31 +0100
Peace is a rose.
So lovely, so delicate, so fragrant,
so easily crushed.
Holy God, let peace flower in our damaged world.
In parched places, let peace take root,
in broken places, let peace send forth strong shoots,
in barren places, let peace bud and bloom,
that all may see her beauty,
feel her softness,
be overcome by her gentle perfume,
and tend her.
Amen.
A prayer that God's message dwell within us
Fri, 25 Oct 2024 00:04:14 +0100
Loving God,
May all that we learn
from you and alongside one another,
challenge and transform our thoughts, words and deeds.
May your message dwell richly in our hearts.
May it be treasured.
May it pour out from us in expressions of praise, proclamation and protest.
Help us to listen to all who have been marginalised
to hear what cannot be spoken.
Prepare us for the times when your message will pierce and break our hearts.
Change us as we join in your work as your body here on earth.
In the name of the One who came as Teacher, Justice Seeker and Defender of the Oppressed. Amen.
A prayer of protest at inequality
Thu, 24 Oct 2024 00:03:57 +0100
God of all, we praise you for the life that you give us,
even when we cling to it by no more than our fingertips
and, in Jesus’ name, we protest the inequality created by human greed. Amen.
A prayer for God's justice
Wed, 23 Oct 2024 00:03:58 +0100
O God, how long? How long must we wait to see your justice lifted high? How long must we groan under oppression and injustice? The poor get poorer, and the rich get richer. Help us to sing a new song. Help us, through your Holy Spirit, to sing your song of a world renewed, of dignity freely given, of right living between sibling and sibling. But it begins with me. It begins with my willingness to partner with the God of all the earth. Help us to see the riches you have placed within us and let us add our voices to the song all creation longs to sing.
Then our souls shall truly magnify the Lord,
today and always.
Amen.
A prayer for the triumph of God's will
Tue, 22 Oct 2024 00:03:50 +0100
God of grace and hope,
Where the warmth of a smile eclipses the sinister sneer –
Let hope stand triumphant.
Where an act of kindness
undermines an evil deed –
Let hope stand triumphant.
Where a word of peace
silences the terrorist’s threat –
Let hope stand triumphant.
Where difference is diversity
in place of disunity –
Let hope stand triumphant.
Where youth is innocent
and age is wisdom –
Let hope stand triumphant.
Where love is real
and faith is kindled –
Let hope stand triumphant.
Praying that praise and protest
would be partners in our living and in our praying,
that your kingdom may come among us.
Amen.
A prayer of thanks that God walks with the outcast
Mon, 21 Oct 2024 00:03:41 +0100
God of the Outcast; God of the Disempowered:
Thank you that you walk with us as One who has been rejected, despised, mocked.
Help us to follow the story of your pathfinders long past: justice-seekers like the Primitive Methodists who opened wide doors to welcome all.
A prayer for creation
Sun, 20 Oct 2024 00:03:37 +0100
Through your infinite mercy, O God, may we be prevented from destroying your creation. With so many ongoing conflicts, Lord, it can sometimes be a challenge for many people to believe in your existence. Yet, in spite of centuries of violence and hatred, oppression and injustice, all spawned from humankind, it is a miracle indeed that the human race can still recover, and produce people who can, and do, overcome evil with good; hatred with love and greed with open-handedness. This, Father God, can only be possible by your outpouring of grace. Amen.
A prayer for prisons
Sat, 19 Oct 2024 00:03:18 +0100
Creator God, you teem in every prison space and in every story; prisoner, victim, family and staff. Your light breaks through the cracks in our broken vessels and the diversity of multi-faith prison chaplaincy. You know the loss that separation brings, yet offer hope that healing is accessible to hurting people and people who cause hurt. Guide your Church toward being a model for institutions that act justly and do not impose harm. See us, Mother of Nature, and forgive our failing to love with the sort of balance Jesus practised. Let us happily carry our share of injustice so that our ministries may relate to the people we are called to serve. Amen.
A prayer for humility
Fri, 18 Oct 2024 00:04:08 +0100
What does the Lord require of us?
To love the Lord our God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength and to love our neighbours as ourselves.
What is love? It looks like Jesus.
Lord, help us to be more patient and kind, remove jealousy, envy, anger and rage from us.
Let us not be boastful in ourselves and our possessions,
but to give away freely what we have freely received.
Love is not self-seeking, but looks after the needy, poor, lonely, and the widows and orphans.
Love looks to forgive those who have hurt us and doesn’t keep a record of wrongdoings. God is love and God’s love always protects, trusts, hopes, and perseveres.
God’s love never ends. Amen.
A prayer of thanks that God is our faithful shepherd
Thu, 17 Oct 2024 00:04:15 +0100
I’m looking at the sheep God. Are you really a shepherd?
I can’t see the shepherd. Is the shepherd really there?
The sheep seem to be happy, content.
They don’t seem to be lacking at all. But I can’t see the shepherd.
Some are lying down, but most are standing up, but they seem happy.
They are safe, they are fed, they are free from danger, but I can’t see the shepherd.
Even though I can’t see the shepherd, they must be there.
Feeding the sheep, caring for them, looking after them.
Does the shepherd spend much time with the sheep? I don’t know.
What about me God? Are you there? I can’t see you at the moment. Are you there?
I’m fed, I’m watered. I have plenty to eat, but are you there?
I can’t see you.
You must be there. If you weren’t there, what difference would it make?
Would I be fed? Would I be warm? Would I be safe? Probably not.
You are there, God. Just because I can’t see you doesn’t mean you are not there.
Thank you for being my shepherd.
A prayer for the needs of the world
Wed, 16 Oct 2024 00:04:37 +0100
Loving God, we rejoice in the signs of your presence in the world:
for every child who has a home, we praise and thank you God;
for every war that has an end, we praise and thank you God;
for every wound that has been healed, we praise and thank you God;
for every debt that is no more, we praise and thank you God.
And for the dawning of hope for all people, we pray:
where there is hunger and there is need, your kingdom come, O Lord;
where there are walls and barriers of hate, your kingdom come, O Lord;
where the poor pay the price, and the rich take the profit, your kingdom come, O Lord;
and where the earth lies wasted, and the skies are polluted, your kingdom come, O Lord.
Amen.
A prayer for our discipleship
Tue, 15 Oct 2024 00:04:11 +0100
Lord, send us out.
Send us out from our buildings, full of history and comfort and meaning, and lead us into your world as your disciples where the story is still being written.
Send us out with our hearts full of love and concern and fear and hope, and lead us into your heart for this blessed and beautiful world where the story is still being written.
Continue to bless places for lonely people to gather; soup lunches and warm spaces; moves and renovations; missions and prayer gatherings; and all the ways we seek to move from where we are to where you want us to be.
Lord, send us out. And remind us – remind me – that the story is still being written. Amen.
A prayer that we may mirror God's goodness
Mon, 14 Oct 2024 00:03:21 +0100
Mary sings, “My soul magnifies the Lord”.
But how can I make God greater?
Lord of life, in the way I live, move and inhabit my being,
mirror in me your extravagant love and expansive goodness.
Enlarge my soul: to bear witness to human destruction, riven by unspeakable violence.
Enlarge my soul: to rail against relentless consumption, upending the gentle balance of the earth.
Enlarge my soul: to speak out against power-seeking policies, indifferent to hunger and dismissive of need.
May my spirit dance to the intricately woven melody of prayer, praise and protest.
Be ever greater within me, that my soul may magnify the Lord forever. Amen.
A prayer that we may see God in others
Sun, 13 Oct 2024 00:02:53 +0100
Teach us, Lord, to seek your face in those who think they are faceless; your word among those who are voiceless; and your transforming presence among those who feel powerless. Draw us to yourself that we may be active contemplatives in the heart of your world, discovering afresh the presence of Jesus wherever it is disguised and honouring you in the face of the neighbour, the lowly appearance of bread and wine, and the walk of daily service, that we might follow where you lead and respond with warmed hearts and active hands. Amen.
Inspired by Mother Teresa of Calcutta and Karl Rahner
A prayer for life in all its fullness
Sat, 12 Oct 2024 00:03:19 +0100
Let us praise God,
who summons us to live as people of hope,
who lifts us when our hearts are weary,
and raises our eyes, restoring our vision,
to see a new heaven, a new earth,
which breaks in where we least expect it;
inviting us, beyond imagining,
to involvement in making real God’s purposes of justice, righteousness and peace.
Let us praise God,
who leads us beyond death, to life in all its fullness,
not for our sakes, but for the sake of others;
that by God’s Spirit we live with courage, compassion and commitment;
so we might be agents of change, sharing the gospel of truth and love,
as we join with God’s work in the world.
A prayer that God may broaden our horizons
Fri, 11 Oct 2024 00:04:13 +0100
God of infinite wonder, whose love has no horizon and whose grace has no border, we open ourselves to your presence this day.
God of the minutiae, in whose company ‘insignificant’ has no meaning, we receive your blessings this day.
Raise our eyes from only that which is in front of us.
Lift our heads, that our vision may be broader and longer.
Sow seeds of passion in our hearts
and lay embers of hope in our lives
that we may never accept the concept of inevitable,
but instead cultivate communities of peace that live a language of possibility.
A prayer for closeness with God
Thu, 10 Oct 2024 00:03:40 +0100
Loving God, help me feel connected to you so that you may use me where you have placed me. Help me draw close enough that I may see with your eyes, hear with your ears and think with your mind, because you are a just God and justice is a part of loving. Let me support victims who aren’t recognised and people excluded from the accepted circle. Enable me to help people who are suffering because others seek to increase their wealth. Empower me to advocate for children who cannot fulfil their potential or for those whose voices aren’t heard. Bring me out from my comfort zone. Stop me just acting in my own interests. Let me do right! Amen.
A prayer for discernment
Wed, 09 Oct 2024 00:03:43 +0100
Invitational God, we celebrate the times when we know we are in the right place at the right time.
Thank you for your presence, sometimes quiet and sometimes noisy.
Help us to know the difference between doing lots of things to make us feel of value, and fullness of life.
Incarnational God, thank you for standing alongside us when we don’t know where we are meant to be or what we are meant to do.
Help us to discern what is of you, and what is a distraction.
May your kingdom come. Amen.
A prayer for refugees
Tue, 08 Oct 2024 00:03:25 +0100
Dduw cyfiawnder,
agor ein clustiau er mwyn i ni glywed fel yr wyt ti’n clywed,
agor ein calonnau er mwyn i ni ofalu fel yr wyt ti’n gofalu,
agor ein gwefusau er mwyn i siarad fel yr wyt ti’n siarad,
er mwyn i ni gynnig ein lleisiau
ar ran y rhai sydd wedi cael eu distewi,
beth bynnag eu hiaith, gwlad neu gyflwr,
ac felly gwneler dy ewyllys,
megis yn y nef felly ar y ddaear hefyd. Amen.
God of justice,
open our ears to hear as you do,
open our hearts to care as you do,
open our lips to speak as you do,
that we may offer our voices
for those who are silenced,
whatever their language, land or lot,
and so may your will be done,
on earth as in heaven. Amen.
A prayer for our senses
Mon, 07 Oct 2024 00:03:19 +0100
Loving Lord, who made me for your delight,
bless me with good use of the senses you created:
that I may use my sight to see the injustice in your world,
and respond with my heart;
that I may use my hearing to listen to the voice of suffering,
and respond with my heart;
that I may voice what is your will at all times, in all places
and respond with my heart.
Loving Lord, who made me for your delight,
bless me in your service.
Amen.
A prayer for unity
Sun, 06 Oct 2024 00:02:53 +0100
God of all,
Your dream for your people is that we may be one.
In this time of deep divides and damaging insecurity forgive us for the ways in which we have failed to show solidarity,
and failed to see beyond the identity-based fractures that can obscure the bonds of our common humanity.
Renew our commitment to the work of unity,
drawing hope from the promise of your limitless love which embraces all in true belonging.
We give thanks for the courage and commitment of all those witnessing to unity in the midst of fragmentation,
creating spaces for fellowship and accompaniment,
to sustain us on the journey.
Amen.
A prayer for wisdom
Sat, 05 Oct 2024 00:03:23 +0100
Gracious God, we look to you for wisdom, often we look in the wrong places, missing the opportunity to learn of you from others. Your word, as expressed in the Bible, can be difficult to interpret in this divisive world. Show us your way through those we encounter who exude your wisdom in their love for their neighbours, and who emanate your justice from the very depths of their souls. Teach us to engage with the needs of refugees, asylum seekers and immigrants, as all are our neighbours and all are precious people to you. In Jesus’ name we pray and for his sake, Amen.
A prayer for the Church to bring hope
Fri, 04 Oct 2024 00:03:45 +0100
Among our worries or despair,
you are there.
Among those who are anxious or frail,
you are there.
In the times when we care,
you are there,
and in the times when we fail,
you are there.
In our calling,
open our minds and our hearts to your ways,
so that we may know how to help those in distress.
Enable your Church to be a voice that can be heard,
a people who bring hope to those who feel hopeless,
and to have the courage to face challenges together,
by the power of your Spirit,
Amen.
A prayer for the elderly and their carers
Thu, 03 Oct 2024 00:03:26 +0100
Dear Lord,
We pray for elderly, housebound individuals, who are often very lonely.
We praise and thank you for their carers, who come into their homes and brighten their days by showing tenderness, kindness, and giving much needed practical support.
Make us more sensitive to the needs of both groups and move our hearts and minds to seek ways in which we may become involved.
Increase our awareness of the conditions under which carers do their work; often earning so little for such a valuable contribution and help us seek social justice for them.
Amen.
A prayer of praise to God
Wed, 02 Oct 2024 00:03:33 +0100
Almighty God,
Author and perfector of our lives,
you are God of all creation;
the moon and the stars sing your praises,
the rich and the poor revere you equally,
the joyous and the grief-stricken seek you equally,
the peace-lover and the warmonger look to you for strength for you are God!
You saved the world even before we knew we needed saving.
You provided for our needs even before we were aware of our nakedness.
Your grace amazes us,
your love fulfils us,
your forgiving presence instils hope and our suffering is eased.
Thank you for filling us with your vision.
Thank you for imbuing your wisdom upon us,
Almighty Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
Receive our worship, hear our prayer;
for you are God. Amen!
A prayer for the desire to pray
Tue, 01 Oct 2024 00:03:53 +0100
Prayer is a cry in the dark,
a child’s longing for home,
and a hollowed soul’s seeking of fulfilment.
Prayer is a two-fingered salute
to the hopeless cynicism of endless false promises
and a bunting-waving celebration of love in action.
Prayer is a sacred space,
found in the midst of the unholiest of battlegrounds
and in the desolation of loss.
Prayer is a memory
of long lost conversations with wise elders
and an exuberance of youthful anticipation.
Prayer is a shared longing,
a whispered dream
and an open conversation.
Prayer is a revolutionary act
It is hope in despair
And a grace-filled weaving of love’s intent.
May God bless us with the desire to pray, that we might better act, for the sake of all. Amen.
A prayer for God's presence
Mon, 30 Sep 2024 00:03:27 +0100
Dear God, we pray that each one of us feels your presence now and every day, whatever the circumstances, time or place. May we all reflect you, in our own particular words, thoughts and deeds, in such a way that others too can come to feel and know your presence throughout the whole world. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
A prayer that we see the world through God's eyes
Sun, 29 Sep 2024 00:02:57 +0100
If we see the world through your eyes, Lord,
then we see a vision of our world as your love would have it:
a world where all who are weak are protected and none go hungry;
a world where your riches of creation are shared for everyone to enjoy them;
a world where mutual respect is expressed between different races and cultures and harmony descends;
a world where peace is built with justice, and justice is guided by love.
Give us the inspiration and courage to build it how you see it Lord!
That all may praise together and the only power exerted is the power of your love. Amen.
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