The First Sunday of Lent

Photo by Chalky Live

Jesus,

Who spent forty days in the desert,

Praise to you God in action.

Out of the wilderness
You brought your new covenant.

One we must honor and fulfill.

Lacking food for the body,
You were tested and triumphed.

Give us a portion of your courage this day.

In Jerusalem, 
You were tortured and killed.

Forgive us when our actions recall your anguish.

Help us forgive those we love who torture our souls.

Give us some small portion of the inner strength
You took into the desert,

So that we can resist the lure of wickedness and evil.

You create our existence

And bind us with love

Now and through eternity.
Amen.

Summer Prayer

Our Protector, who surrounds us,

Great and holy are you.

May your grace abound.

Let us follow your example

As we live and as we die.

Give us living water

To slack our thirst.

Shield us from the burning sun

As we guide others to the healing shade.

Keep us from seeking treasure in the desert,

But guide our steps into the arbor of your love

Where we are hidden from evil's glare.

Your word can bring the cool of dawn

And once more create an Eden on earth.

The Universe in Prayer

Creator of the Universe

Who dwells beyond space and time,

We thank you for our small world

And the magnificence of the heavens.

As we regard the universe beyond our Milky Way,

Let us realize your power stretches to infinity,

And that our obedience is echoed on other worlds.

Sustain us as we strive to understand what you spoke into existence.

Forgive us when we believe we are your only creation

As we forgive those who do not believe in you.

Let us see that we cannot be alone in an infinite existence.

Protect us from our own hubris.

Let us understand how infinitesimal we are

And how much we need your protection.

For you are the same to all

Wherever in this universe they dwell.

Always,

Creator, Word and Love.

Prayer for Trust

Creator who is the feminine and the masculine,

We know you encompass all.

Your victory comes on the wings of angels

And in the hands of humanity

In the choice to obey you.

Give us nourishment for our bodies

And love for our souls.

Forgive us when we do not trust you

As we forgive those who betray our trust in them.

Do not take your presence from us.

Let us always know the Comforter is near.

Keep us safe from the darkness in our souls,

From unbelief and pride.

Time and space are one to you.

You are beginning and end

Outside of Time.

Photo by Delphine
Original by Kitina Celt

Winter Prayer

The Light that shines on our souls,

Holy are the words of your identity.

Let darkness be banished.

Let your radiance fill us

As it does the halls of eternity.

Warm us with the fresh bread of life.

Push away the icy drifts of sin

As we clear the cold of hatred

From our hearts.

Keep us off the frozen lake of greed

Lest we skate onto the thin ice of indulgence

And fall into the everlasting cold.

Wrap us in your love

To protect us from the blizzard of

Selfishness and uncaring.

For you are the sun of eternity.

Photo by ell brown

Prayer for Understanding

Our Comforter who walks with us,

Thank you for your presence.

Let the love of God spread

Everywhere on this terrestrial ball
Just as love binds Creator and Word
To pervade heaven.

Give us knowledge and hope

To carry us through each day.

Forgive our frailties

And let us understand the frailties of others

So that we may forgive.

Let us understand why

We encounter trials that tear our souls

So that we may surmount them.

Protect us from ourselves.

For you are love incarnate

And the underpinning of existence.

Photo by linh.ngan

Prayer for 2010

Daddy, who lives beyond our senses,
Your name makes us shiver
In happiness and awe.
Make 2010 the completion of time.
Let us know and do your will
As those that have joined you
Know and do.
Forgive our missteps and stumbles
As we forgive those
That stand in our way.
Keep the candy of life out of sight,
Carry us over the obstacles
That would make us fall.
For you are time and space
And love eternal.
Make this year ahead one where
We know that you hold us close
And wrap us in your love.

Photo by Mel B.

Fear Not

A message came today
From a member of my church.
In stunned awareness
I read a missive of intolerance and fear.
A call to prayer the message claimed
A deeper meaning beneath the words of faith.
Others seek to have a day of prayer
That we must counter
Lest the evil hidden in their belief prevail.
Are we so unsure of our God
That we must demonize those
Who call Him by a different name?
Jesus told us to love God
And our neighbors.
Who is our neighbor?
Christ's example was the Samaritan,
A man of a race most despised by Jews.
Perhaps today the Word would choose a Muslim
Instead of a Samaritan.
Love those that gather
In Washington, D. C.
Pray that their entreaties be answered.
God knows the hearts of men.
He will not answer prayers that harm.
Pray that we gain understanding.
God's angels told us to fear not
When Christ was born.
His coming was for all men.
We need to remember those words.
God is omnipotent.
Christ is the message:
We have already won.
Fear not.

Photo by MonkeySimon

Prayer for Civility

God, who reigns in eternity,
Praise your everlasting patience.
When we in person bow before you,
Accept us, please.
Give us the temperament to receive your bounty
And acknowledge that it comes from you.
Let us treat others with civility,
So that you will treat us well.
Teach us the etiquette of belief,
So that we are examples to others.
Rudeness is the gift of Satan,
Stay our souls from accepting that gift,
For you care how we treat our fellows.
Politeness is the child of your lovingkindness.
You are love in all its glory.
Your grace is there for all.
Forever.

Photo by derek7272

Prayer for Survival

My Creator, beginning of all.
I revere You in all Your splendor.
Eternity looms and stretches into imagination.
You under gird existence.
Nothing stands apart from You.
Provide sustenance to our spirits
And protect us from ourselves.
Lift the judgment of nothingness
As we recognize our brethren are everywhere.
Guide our path with Your wisdom.
Protect us through the Comforter.
For You are Life for the ages.
And the infusion of spirit in all.

Photo by diongillard