Worth Repeating

We prayed this prayer together and for one another just over two months ago in response to Jesus’ stirring up a new and never-the-same-again life. It seems like it is a prayer worth repeating at this moment. So, let us once again join in praying for one another that we might have the same heart that compelled Jesus to do what he did for our sake and that having a heart like Jesus, we too might do what is necessary for one another and our neighbors.

This is an adapted prayer from John Ballie.

O Heavenly Father, give us a heart like the heart of Jesus, a heart more ready to serve than be served, a heart moved by compassion towards the weak and oppressed, a heart set upon the coming of Your kingdom in the world of women and men in which all are your beloved children.

We pray now, O God, for all the different kinds of people to whom Jesus gave special concern and care when he was on earth:

For those needing food or drink or clothes;

For the sick and all those who are wasted by disease of the body, of the mind, and of the soul;

For the blind, physically and spiritually;

For the disabled;

For people suffering from life-shattering diseases;

For prisoners in cells made of bars, cells made of fear, and cells made of pride;

For the socially and economically oppressed;

For those zealous for change;

For those who have suffered in no small part by the indifference of others;

For the homeless and all the lost sheep of our society;

For all victims of sexual exploitation and abuse;

For the lonely;

For all the single parents;

For the worried and the anxious;

For those who are living faithful lives in obscurity;

For those who are fighting bravely for unpopular causes;

For all those who are working diligently for you throughout your world.

Grant, O Father, that your loving-kindness in giving us so much may not make us less sensitive to the needs of others less fortunate, but rather move us to lay their burdens on our hearts. If we should experience adversity, help us not to brood on our sorrows, as if we were alone in the world of suffering; but rather help us to take time to serve, with compassion, those who need our help. Let the power of our Lord Jesus Christ be strong within us and his peace invade our spirit and our city.

Amen.

Joining In The Struggles

This week, as we continue to enter into the lives of one another and our neighbors through prayer, let us pray this timely words adapted from John Ballie, joining together in the struggles for life and freedom, and the sure hope of Jesus.

O God, our Father of all humankind, we bring before you now the burden of the world’s life. We join with the scattered and gathered multitudes who are in the streets and in their hearts crying out to you in their desperation—whether they say your name or not. Hear us, O Father, and look with compassion at our many needs and our many wounds, since YOU alone are able to satisfy all our desire.

We especially join with and commit to you:

All who are far from their family and friends—distanced by disease or divided by politics, race, opinions, fear, etc.;

All who must lie down hungry or cold;

All who suffer pain from chronic illness (social & physical);

All who are kept awake y anxiety;

All who are facing danger or fear of danger;

All who must work and keep watch to allow the rest of us freedom to live and stand up.

We ask you to give us—they and we with them in spirit—all such a sense of your presence that our loneliness may turn to comfort and our trouble to peace.

O most loving God, you showed your love to us in Jesus your Son, by relieving all kinds of suffering and disease, by releasing the captives and oppressed. Grant your blessing on all who are serving others in Christ’s name throughout the world to be a part of you doing the same still today:

All ministers of the gospel of Christ—whether paid or in their loving obedience,

All social workers and social change agents;

All doctors and nurses who faithfully tend the sick;

All who work to see your peace brought in this and every land, regardless of what side of the line they kneel.

Through us—they and we with them in spirit and action—accomplish your great purpose of goodwill to all people, and grant us in our own hearts the joy of Christ’s very real presence.

Grant to us also, O gracious Father, the joy of a life surrendered to Christ’s service and the peace of forgiveness granted through the power of Jesus’ cross.

Amen.

Resting In Grace

This week we pray for ourselves and one another that the “graces of Christian character may more and more take shape within” us, and transform our community. This “evening” prayer is adapted from John Baillie, though you can pray it morning or night.

O Father, all treasures of wisdom and truth and holiness are stored up in your boundless being. Grant that through our constant fellowship wit you, those graces of Christian character may more and more take shape within us, for those around us:

The grace of a thankful and uncomplaining heart;

The grace to await your timing patiently and to answer your Spirit’s call promptly;

The grace to endure any hardship in the fight against evil;

The grace of boldness to stand up for what is right;

The grace of being adequately prepared for any temptation;

The grace of physical discipline;

The grace of truthfulness;

The grace to treat others as we would like them to treat us—to “love my neighbors as myself”;

The grace of sensitivity, that we refrain from hasty judgment;

The grace of silence, that we may refrain from thoughtless speech;

The grace of forgiveness toward all who have wronged us;

The grace of tenderness toward all who are weaker than ourselves;

The grace of faithfulness in continuing to desire and believe that you will answer these prayers.

And now, O Father, give us a quiet mind as we rest. Dwell in our thoughts until sleep or silence overtakes us. Do not let us be worried by the small anxieties of this life. Do not let any troubled dreams disturb us, so that we might wake (from sleep or prayer) refreshed and ready for all that this day and the next brings.

And Thou, O Lord, by whom are seen

Thy creatures as they be,

Forgive us if too close we lean

Our human hearts on Thee.

Amen.

A City-Dweller's Prayer

We usually try and spread out our encouragements throughout the week with Mondays' Psalms, Wednesdays’ Pastoral Notes, and Fridays’ Collective Prayers. But in light of the unrest and division of our city at this moment, we thought it would be helpful to get a head-start on our prayers together this week.

Earnest Campbell was the long-time pastor of Riverside Church in New York City. Over his years of living and ministering in the city, he crafted dozens of prayers to give voice to the Spirit’s heart for the place and people he loved now compiled in a book titled, Where Cross the Crowded Ways. At the beginning of the collection is a prayer called “A City-Dwellers Prayer.” This is Campbell’s consistent prayer, his trunk from which the prayers that followed branch out and bloom in detailed passion and beauty.

Your Gospel Community leaders have been using this prayer to pray for you and our city since the beginning of the year, and we’d like to invite you to join us. As you pray these words over and over again in the coming days, weeks, months and years; you’ll find the Spirit adding depth and color (names, faces, issues, injustices, hopes, expectations, convictions, and confidence) to particular sections at particular moments, as the Spirit joins our heart with his for our city. We are confident that the Spirit will do so today as well, at this moment, for this place and people we have been given to love. So, let us "city-dwellers" join together in prayer through the Spirit this day and for years to come.

A CITY-DWELLERS PRAYER

O God of every time and place,

prevail among us too;

Within the city that we love

its promise to renew.

Our people move with downcast eyes,

tight, sullen, and afraid;

Surprise us with your joy divine,

for we would be remade.

O God whose will we can resist,

but cannot overcome,

Forgive our harsh and strident ways,

the harm that we have done.

Like Babel’s builders long ago

we raise our lofty towers,

And like them, too, our words divide,

and pride lays waste our powers.

Behind the masks that we maintain

to shut our sadness in,

There lurks the hope, however dim,

to live once more as men.

Let wrong embolden us to fight,

and need excite our care;

If not us, who? If not now, when?

If not here, God then where?

Our forebears stayed their minds on you

in village, farm, and plain;

Help us, their crowed, harried kin,

no less your peace to claim.

Give us to know that you do love

each soul that you have made;

That size does not diminish grace,

nor concrete hide your gaze.

Grant us, O God, who labor here

within this throbbing maze,

A forward-looking, saving hope

to galvanize our days.

Let Christ, who loved Jerusalem,

and wept its sins to mourn,

Make just our laws and pure our hearts;

so shall we be reborn!

Amen.

Affective Prayer

Evelyn Underhill once said, “Each Christian’s life of prayer…however deeply hidden and solitary in form, will affect the life of the whole Body.” What you pray today and this week, these collective words and those prayed by the Spirit for you, reverberate within, refresh, and redirect your faith family, and (I’d argue) your neighbors. So, as you pray this prayer adapted from John Ballie, do so expectantly, confident in the God-given truth that “The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous person availeth much.” (James 5:16)

Almighty Father, thank you for your love which follows me and ____ (name your GC, family, friends, and neighbors) every day of our lives. Thank you that you fill my and ____ minds with your divine truth and strengthen my and ____ wills with your divine grace. Thank you for every indication of your Spirit leading me and ____, and for the things that seem like chance or coincidence at the time, but later appear to me and ____ as part of your gracious plan for my and ____’s spiritual growth. Help me and ____ to follow where you lead and never quench this light that you have ignited within us, rather let me and ____ grow daily in grace and in the knowledge of Jesus my and ____’s Lord.

Yet as I seek your presence, I bring before you my human brothers and sisters, neighbors and friends, who need your help. Especially today I pray for—

____ (name someone you know, wait for the Spirit to give a name if you need to) who is faced with great temptations;

____ who is faced with tasks too difficult for them;

____ who stands in the consequences of sin

____ who is in debt or poverty (financially or spiritually);

____ who is suffering the consequences of actions which they repented of long ago;

____ who through no fault of their own have had little chance in life;

____ whose family circle has been broken by death;

____ who is a missionary of the kingdom of heaven in a corner of the earth far from here;

____ who is lifting the light of truth in a lonely place;

____ who is struggling mentally and emotionally with the current moment;

and ____ and ____ and ____.

Dear Father of all, make me a human channel through which, as far as I am able, your divine love and pity may reach the hearts and lives of some of those who are nearest to me. Amen.

Gauging Wealth

Perhaps one of the more subtle difficulties of our current moment is the impact it is having on how we gauge our wealth. We, at least at times, feel deprived, anxious about economics, left out and left behind via the swirl of uncertainties and swell of social media. If you don’t feel this way, know that many of your brothers and sisters, neighbors, and friends do. So, pray with and for them this week with these words adapted from Ernest Campbell.

It is good for us to bless your name, O Father God; to remember your mercies every morning and our loving-kindness every night. The world and this moment in history is so much with us that we gauge our wealth by the wrong things: property owned, money still in and entering our back accounts, securities in our possession, people impressed, and trends we ride. And thus we come short of knowing how rich we really are.

We praise you, Father, for life’s intangibles:

the lift of a loving voice from down the hall, the front yard, or on a screen,

the warmth of a child’s confidence, and a friend’s encouragement,

the strength that comes from an accepted sorrow,

the excitement of a shared purpose.

We praise you for faith that lights our way:

for everything in us that urges us to call you Father;

for all that hints your presence in our fevered world;

and for the gift unspeakable, your only Son, full of grace and truth.

Move us to speak the thanks we feel—to ourselves, our neighbors, and one another—and forgive our much complaining.

Through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Light Prayer

The repetition of our days can darken our awareness of grace and keep us from prayer, or it can be the very thing that reminds us of grace and keeps us praying. This week, we let the ever-constant light of each repeating morning compel us to praise and pray for one another through the adapted words of John Baillie.

Father and Maker of all things, whose creative power made the first ray of light, and who looked on the world’s first morning and saw that it was good, we praise you for this light that now streams through our windows to waken us to the life of another day.

We praise you for the life that stirs within us;

We praise you for the bright and beautiful world around us;

We praise you for the earth and sea and sky, for the hurrying clouds and singing birds;

We praise you for the work that you have given us to do; for all have given us to fill our hours of leisure;

We praise you for our friends;

We praise you for music and books and good company (virtually or at 6-feet!) and all harmless and delightful pleasures.

O Lord, you yourself are everlasting Mercy; give us tender hearts today toward all those who in this morning light are less joyful than we are.

Those in whom the pulse of life grows weak;

Those who are unable to get out of bed (physically or emotionally) and enjoy the sunshine;

The blind, who are shut off from the light of day (and those shut off from the light of life);

The overworked, who have no joy of leisure;

The unemployed, who have no joy of labor;

The bereaved, whose hearts and homes are desolate;

Have mercy on them all.

O Light that never fades, as the light of day now streams through our windows and floods our rooms, so let us open to you the windows of our hearts, that all our lives may be filled with the radiance of your presence. Do not let any corner of our being be left in darkness, but illuminate every part of us by the light of your face. Do not leave anything within us that could darken the brightness of the day. Let the Spirit of Jesus, whose life was the light of all people, rule within our hearts until evening. Amen.

In-Step with Love

Perhaps one the more difficult aspect of our moment in history is the paradox of repetitive days amid the uncertainties of what tomorrow brings. These mixed realities can make our every day existence feel aimless. Since we all share in this oddity, let us pray these words adapted from Earnest Campbell for one another with intimate empathy.

As we look to the world within and without, we are prompted to lay our many needs before you Father. Enlightened by our Savior’s birth, death, and resurrection, we ask for power to overcome whatever in us runs counter to his love, and for courage to be loyal to the light he came to share.

May his lowliness and sacrifice curb our self-seeking focus,

his humility melt away our pride,

his purity condemn our lust,

his love for people shame the love we waste on things,

his sense of mission challenge our aimlessness.

Give us feeling for those whose lot in life—always or even just today—is harder than our own, and a particular concern for those who live and as though Christ has not come, who do not know that at the heart of things love reigns, and heaven cares.

All of this we pray through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Amen.

Today's Opportunity

Even today, amid the restrictions of our current circumstances, we will still have opportunities to make the world a better place. Pray this prayer adapted from John Ballie for your faith family and for yourself, and go about ‘the good works God has prepared before that we should walk in them.’

Lord of our lives, whose commands we are eager to keep, whose fellowship we are eager to enjoy, and to whose service we are eager to be loyal, we kneel before you as you send us out and have us stay-in to serve you.

Thank you, Father, for this new day, another week. For its gladness and brightness; for its many hours waiting to be filled with joyful and helpful labor; for its open doors of possibility; for its hope of new beginnings. Stir up in our hearts the desire to make the very most of today’s opportunities. Do not let us break any of yesterday’s promises, or leave unrepaired any of yesterday’s wrongs. Do not let us see anyone in distress and pass by on the other side. Give us the strength to confront any mountain of duty, gap of boredom, or bad habit. Where an action of ours can make this world a better place, where a word of ours can cheer a sad heart or strengthen a weak will, where a prayer of ours can serve Jesus’ kingdom, there let us act and speak and pray.

This day O Lord—

Give us courtesy;

Give us both gentleness of demeanor and decisiveness of character;

Give us patience;

Give us love;

Give us self-control and faithfulness in our relationships;

Give us sincerity in our speech;

Give us diligence in the work you have given us to do.

O Father, who when the time was right raised up our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ to enlighten our hearts with the knowledge of your love, grant us the grace to be worthy of his name. Through Christ Jesus. Amen.

The Grace of Limitations

When we accept our limitations, we begin to recognize grace. This week, we pray this prayer adapted from Ernest Campbell, for one another and our neighbors. A prayer that limitations would not be fought against but embraced, and that the reciprocating grace be a warm comfort.

Together we pray,

Because we did not make ourselves;

Because we do not keep ourselves;

Because we cannot save ourselves;

Our hearts reach out to you, Our Father God.

We thank you for our creation, preservation, and redemption:

for the hills to climb,

the burdens to carry,

the temptations to resist,

and fears to overcome.

We thank you for all that helps us in our pilgrimage:

the remembrance of those who walked this way before us and did it well;

signs of your presence, often in unlikely places, giving us to know that we are not alone;

the unanswerable logic of lives given over to your service in selfless love;

the work of your Holy Spirit in our minds and hearts, uniting for us the Jesus of history and the Christ of faith.

With all that lies within us, we acclaim your goodness and speak your praise,

Through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Amen.

Running Out

We are now over a month into the global pandemic's impact on our daily routines and lively-hoods. The first week was a surreal mixture of fear and disbelief, the second week a surge of energy filled us as we braced for the changes, the third week the monotony set in, and now we are beginning to feel the drain of resources—emotionally, mentally, relationally, financially. It is for those who feel the reserves depleting that we pray this prayer adapted from Earnest Campbell:

We embrace in our prayers today those who live with a sense of running out of what they need:

those who are running out of time, their dreams still unfulfilled;

those who are running out of patience, wondering how long they can endure;

those who are running out of health, who feel their powers waning day by day;

those who are running out of money, who’ve lost income and unsure when it will return;

those who are running out of love, finding it easier all the time to accuse and criticize and isolate and hate.

Our Father, who alone can keep us from runn, whose power is unbounded: where our and our faith family’s and our neighbors’ reserves are low, fill us again, for we wish to endure all the way to the very end.

Through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Amen.

A Heart Like Jesus

This week, as we reflect on and celebrate the death and resurrection of Jesus, let us join in praying for one another that we might have the same heart that compelled Jesus to do what he did for our sake, and that having a heart like Jesus we to might do what is necessary for one another and our neighbors.

This is an adapted prayer from John Ballie.

O Heavenly Father, give us a heart like the heart of Jesus, a heart more ready to serve than be served, a heart moved by compassion towards the weak and oppressed, a heart set upon the coming of Your kingdom in the world of women and men.

We pray now, O God, for all the different kinds of people to whom Jesus gave special concern and care when he was on earth:

For those needing food or drink or clothes;

For the sick and all those who are wasted by disease of the body, of the mind, and of the soul;

For the blind, physically and spiritually ;

For the disabled;

For people suffering from life-shattering diseases;

For prisoners in cells made of bars, cells made of fear, and cells made of pride;

For the homeless and all the lost sheep of our society;

For all victims of sexual exploitation and abuse;

For the lonely;

For all the single parents;

For the worried and the anxious;

For those who are living faithful lives in obscurity;

For those who are fighting bravely for unpopular causes;

For all those who are working diligently for you throughout your world.

Grant, O Father, that your loving kindness in giving us so much may not make us less sensitive to the needs of others less fortunate, but rather move us to lay their burdens on our hearts. If we should experience adversity, help us not to brood on our sorrows, as if we were alone in the world of suffering; but rather help us to take time serve, with compassion, those who need our help. Let the power of our Lord Jesus Christ be strong within us and his peace invade our spirit.

Amen.

First Impulse

We are entering another week of distancing that requires us to work from home, teach from home, and wait under the pressures of what is and might be. Patience runs short, and anxieties simmer in these "Groundhog Days." So, let us pray with and for one another that our first impulse be to start and continue our days aware of the presence of our eternal Father and all he brings with him.

The following is adapted from a prayer by John Ballie.

Eternal Father of our souls, let our first thought today be of you, let our first impulse be to worship you, let our first word be your Name, let our first action be to kneel before you in prayer.

For your perfect wisdom and perfect goodness;

For the love you have for all people;

For the love you have for us;

For the great and mysterious opportunity of our lives;

For your Spirit, who dwells in our hearts;

For the gift of a spirit of power, love, and sound mind;

We praise and worship you, O Lord.

Do not let us think that our worship is ended when this prayer is finished, and then spend the rest of our day forgetting you. Rather, from these quiet moments, let light and joy and power pour out and remain with us through every hour of these days.

May the light and joy and power:

Keep our thoughts pure;

Keep us gentle and truthful in all we say;

Keep us faithful and diligent in our work;

Keep us humble in our opinions of ourselves;

Keep us honorable and generous in our dealings with others;

Keep us kind in our interactions with those in our homes;

Keep us mindful of our eternal destiny as your children.

O, Father, you have been the refuge of your people through many generations; be our refuge in every moment and every need that we face during these days. Be our guide through all uncertainty and darkness. Be our guard against all that threatens our physical, mental, and spiritual well-being. Be our strength in times of testing. Cheer our hearts with your peace; through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Amen.

Yearning & Praise

This week, we will pray two prayers together. These prayers are meant to be prayed in sequence, one with the other for one another. My encouragement is to pause only momentarily between the two, taking a deep breath and remembering that what you are speaking to God on behalf of others, is being spoken for you also.

These prayers are adapted from Ernest T. Campbell.

PRAYER I

With yearnings that we cannot fully identify, much less describe; with fears too personal to voice; harboring hostilities of which e are ashamed; and weighted with a sense of guilt for having done so little with so much; we make bold now to pray for ourselves:

teach us what it means to live in you,

to rest in you,

to hope in you;

let your presence fill those homes where death has come;

let your wisdom fall like a gentle rain on the parched souls of

all who are confused;

let your warming, healing light kindle trust in those who are

sick or could be sick or in any way afflicted;

let your joy overcome the dolefulness of those who have

forgotten how to laugh.

Shape your grace around our inmost needs, O God. Do not give us over to ourselves. Strive with us yet a little longer, for we love you and desire to serve you fully.

Through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

PRAYER II

We thank you, God, that praise is therapy, and gratitude the medicine of the soul. At least for the time it takes to pray, we set our minds on your mercies and give up feeling sorry for ourselves. You have blessed us with the gift of life:

surrounded us with friends;

trusted us with responsibility;

endowed us with conscience;

provided us with all things needful;

and set your love upon us.

Here within this quiet moment, we remember those whose sacrifices have and are securing the good that we enjoy:

parents, teachers, and health care workers

artists, inventors, and those keeping essential functions going

scholars, city workers, and prophets old and new.

Chiefly we remember Jesus Christ:

his selfless life;

his voluntary death;

his victorious resurrection;

and his continuing power to save.

Our praises rise to you, form whom our blessings come.

Through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

A Prayer For You

The prayer this week was written for you by Chaz. As you read this prayer, do so with the knowledge that not only he but also others in your faith family are praying this prayer for you, even as you will be praying it for them.

Father, we pray that you would give us eyes to see and ears to hear Your work in the coming days and weeks:

all that you are healing, 

all that you are redeeming, 

all that you are restoring.

During these most difficult times as families are made to stay at home, as schools and workplaces close, as many common luxuries are taken away, as so much of what we take for granted as a part of ordinary life is removed, we pray that you, Lord, would redeem these times. We pray for that:

marriages would be restored, 

relationships reconciled 

emotional, psychological, and spiritual wounds would be healed. 

For all who worry about finances over the coming weeks and months we pray that you would grow our faith and strengthen our trust in you. That you would provide in ways we are not expecting, and through the relationships you have gifted us.

Father, we do not overlook or minimize the real and present suffering that potentially awaits so many of us—in our homes, workplaces, finances, in our families and in our city—but rather, we know and we trust that you are in our sufferings with us, alongside us, and that you are not blind or indifferent to the pain, to the worry, anxiety, or stress that we feel. We know that you are in the midst of these difficulties and we simply ask that as you take what is evil and use it for good, that as you take what for many feels hopeless and bring hope, that you grant us eyes to see and ears to hear Your saving work.

May you get all the glory, praise, and honor,

Amen.

PRAYING TO BE TOGETHER

We are all praying that the thing that keeps us from being together would come to an end, and that is a worthwhile prayer! And while we pray to be together again without the prevailing fears of this moment, we can actually pray as a means of being together—in spirit if not in body.

There are two “types” of prayers we can pray to share life, even if at a bit of a distance. The first is praying specifically, by name, for one another. It starts with willingly sharing our needs, issues, and praises with one another. This allows us to know the particulars, and if you know the particular things to pray for those in your Gospel Community, then pray those. If you don’t have particulars, or particulars for everyone, pray your sisters and brothers into a scripture. For example, one my favorites to pray people into is Ephesians 3:14-19:

Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named, according to the riches of your glory, grant ___ to be strengthened with power through your Spirit in ___'s inner being, so that Christ may dwell in ___’s heart through faith—that ___, being rooted and grounded in love, may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that ___ may be filled with the fullness of you God. Amen.

The second “type” of prayer that is a means for being together, is sharing a “set prayer" together. When you pray these words, reflect on the fact that you are praying the same words, perhaps even at the same time, as your faith family. You are praying with one voice, in one Spirit, to our one Father in heaven.

A set prayer can be a passage of scripture or an “edited” or “crafted” prayer like the set prayer we are praying together this week. This prayer is adapted for our time and place from a collection of prayers written by Ernest T. Campbell for his faith family in New York City in the 1960’s-70’s.

We pray today for all who work to bring your healing to the sick and to the anxious:

doctors, nurses, and technicians;

hospital administrators and health officials;

orderlies and researchers;

dependable volunteers;

and thoughtful neighbors.

Our Father who sent your Son among us as the great physician,

grant that the Spirit of Jesus may govern and guard

all who touch our sick in any way.

May the strength of our nation be found in the generous provisions

made for those suffering—physically and mentally.

Let those of us who are a strong bear the infirmities of the week,

and thus fulfill the law of Christ.

Through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Let us, in our prayers, be together.