Prayers

Mid-week Prayer

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Read: John 5:1-9

Reflect: The Bible is full of all kinds of healing stories, especially stories of Jesus showing compassion on persons who are suffering in body, mind, or spirit. Yet not all who suffered were healed, and still others were healed in ways we might least expect. Not all wounds or scars can be seen; neither can we know the mind of God. But we can trust that the God whom Jesus reveals to the world desires to welcome and embrace us all, just as we are.

Prayer: Creator God, you made us all in your image. Help us to embrace one another as you do, beloved and blessed; not in need of fixing, but in need of authentic welcome. Bring healing where it is desired, affirmation where it is lacking, and awareness to all. Open our hearts to receive the gifts and needs of all people, and to become communities where everyone can find a place. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen. (from All Creation Sings, p. 52. ©2020 Augsburg Fortress, used by permission.)

WEBSITE WORD: Wholeness

Mid-week Prayer

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Read: Psalm 36:5-9

Reflect: It’s mid-February in central Montana. For a few days this week, we’ll experience some typical winter weather: near-zero cold, an inch or two of snow on the ground. But for most of this winter, we’ve had unseasonably warm weather with little or no moisture. Conversations around the coffee pot invariably include speculation on what this means for crops and livestock, and for the coming wildfire season. Water is essential to our existence no matter where we live, but we feel its absence more acutely the closer we live to the land.

The psalmist reminds us that God’s gifts extend not only to human beings, but to all plants and animals and to the earth itself. God’s steadfast love provides for the whole of creation: sunshine and oxygen, nutrients from the soil, and water – the fountain of life. May we be worthy stewards of such precious gifts!

Prayer: God, whose Spirit moved over the deep: We thank you for the gift of water – the waters on the earth, and under the earth, the waters above us, and within us. Make us mindful of the care of all the planet’s water, that it may richly sustain life for us and for those who come after us; through Jesus Christ, source of living water. Amen. (from All Creation Sings, p. 47. ©2020 Augsburg Fortress, used by permission.)

WEBSITE WORD: Splash!

THANKSGIVING

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Read:  Psalm 104

Reflect:  When you hear the word “Thanksgiving”, what images come to mind?  Is it a table loaded up with turkey, green bean casserole, pumpkin pie, and all the other fixings?  Do you picture a multi-generational family gathering?  A day of watching football or parades?  Or do you imagine a state of gratitude that shapes and guides your daily life?  Although the 1954 musical White Christmas is set in the days or weeks leading up to Christmas, Irving Berlin’s song “Count Your Blessings (Instead of Sheep)” seems appropriate for our Thanksgiving Day celebrations and for cultivating a daily spiritual practice of gratitude.  The words, in part, are these:  “When I’m worried, and I can’t sleep/ I count my blessings instead of sheep/ and I fall asleep counting my blessings…”  The author of Psalm 104 seems to share this sentiment.  The psalm is both an extensive recounting of the wonders of God’s creation, and a prayer of thanksgiving for God’s abundant provision and care. One can almost imagine the psalmist at the end of the day, counting God’s myriad blessings, and then falling gently to sleep with words of blessing and praise still on their lips!

Prayer:  Generous God, you lavishly bless your world and all its people.  In good times, and in challenging ones, you are faithfully at work bringing good from evil, light from darkness, and new life from that which is broken or dying.  Help me to set aside my doubts and fears.  Empower me to trust in the abundance of your goodness and mercy.  Make me truly grateful for each and every blessing that you offer.  Let me begin and end each day declaring, “Bless the Lord, O my soul!”  In the name of Jesus, your greatest blessing, I pray.  Amen.

A Prayer for a New School Year

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God of all Wisdom, we give you thanks for the beginning of a new year of learning.  Watch over and protect all students.  Give them a love of learning that will stay with them throughout their lives.  Let them find joy in discovering the wonders of your world.  Let them be amazed by the diversity of life that you have made. 

Thank you for teachers, bus drivers, administrative staff and aides who give so much of themselves to the care of our children and youth.  Thank you for faculty, staff, and administrators who work in campuses of higher education.  Give a spirit of patience and understanding to all who engage in the education process. 

We pray also for parents.  Ease the anxieties that can come when children are in multiple schools and locations.  Inspire them with the knowledge they need to encourage and model life-long learning.  Give them the energy and patience they need to navigate the demands of work, school and activity schedules.  Fill them with your abundant love.

All these things, and whatever else is needful in your sight, grant to us, gracious and loving God.  Amen.