9/6/26

NIGHT PRAYER: Sunday 9/6

 
On Sundays, Night Prayer takes its lead from some element in the day's liturgy.  All three readings at mass today (Ezekiel, Romans and Matthew) deal with fraternal correction offered in justice and in love. The political season we find ourselves in is rife with corrective rhetoric - not always of the kind the scriptures encourage...
 
This Labor Day weekend, Lord,
    so close to the mid-terms,
I'm thinking about some work I need to do...

I need to work harder at understanding folks
    whose politics are different from mine...  

I need to work at moving
   - beyond the slogans and sound bites 
   - through what I judge  
        to be half-truths and deceptions  
   - above the sarcastic and snarky, 
   - out of my own bias and prejudice
   - around my stubborn resistance, 
   - apart from my untested theses
   - and into the possibility that I might not be 
        the sole possessor of truth... 

I need to dig deeper, Lord,
    to see what the other side sees as good and just
        - where I don't see it at all...

I need to work harder, Lord,
    at accepting that others' beliefs, like my own, 
are based on reason, good will and justice 
    as they perceive and understand it...

I need to work at acknowledging:
   - that they're as sincere in their beliefs
         as my side is in ours
  - that not all the bad guys are on their side
         and not all the good guys are on mine
  - that neither side has all the answers:
       we're all sometimes right
          and we're all sometimes wrong...

So, that's the hard work ahead of me, Lord,
and to complete it I need to let go of
   - my pride and rigid intransigence,
   - the conviction that I am always right
   - the notion that some folks 
        have nothing to teach me
   - thinking I've sufficiently studied
        and though through all my positions
   - assuming you're surely on my side, Lord,
         and want nothing to do with the other...
 
That's a lot of work to do
    and to achieve I'll need some peace and quiet
        to ponder, study and seek the truth 
    so protect me, Lord, while I'm still awake
        and watch over me as I sleep
    that awake, I might keep watch with you
        and asleep, rest in your peace...

Amen.



Before You I Kneel: A Worker's Prayer 
    by Stuart Towned and Keith Getty

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Before You I kneel, my Master and Maker,
To offer the work of my hands.

For this is the day You've given Your servant;
I will rejoice and be glad
For the strength I have to live and breathe,
For each skill Your grace has given me,
For the needs and opportunities
That will glorify Your great name.
 
Before You I kneel and ask for Your goodness
To cover the work of my hands.
For patience and peace to shape all my labor,
Your grace for thorns in my path.
 
Flow within me like a living stream,
Wear away the stones of pride and greed
'Til Your ways are dwelling deep in me
And a harvest of life is grown.
 
Before You we kneel, our Master and Maker;
Establish the work of our hands.
And order our steps to seek first Your kingdom
In every small and great task.

May we live the gospel of Your grace,
Serve Your purpose in our fleeting days,
Then our lives will bring eternal praise
And all glory to Your great name.

  

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9/5/26

Pause for Prayer: SUNDAY 9/6

Image source
 
This Labor Day weekend, Lord,
I'm grateful for the world you created
and that I, too, am the work of your hands:
    you formed my inmost being, 

    you knit me in my mother's womb...  Psalm 139 
 
How can it be 
that you took the time,
    before time was,
to imagine my being,
to consider for even a moment
that I should exist:
    to conceive of me
    so long before I was conceived?
 
And then from my parents' love
you fashioned and made me
    in their image, yes,  
        but first in yours,
and gave me a soul 
    you'd given no other
and breathed in me the Spirit's gift,
    the breath of your own life...
 
How great are your works, O Lord, my God,
and how grateful am I 
that this life of mine
is truly the work of your hands...
 
And who am I, Lord, 
that you should ever be mindful of me
that you should ever care for me,
that you should eternally love me?
 
Yet you've crowned me 
with glory and honor:
    your love, my crown,
    your mercy, my glory,
    your grace, my unmerited honor...
 
Without you, Lord, 
    I am nothing;
without you,
    I am not...
 
You created me, Lord,
    and so it is now that I,  
        the work of your hands,
offer to you
    the work of my hands,
knowing that all that I have to give,
    from the first was your gift to me...
 
Every good thought of mine, O God,
    and every imagined word, 
    every possible plan I dream,
    and every gift I offer
is first the work 
    of your Spirit within me 
and yet you're pleased when I lift as gift
    what was your gift to me
        to begin with...
 
On this Labor Day weekend
I offer you, Lord, 
    all the work I've ever done, 
        and all that's yet mine to do
and I pray you accept it,
    knowing I'm humbled 
that I have a share in the work you do
    and you have a share in mine...
 
And I pray for those who have no work
    and for those whose work 
        is too much to bear:
lift up the unemployed, O Lord 
    and lighten the load of the weary...
 
I praise you, O God
    for the work you've begun
        in me, in my neighbor and all the world: 
bring all of your work to completion, O Lord,
    Creator of all that is good... 

Amen.
 

  

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Night Prayer: SATURDAY 9/5

 
Praying on Labor Day weekend...
 
O God, creator of the world,
the sun, the moon and the stars,
you chose to fashion us as your own, 
your handiwork of love...

Indeed, we are your hands’ own work
but into our careless hands,
you've placed the care
of every living thing...

In more ways, Lord, 
than we can count, 
our work builds up - or tears apart -
what came as gift from you to us...
 
Lest we harm the smallest part 
of all anything you've made,
keep us faithful in preserving
all you’ve given to our care...

Give us good and honest work to do
and rest at each day’s end;
let a fair and good day’s wage be paid
for a good day’s work well done...

Give us work to nurture and sustain
the ones who serve and those they serve
let those who labor work in peace,
in freedom, without fear...
 
Give those in need a job to do
and to the tired - well earned rest;
let all our work and toil, Lord,
give glory to your name....
 
Protect us, Lord, while we're awake
    and watch over us while we sleep
that awake, we might keep watch with you
    and asleep, rest in your peace...

Amen.

Before praying with tonight's song, take some time to name the work that's yours, that has been yours...  In what "fields and vineyards" have you been called to "sow, plant and reap?"  What are you "building" at home, at work, at school? in your marriage, in your family and friendships? in your neighborhood and community? Whatever shape or form your labor takes, that's the labor we sing in the lyrics of this song...

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Your Labor Is Not In Vain 
       performed by Sojourner Music

 

Your labor is not in vain 
Though the ground underneath you is cursed and stained 
Your planting and reaping are never the same 
But your labor is not in vain 
 
Your labor is not unknown 
Though the rocks they cry out and the sea it may groan 
The place of your toil may not seem like a home 
But your labor is not unknown 
 
    I am with you, I am with you 
    I am with you, I am with you 
    For I have called, called you by name 
    Your labor is not in vain 
 
The vineyards you plant will bear fruit 
The fields will sing out and rejoice with the truth 
For all that is old will at last be made new 
The vineyards you plant will bear fruit 
 
The houses you labor to build 
Will finally with laughter and joy be filled 
The serpent that hurts and destroys will be killed 
And all that is broken be healed   

  

  

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9/4/26

Pause for Prayer: SATURDAY 9/5

Sometimes, Lord...
 
Sometimes I find I worry
   - for nothing -
for nothing is all that worry can do...

And sometimes I find that yesterday's fears
   - were tamed -
while I slept through the night...

And sometimes I find I've somehow
   - survived -
last week's unsolvable problem...

Far too often I fail to trust 
    - you are with me -
through all of my sorrows and joys...
 
So, help me, Lord, to always remember
    - that all shall be well - 
that all manner of things
    in your good time shall be well,
        shall be well, shall be well... 

Amen.

  

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The view from my window

The lighthouse above is off the coast of Maine.  My sister and bro-in-law are taking me on a ten day cruise to the maritime provinces and the Saint Lawrence Seaway, ending in Quebec!  I'll be back in Boston on September 13! 

  

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NIGHT PRAYER: Friday 9/4

 
What an amazing gift, Lord!
What an unexpected blessing,
    a mercy undeserved: 
        you never tire of me!
 
You never tire of
    my persistent laziness,
    my unrelenting apathy,
    my purposeful indifference,
    my prejudiced opinions,
    my selfish lack of charity, 
    my altering the truth,
    my often foolish choices,
    my well-rehearsed bad habits,
    my reliable uncertainty;
    my knack for judging rashly,
    my unjust words and deeds, 
    my eagerness to criticize.
    my skills for self-indulgence,
    and my flair for mediocrity...
 
Your patience with me, Lord, is inexhaustible;
    your restraint, beyond compare;
    your forbearance, never-ending;
    your kindness, more than lavish, 
    your understanding, unfathomable, 
    your leniency, benevolent 
    and your mercy, wider, deeper
        than any I deserve...
 
All this because you, Lord, never tire
    of washing my slate clean,
    of giving me a second chance,
        (or third or fourth or more!)
    another opportunity 
        to try again to follow
            your wisdom, word and way.  
 
Wake me to your tireless love
    and let me not grow weary, Lord, 
of taking time each day
    to praise and bless your holy name
        by which I'm saved and freed.. 
 
Protect me, Lord, while I'm awake
    and watch over me while I sleep
that awake, I might keep watch with you
    and asleep, rest in your peace...
 
Amen. 
 
Tonight's song couldn't be any simpler or more true - you may want to listen a couple of times..
 
The Steadfast Love of the Lord by Dave Hunt
 
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The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases,
his mercies never come to an end,
they are new every morning, new every morning,
great is thy faithfulness, O Lord...
 

  

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9/3/26

Pause for Prayer: FRIDAY 9/4

Image source
 
What an amazing grace, Lord,
that I sit here with you
- you who dwell in the heavens -
and that you should choose to sit with me, 
as friends do
and that I should speak with you 
who shape the hearts of all...
 
You made my heart, Lord:
you knew its depths and chambers 
long before my birth...

In my mother's womb
you began to shape 
the heart that would be mine
'til its last beat 
and my last breath...
 
As clay in your sculpting hands
you've never ceased to shape my heart,
molding it carefully, 
to be more and more 
like yours...
 
You've shaped my heart 
to be filled with the mercy,
with the pardon and the peace 
you offer me every day...
 
You've kneaded my heart 
to make it strong
for work that's mine to do
and for the burdens I must carry...
 
You've mended my heart 
and healed its wounds
when sin and disappointment 
pierced the soul of who I am...
 
You've touched my heart with grace 
and blessed my heart with all it needs
to face each night and day...
 
You shape the hearts of all, Lord
- and mine no less than any;
you've considered all my deeds, 
the good and bad alike,
and called my heart to faithfulness,
compassion, truth and love...
 
How will you shape my heart today, Lord?

How will your fingers mold my heart
for this day's peace, this day's sorrow,
this day's tears and fears and joys?
 
And what word, Lord,
what word will you speak to my heart today?
What word do I need to hear? 
A word of truth? of insight?
a word of comfort or of challenge?  
a word of healing? a word of counsel?
 
Whatever word I need to hear, Lord:
open my heart 
to the whisper of your voice
in the quiet, in my mind, 
in my prayer, in my heart
and in all the world around me...
 
Oh, what an amazing grace Lord,
that I sit here with you,
that you should choose to sit with me
as friends do;
and that I should speak with you 
who shape the hearts of all...

Amen.

  

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Pause for Prayer: THURSDAY 9/3

Photo: John McGinty, Both Sides Now

Lord, help me find a quiet spot,
   a place of silent grace
where I can clear my troubled thoughts
   and you can soothe my soul...

Help me find a place to sit
   alone with you,
a place free of distractions,
   save for nature's beauty...

Help me find a place
   for us to meet,
where I can open up my heart
   and speak to you in prayer...

Lord, help me find the place
   where you already wait
for me to come and find the peace
   that only you can give...

Amen. 

  

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