Pause for Prayer: THURSDAY 1/29

Deliver us, Lord...

From focusing on struggles

    and denying resolutions,

        deliver us, Lord...

From stalling at roadblocks

    and yielding our right to progress,

        deliver us, Lord... 

 

From dwelling on  problems

    and diminishing our blessings,

        deliver us Lord... 

 

From rehearsing all our troubles

    and missing their solutions,

        deliver us, Lord... 

 

From drowning in self-pity

    and refusing others' help,

        deliver us, Lord... 

 

From hiding in our sadness

    and declining joy's persuasion,

        deliver us, Lord... 

From presuming only bad news

    and expecting nothing more,

        deliver us, Lord... 

 

From whatever keeps us

    from believing in your love,

    from trusting in your faithfulness,

    from putting all our hope in you,   

    from leaning on your strength,

    from walking in your footsteps

    from living by your wisdom

from all that keeps us from your peace, 

    deliver us, O Lord... 

 

From ourselves and from our selfishness,

    deliver us, O Lord... 

 

From the tyranny of lawlessness,

    deliver us, O Lord...

 

From violence in our city streets,

     deliver us, O Lord...

 

From the hatred tearing us apart,

    deliver us, O Lord...

 

Without your grace we lose our way,

    apart from you we have no hope,

in you alone we find the peace

    to heal and fill our hearts and souls... 

 

Deliver us, O Lord,

    yes, in your kindness and your mercy,

        deliver us, O Lord... 

 

Amen.

 

Deliver Me by Aaron Shust

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NIGHT PRAYER: Wednesday 1/28

I pray tonight for peace, Lord:

    the peace the whole world needs;

    the peace each heart desires;

    the peace that only you can give...

And if I may be bold, Lord:

I seek a deep peace:

    a deep abiding peace;

    a peace that does not fade

        but invades us to our very core;

    a peace that heals a broken heart,

        that mends a torn relationship,

        that calms and soothes a troubled soul,

        restoring trust where hope was all but lost...

 

I seek the peace our hearts were made for, Lord:

    peace to quench our deepest thirst

        for mercy, love and joy 

    and that gracious, blessed assurance

    that we are yours and called to share

       your everlasting life...

Deep peace, Lord:

    long enduring - not pro tem;

    embedded, rooted - here to stay;

    deeply healing - not a band-aid;

    peace we cannot make ourselves,

    peace whose only source is you...

Deep peace, Lord:

    ocean deep and heavens high,    

    from the depths of your own heart,

    greater than the peace we dream

    and yet the peace for which we pray...   

 

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.

 

Only one hymn could end this prayer! 

Deep Peace by John Rutter, 

   performed by Libera

 

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Pause for Prayer: WEDNESDAY 1/28

 

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NIGHT PRAYER: Tuesday 1/27

I see with eyes of faith, Lord, and so I see

    what many others might not see...

 

I see you in the scriptures,

    in chapter, book and verse and every word...  

 

I see you in the saving waters

    flowing from baptism's font...

      

I see you in the bread and wine

    become your blood and body...

 

I see you in your people gathered,

    one in praise and prayer and peace...

 

I see you where love may be found

    for you are God and God is love...

 

I see you when a word, a deed of mercy

    mends and heals...

 

I see you in creation, Lord: 

    dying every winter and rising every spring...    

 

I see you in the pain I know

    in body, mind and spirit

and I see you in the grace

    that lifts me up and sets me free...

 

I see you when my eyes are closed

    as well as when they're open; 

I see you in the light of day

    and in my sleepy dreams...

 

And in those times when I can't see

    - when fear and worry blind me -

it's then I see most clearly,

    when I see with eyes of faith...     

  

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. 

 

We Walk By Faith by Marty Haugen 

 

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Pause for Prayer: TUESDAY 1/27

Image source

 

Over the next 24 hours, Lord,
    open my eyes and open my ears
    to all you want me
    to see and hear…

Open my mind

    to what's wise and true 
and my heart to all
    you call me to love…

Open my hands

    to help those in need

    of my presence and strength,

    compasion and comfort...
 

Open my mouth

    to speak the words, 

    the healing words,
    that others may need 

    to hear from me...

Open my soul

    to find a time, to make the time,

    to find a place to sit with you 

    in the silence
    where I might open my heart to you

    and all you're waiting to give me... 

      

And when I want to give in,

when I want to give up, 
when I want to shut down
    then open me up and refresh my spirit
    and help me begin again and again
    - and again and again and again -

    to open my heart to you... 

Amen.

 

Here's My Heart by Casting Crowns

 

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NIGHT PRAYER: Monday 1/26

 

O, Lord!

You've spent the day snowing us in, 

    slowing our steps

        - and hitting our pause button...

And sometimes, Lord, that's just what we need.

We need to be interrupted,

    inconvenienced, stopped in our tracks

        by the pure, soft beauty of your presence, 

settling gently, flake by snowy flake,

    dressing us and all around

        in a garment of pure grace...

Let the snow fall on our upturned faces, Lord,
    and like children catching snow flakes on the tongue,
        we'll taste the sweetness of your wintry gift...

Photo: Jeff Holmes

And snow angels, Lord!

Have we grown too old 

    for making angels in the snow?

Send some snowy angels, then, 

    to make of us the children

        you made us all to be...

 

   

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Let your touch melt our souls, Lord,

as the snow chills our limbs

and draw us to your heart

where the fire of your love

burns with snapping, crackling beauty,

bright and warm, this wintry night...

And remind us, Lord,

of those burdened by the cold

and those who serve and shelter them,

- and those who plow and clear our streets

making safe our way from here to there

and back to home again...

And when the snow's been shoveled
and our pace is quick again,
keep us mindful of these moments
when the blanket of your presence
calmed and warmed our shivering hearts
and brought us close to you...

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.

(Two musical offerings tonight: the first as playful as snow angels - enjoy! and the second, as prayerful and reflective as new fallen snow...)

 

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Let It Snow by Alfonso Gugliucci

 

Winter Solitude by Ekaterina

 

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Pause for Prayer: MONDAY 1/26

 

Monday Morning Offering will return next week!

 

Forgive us, Lord, when we allow
the snow to rule our lives

even when it measures not in inches 

- but in feet... 

 

Forgive us, Lord, for stocking up 

on comfort food and alcohol
when all year 'round, without relief,
so many perish, hungry...

 

Forgive us, Lord, for griping 

'bout the frost and wind and chill 
when we have so much warmth to spare
and others - none at all... 

Forgive us our obsessing
over troubles small and passing
when neighbors 'round the world

are struggling daily - to survive...

 

Forgive us our not knowing
names of countries torn by war,
where danger fear and terror
threaten life each night and day... 

 

Forgive us our anxiety
for football and the playoffs
when greater crises everywhere
deserve our keen attention...

Give us some perspective, Lord,
to see how blessed we are:
how much we have to give away
and all we have to share...

Make us grateful and aware, Lord,

of all that we've been given:

all we have in great supply, 

the bounty that is ours...

 

Make us generous, freely giving, Lord,

until we really we feel it,
'til we feel the want ourselves and know

at last - we've served you well... 

 

Amen. 

 

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NIGHT PRAYER: Sunday 1/25

This Third Sunday in Ordinary Time is annually observed (more often in theory than in practice) as Word of God Sunday  Our prayer this evening asks the Lord to speak a word, a word of good news, a word we need, a word we can hear and understand...

A word from you always lifts me, up, Lord

    so I'm praying for a word or two night...

Lift me up with a word of faith
   to help me trust in your presence,
      and your desire to free me from fear...

Lift me up with a word of love
   to help me see your image
      dwelling in my soul...

Lift me up with a word of hope
   to cut the darkness with your light
      and help me trust the peace you offer...

Lift me up with a word of light
   to help me see where you would lead
      and what you ask of me this day...

Lift me up with a word of healing
   to soothe the ache within my soul,
      the hurt within my heart...

Lift me up with a word of trust:
   trust in those who counsel me, who care for me
      and guide me when I'm lost...

Lift me up with a word of peace
   to free my soul from all that troubles me
       and locks me in my fears...

Lift me up with a word of wisdom
   to clear my mind of all that keeps me
      from trusting in your promise...

Lift me up with a word of strength
   when I am weak and cannot move
      for fear of stumbling, falling, failing...

Lift me up with a word of mercy:
   refresh my heart and soul
      with the grace that only you can give...

Lift me up with a word of wonder
   to open my mind and heart again
      to believe in beauty wherever I find it...

Lift me up with a word of courage
   to speak what's in my heart today
      and take the path I need to walk...

Lift me up with a word of joy
   in play and laughter, prayer and song,
      in friendship, care and love...

Lift me up with a saving word   

   to raise my soul from loneliness
      and fill my heart with peace...

 
Lift me up with a word from you, Lord,
   to help me trust you know my name
      and all I need to live and love...

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.

 

Your Words by Third Day

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Pause for Prayer: SUNDAY 1/25

 

In the last couple of days, a friend posted the photo above, taken at Plum Island Beach in Newburyport, MA, and I immediately wrote asking for his permission to post it on my blog - Mike Sierra graciously said yes.  I wasn't sure when or how I'd use the photo but it's stark beauty told me I'd find a way, a reason.  Then another friend posted the reflection below and, upon request, Gregory Maguire  told me I could share it on my page.  It didn't take me too long, then, to pair the picture with the words.  I find each of them alone and both of them together to be a rich source for prayerful reflection.  I hope you do, too.  

 

"I now think of the time ahead 

as less of an ocean and more of a receding sea, 

perhaps sooner or later turning into quicksand..."

This is the day the Lord has made.

A day I might have rued.

Not a summer's day, to which 

comparison is a dicey proposition 

- almost nobody can win in that beauty pageant.

 

But as I once noticed an elderly Cambridge friend of mine 

drawing in her horizons 

- finding Norway too far away, then Manhattan, 

and then even the Harvard Faculty Club by taxi 

a bit of a campaign, so let's eat in 

- I now think of the time ahead as less of an ocean 

and more of a receding sea, 

perhaps sooner or later turning into quicksand.

 

I don't have a five year plan, 

but usually I have a five minute plan.

And sometimes do something else 

because I get distracted, like a dog on the sidewalk 

sensing something unnerving or curious. 

 

A conundrum, a holy mystery, 

this mathematical proposition:

regard and gratitude for the time to be lived in 

doesn't shrink with the portion size. 

 

Not unlike, I suppose, 

the capacity to take a new person into your love

regardless of how committed you are 

to everyone you've ever met. 

"The heart has infinite room inside it."

 

Today the volume expands to include 

a five year old boy with a backpack

and his family.

So the day is full of sorrow.

 

And yet I'm still grateful for the daylight, 

which seems obscene.

 

This is not a poem.

Just some thoughts 

as I'm in a doctor's examination room

in a holding pattern.

Waiting for therapy, relief, good news, and mercy.

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