Caring for Each Other

Nurturing, loving God, walk with each of us now as the parent who knows us best, and delights in each step we take in our lives. Show us what You do to be so much for us. Show us who You are in every way possible so that we may replicate Yourself in our own behaviors toward each other. Caring for each other isn't as hard as we make it to be. Yet we do make this greatest gift from You a burden, something to sway away from at the most important times. Using what people look like, sound like and think like to excuse ourselves from being good neighbors, as You taught us through Jesus, doesn't excuse us from following that example and doing Your will. Expecting everyone to be like us before we offer support, food, shelter, kindness, even prayer, limits our own hearts from growing, and prevents a moment of hope from growing in someone else.

Forgive us, God, when we care more about what doesn't matter when we have the chance to act on what does. Thank you for the blessings with which You shower us all. Please help us open our hearts to being instruments of Your loving kindness. Amen.

Seeking Advice

Great Counselor, today I need Your advice. My heart is heavy with confusion, grief and despair. Where should I turn for direction, clarity, comfort and hope? Where do you reside in my world that I may find Your answers to the questions I am considering that seem to have no answers? If You are a refuge, God, please be my place of rest and hope now because I need Your solace and peaceful strength to sustain me. Please hear my concerns, please offer me wise counsel to see me through this time. Amen.

Transitions

In an ever-changing, ever-progressing world, I am grateful for the knowledge that You are always with me. Who You are never changes. Seasons, jobs, relationships, places we live, places we leave, remain constant in their rhythms, but cannot always be relied on to be as we perceive or remember them. I know that few things can be counted on, but You are one of those things. Indeed, You are the most important of all. Amen.

So We Are Called

Here I am God. Please send me, please use me, please let me be the one to do Your will. Please lead me to be a leader among Your people. Not just people who know You, but people who simply are a part of my life, people in my neighborhood, my community, who are in need or who want to share in making Your creation a wholly good and wonderful place for all of us. Please help me to do this work to which You have called me. But please, God, also gently encourage me to keep focused on You as my inspiration, my hope, my desire for all that is right, honorable and just. Your voice whispers my name and I hear You in my heart. Your spirit calls to me and I answer with grace in action toward my fellow travelers. Amen.

Thank You, God

Thank you, God, for Your peace which passes all our ability to understand. Thank you, God, for Your generosity, Your goodness and Your kindness at every turn. Thank you, God, for reaching out to us first, over and over again, as we continue this mutual relationship of love and trust with You each day. Thank you, God, for standing still, steady and firmly in place, as we fumble our way back to You when we have meandered off the path You have created for us to walk with You. Thank you, God, that we never have to wonder where You are. Amen.

Let Justice Roll Down

God of justice and mercy, welcoming Your presence into our lives means facing the simple truth that we are not always fair, kind, helpful or even decent toward one another, let alone just or merciful. We all too often believe justice is for those with whom we disagree, as in punishment and retribution that is seemingly deserved by human rules. Mercy is for people like us, people who didn't mean what they did or said, despite the results. The real truth, God, is that Your justice is based in and tempered by grace. Your mercy is fully measured with love. Please make us instruments of Your understanding, of how to see each other with Your heart and soul. Amen.

Always God

Sustainer God, we come to You today with all of who we are and have been in tow. Sometimes the weight of everyday routines become burdensome, tedious, overwhelming. We pray for something to shake us up, surprise us, enlighten us to newness of life. You never fail to hold us steadfast on the journey, through work, caring for ourselves and each other, tending to all the details that make up our days. You always remember to shower us with the delights of Your creation, extravagant and new each day. When we are tired, ready to give up or give in, take our hands, point to the sparkling, starry night, the pounding waves of the ocean and the dawning skies of morning. Direct us to keep looking for You and finding Your continuously creating spirit. Amen.