Prayer 525

Yosemite Valley

We worship You, O God. Our strength comes from Your abundant Love, that gives us hope to press on toward our goal. 

You call us to faithfulness: let us always trust in Your abounding grace. 
You call us to compassion: let us always love one another. 
You call us to action: let us work for justice and peace as love made manifest. 

Give us eyes to see clearly, minds to discern justly, hearts to love freely, and hands to work unceasingly. Give hope to those who are troubled, wisdom to those who seek a path, and comfort to those who suffer, especially those we now name.

Amen.

Prayer 524

Rainbow falls, Yosemite.

We praise your Wisdom, O God, that sings to us in creation! We thank You for this world in all its beauty and wonder. 

Teach us to be trustworthy stewards of your living Earth, to walk gently and humbly upon it. 

Give us faith that grows as the grass in the meadows. 

Teach us to care for each other as brothers and sisters, making each others’ burdens our own. Let us rejoice together, work together, pray together, and mourn together. 

Send your healing Spirit upon these for whom we now pray.

Amen.

Prayer 523- for the Unity of Faithful People

 

Violet flower, Osage Forest of Peace

(On the beginning of Ramadan)
God of peace, let us waken the dawn with our prayers and praises, illumined by your love. May our faith in You unite us in holiness and mutual respect, driving away all rancor or contention. May we be drawn into brotherhood with all who serve You, and call upon You by many names. May we speak to each other in love, and pray together for peace and amity. O Blessed One, bring us within your embrace, and look with favor upon those we now name.

Amen.

Prayer 522- the Beauty of Creation

Pink wildflower, Osage Forest of Peace, Sand Springs, OK

Creator God, we come before You in awe for the works of Your Hands which sustain us in each moment and breath. You set the stars in their courses- help us follow the paths of peace and justice this day. You clothe the lilies of the field in beauty-- help us to put on the raiment of righteousness and walk humbly with our companions. Your eye is on the sparrow- watch over those who are in need, sorrow, or pain, especially these we now name.

Amen.

Prayer 521

Wildflower, Osage Forest of Peace, Sand Springs, OK

O God, we bless and thank you for guiding us through the watches of the night. O Lord, help us to bloom where we are planted today. Help us to seek to serve You in serving others. Help us to love others and treasure them without wanting to fix them. Help us to be grateful for all that we receive, and open our hearts to your Spirit. Casting ourselves upon your mercy and benevolence, we lay before You our prayers and thanksgivings.

Amen.

Prayer 520

Mission window, Trinity Church, Tulsa

O God, look with favor upon your servants today. 

Let us turn our hearts toward those who, in the midst of plenty, are in want in body or soul. Let us hunger for justice and redemption as much as we hunger for nourishment. 

Let us remember how love has blessed us in our lives, and let go of discontent and rancor. Help us to stop building a mountain of our resentments, and dwell instead within the mansion of our blessings. 

Give your protection to those who are in danger from the heat this day, and let us work to give them shelter as our own. Comfort those whose needs we bring before You.

Amen.

Prayer 519- Feast of the Nativity of St. John

Along the path- Osage Forest of Peace, Sand Springs, OK

(Feast of the Nativity of John the Baptist)
Lord, open our ears to hear your Good News, that we may act upon it. May we trust your promises always, remembering your power and goodness. May we hear the voice from the wilderness, especially when we are the ones who have gone astray. Let us repent and turn from our sins and hardness of heart. Let us sing out our blessings and bear witness to God's grace in sending us God's Son. O God, lift us up before You and in your mercy hear our prayers, especially for those we now name.

Amen.

Letting God Open Our Eyes: Speaking to the Soul, June 23, 2014

A beautiful little wildflower at Osage Forest of Peace in Sand Springs, OK.

Genesis 21:8-21

Psalm 86:1-10, 16-17

Matthew 10:24-39

I spent several days last week at a lovely retreat center called the Osage Forest of Peace near my hometown of Tulsa. One of the favorite things to do there during the early morning hours is to walk over the hiking trails that wind behind the retreat center over nearly forty acres.

Now, given that this was during the very end of spring in Oklahoma, it is also copperhead season, so I had a tendency to look at the ground often to see if any dangers lurked along the path ahead of me. I was working on notes for the lectionary readings for Sunday so they could be sent to the members of the group that meets each week to discuss them on Sunday during Christian education. But also, I’ll be honest, I was lost in thought about a problem. And strangely, I began to notice all kinds of beautiful tiny wild flowers, almost all of them varying shades of purple, all of them no longer than two inches. They were easily missed, and seemingly insignificant. But they were also amazing. And to see them, I had to open my eyes.

That same phrase was used in one of the readings in the lectionary from yesterday. Hagar and her son Ishmael have been cast out into the wilderness, despairing, thinking that she and her child were about to die of thirst. And yet, God opens her eyes: and there is a well. In fact, both of Abraham’s sons are saved at the brink of disaster when someone’s eyes are opened: in a couple of chapters, Abraham will be on the brink of sacrificing Isaac, only to look up and see a ram caught nearby, ready to take Isaac’s place as the sacrifice.

I was thinking about Hagar’s story, and Jesus’s reminder in Sunday’s gospel that sparrows were sold two for a penny, yet even they would not fall to the ground without the notice of God. While I had been looking for danger, and probably not doing that very well because I was also distracted, my eyes were opened to all kinds of miracles along a dry and rocky path.

Sometimes, we focus on the problems, and forget about the blessings. Sometimes we feel insignificant, and that our needs or concerns are being overlooked. And then, God provides us something to remind us that God is listening, and that we shouldn’t be so preoccupied with concerns that we forget to look around us and really see the hand of God in our lives. Sometimes miracles are more showy: the well of water is right there, another sacrifice is found, yes, but also the baby leaves the NICU, the car wheels find purchase as they spin on the rain-slicked curve, the surgery turns out well.

It’s often that way. We go about our business, plugging along and not paying much attention to what is going on around us. And smaller miracles appear, but still important: here are tiny flowers, blooming where no one might ever see them, yet they bloom anyway. Yet there are often hidden miracles—we only have to look up and open our eyes.

(This was first posted at the Episcopal Cafe's Speaking to the Soul on June 23, 2014.)

Prayer 518

Web, Osage Forest of Peace, Sand Springs, OK

Abundant One: we rise from our rest with our faces set toward this day you have made: illuminate our spirits with your truth and beauty. May we always sing out our joy for the wonders of the Lord, whose mercy extends forever. Bring us to reconciliation with all those whom we have wronged, and help us to walk blamelessly from this moment. Help us to rid ourselves of all that keeps us from following You, Blessed Savior, for your way is the way of abundance. Make us grateful and grace-filled disciples, that our lives might sing out your goodness and be a testimony of praise. Enfold us within your Love, O Blessed Trinity, and comfort to all who suffer in body, mind, or spirit.

Amen.

Prayer 517- for true worship and service

Cross, Osage Forest of Peace, Sand Springs, OK

All-Merciful God, we come into your sanctuary today, praising your Name with angels and saints: guide us forth to do your will. 

May we come before your altar reconciled and at peace with all in our lives, forgiving and forgiven. 

May we hear your Word with joy and in the Spirit of Truth. 

May we join hands around your table, remembering our Savior, determined to gain solace and strength to take up our work with joy. 

May we make building your kingdom in the hearts of all our sole occupation. 

Help us to open our hearts to the abundant love and grace that flows from You, O Lover of Souls. Bless all who call out to You, and bear up the faithful and the seeking upon angels’ wings.

Amen.

Prayer 516

Mission window, Trinity Tulsa

O God, You designed all of creation to live in community and mutual dependence with one another. Thank You for the sure foundation of love and companionship that reminds us of Your unfailing love for us. Thank You for friendship and harmony that uplifts us in times of joy and in times of trial. Help us to walk together in mutual love and support, depending always upon your providence. Help us treat each other with grace, with gratitude, and with generosity each day of our lives. Help us to strengthen each other as You strengthen these for whom we pray today.

Amen.

Prayer 515

Window at Trinity Church, Tulsa

Inspired by Matthew 18: 21-35
Almighty God, let our praises and thanksgiving ring out to the hills and fill the valleys, for You are our God. We praise You and bless You, O Merciful One, for your forgiveness that washes over our spirits. We humbly beg your pardon, and the pardon of those we have hurt or wronged. Teach us to love You, and each other, without limit, without fear or rancor. Teach us to root ourselves in kindness, to transcend our pettiness and selfishness. Forgive us our manifold sins and failures, and may forgiveness and healing well up within us. May we forgive as You have loved us. From the desert of our pain, fear, or uncertainty, may we seek the oasis of your love and healing.

Amen.

Prayer 514

The Good Shepherd- Trinity Tulsa

(Inspired by Matthew 18:10-20)
O Shepherd, we give thanks that You call us each by name: help us to turn to You in faithfulness when You call. Guard us from the wolf at the door and the wolf within our hearts. All like sheep we have gone astray, yet You have brought us through the perils of the bramble and the snare. Hear us when we cry to You, and lift us upon your shoulders when we grow weary. Bring us to the day when we sing out our joy at the recovery of the lost, for You are ever seeking us out in steadfast love. Enfold us within your arms, O Loving One, and with a word banish all our cares and pain, for our trust is in You. Hear the concerns of our hearts.

Amen.

Prayer 513

O Sheltering God, we are your children: may we draw near to You to receive your blessing and benediction. Let us examine all our actions, that they may not cause any of your beloved children to stumble or lose their way. We cast ourselves upon your arms of forgiveness, Blessed Savior, and humbly as pardon for all our faults. 

May we always remember that we proclaim ourselves your people, and we are the face of Christ in the world. Give us the open-heartedness of children, and let us always seek to learn and be guided by your Holy Spirit. Give us the wisdom of children, and let us always act out of love and generosity of spirit. May we love and treasure each other in Your Name, O God: Creator, Sustainer, and Redeemer. 

Have mercy upon us as we walk our pilgrim path, O God, and hear the prayers of your people as we remember the needs of our brothers and sisters, and all our fellow-creatures.

Amen. 

Prayer 512

Petunia detail

Merciful God, we come before You, humbled by your gifts of love and mercy. We thank You for the blessing of friends and companions, part of the Love with which You encircle us. Make us seekers of wisdom, and let that wisdom take root in our hearts as love and service to your Truth. Let us always put our trust in God, whose mercy endures forever. Guide us into righteousness and hope, Loving One, especially those who earnestly seek a deeper knowledge of You. Extend your hand of blessing over those we now name.

Amen.

From Speaking to the Soul: Singing Creation into Being

Glory to God, who is making the heavens and the earth: http://www.episcopalcafe.com/thesoul/daily_reading/singing_the_dawn_into_being.html

Prayer 511

Almighty, Most-High, Redeeming God, we sing out our praise for your faithfulness, and our gratitude for your mercy. Gather to You all who wander, for You are the Way, the Truth, and the Life. 

Make our souls like well-watered gardens, bearing fruit of the spirit to nourish us in our quest to be your disciples in word and deed. For You are the Ground of our Being, O Savior, and we find our rest and our strength within your arms of healing and forgiveness. 
Drive far from us all pettiness and anger; let us do what we can to be a blessing to others and to your Name. 

May our thanksgivings reach to the heavens; may our thoughts be on your abundant grace as we go about our day. Spread your canopy of love and comfort over all who are in the shadow of hopelessness or despair, and soothe those who cry to You, especially those we now name.

Amen.

Prayer 510- Trinity Sunday and Father's Day

Trinity Window from Christ Church Cathedral, St. Louis

Holy God, Father of us all, we ask you to purify us that we may serve you before your altar today. Cast your arms of love and reconciliation around us, that we remember our place within your heavenly family. Guide us by your Spirit to walk the ways of truth, justice and love through the example of your Son our Savior Jesus Christ. Help us to embrace the fathers of our own families who are with us today, and remember those who are gone from us. Give us strength and courage to love and serve You in each moment of our lives, and the wisdom to act in the name of Christ. Shield the joyous and bless the suffering, Lord Christ, and extend your hand of healing over those we now name.

Amen.

A Prayer for Fathers- Father's Day

My father, whose nickname was "Short" for obvious reasons, is on the right, with his twin brother on the left.

Prayer for fathers 

Loving God, we thank you for fathers. We thank you for biological fathers, adopted fathers, and fathers in spirit. We thank you for fathers who work hard every day to help fulfill the needs of their families, who fix broken things and teach us how to do it ourselves, who embrace us and guide us, who love us even when they don't understand us. We know they reflect and embody your love for us as our heavenly Father. Comfort those of us who miss our fathers this day, and strengthen and bless those fathers who work so hard to love, protect, and nurture their families this day and every day. Amen.

Prayer 509- For Transformation

Preparing for confirmation, May 17, 2014

(inspired by Matthew 17:1-13)
O God, You reveal yourself to us again and again: come rest in our hearts and set them aflame for your service. Transform our hearts that they may lead us into deeper discipleship and worship. Send us out to honor and care for all within your creation: may we join with all living things in worshiping your Holy Name. Let us not just seek to remain on holy ground, but go forth, to proclaim the love of God in every act. Spread your mantle over those who are suffering in body, mind, or spirit, O Loving One. Grant your benediction and guidance for all who seek a clearer path through today.

Amen.