Prayer 480

Almighty One, we bless your Holy Name: turn your face toward us as we bow before You! Let us sing praises to our God and Creator as long as there is breath in our bodies. 

What are we that you should take notice of us? We are your beloved children, and we rest within your love. You have chosen us since before time: let us be as steadfast in our love for You as You are for us. 

Therefore let us love one another as sisters and brothers of the Holy One, and be knit together in amity and peace. Consecrate us to your service, and let our hearts always be set upon You and your manifold gifts. 

Give your angels charge over those who work, or watch, or weep this day, O Loving One, and pour out your blessings upon those we now name.

Amen.

Prayer 479- For reconciliation

Almighty God, we thank You for forgiving us through the gift of grace for all our sins, missteps, and mistakes. 

We thank You for being with us when we ourselves have been hurt by that actions of others. Shield those who continue to suffer in body, mind, or spirit from wounds inflicted upon them. Heal them by Your immeasurable love that they may allow peace and forgiveness to take root in their hearts. 

Redeem those who have fallen into sin, anger, and violence, and bring them into the light of truth. Lead us into reconciliation with those we have hurt, and with those who have hurt us, that we may find serenity within us through your redeeming compassion. Place your hand of blessing upon all who rejoice this day, for your blessings are manifest. 

Lift up those who are anxious, mournful, or suffering, Loving One, and seal them as your own.

Amen.

Prayer 478

Loving God, spread the tent of your protection over us today. Guide us with your loving, almighty hand that we may walk in your paths with integrity. 

We fervently thank you for our abundant blessings: help us to spend our time numbering them rather than our worries. Bring us within your enclosure, that we may abide there forever, rejoicing that we are your own. 

Embrace us, Loving One, despite our manifold faults, for we seek to be worthy of You. Let our lives sing out a testimony of your love and faithfulness, your compassion and your forgiveness. Help us to speak in love, never in anger; help us to act with charity and forthrightness to all we meet today. 

Hear our prayers as we remember these, your beloved children, in their petitions and thanksgivings.

Amen.

Prayer 477- for Perseverance

Almighty God, we put our trust in You: we come before You in faithfulness and joy. Cleanse our hearts of all wrong desires, and let our motives be pure and blameless in all we do. Help us when we are confronted by those who wish us ill, or who refuse to do what they should. Help us to act with justice, and balance righteousness with mercy. Let us always remember that You are beside us as a companion, behind us as a shield, and before us as a guide, O Christ. Lead us in the way we should go, and let us joyfully follow. Place your hand of restoration over those who are in anxiety, sorrow, or pain, especially those we now name.

Amen.

Prayer 476- on the Beatitudes

(inspired by Matthew 5:1-10)
O God, You bless us in every moment, and uphold us by the strength of your Love: hear our prayer, for our hope is in You.
Bless those who work as your servants, for they have fixed their hearts upon salvation in each moment.
Bless those who are gentle and kind, for they draw others to You through their witness.
Bless those who hunger for a just society, for they seek to build the kingdom of God.
Bless those who demonstrate mercy and forgiveness, for they live out a life of Love and Charity.
Bless those who are innocent and childlike, for their hearts are always open to You.
Bless those who spread peace in their wake, for they call us to live as better people and children of your household.
Bless those who suffer for their faith, for their resolve will never be shaken.
Bless those who cry out to You, for they know that God will fulfill all their needs.

Prayer 475- Mother's Day

O Lord, we thank You for love made manifest in relationship with you and each other. As our Mother, You have created us and nurtured us, O God, and made us a home in your household. We thank you for mothers, and for all the women who have mothered us.
We thank You for mothers who have tended to our pains and soothed our fears.
We thank You for mothers who have sacrificed to make us who we are.
We thank You for mothers who love us even when they don't understand us.
We thank You for mothers who have answered a thousand questions with patience and humor.
We thank You for mothers who have done the best they could with little, to make us the best we can possibly be.
Help us to always treasure our mothers and those who love us, and never take for granted all that our mothers do for us.
Hear our dreams, prayers, and wishes, our fears and our concerns, O Loving One, and draw within your embrace those we name.

Amen.

Prayer 474: Mother's Day weekend

O Lord, we draw within the circle of prayer to lay bare our hearts before You. Thank You for loving us with the fierce and steadfast love of a mother, laying down your life for us. Thank you for blessing us with loving women in our lives, mothers of birth, mothers by choice, and mothers of the heart. Thank you for the chances we have to embrace others with the love of a mother: let us never hesitate to be compassionate and tender to those in our lives. Inspire us with your Holy Spirit that we may live out your call to love with joy and thankfulness.

Hear now, O Lord, our petitions and thanksgivings for those we now name:

Prayer 473: On the Good Shepherd

O Shepherd of Our Souls, we praise you and bless you for your saving help as we rise to meet this day. 

You are the gate to life eternal: let us dedicate ourselves to following You in all our steps. 

Let us listen to You call our names, and remember that means being quiet so that we may hear You. May we allow ourselves to be guided and protected, to be led by You, our Good Shepherd. Let us come to You so that we do not fall into trouble by wandering off on our stubborn way. Let us obey your call to love even when that thwarts our wish for power or advantage over others. 

We know that we can be confident that You are always with us, so we need never fear. Reach out your hand to those who have lost sight of You, Lord Christ, and remind them of your nearness.

Hear now, O Lord, our petitions and thanksgivings for those we now name:

Amen.

Prayer 472- Dame Julian of Norwich

(On Julian of Norwich)
O Nurturing One, You place us within the embrace of love and call us to know the love of Christ as a mother's love. 

Clothe us, Lord Christ, in love, that it may enfold us, embrace us, envelop us, and indeed never leave us. Our souls seek nothing more to abide within You forever: let us place ourselves at your command, and honor You with each breath. 

Keep us, O Loving One, as a hazel nut in your hand, for all that You have created is kept within your sight, and loved by You. Only in You, our Mother and Comforter, will we have all. 

Casting ourselves within your arms, O God, we abandon all our fear, for You are with us always. Draw within your mercy all those for whom we now pray.

Amen.

Prayer 471

O Shepherd, we thank You for leading us into this new day, and raise our thoughts to You in praise and thanksgiving. We give thanks for your mercy and compassion, O God, for replacing our crooked hearts with hearts filled with grace. Help us to name our blessings and press them close to our hearts. Make us upright and gentle through all our steps today, and guide us in the paths of kindness and empathy. Place your armor upon us in the face of those who seek gain over us, and help us to pray for those who oppose us. Let us always choose to build peace over strife; make us worthy of your Name and just and merciful in all our works. Through your wisdom, may we enter into the gate of peacefulness and rest secure in your embrace. Place your right hand of blessing, O Savior, upon those for whom we pray today.

Amen.

Prayer 470- For encouragement

(for encouragement)
We acclaim You, O God of Abundant Grace, and thank You for strengthening us and blessing us. You are our shade at noonday and the cooling breeze of blessing at night. Let us place our hand in yours, Loving One, as you call us each by name. We thank You for leading us to hope and blessing. We trust in You to protect us as the sheep of your sheepfold; may we always answer your call in the depths of our hearts. Hold us fast within your embrace, Brother Christ, that we may hear your words of wisdom and peace. May we live lives worthy of You, and always do what is pleasing in your sight. Soothe our anxieties by the power of the Holy Spirit, and bend near to us as we place all our cares before You.

Amen.

Prayer 469

Let us bless the Lord, who reigns in our hearts and calls us to faith and fellowship! Give us your grace, O Redeemer, that we may be animated by our desire to serve You in thought, word, and deed. Give us a heart for forgiveness and a spirit to praise You, for You have done mighty things for us. Give us humility to loving serve our brothers and sisters, neighbors and strangers, opponents and friends. Let us remember your cup of compassion and peace, and take our place at the table of fellowship. Give comfort to disquieted souls and aching hearts, O God, and soothe those whom we embrace in prayer.

Amen

Prayer 468- The Road to Emmaus

Walk with us, Lord Christ, that we may use
this life which, through you, we have been blessed.
Be with us before the rising sun;
be with us as we lay down to rest.

Be known to us who seek your wisdom,
be known to us as our guard and guide;
Be known to us as we break bread together,
shoulder to shoulder, and side by side.

Be known to us in every stranger,
in all who hunger or have no home
Be known to us who cry out for mercy-
in those whose hope is in you alone.

O Prince of Peace, You know our sorrows
You know our joys and you know our cares:
Abide with us who call out to you
as we lift our hearts to you in prayer.

Amen.

Prayer 467: Of Mercy and Kindness

O God, we ask for your blessing upon us, for You are the One who calls us into life and love. 

Awaken us from our hardness of heart, from our pursuit of vendetta and bitterness, from our assumptions about others' motives. Let us never try to react to others today in answer to wounds we suffered in the past. 

Awaken us from our patterns of thought that lead us to suspicion and malice. Let us forgive others as we ourselves cry out to be forgiven. 

Awaken us from our fears, that we may be a testimony to your saving love and universal redemption. Let us remember that as we are known You are known, for we claim to live under your banner. 

We worship You, the One who always has mercy and calls us into wholeness. We worship You, whose Son called us into life with You and your undeserved grace. Send your Spirit to heal and gentle us, O Ruler of Life.

Help us to love others as You love us, and hear the prayers we offer for those we now name.

Amen.

Prayer 466

We acclaim You, O God and Ruler of our hearts, and draw near to You in faith and trust. You have called us forth to rise from our beds, and we turn our face to the rising sun. 

Let us be like the birds who sing dawn into the sky, joyful for whatever the day may bring. Let us stride forth into the day like a sower in a spring field, cultivating kindness and compassion. Let us drink deep of your Word and Wisdom, O Merciful God, and feed upon your steadfast love. For with You at our right hands we shall not fear or stumble: this is the day that the Lord has made, and we rejoice in it. 

We lift up our hearts as we lift up our prayers, and ask your blessing this day.

Amen.

Prayer 465

Glory and honor and praise be yours, O Creator and Redeemer! You have made us and preserved us through the depth of night, and we thank You. Hold us within your compassionate embrace, O Lord, and make your loving-kindness to shine upon us. Give us willing hearts for the work we have to do. Give us strength for the challenges that we encounter and wisdom to steer around the snares that may lie in our path. Give us an awareness of your mercies, that we may praise your blessings throughout our day. We lay our prayers and intercessions at your feet, Lord Christ: send your Spirit to hover over those we now name.

Amen.

Prayer 464

Loving One, You are near. Let us never feel that we are strangers on Earth, for You have made us, but remember that You are near. All like sheep we wander, and find ourselves far from the path You set us upon, but You are near. Even though we run from You, Your Love is always there, behind and before, if only we lift up our eyes to see beyond ourselves. Thank You, O Savior, for answering our uncertainty with steadfastness, and answering our tumults with peace beyond understanding. Make our hearts a good and pleasant land abloom with hope. You are our God; let us be your people. Stretch out your hand to those who call upon You, for you are our portion and our cup, and hold us fast.

Amen.

Prayer 463

(Inspired by Psalm 65)
We lift up our praise to You, O God, whose mercy is never-failing! We thank You for not just forgiving us for our manifold faults, but blessing us abundantly. You protect us like a mother bird hovers over her chicks; your wings spread over us to shade and shield us from harm. You have placed us in a land you have made to bloom; our hills and fields are cloaked in fruit and grain. You have blessed us beyond imagining, and we raise hymns of praise as we proclaim our awe. You make our desert hearts to blossom: let us respond in kind to each other. Knowing You are always with us, we ask that You look with favor on these, your servants, today.

Amen.

Prayer 462

These little beauties are called "Bishop's hats."

O Almighty One, in you rest all our hopes and all our knowledge of what is good. 

Help us let go of all that weighs us down, that we may not fall into despair or cynicism. Give us the trust to rest upon the promise of now rather than regret for what is past. 

Consecrate all our endeavors that they may bear abundant fruit, that others may know your grace through the lives we live today. Give work to those who seek work, and rest to those who seek rest. 

Bring our hearts to full flower in the knowledge and love of You through your Son, our Savior Jesus Christ. Make our spirits light and our course sure as our feet are set upon your path today. Make your face to shine, Lord Christ, upon those who are seeking, those who are journeying, and those who are praying.

Amen.

Prayer 461

Lord Jesus Christ, we worship You as our risen Savior. Reach out to us in our doubts, and give us eyes to see Your love in the world. Let us hold fast to each other as the Body of Christ, and see the holiness that shines before us in creation. Forgive us when we stray from your paths, and help us always to act in love and reverence for your words and wisdom. Drive far from us all pettiness and vindictiveness, embracing all those we meet as friends. Send out your blessing upon us, O Prince of Peace, and hold us within your saving embrace.

Amen.