Prayers – Living Resurrection Week 6 (Last Week of Easter)

Prayers – Living Resurrection Week 6

(Based on Acts 1:6-11)

Sunday: God of springtime and harvest, we are nearly at the end of another season and preparing to return to that long stretch of ordinary time. In these last days of Easter, prepare us for the time to come and the work to be done that when the season’s change comes again we will be found having prepared ourselves and others to look and watch, and wait for your Return.  We ask this in the name of the One who died but rose again. Amen.

Monday: Your time, Lord, is difficult.  There are things I want to have happen now. At times, I believe I know better than you do when and what should happen.  Forgive me for thinking I am wiser than you and help me to wait upon you.  Do this so I can see, when that time comes, that you are deserving of all power and all glory. Amen.

Tuesday: Loving God, I’m a horrible witness for you.  I don’t love like you love.  I’m selfish, prideful, self-absorbed, and far from someone you’d want to represent you.  But for some reason, you called me from my nets and told me to go out and be one of your witnesses.  Let your Spirit fall fresh on me; so, I may be an example of your light in this world.  And let me turn afterwards to give thanks to you, one holy and gracious God. Amen.

Wednesday: Radiant Son, there are times where the clouds of life come, and I cannot see you.  Like the arrival of a storm front, my world turns to gray and gloom.  Help me, in those overcast moments, to sense your presence around me and know that nothing can separate me from your love. Amen.

Thursday: God of every moment, like the disciples, I sometimes get caught staring at the past rather than moving on to the actions of the present.  Remind me, nudge me, move me forward away from nostalgia and into the life more abundant you have waiting for me in this present moment. This I ask so I may draw glory to you Father, Son, and Spirit. Amen.

Friday: Lord Christ, help me to live this day and each day forward in the hope and expectation that today could be the day you return to make all things new and finish the good work you have begun in me.  By your Spirit, help me live this day as if I believed you might return today.  Amen.

Saturday: Alpha and Omega, as the thoughts of the season that is passing away fill my mind, aid me as I turn my mind toward the season of the coming of your Spirit.  Let me not forget, in the coming days, the darkness of Good Friday so I might remember the light of Easter morning.  Let me not forget your Presence so I might be Christ and see Christ to and in all I meet.  May I do this so your holy name might be glorified on earth as in heaven.  Amen.

Prayers – Living Resurrection Week 5 (Sixth Week of Easter)

Prayers – Living Resurrection Week 5

(Based on Acts 10:17-23; 44-48)

Sunday: Lord Jesus Christ, through you all things were made and it is only through you that we accomplish every good thing.  Help us in this coming week to remember our dependence upon you and how that dependence makes us partners with you and, in turn, makes us free.  This we ask for the glory of the Holy Three. Amen.

Monday: Transcendent Spirit, I am often like Peter, still thinking about what You have done or said when something new has come.  There are times I want to hesitate and puzzle You out before moving on, but You have other plans.  Help me to trust you in all the places You lead me and never hesitate in an opportunity to cast aside my nets and follow you.  Amen.

Tuesday: Patient Lord, how often do you tell me not to hesitate to go or do?  And why do I equally as often pause and put you off as if you didn’t have my best interests always at the forefront of Your mind?  For today, by Your Spirit, I want to act at just a word from You and act as if I am what I long to be: Your willing and loving partner.  This I ask so I might, at the close of this day, give you thanks.  Amen.

Wednesday: Spirit, fall upon me this day.  Let me hear myself speaking in strange tongues to myself words of hope and love and encouragement not only to those I love, but to those who I struggle to love.  In doing this, let your greatness and the greatness of the Holy Trinity be proclaimed.  Amen.

Ascension Thursday: Jesus, on this day you left your place here for your position at the Father’s right hand.  You left us together to wait on your return.  Give me the grace I need to partner with all those who watch and wait for that moment and who work to see you present in every face that is hungry or thirsty.  Do this for the glory of your name and the name of the One God who created us, redeemed us, and sustains us.  Amen.

Friday: God, sometimes I am amazed when I hear your voice coming from unexpected people.  As it is your good will to pour out your Spirit upon all who call upon you, let me never forget that your desire is to work in concert with all people of this earth.  Give me ears to hear those around me that I might hear you speak.  I ask this so I might give you glory.  Amen.

Saturday: Jesus, my companion, my friend, as I find myself on the cusp of the last week of this season, I think again how wonderful it would be to see you and walk and talk with you.  And when you left, you did so with a promise that one day all of us would do just that.  In the meantime, as I wait and watch for you, give me grace to see you in each face I encounter and let those who I walk with in the days to come see you in me.  I ask this so that others might turn and give thanks to the Holy Three who are One.  Amen.

Prayers – Living Resurrection Week 4 (Fifth Week of Easter)

Prayers – Living Resurrection Week 4

(Based on Acts 8:26-40)

Sunday: God of Abraham, sometimes you ask us to go without telling us the destination.  For Your joy, you set us out on roads literal and symbolic that will always lead us closer to you.  Give us faith and courage to follow you to the place you will show us that we may be reborn into the people you created us to be.  We ask this for the glory of the One and Holy Trinity. Amen.

Monday: Leading Spirit, some years Lent ends but I am still wandering in the wilderness.  I feel like I am going in circles, lost without a guide.  But I follow you in these times, trailing along behind a cloud or flame.  Lead me to the place you will show me where I might find again the tomb empty and the stone rolled away. Amen.

Tuesday: Word of God, there are times I read Scripture and, like the Ethiopian eunuch, I do not understand.  Sometimes I’m too tired to plumb the depths and other times I am overwhelmed by what you’re asking me to do.  Be my guide as I read and study so I might understand who you are and dare to go all the places you would lead.  I ask this so Your glory is made complete. Amen.

Wednesday: God-with-us, you talked and ate with tax collectors, outcasts, and those in authority.  Give me the strength and courage to be like you, to reach out to those who do not move in the circles that I do; so, I might learn from them and they from me.  Amen.

Thursday:  Patient God, every day there is so much to do, so many demands upon my attention.  And, some days, it seems like a burden when I have to stop for a stranger, a friend, a family member along my way.  But as I trust you for my direction, I also need you to help me remember that I do not always know my destination.  So, in those times of interruption help me to remember that while I’m headed elsewhere, often where I am is where you have led me to be.  Amen.

Friday: Ever-present Spirit, there are times on my journey that I have to say goodbye.  I lift up to you now [naming those who, living or dead, you no longer live near] and others whose walk has taken them on a different path than mine.  And I ask that through you I can share the love I have for them until we see one another again in this world or in the world to come.  This I ask as a member of your great realm.  Amen.

Saturday: Dear Jesus, I know that I do all things because you strengthen me to do them.  This week, as I have thought about the journey on which you are leading me, I am thinking about those who have been partners with me on this road.  And though I long to be independent, Your Presence reminds me that I am dependent upon You for everything.  As I prepare for a new week’s beginning, call to mind those who have been a partner to me in drawing closer to you and drawing others into your embrace.  I ask this for love of God, who is One and Three.  Amen.

Prayers – Living Resurrection Week 3 (Fourth Week of Easter)

Prayers – Living Resurrection Week 3

(Based on Acts 4:5-12)

Sunday: Risen Jesus, you overturned tables in the temple and dared to call out those thought beyond reproach.  Trouble us this week through you Word that we might be reminded that the world shook on that Easter morning and so should our worlds tremble when we remember anew when we say Alleluia, Christ is Risen. Amen.

Monday: God of All, change is not one of my favorite things.  And so, when someone comes with something new I often want to challenge them than listen to them.  I’d rather interrogate than talk.  But in so doing, I know that I may miss something amazing You are doing.  Help me approach every change today as if it may be coming from Your servant who will unleash the power of Your Resurrection in our world.  Amen.

Tuesday: Gracious God, it is likely that no one will ask me today by what power or authority I am acting.  Even so, help me to acknowledge to myself and You that everything I do is in your strength and because of who You are.  For it is in Christ alone that I can do all things and anything. Amen.

Wednesday: Indwelling Spirit, I have only the vaguest notion what it is like to be filled with You.  To do this means that I have to dare to be dependent  and not be able to take the credit for all the good things I say and do.  Help me, this day, to dare to trust not in my own power but in the power that overcame despair and death.  Let me do this for the glory of none other than the One who is Three.  Amen.

Thursday: Merciful God, how wonderful it would be to be called into account for something good I’ve done for someone else.  Most of the time, I’m too concerned that I will be found out regarding something I’ve done to someone else.  During the hours of this day, grand me the grace to act as You have acted toward me.  This I ask in the name of Your Christ. Amen.

Friday:  God of salvation, you dared to come into our world so we might be brought into relationship with you.  Give me the courage to go into the worlds of others that may be as alien to me as ours to You; so, they might draw close to you.  Amen.

Saturday: God of the unexpected, this week I may have dared to get in a little trouble on Your behalf.  In so doing I have learned to trust in You and not my own understanding.  As I prepare for a new week this day, help me, in trust, to be prepared for wherever You may take me.  Amen.

Prayers – Living Resurrection Week 2 (Third Week of Easter)

Prayers – Living Resurrection Week 2

(Based on Acts 3:1-10)

Sunday: God of life, you have shown us in the resurrection of your Son that nothing is beyond your power.  We ask in the words of the psalmist to restore us today, O Lord, to communion with you and one another, for your glory and your glory alone. Amen.

Monday: Dear God, I come to you today in this moment of prayer and ask that you open my eyes to those around me this day.  Help me to see as you see, to notice the things that escape my self-centered, human eyes.  Do this that I may be restored to a heart like yours. Amen.

Tuesday: Humble Spirit, I am too proud to beg, and because of this I am afraid to be dependent on you and those around me.  So this day, I ask you if you have anything for me that I can receive and in receiving pass on your love, your grace to others.  This I ask Christ’s name. Amen.

Wednesday:  Loving Savior, too often I turn to you and to those around me like a vending machine and expect you to answer my cravings and desires on my time.  Help me instead to be open to receive what you have for me since those things are so much greater than I can ever ask or imagine. Amen.

Thursday: God of wholeness, you always reach out to me even when I feel ignored, forgotten, or undesirable.  So fill me with your love and Spirit that I might dare to reach out to others and in so doing bring them to the knowledge of your embrace.  This I ask for the sake of others and for your glory.  Amen.

Friday: Spirit of Grace, this week I have looked to you, expecting to receive something.  In this time as within the whole of my life you have given to me in your name the riches of your realm. As this week draws to its close, I give you thanks that from you always come gifts more precious than silver or gold and for no other reason than love you have stopped to notice me.  I love you and thank you.  Amen.

Saturday: Dear Jesus, on this earth you ran afoul of the powers of this world and its prince. As I have dared this week to explore what it means to receive from you and give to others, I too am bound to come into conflict with this world.  Give me strength and courage to continue reaching out to you and others and always expecting to receive something greater than I imagined.  Amen.