Prayers

Prayer of Lament (inspired by Psalm 77:1-20)

God, we call out to you!
From the depths of our hearts, we cry,
“Lord, hear our prayer!”

We are consumed by grief.
The events of the past few days have overwhelmed us—
it’s hard to sleep,
it’s hard to eat,
it’s even hard to pray.

Where are you, God?

Deep down, we know that you love us—
we’ve experienced your mercy and your faithfulness in the past,
and it has sustained us through many difficult times.
We refuse to believe that you have deserted us,
or that you are unaware of the pain that we’re feeling.
And so we turn to you again,
longing for your presence,
looking for your comfort and peace.

Surround us with your unfailing love.
Remind us that you alone are God,
and that you hold us in the palm of your hand.
Give us courage and strength to face the days ahead,
and strengthen us in the knowledge that we do not face them alone.

In the name of Jesus Christ, our Saviour and Lord, we pray.

Amen.

~ Christine Longhurst

Prayer for Mercy

God of love, God of mercy, God of all power!
Why do you let your people die—
your people whom you have redeemed?
Why do you let the earth suffer—
the earth you have created in your sovereign power?
Lord, look and see the misery of the famine that is ravaging your people;
Look and see these children, these women and men,
who are dying of hunger and who cry to you in their need.
Give them, we pray, according to your grace
and according to their need to the glory of your name. Amen.

~ from Cameroon. In A Journey with Worshipping Communities around the World,written by John D. Witvliet. Posted on Reformed Worship.
http://www.reformedworship.org/

Prayer Reflection: When Life is Messy

It is easy to pray when the sun shines
and we are grateful for another glorious day of being.
It is hard to pray when wind and rain and thunder
plague our every step and spoil our every plan.

It is easy to be virtuous when life goes well
and our existence is a journey from bliss to beauty and back.
It is hard to be virtuous when life assaults us
and our very being is a pilgrimage from bad to worse to worst.

It is easy to be cheerful when health bursts in us
so that we can feel the very pulse of life.
It is hard to be happy when pain and fatigue beset us
and we wonder if we can go on...

God of order and neatness, we give thanks for all that is good.
We are grateful for manifold blessings bestowed upon us.
God of chaos and disorder, be with us also when life is messy.
Bless our coming in and our going out from this day forth.

~ written by Richard S. Gilbert (edited) and posted on the Rex AE Hunt website.
http://www.rexaehuntprogressive.com/

Prayer: Risen and Ascended Lord

We worship you as the Lord, risen and ascended.

As we pray for our broken world,
we want to ask you when you will fix everything,
when your kingdom will come,
when justice will be restored,
and you tell us to wait;
to wait upon you, to attend to you.

But people are hungry now, thirsty now,
people lose their lives in our world now,
and you tell us to wait.
But for how long?
Lord Jesus, risen and ascended,
show us where you are now,
to join you in what you are doing now.
Open our eyes again, to attend to you now,
and join you in what you are already doing.

But people suffer from war now.
And we’re pretty sure we know what needs to be done,
what justice must look like,
and still you tell us to wait;
to attend to you, to see what you are doing –
to catch Your Spirit.
Help us to know what you are doing, and to join you.

And people are suffering environmental breakdown now.
People’s lives and livelihoods are being wrecked now.
Western greed for biofuel drives poor families from their lands now –
and we want you to act, and act now.
And you tell us to wait.
To wait upon you,
and to see who you are and what you are doing,
and the miracles you are working.
Help us not to fix the world,
but to wait on you and so see the world transformed.

Lord, we long for justice, for you to act.
By your Spirit, show us what you are doing already,
ahead of us, despite us, for us.
Forgive our arrogance and help us to listen.

Fill us with your Spirit, Risen and Ascended one,
restore your kingdom in our lives,
that we might know you more,
trust you more,
serve you more fully.
Fill us with your Spirit that we might wait for you,
and in so doing, see you at work,
and find ourselves drawn in, to the glory of your name,
Risen and Ascended Lord.

Amen.

~ from the Baptist Union of Great Britain website.
http://www.baptist.org.uk/

Prayer of Lament

Holy and Merciful God,

Your scriptures tell us that weeping may tarry for the night, but joy comes in the morning. Yet how long is this night, O Lord? How long will this dark night of the soul be? We have no explanation for what brings us here tonight. We can do nothing else than endure in this deepest and most painful of mysteries. We believe in you, the Father Almighty, maker of heaven and earth and resurrecter of Jesus Christ. We also believe, with equal and perhaps even greater conviction, that we have experienced some things that have been truly traumatic and disturbing.

We are at a loss. We cannot explain nor justify why you would allow these things to happen to us, and when we hear these justifications they do not solve the mystery, or take away the pain. Our question is this: why God? Why?

Why would you allow such a thing to happen?

And why would you allow us to be wounded?

Like Job, we can find no fault in ourselves for this suffering, though many voices inside and outside want to blame us. Like Israel, we cannot simply put our tragedy behind us, but we have to tell the story of when it happened, where it happened, how it happened. Like you … You know this darkness, Lord, for you allowed it to have its way with you on the cross. You prayed in the Garden of Gethsemane that it might not be so. And yet you faced it, for our sake. You not only died, but descended into hell.

Lord Christ, you know our suffering deeper than we know it. You rose from the dead, but you still carried your wounds. You asked Thomas to come and touch them, so that he might believe. Can you teach us how to bear our wounds to you? We do not want our pain to close us off from you or from others any longer.

Your presence is the only thing that sustains us, and so allow us to be present to you in our pain. Your strength was shown in weakness, and so we come to you in our weakness. And so our weeping tarries for this night, but may joy come in the morning. Death and destruction come for us all, we cannot deny them or the wounds they have left. But we shall not let them have the last word, because you did not let them have the last word.

Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed by thy name. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory forever.

Amen.

~ posted on the Disruptive Grace blog.
http://disruptivegrace.blogspot.ca/2010/12/prayer-of-lament.html