Prayer

Prayer of the People, 7 April 2019

April 8, 2019 0 Comments

Heavenly Father, you are the Lord of all Creation; You spoke, “Let there be light” and there was light. Your Son Jesus is the Light of the World. And now, by His Spirit, His Word illuminates our lives. Thank you for this grace in which we sit, walk, and stand. 

Speak again Lord, to our dark hearts. “Let there be light.” Awaken us to you. Teach us to walk in Your light and to fellowship with each other in this world according to your grace and truth. 

We confess that having our lives exposed in your light generates fear. First we tremble at the thought of your holiness. Save us according to your Word and not our word. Forgive our sins and may willful sin not rule over us. Second we tremble at the thought of being out of step with our world. Your light invites us into what is unfamiliar and makes us look peculiar. Please replace our fear of people with your perfect love. 

We long for leaders who walk in the light, who lead with wisdom and who pursue justice. We ask that You will bring Your comfort and help to those traumatized by violence, greed, and cold apathy. Both the one who raises the hand in anger and the one who receives it have suffered. It is your revealing light that can usher us all into healing and reconciliation. 

As with every anniversary of violence to which your light has been held we must examine ourselves, so we ask again for your wisdom from heaven today for Rwanda, for Ireland, for the United States, for Canada, for Palestine and for Israel, for Syria, for Yemin, for Cameroon, for Germany, for El Salvador, and for Myanmar. Is there any land in which the toxic rage of ‘adam’s children has not shed blood? Oh Lord help us. Come quickly Lord Jesus – May your light shine. Reveal every lethal treasure we have collected against insecurity and help us surrender our affections to you that we might be free. 

We pray now as you have taught us — (Please join me in the Lord’s Prayer)

The Lord’s Prayer

Our Father in heaven,

hallowed be your name,

your kingdom come,

your will be done,

on earth as it is in heaven.

Give us today our daily bread.

And forgive us our debts,

as we also have forgiven our debtors.

And lead us not into temptation,

but deliver us from the evil one;

for yours is the kingdom,

and the power, and the glory, 

forever. 

Amen.

 

Church, Prayer

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Prayer of the People, 31 March 2019

April 1, 2019 0 Comments

Heavenly Father, 

We rejoice to be known by you and to approach you as our Father. Your Son, Jesus Christ, has opened the way for us. And your Spirit confirms that we are your children; He has poured out your love into our hearts!

We delight in your church. Thank you for the people you have called from the kingdom of darkness into the Kingdom of your Son. We come from many places and from many different kinds of intersections with your truth and your grace. You saved us from our sin, from despair, from deceit, and from the powers arrayed against the true knowledge of You.

Thank you for the person who showed us Jesus. In all of our original stories, somebody posted up right inside the gates of hell and announced the Good News of your Kingdom to us. They loved us and shared their true life with us. We thank you for these saints. Allegiance to Jesus as Lord became to us the most reasonable act of faith!

Your Church, Lord, is under pressure in many places so we intercede for them this morning. Grant your church Jesus’ courage and His wisdom of forgiveness so they can love under duress in China, Nigeria, Somalia, North Korea, Mexico and Pakistan.

Awaken your church in Canada Lord. Awaken us so that we may watch with you and remember that our sins have been forgiven. Purify us through obedience to you so that we have a sincere love for each other. Help us love each other deeply from the heart in both word and in deed.

Disrupt our self-self-centred stupor. Awaken us to our neighbours. Help us to see so we may love as you love and fulfill the mandate of your Kingdom. You teach us to pray: May Your Kingdom come, so we pray as you taught your disciples:

(The Lord’s Prayer)

Our Father in heaven,

hallowed be your name,

your kingdom come,

your will be done,

on earth as it is in heaven.

Give us today our daily bread.

And forgive us our debts,

as we also have forgiven our debtors.

And lead us not into temptation,

but deliver us from the evil one;

for yours is the kingdom,

and the power, and the glory, 

forever. 

Amen.

Prayer

The Prayer of the People, March 24, 2019

March 28, 2019 0 Comments

Heavenly Father, we come to you just as a thirsty deer comes to a stream of water. We thirst for you and know that you can satisfy. 

We rejoice in the truth and those who tell it. So Jesus your Son has become our Saviour. He has set us free. He is the Saviour of all who believe. His Word is life to us.

We are grateful for the gift of your Holy Spirit who has made us alive to you. We are a new creation, brought into your communion; you are making all things new and beautiful on your schedule.

We praise you for this grace in which we live!

Our prayer though echos the ancient question, “How long?” How long Lord will we groan for the revealing of who we are in Christ? How long will people groan under the oppression of the evil one? How long will you be patient?

We yearn for you. Your Spirit from the beginning has hovered over the deep, bringing order to chaos. Bring order to our hearts.

We yearn for you to be revealed in Mozambique, Zimbabwe and Malawi; we ask Father that you would let the waters recede and that your agents of mercy could provide help to many who are stranded in the remnants of Cyclone Idai.

We yearn for you to be revealed in the many villages and communities in Canada that lack clean water. Please grant your provisions and your wisdom to those working to create new water systems.

We yearn for you to be revealed on our campus in the hearts of people stirred up with anxiety, weighed down by lonely ambitions, and darkened by unbelief. You have promised your satisfying presence in the life of all who believe you — a stream of living water that flows from within. May you bring salvation.

Thank you Father for hearing our prayer in the name and grace of Jesus Christ our Lord, so we pray as He taught us…

Please Join me now in the Lord’s Prayer

The Lord’s Prayer

Our Father in heaven,

hallowed be your name,

your kingdom come,

your will be done,

on earth as it is in heaven.

Give us today our daily bread.

And forgive us our debts,

as we also have forgiven our debtors.

And lead us not into temptation,

but deliver us from the evil one;

for yours is the kingdom,

and the power, and the glory, 

forever. 

Amen.


Prayer

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Reflections On The Way To The Compost Bin — An Urban Meditation

December 28, 2018 0 Comments

O Ground beneath our feet, 
what realms of life await us?
All bodies like to eat
but the compost bin disgusts us.

From your dark and meagre crust 
come the tastiest traded fares.
Yet those who return to dust
would rather put on aires.

We are better than dirt
and our children would be lucky
to wear a white shirt
than get their hands all mucky.

Such highbrow notions
train us not to see
how the farmers’ motions
are worth more than their fee.

Without the faintest care
we devour lavish plates,
leaving your ground bare,
and sealing our common fates.

But here among those
who moil for rusty gold
are some who dare propose 
to give thanks before we are old.

Thank you God 
for the carrot on my plate
and the sod 
from whence it came to date.

Grant Dear Sue good rest.
May her tribe increase.
May her soil be best – 
with unseen creepy crawlies never cease.

O Ground beneath our feet
let us not forget,
our dusty destinies entwined shall meet
for God for sure redeems this set.

Early to the bin a bowl of scraps I take
soon upon your face to spread.
Yes, indeed, all will shake,
but together, may we break more bread.

–Watch Living Soil, produced by the Soil Health Institute.

Creation, Poetry, Prayer

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Holy Days Tip #3

December 23, 2018 0 Comments

To my UBC family: gather with

To gather with 
friends and family
is easy for some
but for others of us 
it is the most difficult 
calling of holidays.

Reconnecting is 
pregnant with 
surprises.
While apart from 
one another 
we have all been
changing.

But our minds 
and hearts 
trick us
and usually 
we have frozen
each other,

entombing the other 
in the expectations,
beliefs,
habits,
and patterns
of old.

To gather with
is to come
face to face 
with conflict
and to face our 
own desperate
desire to be
understood
and cherished.

To gather with
is to allow
for the possibility 
of change
and the possibility
of not that much
change.

To gather with
in Holy Days
is to rely 
on His love
to cast out our fear.

Oh Jesus you came
and gathered with us
full of truth and grace.
Help us 
gather 
with.

John 1:14, NIV
 The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.

1 John 4:13-21, NIV
13This is how we know that we live in him and he in us: He has given us of his Spirit. 14And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of the world. 15If anyone acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God, God lives in them and they in God. 16And so we know and rely on the love God has for us.

God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in them. 

17This is how love is made complete among us so that we will have confidence on the day of judgment: In this world we are like Jesus. 18There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.

19We love because he first loved us. 20Whoever claims to love God yet hates a brother or sister is a liar. For whoever does not love their brother and sister, whom they have seen, cannot love God, whom they have not seen. 21And he has given us this command: Anyone who loves God must also love their brother and sister.

Change, Discipleship, Prayer

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