A Prayer for the Thirteenth Sunday of Ordinary Time (Year A)

[This is one of a series of Prayers for the Christian Year. To see the other posts, click here.] Living, loving Father,

Sometimes it seems like You have forgotten us, Your own children. We look, but cannot see Your face. We have pain in our souls, sorrow in our hearts, and it seems as if we are being destroyed while You stand by.

Yet experience has taught us that Your timing is different, and much better, than our own. Even when it seems that we are about to lose everything that gives our lives meaning, we have seen You intervene just in time. You do not act too early, nor do You act too late, and in the end Your love always has always proven to be unfailing.

We have come to know that the road of obeying You, following along in Your ways, often does not feel easy. We may be asked to follow You up some difficult mountains. This was asked of Your friend Abraham, and has been asked of many of Your friends through the centuries, including Your own Son, our Savior, Jesus Christ.

So give us strength when following You is not easy, by helping us to remember that even at the worst conceivable moments, Abraham trusted Your love, Jesus trusted Your love, and we are invited to do the same.

We know that we are not alone on this path, but that many others have walked it before us, and many walk it alongside us now.

As we walk where You lead us, following the example of Jesus, we are taught how to speak to others with our mouths like He would , how to serve and give cups of cold water with our hands like He would, how to follow Him with our feet farther along in Your ways. As we do so, we realize that our bodies and our whole beings become more and more able to do the things that You want and less and less inclined to separate ourselves from You.

So continue to lead us along in the ways of Your Son. Although we do not know where You are taking us, we know that You have dealt always bountifully with us, and You will continue to do so forever.

As we we continue along this way as Jesus' students, again today we take the step of praying the prayer that He taught us, saying,

Our Father in heaven, hallowed be Your name, Your kingdom come, Your will be done, on earth as in heaven.

Give us today our daily bread.

Forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us.

Save us from the time of trial and deliver us from evil.

For the kingdom, the power, and the glory are Yours now and for ever. Amen

Notes:

This week, the readings shift from being aligned with one another to being aligned over a series of weeks. In other words, during the seasons of the Christian year of Advent, Christmas, Lent, and Easter, the four readings for each week have a connection to one another, something like this:

However, as of this week, we are full-swing into "Ordinary Time." We don't call it ordinary in the sense of being plain or boring, but in the sense of being sequenced. So, instead of a particular reading relating to the other readings in that same week, most often during Ordinary Time, a particular reading will be part of a sequence, like this:

Depending on which system of ordering one pays attention to, this Sunday can also be referred to as Proper 8, or (in 2011) the Second Sunday after Pentecost. Regardless of the system, the readings are the same. So, the readings for this week, on which this prayer is based, are:

• Genesis 22:1-14: The sixth of thirteen possible consecutive readings after Pentecost from Genesis, and the fourth of five on the life of Abraham. This passage recounts God's testing of Abraham, when he asked him to sacrifice his son Isaac. When God saw that Abraham would obey, he intervened and provided a ram to be the sacrifice in Isaac's place. It's striking that God did not tell Abraham about the fuller plan as soon as he'd made up his mind to obey, but Abraham went through every possible step in obedience short of actually taking his son's life. God intervened at the last possible moment. God provides, but often not until we're up on that mountain.
• Psalm 13: A psalm of lament (or complaint) by David, pleading for God to deliver him from his enemies. As is common, the psalm ends with a steadfast commitment to trust in God, who despite the current appearances, has always proven himself faithful.
• Romans 6:12-23: The fifth of sixteen possible consecutive readings after Pentecost from Romans. In this passage, Paul encourages his readers train their bodies to live into their identity as servants of righteousness, rather than submitting themselves to further domination by sin.
• Matthew 10:40-42: All of the gospel readings after Pentecost in Year A come from Matthew, and this is the third of three possible readings on Jesus' commissioning of the twelve apostles to go and minister to others. In this week's reading, Jesus teaches his students that as people treat them (and, therefore, as we treat others), it is as if the same treatment is being given directly to him.

A Prayer for Trinity Sunday (Year A)

[This is one of a series of Prayers for the Christian Year. To see the other posts, click here.]

Living, loving Father,

Your name is majestic in all the earth. When we look around us, we are amazed that You, who have such magnificent power that You can create by speaking, still care for us so much.

From before the beginning of time until now, You have been alive and loving. By Your Word and Your Spirit, You created us and our world. You said, "Let us make humankind in our image, according to our likeness," which culminated Your work of creation, which You saw as very good.

Later, the Word by which You created came and lived a marvelous life among us, He died a horrible death because of our sin, He rose again to life, conquering death and sin, and then ascended to reign with You.

It was He who assured us that it would be better for us if He went away, because then Your Spirit could come and give all of us the chance to live in fellowship with You.

You have given Him authority over everything, so enable us to go to every group of people in our world, and help them to become His apprentices as we are, being immersed in the reality of a world pervaded by You, Your Spirit, and Your beloved Son, Jesus Christ, our Lord.

May His abundant grace, Your unfailing love, and Your Spirit's enlivening communion be with each of us and all of Your children, as we continue to pray the prayer that Jesus, our Savior and Master, taught us, saying,

Our Father in heaven, hallowed be Your name, Your kingdom come, Your will be done, on earth as in heaven.

Give us today our daily bread.

Forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us.

Save us from the time of trial and deliver us from evil.

For the kingdom, the power, and the glory are Yours now and for ever. Amen

Notes:

This Sunday, the first Sunday after Pentecost, is Trinity Sunday. Having now remembered Jesus' suffering, death, resurrection and ascension, and the coming of the Holy Spirit in power at Pentecost, during this week each year, we consider God's nature as three-in-one before moving into Ordinary Time until Advent begins. The readings for this week, on which this prayer is based, are:

• Genesis 1:1-2:4a: The Genesis account of God's creation of the heavens, earth, plant and animal life, and humanity. This reading is included on Trinity Sunday because of hints of each member of the Trinity's activity in creation. God the Father sees things, speaks things, says "let us create humankind in our image, and when creation was finished, called it very good. God the Son's activity is intimated by the Father's speaking, since Christ is described later as the Word who was with God, was God, without whom nothing was made, and who became flesh and dwelt among us. God the Spirit was active in creation even before light and darkness came about, as "the Spirit of God was moving over the face of the waters."
• Psalm 8: David echoes the Genesis creation story and celebrates God's presence and power in the world, marveling at the things created in the world and the place among all of them that has been given to humanity. (This is also the psalm for Trinity Sunday in Year C).
• 2 Corinthians 13:11-13: Paul's concluding greetings in this letter to the Corinthians, which includes his prayer of blessing for them in the Trinity, which has come to be known as the Apostolic blessing.
• Matthew 28:16-20: Jesus' "great commission" to his disciples after his resurrection, when he charged his followers to make disciples of all nations, baptize them in the name of the Trinity, teach them to obey everything he commanded, and promised that he would always be with them.

A Prayer for Pentecost Sunday (Year A)

[This is one of a series of Prayers for the Christian Year. To see the other posts, click here.]

Living, loving Father,

The work of Your hands is evident all around us. Regardless of whether we are looking at land or sea, at large creatures or small ones, everywhere we look, we see Your work, and we bless You.

We, and all creation, are satisfied when You open Your hands to us, for You fill us with the things we need to live fully in You.

Even when we, along with all of creation, feel like we are desperate for things to be made right, we also know- because we have experienced it ourselves- that when Your Spirit comes, Your life is renewed in us and in our world.

So many kinds of works are done among us through Your Spirit, yet even in the great variety of the works, we see unity. You unify us with one another; You use the gifts that You have given us to achieve Your loving purpose; You make our character more like Yours; and we see the deep love that has been exchanged for all eternity between You, Your Spirit, and Your beloved Son, Jesus Christ, our Lord.

It was He who invited us to quench our thirst by coming and drinking rivers of living water through Your Spirit. So, to His honor and Your glory, we pray that Your Spirit would soon be poured out upon every person, young and old, free and enslaved, so that everyone may call upon Your name and fully experience the life You have intended for us all.

It was Your Son who promised us this Spirit, who has sent Him to us, and it is as His students that we pray the prayer He taught us, saying,

Our Father in heaven, hallowed be Your name, Your kingdom come, Your will be done, on earth as in heaven.

Give us today our daily bread.

Forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us.

Save us from the time of trial and deliver us from evil.

For the kingdom, the power, and the glory are Yours now and for ever. Amen

Notes:

Pentecost Sunday is the final Sunday of the season of Easter, and it is on this day that we remember and celebrate the coming of the Holy Spirit with power upon Jesus' disciples fifty days after his resurrection. The readings for this week, on which this prayer is based, are:

• Acts 2:1-21: This is the final of eight consecutive weeks (from Easter Sunday to Pentecost Sunday) when our reading that would normally come from the Old Testament comes instead from the Book of Acts. This passage recounts the story of the disciples being together in one place on the day of Pentecost, when Jews from "every country" were making pilgrimage to Jerusalem. Suddenly, a sound like a violent wind came, tongues of fire rested on each of the disciples, and they had the ability to speak in the native languages of all who could hear them. (This is a Pentecost reading for years A, B, and C.)
• Psalm 104:24-34, 35b: A psalm of praise to God for his handiwork displayed in every part of creation, and a recognition that although dismaying sights are present, "when [God sends] forth [his] spirit, they are created; and [he] will renew the face of the ground." (This is a Pentecost reading for years A, B, and C.)
• 1 Corinthians 12:3b-13: Paul's teaching that although there are a variety of gifts, services, and activities, they are given and activated by one and the same Spirit, so that we may function together as many members within one body.
• John 7:37-39: Jesus' public invitation on the last day of the Festival of Booths, which drew on imagery of water, for anyone who was thirsty to come to him and receive rivers of living water, which John explains was said in reference to the Spirit.

A Prayer for the Seventh Sunday of Easter (Year A)

Image compliments of Vanderbilt Divinity Library

[This is one of a series of Prayers for the Christian Year. To see the other posts, click here.]

Living, loving Father,

We sing praise to Your name, and we lift up our songs to You, for You are both the one who is right here with us just as much as You  are the one who rides upon the clouds.

You are the one who cares for those who find themselves all alone, becoming the Father of orphans, the protector of widows, and creating a home for those who have none.

Teach us to open ourselves to the power of Your Holy Spirit in our lives, so that we may join You in this amazing work of Your love all around our world, bringing Your life to those across the earth, to those here in our community, and to those with whom we live and share our lives every day.

Although we know of Your unfailing love toward us, many of us are praying today with much anxiety in our hearts. We pause now for a moment and entrust to You the weight of these things that have been burdens to us, knowing that You care for us, You are able to provide all that we need, and You are with us.

Lord, keep us alert and aware of the ways that our enemy is seeking to destroy us, and may whatever trials we face today serve to remind us of the suffering of so many around the world, many of whom are suffering precisely because of their love of You. May Your grace be abundant toward them, and may they be confident in knowing that Your own Son will restore, support, strengthen, and establish them.

Unite us with them as we pray, so that we may be devoted to one another as we each continue to find our life in You through this gift of prayer.

You have given us more gifts than we are aware of, above all, the gift of the opportunity to know You and Your Son, Jesus Christ, whom You sent to give us the life that never ends.

Just as He did, as long as we are in this world, we will know ourselves by Your name, as Your people, and we will seek to destroy all of the things that divide us and live with one another in peace, just as we have seen in His life among us.

Until He comes back to us in the same way that He went up to sit at Your right hand, we, as His students, will continue to earnestly pray the prayer that He taught us, saying,

Our Father in heaven, hallowed be Your name, Your kingdom come, Your will be done, on earth as in heaven.

Give us today our daily bread.

Forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us.

Save us from the time of trial and deliver us from evil.

For the kingdom, the power, and the glory are Yours now and for ever. Amen

Notes:

A Prayer for Ascension Day is also appropriate for use this week. The readings for this week, on which this prayer is based, are:

• Acts 1:6-14: This is the seventh of eight consecutive weeks (from Easter Sunday to Pentecost Sunday) when our reading that would normally come from the Old Testament comes instead from the Book of Acts. This passage, part of which was also in the reading for Ascension Day earlier this week, recounts the story of Jesus' last instructions to the disciples before being lifted up and taken out of their sight. The disciples then return to Jerusalem, and together with others, devote themselves to prayer.
• Psalm 68:1-10, 32-35: David praises God for his great power and faithfulness.
• 1 Peter 4:12-14, 5:6-11: This is the final of six consecutive readings from 1 Peter, which heavily emphasizes the life we are to live in light of Jesus’ resurrection. In this passage, Peter continues to encourage his readers to endure the hardships and persecution they were facing, in light of Jesus' own persecution and the hope that they had in him.
• John 17:1-11: This is the final of four gospel readings from John during the Easter season. (Most of this year’s gospel readings come from Matthew.) It is also the final of three that come from John’s account of Jesus’ last night with his disciples, after washing their feet and prior to his arrest. This week's passage is the first part of Jesus' famous prayer which concludes his lengthy conversation with his friends on that night (John 14-17), in which he prays for unity among his disciples as they remain in the world while he prepares to leave it.

(Ecumenical version of The Lord’s Prayer from The United Methodist Hymnal)

A Prayer for Ascension Day (Years A,B,C)

By GFreihalter (Own work), via Wikimedia Commons

[This is one of a series of Prayers for the Christian Year. To see the other posts, click here.]

Living, Loving Father,

You are the great king over all the earth. You sit on your holy throne and reign over us and over all the nations, and therefore we give You our praises and our songs of joy.

Lord, open our minds today so that we can understand Your word. Give us wisdom by Your Spirit, so that we may be intelligent and discerning in knowing You personally. Give us focused eyes and clear hearts, so that we can see exactly what it is that You are calling us to do, and help us to grasp the immensity of this glorious way of life that You have for Your followers.

And as we learn to walk in Your ways, we pray that You would enable us to be your witnesses, here in our own neighborhoods, in the other parts of our land, and to the ends of the earth, so that we may be tools bringing Your grace to all of our brothers and sisters around the world, that all may know the goodness of repenting of our sins and mercifully being granted forgiveness for the sake of Your beloved Son, and our beloved Savior, Jesus Christ.

It is He who loved us with His life and death, who was raised from the dead and seated at Your right hand, who now has charge over all and whose name is above every other name, now and for ever.

Until He comes back to us in the same way that He went up to sit at Your right hand, we, as His students, will continue to earnestly pray the prayer that He taught us, saying,

Our Father in heaven, hallowed be Your name, Your kingdom come, Your will be done, on earth as in heaven.

Give us today our daily bread.

Forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us.

Save us from the time of trial and deliver us from evil.

For the kingdom, the power, and the glory are Yours now and for ever. Amen

Notes:

Ascension Day is this Thursday, forty days after Easter and ten days before Pentecost. This prayer is based on the readings for Ascension Day (which can be celebrated on Thursday or the following Sunday). The readings for the ascension are the same every year:

• Acts 1:1-11: Luke's beginning to the book of Acts, which gives a more detailed account of the ascension from the one which concludes his gospel. (See today's gospel reading below.)
• Psalm 47: A psalm of joyful praise to God, recognizing him as a great king above all the earth, who has "gone up" with a shout and sits on his holy throne.
• Ephesians 1:15-23: Part of Paul's introduction to this letter to the Ephesians, in which conveys his prayer for them and describes how God's power was at work in Christ when he was raised from the dead and seated at his Father's right hand in heaven, having been given authority over all things.
• Luke 24:44-53: Luke's conclusion to his gospel, recounting how Jesus opened his disciples minds to understand what the Scriptures said about him, promised to send them power from on high, then ascended into heaven.

Also, normally I base the prayers on these readings in the New Revised Standard Version. For the reading from Ephesians, I borrowed heavily from The Message.

A Prayer for the Sixth Sunday of Easter (Year A)

[This is one of a series of Prayers for the Christian Year. To see the other posts, click here.]

Living, Loving Father,

As Your people, whom You have given life, we bless You today. You have always been faithful to us, and so it is that today, in every corner of our world, we, Your people, offer You our highest praise.

You have been ever-faithful, breathing Your own life into us, and providing us with everything that we need. Yet we have not been kept from all difficulty; the suffering in our world is immense. Even if we are not those who have been in the fire, or right in the middle of the storm, at times we have all felt the flames, or had the sense that a river is sweeping us away while we are completely helpless. And as we pray these things, we are mindful of our brothers and sisters in our own neighborhoods, and in other parts of our country and our world whose difficulties and suffering are much greater than our own. Please comfort those who have lost everything at the hand of nature, or because of the senseless acts of others. As so many are hurting today, we realize that each and every day, many will suffer tremendously precisely because they have done right. Because they love You, as we do, many will give up everything, including their very lives, today.

All of these burdens can feel so heavy, as if we are being crushed. Yet You have promised us, and indeed we have experienced, that we never face these things alone. This is as true for the children abandoned in the streets of our world as it is for each of us today. You have not left us alone. You are not far from any of Your children. Although we come to prayer today to seek You, praying makes us aware that You have come seeking each of us.

Even in suffering, we realize that You are near. When we consider the life, death, and resurrection of Your Son, our Savior, Jesus Christ, we see One who knows suffering, who suffered tremendously once for all of us, so that we might be reconciled to You, so that we might love You and experience the joy of walking in Your commands, so that we might see You more clearly and be made clearer channels of Your grace to a desperate world.

You have heard us as we have prayed today, and we bless You. Even though so many things could be taken from us at any moment, Your steadfast love will never leave us. We see this most clearly in Jesus, who lived in You, and who invites us to live in Him as He lives in us through the Holy Spirit.

Therefore it is as Your beloved children and Jesus' beloved students that we pray again together the prayer that He taught us, saying,

Our Father in heaven, hallowed be Your name, Your kingdom come, Your will be done, on earth as in heaven.

Give us today our daily bread.

Forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us.

Save us from the time of trial and deliver us from evil.

For the kingdom, the power, and the glory are Yours now and for ever. Amen

Notes:

The readings for this week, on which this prayer is based, are:

• Acts 17:22-31: This is the sixth of eight weeks (from Easter Sunday to Pentecost Sunday) when our reading that would normally come from the Old Testament comes instead from the Book of Acts. This passage is Paul's witness to the Greeks in Athens, identifying the one whom they worshipped as the "unknown god" as the creator of the world and all that it is in it, who is not far from us, and who raised Jesus from the dead.
• Psalm 66:8-20: A song of praise to God for his faithfulness through intense trials, and a promise to keep God's commands.
• 1 Peter 3:13-22: This is the fifth of six consecutive readings from 1 Peter, which heavily emphasizes the life we are to live in light of Jesus’ resurrection. In this passage, Peter encourages his readers (who were likely suffering significantly) by reminding them of the blessing that is theirs since they were God's people suffering for doing God's will.
• John 14:15-21: This is the third of four gospel readings from John during the Easter season. (Most of this year’s gospel readings come from Matthew) It is also the second of three that come from John’s account of Jesus’ last night with his disciples, after washing their feet and prior to his arrest. This week's passage follows immediately upon last week's reading, where Jesus told his disciples that he was going away and that he is the way. We read this week that Jesus assures his friends that as they keep his commands, the Holy Spirit ("Advocate/Counselor" and "Spirit of truth") will be in them, and will be the means of Christ himself being in them, after they are able to see him no longer.

(Ecumenical version of The Lord’s Prayer from The United Methodist Hymnal)

A Prayer for the Fifth Sunday of Easter (Year A)

[This is one of my Prayers for the Christian Year. To see the other posts, click here.]

Living, Loving Father,

It is in You, O Lord, that we seek our refuge. When we pray, You incline Your ear to us, and we need today for You to rescue us, quickly. You are a strong fortress where we can run and find shelter. You are our rock, on whom we can lean completely.

You, our living rock, can also make us into living stones, and through us You are doing Your work of building Your kingdom here. Yet we know part of what this means, because You sent Your own Son, Jesus, as the cornerstone, and still He was rejected and cast aside. So be it for us also if it is to be the same as we follow Him along His way out of darkness into marvelous light. We will choose to go His way, for we know that although He was rejected by people, He was chosen and precious in Your sight, O God, and Your is the approval we long for most of all.

So, Father, just as Jesus did, and later his servant Stephen, into Your hands we entrust our spirits. In Your mercy, receive us, so that by Your grace we may learn to be merciful to others, even if they seek to take our lives. Our times are in Your hands, O God. So as we live, help us to live for You, and when we die, may we be able to see Your face and walk even more fully in Your light.

We know that You chose Jesus, for He revealed You to us perfectly. In his life, death, and resurrection among us, He was as You are. Father, we ask that You would  make us like Him, that You would dwell in us and do Your work, and that our lives would bring You glory just as His has done.

We pray all of these things in the name of Your beloved Son, and it is as His followers that we pray today the prayer that He taught us, saying,

Our Father in heaven, hallowed be Your name, Your kingdom come, Your will be done, on earth as in heaven.

Give us today our daily bread.

Forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us.

Save us from the time of trial and deliver us from evil.

For the kingdom, the power, and the glory are Yours now and for ever. Amen.

Notes:

The readings for this week, on which this prayer is based, are:

• Acts 7:55-60: This is the fifth of eight weeks (from Easter Sunday to Pentecost Sunday) when our reading that would normally come from the Old Testament comes instead from the Book of Acts. This passage follows Stephen's speech, in which he summarized God's saving acts in history. When these acts reached their culmination in sending Jesus as the Messiah, those listening to Stephen picked up rocks and stoned him to death, and Stephen became the first Christian martyr.
• Psalm 31:1-5,15-16: David identifies God as his strong fortress and rock of refuge, and pleas for deliverance from his enemies.
• 1 Peter 2:2-10: This is the fourth of six consecutive readings from 1 Peter, which heavily emphasizes the life we are to live in light of Jesus' resurrection. In this passage, Peter uses a play on words on his own name, which means stone or rock, and says that as Christ was God's chosen cornerstone, so too are his followers to be made into living stones to be useful in God's work.
• John 14:1-14: This is the second of four gospel readings from John during the Easter season. (Most of this year's gospel readings come from Matthew) It is also the first of three that come from John's account of Jesus' last night with his disciples, after washing their feet and prior to his arrest. In part of this passage, Jesus assures them that they do not need to be afraid, although he is about to leave them, because they know the way to the place where he will be going. Confused by this, one of them asked, "We don't know where you're going, so how can we know the way?" to which Jesus gave his famous reply, "I am the way, the truth and the life..."

(Ecumenical version of The Lord's Prayer from The United Methodist Hymnal)