Category Archives: Prayers

False Following, three prayers inspired by John 6.24-35

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I am the Bread of Life by Kennedy A Paizs. “I want to desire Jesus as much as I desire to eat each day to sustain my physical life.”

John 6:25-27
When they found him on the other side of the sea, they said to him, “Rabbi, when did you come here?” Jesus answered them, “Very truly, I tell you, you are looking for me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate your fill of the loaves. Do not work for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures for eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. For it is on him that God the Father has set his seal.”

Why am I looking for Jesus?
Am I just looking for the goodies?

  • provision- the fill of the loaves
  • an entertaining story on the side of a mountain
  • comfort and blessing since so much of life is insecure
  • an escape to a better place beyond this life

There is a huge difference between using Jesus as a means to an end and desiring a relationship with Jesus for who he is. – Lisa <><

You Offer Me You by Lisa Degrenia
Jesus, you offer me yourself
Not a philosophy to follow
Not a commodity to use
Not a means to an end

You offer me you
Flesh and Blood
Bread and Salvation

Forgive my shallow desires for your bread alone
They dishonor and cheapen the fullness of you

Continue your prayers of confession

Open me to your great gift
Every part
Open me to give myself in return
Every part

Help Us Choose by Lisa Degrenia
We label you prophet
Miracle worker
Healer

We expect you to be the king we want
Overthrow our enemies
Bring us peace and plenty

Yes, there are signs
but they point to a cross

Help us choose you and your way
Help us choose the way of the cross

False Following by Lisa Degrenia
Jesus, forgive my false following
My misplaced priorities
For using you instead of loving you

Nurture true faith and trust in me
To love you first and always
To love you for you as you love me for me

Reorder my consuming
Now feasting on your presence
You are my bread, my drink, my life

Continue your prayers of adoration and commitment

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I’m posting prayers based on the Gospel of John throughout the seasons of Lent and Easter this year. Thanks for coming along with me on the journey. – Lisa <><

John 6:24-35 is read on Year B — Season after Pentecost — Proper 13 (18)
and on Year C — Season after Pentecost — Thanksgiving Day, USA & Canada 

Three prayers based on John 6:24-35 © 2023 Lisa Ann Moss Degrenia. You are welcome to use this work in a worship setting without asking permission. It’s always a treat to hear from you if you’re using it. Leave a comment for information and permission to publish this work in a book, blog, etc.

Trust and Act, a prayer inspired by the boy who shared his food, John 6.1-21

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The Miracle of the Loaves and Fishes (La multiplication des pains) by James Tissot

Trust and Act by Lisa Degrenia
“There is a boy here who has five barley loaves and two fish. But what are they among so many people?” – John 6:9 (NRSV)

Miraculous One,
Our own needs and the needs of our world overwhelm us
We question if anything can be done
We become paralyzed with despair and fear
We numb and do nothing

Thank you for the nameless child
He trusts and acts
He has little, but in your hands, it’s honored
it’s more than enough

Grant us his generosity and willingness
Help us trust you beyond what we can see or imagine

We ask this in your strong name, Jesus
You are the one who makes all things possible
and all things new. Amen.

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I’m posting prayers based on the Gospel of John throughout the seasons of Lent and Easter this year. Thanks for coming along with me on the journey. – Lisa <><

John 6:1-21 is read on Year B — Season after Pentecost — Proper 12 (17)

Trust and Act © 2023 Lisa Ann Moss Degrenia. You are welcome to use this work in a worship setting without asking permission. It’s always a treat to hear from you if you’re using it. Leave a comment for information and permission to publish this work in a book, blog, etc.

Liberation, Surrender, Witness – Three Prayers Inspired by John 5.19-47

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Jesus Christ Liberator by Brother Robert Lentz OFM

Prayer for Liberation by Lisa Degrenia
Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life. – John 5:24 (KJV)

Merciful One, Liberating One,
You break the chains
You open the prison doors
You pardon instead of condemn

Yet, we keep ourselves locked away from
your love
your light
your joy

Emancipate us once and for all from condemnation
Silence the inner critics
Silence the liars
Silence all that keeps us from wholeness

Open our eyes to see we are free
Open our hearts to accept it in full
To accept you in full

Glory and honor be to you Jesus
our Rescuer and Redeemer
our Freedom Fighter
Amen

Steadfast Surrender by Lisa Degrenia
For just as the Father has life in himself, so he has granted the Son also to have life in himself, and he has given him authority to execute judgment because he is the Son of Man. – John 5:26-27 (NRSV)

Faithful One, make me faithful.
Steadfast One, make me steadfast.
Unchanging One, change me.
I surrender to your Word and ways, your call and claim.
Fulfill your good purposes in me and through me, now and forever. Amen.

Testify by Lisa Degrenia
I have a testimony greater than John’s. The works that the Father has given me to complete, the very works that I am doing, testify on my behalf that the Father has sent me. – John 5:36 (NRSV)

So many testify to you and your work
The prophecies
The signs
The Baptist
The Father

Add my voice to the chorus
Add my life to the witness

Glory to your Holy Name!
Glory to your saving power!
Glory to you, our Lord and Savior forever!

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I’ll be posting prayers based on the Gospel of John throughout Lent this year as part of our Lenten Reading Plan. Here’s your invitation to join us for this reading plan.  

Three Prayers inspired by John 5:19-47 © 2023 Lisa Ann Moss Degrenia. You are welcome to use this work in a worship setting without asking permission. It’s always a treat to hear from you if you’re using it. Leave a comment for information and permission to publish this work in a book, blog, etc.

Three Prayers for Healing Inspired by John 4 and John 5

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Healing at the Pool of Bethesda by Carl Bloch

Jesus, Come by Lisa Degrenia
The official said to him, “Sir, come down before my little boy dies.” Jesus said to him, “Go; your son will live.” – John 4:49-50

Jesus, come
my son is dying
so is my daughter, with skin like mahogany
so is my child, pinned down in a school shooting
so is my sibling, a victim of dictators and droughts

Jesus, come
see my dear one with no shelter
my beloved with no access to needed meds 
the heart of my heart who bearly survives the bombs

Jesus, come
add your own petitions here for people and situations 

Jesus, you hear our cries for life
heal them, help them
and help me help them, too

Made Well by Lisa Degrenia
When Jesus saw him lying there and knew that he had been there a long time, he said to him, “Do you want to be made well?”- John 5:6

Jesus asks, “Do you want to be made well?”

Do I? Do I really?

I’ve been this way so long
It’s what people expect of me
It’s what I expect of me

I know this life
I’m getting by

Is it good? No
Is it whole? No

But I know this life
It’s my normal
Can I imagine another way?

Others seem to get there
but not me
I have no help
I have no one
I can’t… I can’t… I can’t…

Jesus, you imagine the new for me

You see me
The me that I really am
At your word I trust and stand
At your word I am well

You Heal by Lisa Degrenia
Jesus, we’ve been ill a long time
a lifetime

Circumstances block the way to wholeness
Someone pushes in to take what we need
We block the way, too

You make the way, clear the way, to new life
Body… Soul… Mind… Spirit
Relationships… Systems… Communities… Creation …

You heal

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I’ll be posting prayers based on the Gospel of John throughout Lent this year as part of our Lenten Reading Plan. Here’s your invitation to join us for this reading plan.  

Three Prayers for Healing © 2023 Lisa Ann Moss Degrenia. You are welcome to use this work in a worship setting without asking permission. It’s always a treat to hear from you if you’re using it. Leave a comment for information and permission to publish this work in a book, blog, etc.

Three Prayers Inspired by Jesus and the Woman at the Well, John 4

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Woman at the Well by Wayne Forte

Jesus answered her, “Those who drink of the water that I will give them will never be thirsty. The water that I will give will become in them a spring of water gushing up to eternal life.” The woman said to him, “Sir, give me this water, so that I may never be thirsty or have to keep coming here to draw water.” – John 4:14-15

You Answer by Lisa Degrenia
We are dry
Brittle
Crusty
Empty

Parched with a thirst we cannot appease
Tongues heavy and stuck
No words escaping
We are too poor
Too broken
Too desolate

You alone answer our silent screams
You, the Lord God

You fill and flood and quench
A wild river on the barren peaks
An ancient fountain in the deep wasteland
A still pool for resting and rooting
A spring of water gushing up to eternal life

You, answer
You, the Lord God, will never forsake

Fill us by Lisa Degrenia
God of the Wilderness, God of the Well
Your unseen work is real and near and constant
like a deep, clear spring

Fill us. Fill us now.
Fill us with truth
the truth of you, the truth of who we are in you
the truth of who we can become

Fill us with boldness to witness and testify
to your victory, your companionship, your call

Fill us with strength and skills far beyond us
Fill us with courage to do hard, holy things
to break down dividing walls
to seek and question
to embrace our belovedness and place in your plan

Fill us with passion
Fill us with hope
Fill us with joy

Fill us till our cups runneth over

Fill us with You

Pause in silence to receive

Spirit and Truth by Lisa Degrenia
Jesus said, “But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father seeks such as these to worship him.” – John 4:23

People of God, Rejoice!
Our Eternal and Beautiful God is near
The One who meets us as we are
The One who names us beloved
The One who delights in our very existence
Come and worship in spirit and truth

Holy Spirit, Holy One
Holy Spirit, Descending Dove
Alight on me that I may know your presence
Anoint me that I may know your call
Fill me that I may know your power
Guide me that I may know your path
Name me that I may know, that I know, that I know who I am
And live your truth
Amen

CLICK HERE for an opening prayer, prayer of confession, and pardon inspired by the story of Jesus and the woman at the well. 

John 4:5-42 is read on Year A, Third Sunday in Lent.

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I’ll be posting prayers based on the Gospel of John throughout Lent this year as part of our Lenten Reading Plan. Here’s your invitation to join us for this reading plan.  

Three Prayers Inspired by Jesus and the Woman at the Well © 2023 Lisa Ann Moss Degrenia. You are welcome to use this work in a worship setting without asking permission. It’s always a treat to hear from you if you’re using it. Leave a comment for information and permission to publish this work in a book, blog, etc.