Tag Archives: healing

Freedom and Light – Three Prayers Inspired by John 8

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Forgive by Yongsung Kim

No Condemnation by Lisa Degrenia
Jesus straightened up and said to her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?” 11 She said, “No one, sir.” And Jesus said, “Neither do I condemn you. Go your way, and from now on do not sin again.” – John 8:10-11

Jesus, you do not condem
You reveal
You write the truth on the sands of our souls

We hear our prejudice
We see our hypocrisy

continue with your own prayers of confession

We drop the stones of our deadly traditions
Our blood trappings
We surrender our false supremancy

All have sinned, we have sinned
All fall short, we fall short
All need you and your redeeming love,
We need you and your redeeming love

Shine On by Lisa Degrenia
Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness but will have the light of life.” – John 8:12

Shine on Jesus
Shine on me 
Make me a Child of Light
Being light
Living in light
Bearing the fruit of light

Shine on me and in me  
exposing the works of my darkness to the light
Your healing, redeeming Light

Shine on me, Shine in me, Shine through me
Exposing the works of darkness around me
The oppression, corruption, destruction
Exposing them to the light
Your light
Your truth, your justice
Your mercy, your healing, your love
Your ways
Your Light

Shine on Jesus
Lord of Light
Light of the World
Shine your healing, redeeming Light

Freedom in Christ by Lisa Degrenia
Jesus answered them, “Very truly, I tell you, everyone who commits sin is a slave to sin.  The slave does not have a permanent place in the household; the son has a place there forever. So if the Son makes you free, you will be free indeed.- John 8:34-36

Come Mighty Savior!
Wield your truth
Release the captives
Release us

Come Mighty Savior!
Shatter the bonds of
Fear and Sin
Shame and Injustice
Falsehood and Death

Come Mighty Savior!
We long for your deliverance
Take our strongholds and give us freedom
Take our numbers and give us names
Take our sentences and give us life

If you make us free
We are free indeed

Continue with your own prayers of deliverance and thanksgiving

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

Three Prayers Inspired by John 8 © 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.

Jesus, Bread of Life – prayers inspired by John 6.35-58

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Christ the Saviour with Eucharist by Spanish Renaissance artist Vincente Juan Masip

Bread of Life by Lisa Degrenia
Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.” – John 6:35

Blessed Jesus,
Bread of Life, Bread of Heaven
coming down for us
lashed and leavened
hidden and risen

Help us hunger for you alone

Nourish us with your word and ways
Satisfy us with the feast of you

Give us this day our daily bread

You are food for the journey of faith and action
You are drink for the journey home
Life now and eternal life
Blessed be your name

Bread in the Wilderness by Lisa Degrenia
This is the bread that comes down from heaven, so that one may eat of it and not die. – John 6:50

In the wilderness of this season
I come face-to-face with my dependence
my deepest needs, my deepest wounds
my deep capacity for denial and destruction

I come face-to-face with me
and face-to-face with you

Reveal everything I need to see
everything I need to know
everything I need to feel

Reveal and refocus my appetites
Feasting on you… your bread in place of my shame
Nurtured and nourished by your grace and hope

Reveal and heal, Blessed One
Reveal and make whole
So I may live

Morning by Morning by Lisa Degrenia
Jesus said, “I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Whoever eats of this bread will live forever, and the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh.” – John 6:51

Morning by morning
Like the sunrise
Like manna

Morning by morning you waken and provide
You open my eyes to your presence and desire for this day
You open my ears to your encouragement, truth, and grace
You know my weakness, my weariness
You open me to your sustaining

Morning by morning you waken and provide
Now open my mouth to share what first found me
In every season and circumstance
With every soul along the way

Morning by morning you waken me
My eyes, my ears
My mouth, my heart

Morning by morning you waken me
To You and to all
Like the sunrise
Like manna
Great is your faithfulness!

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 6:35, 41-51 is read on Year B — Season after Pentecost — Proper 14 (19)
John 6:51-58 is read on Year B — Season after Pentecost — Proper 15 (20)

Jesus, Bread of Life prayers © 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.

Five Prayers Inspired by John 3

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Study for Nicodemus Visiting Jesus by Henry Ossawa Tanner

Water and Spirit by Lisa Degrenia
Jesus answered, “Very truly, I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God without being born of water and Spirit. What is born of the flesh is flesh, and what is born of the Spirit is spirit.” – John 3:5-6

Holy Spirit
Pregnant with twins- Truth and New Life
Welcome home to my spirit
Let it be with me according to your word

Reveal yourself in my thoughts
Bring forth encouragement and counsel
Deliver righteousness and justice in every choice
Carry hope and healing in every touch

Give birth not just in me, but to a whole new generation,
a people so full of your gifts and power they never labor in vain

Open our eyes to the glory that is possible
Open our hearts to the great responsibility- is it of flesh or is it of you?
Open us to the fullness of you. Amen.

Make Me Your Love by Lisa Degrenia
Jesus said, “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life.” – John 3:16

Rabbi Jesus
Promised Messiah
Son of the One, True, Living God

Fill me with your Spirit
Make me your love

It is your command
It is your way
It is your gift
It is You and your work

Yes, make me your witness
And yes, make me your will
But first and always, make me your love

Pause in silence to receive

Brought to Light by Lisa Degrenia
Jesus said, “For all who do evil hate the light and do not come to the light, so that their deeds may not be exposed. But those who do what is true come to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that their deeds have been done in God.” – John 3:20-21

Radiant One, we hear your call
“Come to the light.”

The hidden will be brought to light
hidden words
hidden thoughts
hidden actions of our hands
hidden motives of our hearts

Radiant One, in your mercy,
Guide us, heal us

We stand- trusting all will be revealed
We bow- knowing all will be revealed

Light and Life by Lisa Degrenia
Jesus, you are Light and Life
Help me love you more than my shadows
my inky shame
my sinful secrets
the resentments I nurture and nurse

I try to hide my trauma from you
There is no need to hide

Help me bring it all to your light
I am seen
I will be made whole

Celebrating Jesus by Lisa Degrenia
John the Baptist said, “I am not the Messiah, but I have been sent ahead of him. He who has the bride is the bridegroom. The friend of the bridegroom who stands and hears him rejoices greatly at the bridegroom’s voice. For this reason my joy has been fulfilled. He must increase, but I must decrease.” – John 3:28-30

Jesus, like our brother John,
we have a calling
we have a place in your plan

Jesus, like our brother John,
help us speak of you
point to you
rejoice in people drawn to you

You are the Bridegroom
We celebrate you
We celebrate the day of your coming
We celebrate your increase and glory

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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.  

Five Prayers Based on John 3 © 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.

Let the Tears Fall – A prayer of Lament and Release

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Let the Tears Fall

Holy One, you are near and present in all things: highs and lows, joys and sorrows, celebration and suffering.

God, we come to you now in the midst of yet another storm, in a season of grief and loss of loved ones, belongings, and a sense of normalcy. More chaos, more loss, more pain.

Let the tears fall.

For the hurt in our hearts, we ask for healing, God. Hold us in our pain and bring peace to the storm.

What is hurting in your heart that you want God to heal?

The congregation offers their petitions silently or aloud

Let the tears fall.

For the hurt in our community, our families, friends, neighbors, strangers, we ask for healing, God. Surround our homes, neighborhoods, churches, schools, businesses, hospitals, and parks with your love and care.

What is the hurt in your community that you want God to heal?

The congregation offers their petitions silently or aloud

Let the tears fall.

For the hurt in our world from war, oppression, hunger, and injustice, we ask for healing, God. Shine hope in all places where there is despair.

What is the heart in our world that you want God to heal?

The congregation offers their petitions silently or aloud

Let the tears fall.

Lord, you catch them in your hands. In the ocean of our grief and lament, you call out again and again, “Peace, be still.”

We ask for healing in the name of Jesus, who heals all suffering and who taught us to pray, saying:                                

Conclude with The Lord’s Prayer

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I’m grateful for the prayer ministry of Rev. Macon Armistead, my colleague in ministry at Coronado Community United Methodist Church who gave me permission to post his moving prayer. 

This prayer could be used for a healing service or Longest Night service in addition to weekly worship. – Lisa <><

Let the Tears Fall © 2022 Macon Armistead
You are welcome to use this work in a worship setting with proper attribution.
Leave a comment for information and permission to publish this work in any form.