Here am I – Prayers based on Luke 1.26-38, The Annunciation

Posted on December 15, 2020 by revlisad

Annunciation by Patricia Brintle

Prayer: Mary’s Welcome
Holy Spirit, come
Into the smallness of my life
Into the bewilderment of my being
Into fears that must be faced

Holy Spirit, come
Into the backwoods of my world
Into the places people forget
Into places people put down… what good can come from there

Holy Spirit, welcome
Here am I, the servant of the Lord
Let it be with me according to your word
Amen

Prayer: You Are With Me
I am favored
I am blessed
because you are with me

I am unafraid
Known by name
because you are with me

You are help and home
You are servant and sanctuary
The impossible possible
because you are with me
in me
upon me
let it be
let it be

Like Our Sister Mary,
An Affirmation of Faith for Christmas
Like our sister Mary, we say yes

Yes to your favor
Your presence
Your blessing

Yes that we are enough just as we are
Where we are

Yes to your calling
and the power of the Holy Spirit coming upon us to fulfill it

Yes to bearing and birthing
Your Word and your Promises and your Kingdom
in this time and place

Yes to all things being possible with you

Like our sister Mary we say
Here I am, the Lord’s humble servant
As you have said, let it be done to me
in me
through me

Like our sister Mary we sing and celebrate you
Our God, Our Liberator
For though we are your humble servants
You have noticed us
***********
Mary’s Welcome © 2010 Lisa Ann Moss Degrenia
You Are With Me © 2014 Lisa Ann Moss Degrenia
Like Our Sister Mary © 2017 Lisa Ann Moss Degrenia
You are welcome to use this work in a worship setting with proper attribution. (by Lisa Ann Moss Degrenia, http://www.revlisad.com) Please leave a comment for information and permission to publish this work in any form.

The Spirit of the Lord is Upon Me- Prayers based on Isaiah 61 and Luke 4

Posted on December 9, 2020 by revlisad

Holy Spirit Outpouring by Deborah Brown

Prayer: Long-awaited Messiah
Long-awaited Messiah
Lord of Hope
Have mercy

Long-awaited Messiah
Defender of Compassion
Have mercy

Long-awaited Messiah
Provider, Protector, Liberator
Have mercy

Release us from
the chains of this moment, born of imprisoned years
the distractions and false calls of those who cannot help

Release us from
the blindness to our complicity, frailty, and poverty
the apathy keeping us from seeing, speaking and caring

Release us from
the weight of needs stealing our courage to try
the slowness of change chipping away at our enduring

Have mercy on us
Finish your good and generous work

Prayer: Comfort Us
Comfort us
Comfort us who mourn
When one suffers, we all suffer
You suffer

Hear our lament
for the ways we hurt one another and in turn hurt you
Our words weapons instead of life

Hear our wails
for all shattered by sin and fear and shame

Hear our groans
for all bent low beneath watching and waiting for another in pain
or their own

Hear our tears for all captive to
their poverty
their addiction
their loneliness
their otherness

Hear our grieving
for the powerful misusing their influence
The Forgotten… forgotten

Comfort us
Comfort us who mourn
Comfort us in your coming
Your freeing
Your healing

In your deliverance, there is a crown for our ashes
The oil of gladness pouring across tender brows till it pools in our clavicles

In the nakedness of our need you clothe us
Garments of Salvation
Robes of Righteousness
Jewels of our Belovedness
You dress us in your Victory
Wrapping us in your Joy and Delight
Swaddling us in your Promises made real

***********
Long-awaited Messiah © 2020 Lisa Ann Moss Degrenia
Comfort Us © 2018 Lisa Ann Moss Degrenia
You are welcome to use this work in a worship setting with proper attribution. (by Lisa Ann Moss Degrenia, http://www.revlisad.com) Please leave a comment for information and permission to publish this work in any form.

Prayers based on Matthew 23.1-12

Posted on October 28, 2020 by revlisad

Prayers Based on Matthew 23:1-12
Jesus Denounces the Scribes and Pharisees

Prayer: The Humble Way
Jesus, you are lowly, vulnerable
You choose to be with us in our weakness
You win the world with your love, sacrifice, and humility

Your power is made perfect in
our weakness
our transparency
our vulnerability
our surrender
our honesty with our dusty condition

Free us from posing as experts with all the answers
Free us from burdening others with mortal mandates
Free us from chasing human favor and status

Let us know nothing with certainty other than the eternal truth
that you are the Messiah, the Suffering Servant, the Liberating King,
who was crucified and raised on behalf of all creation

We receive you and your saving
We receive you and your teaching
We receive you and your humilty
Hallelujah! Glory to your Holy Name. Amen.

Prayer: My Heart is Not Proud
Jesus, Savior, my heart is not proud
I trust you and need you and honor your blessed presence

Cleanse and nurture my soul
that I may rejoice in what delights you,
see as you see, love as you love

Cleanse and nurture my soul
so my thoughts are as yours,
so I am quick to respond to your bidding

Cleanse and nurture my soul
so that I may leave this world more as you intend it to be

I place myself honestly and humbly into your care,
for you know me truly and love me completely
Amen

Prayer: A Holy Centering
Eternal and Beautiful God,
The One who births us and names us
Grant us perspective
A holy centering
of truth, humility, and our belovedness

Not too high that we fall away from you
our need of you
our need of others

Not too low that we fail to trust
to reach out for you
to reach out with you

In you, with you, for you we are
humble and powerful
unique and alike
common and regal
priceless and dust

Grant us perspective, Merciful One
A holy centering
So we may persevere in faith
in hope
in following
in becoming
Amen
______________

For the next few months, I’ll be posting prayers to accompany Bishop Ken Carter’s Bible Study on Facebook. Each week, Bishop Carter will bring in a guest to speak about the passage. We’ll be walking through the last chapters of the Gospel of Matthew.

You’re most welcome to read along and to join this Facebook discussion group. You don’t need to be a Methodist or attend a Methodist church. All are welcome and all means all.

May the grace of God’s word, the challenge, and the call, inspire us to great faith and great good works in Jesus’ name. – Lisa <

The Humble Way © 2020 Lisa Ann Moss Degrenia
My Heart is Not Proud © 2017 Lisa Ann Moss Degrenia
A Holy Centering © 2017 Lisa Ann Moss Degrenia
You are welcome to use this work in a worship setting with proper attribution.
Please leave a comment for information and permission to publish this work in any form.

Raise Us, a prayer based on Luke 7

Posted on July 21, 2020 by revlisad

Prayer Based on Luke 7:11-17
Jesus raises the widow’s son

Luke 7:14
Then Jesus came forward and touched the bier, and the bearers stood still. And he said, “Young man, I say to you, rise!”

Jesus,
We bow in awe before your mighty power
You defeat the grave
You are victorious over death
Raise us from our too soon tombs
Raise us to life
Your word awakening us
Your Divine breath once more in our lungs

Jesus,
We stand in awe before your great compassion
You defeat our isolation
You are victorious over our poverty
Raise us from the loss of place and people
Raise us to life
Your word making a way for us
Your daily bread once more in our mouths

You meet us where we are
You meet our desperate need
Hallelujah to your mercy, your favor, your presence
Amen
_______________

For the next few months, I’m reading a chapter from the Gospels each day. This is part of the Summer in the Scriptures reading plan sponsored by the Florida Conference of the United Methodist Church. Click Here for the reading plan.

You’re most welcome to read along and to join the Facebook discussion group, Summer in the Scriptures. You don’t need to be a Methodist or attend a Methodist church. All are welcome and all means all.

As part of the Facebook group, I’ve been supplying prayers based on the day’s reading. Feel free to post your prayers and observations based on the readings here or there as well.

May the grace of the Gospels, the challenge, and the call, inspire us to great faith and great good works in Jesus’ name. – Lisa <

Raise Us © 2020 Lisa Ann Moss Degrenia
You are welcome to use this work in a worship setting with proper attribution.
Please leave a comment for information and permission to publish this work in any form.

Long-Awaited Messiah, a prayer based on Luke 4

Posted on July 18, 2020 by revlisad

Long-Awaited Messiah, a prayer based on Luke 4:17-19

The scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written: “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”

Long-awaited Messiah
Lord of Hope
Have mercy

Long-awaited Messiah
Defender of Compassion
Have mercy

Long-awaited Messiah
Provider, Protector, Liberator
Have mercy

Release us from
the chains of this moment, born of imprisoned years
the distractions and false calls of those who cannot help

Release us from
the blindness to our complicity, frailty, and poverty
the apathy keeping us from seeing, speaking and caring

Release us from
the weight of needs stealing our courage to try
the slowness of change chipping away at our enduring

Have mercy on us
Finish your good and generous work

_______________

As part of the Facebook group, I’ve been supplying prayers based on the day’s reading. Feel free to post your prayers and observations based on the readings here or there as well.

May the grace of the Gospels, the challenge, and the call, inspire us to great faith and great good works in Jesus’ name. – Lisa <

Long-awaited Messiah © 2020 Lisa Ann Moss Degrenia
You are welcome to use this work in a worship setting with proper attribution.
Please leave a comment for information and permission to publish this work in any form.

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Tag Archives: messiah

Here am I – Prayers based on Luke 1.26-38, The Annunciation

Prayers based on Matthew 23.1-12

Raise Us, a prayer based on Luke 7