Prayers Inspired by 1 John

Inspired by 1 John 1:7
If we walk in the light as he himself is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin.

Hallelujah!
Blessing and honor to God, the Beautiful and Holy One!
You are helping us walk together
Helping us walk together in fellowship and light

Hallelujah! You are
Drawing us together in the journey of faith
Cleansing us
Redeeming us
Fulfilling your goodness and hope through us
Making us light as you are light

Hallelujah!
Blessing and honor to God
Blessing and honor to the Beautiful and Holy One!

Inspired by 1 John 2:6
Whoever says, “I abide in him” ought to walk in the same way as he walked.

Welcoming One,
You abide in me, I abide in you
a mystery, a grace, a belonging
May this belonging bear fruit
May this belonging be seen by all
An outward and visible sign of an inward and spiritual grace

Make me a sign,
written in your hand, written on your palm

Make me a sign
Aglow in the shadows, lighting the way to you
Lighting the way home to you

Inspired by 1 John 3:14b
Whoever does not love abides in death

Love one another, as Christ commanded
As Christ demonstrated through deed and truth
As Christ made possible through death and resurrection
As Christ sustains through the gift of Holy Spirit

Love is life, choose life over death
Love is truth, choose truth over death
Love is righteousness, right relationship with one and all
Creator and creation, Sovereign and self
Choose righteousness over death

We love in word and speech, deed and truth
We love and abide
We love and live

Glory to you, Lord Jesus Christ
Glory to you, the Way, the Truth, the Life
Glory to you, the Resurrection and the Life
Love and Life are made possible through you

Inspired by 1 John 4:16a
So we have known and believe the love that God has for us.

You love me
You love first
You are Love

You make it possible for me to love and be loved
For me to be born of your love, born again
For me to abide in you, and you in me
For me to abide in your love

Perfectionism is twisted and harmful
It’s not about being perfect for you
Your love for me is already perfect
It’s about you perfecting your love in me
Your love through me

You’re perfecting your love and perfecting my trust of your love
My trust of you, Love
Help me trust you
Help me accept the gift of you and your love

Inspired by 1 John 5:7-8
There are three that testify: the Spirit and the water and the blood, and these three agree.

Testify, Brother Water
You who witness
creation from chaos
freedom of slaves
the bearing and birthing of Word Made Flesh

Testify, Sister Blood
You who witness
death pass over
genocide and sacrifice
the bearing and birthing of resurrection and life

Testify, Holy Spirit
You who witness
the way in the wilderness
the fire of Pentecost
the bearing and birthing of courage and call

May your truth and our truth speak the same story
of God’s grace, power, and transforming love

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Reading through 1 John is part of the 2023 Bible Reading Plan for the New Year. Consider this your invitation to join us. Click here for more information and the plan. 

Prayers Inspired by 1 John © 2023 Lisa Ann Moss Degrenia
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.

A Prayer for Restoration

abstract art artistic autumn

Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com

A Prayer for Restoration by Rev. Macon Armistead
God our Creator, who from nothing made all things, You are the source of life and love. In You we find our deepest longing to be re-created, re-formed, and made new. Create in us, O God, a heart for love and grace. May we now lift up to You those in need of love and grace.

Say their names silently or aloud

God our Redeemer, You became flesh in Jesus Christ. You lived among us as one of us, and came near to the hurt and brokenness of our world. Through Your love and grace, You brought us into deeper community with You and with one another by restoring all creation on a cross. Redeem us, O God, so that we might find healing, justice, and forgiveness. May we now lift up to You those in need of healing, justice, and forgiveness.

Say their names silently or aloud

God our Sustainer, You hold together all life through the in-breaking of Your Holy Spirit in us. Through mighty winds and fire, or your still small whisper, Your Spirit is among us, calling us to be a part of Your mission, to continue Your restoration for all the earth. Sustain us, O God, so that we might discover Your purpose and peace for us. May we lift up now to You those in need of purpose and peace.

Say their names silently or aloud

God speak to us now. Reveal to us, Your Church, how we might be with and for another in this world, as You are with and for us. May we be co-agents of Your love and grace, Your healing, justice and forgiveness, Your purpose and peace, so that all the earth might be made new, redeemed and restored, through You — Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

And now, let us pray the prayer Jesus taught us, saying:
Our Father who art in Heaven, hallowed be thy name.
Thy Kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread
and forgive us as our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us.
Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.
For thine is the Kingdom, and the power, and the glory forever and ever.
Amen.

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A Prayer for Restoration © 2021 Rev. 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.

Bible Reading Plan for the Easter Season

Yay! You’re ready to download this great resource.

The Easter Season Bible Reading Plan includes:

  • 5 readings per week. The readings are taken from several New Testament books on the themes of resurrection and new life
  • Space to write a short prayer or reflection following each reading.
  • A prayer for each week
  • On Sundays, you’ll find the scripture I’ll be preaching. Join us live on Facebook at 9 AM or 10:30 AM for the whole worship service. Later in the week, you’ll find just the sermon on my YouTube channel. It takes a couple of days for me to post the sermon on YouTube.

CLICK HERE for a printable PDF of the reading plan in book order. Print it front and back and you’ll have an 8 page booklet.

CLICK HERE for the reading plan in date order. This is great for those who want a digital version of the plan or who just want to print a week at a time.

Easter Season Bible Reading Plan © 2021 Lisa Ann Moss Degrenia.

Prayers for a New Year

huge clock

Please let me know the artist of this piece that I may give him/her credit.

Prayer at Year’s End by Steve Garnaas Holmes
Eternal God,
in the evening of this year
I release the year to you.
Not a day, not a breath, have I been without you,
and I thank you.
All that I have done is done;
what I have not done I have not done.
All of my sins and errors you have forgiven,
and I release them.
All of my triumphs are your doing,
and I release them.
The year is gathered into your harvest,
to winnow and to save.
My life is gathered into your grace.
By your spirit in me may I learn from my mistakes,
grow from my wounds,
and deepen in gratitude for my gifts.
And now I turn to a new year,
grateful for your presence and your grace,
seeking only to live in harmony with your delight,
and open to your blessing and your leading.
Whether my journey onward be long or short,
it shall be in you, and I rejoice.
Amen.

O Mystery, remind me of my end, and how measured my days;
keep me mindful how fleeting my life is. —Psalm 39:4

Letting Go by Steve Garnaas Holmes
Before I step into the new year
I let go of the old one.
What I have done I have done.
What I have not done I have not done.
So be it. I release my regret.
I stand with myself.

For all the gifts I have received,
known and unknown, I am grateful.
However I have suffered I accept.
I learn what I can and move on.
Whatever others have done that hurt me,
I forgive. I learn and move on.
For however I have failed or fallen short,
I forgive myself. I learn and move on.

I release my fears.
I release my self-doubt, blame and self-silencing.
My hopes and dreams I place in God’s hands,
trusting what is blessed will remain with me.

I am alive, and life is good.
I open myself to the future,
enfolded in this present.
Holy Mystery, I am yours.
I am here, now.

Gratitude for a New Year by Lisa Ann Moss Degrenia
For the blessings of today
which remind us of the blessings of the past
which point forward to the blessings still to come
we give you thanks

Prayer for a New Year, based on Psalm 90 by Lisa Ann Moss Degrenia
ONE:
Eternal and Immortal One,
You have been our refuge from age to age.
Before the mountains were born,
Before the earth and the world came to birth,
From eternity to eternity,
You are God.

ALL:
To you, a thousand years are like a yesterday
Like a watch of the night

ONE:
You return us to dust
You sweep us away like a dream
We are like grass
In the morning we thrive,
We blossom
But come evening,
We are withered and dry

ALL:
Teach us to number our days
That we may gain your wise heart

Fill us with your faithful love
That we may sing your joyful story

Show us your wondrous deeds
That we may see your transforming power
That generations to come may see it as well

Let your favor, O God be upon us,
That the work of our hands
May bear forth your blessing
And bring your glory. Amen.

penitence by larry poncho brown

Penitence by Larry Poncho Brown

Prayer of Confession for a New Year
by Lisa Ann Moss Degrenia

As the new year is born,
We remember and regret…

Forgive us, Holy One,
When we keep You at a distance
When we defy your bidding
When we make it harder
for people to know you

Forgive us, Holy One,
When we deny our weakness
When we wallow in our weakness
When we take advantage
of the weakness of others

Forgive us, Holy One,
When we refuse Your counsel
When we waste your gifts
When we withhold Your compassion from others

Silent Confession

As the new year is born
We labor to look forward
Our hearts fill with hope
For you are making all things new
even us… Amen

A New Year’s Blessing by Steve Garnaas Holmes
My hope and prayer and confidence
is that in this new year
God will be lovingly present for you,
and you will more and more deeply trust
God’s delight in you.
Christ will lead you every step of the new year.
The Spirit’s gifts will unfold in you in new ways.
I rejoice that in this new year
beauty will surround you; grace will enfold you;
love will embrace and uphold you;
joy will bless you, and hope sustain you.
May you receive healing and wisdom;
may your creativity flower and your courage grow;
and in your hands may justice and mercy flourish.
I rejoice that these gifts await you in the new year,
and pray that you receive them with delight.
I give thanks for the gift of sharing together
the journey of this new year.
God bless us all.

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Click Here for a collection of quotes entitled Counting Our Days

Thank you to Steve Garnaas Holmes for his generosity in allowing me to share his work on my blog. Please, consider subscribing to his blog, www.unfoldinglight.net.

Gratitude for a New Year © 2015 Lisa Ann Moss Degrenia
Prayer for a New Year, based on Psalm 90 © 2013 Lisa Ann Moss Degrenia
Prayer of Confession for the New Year © 2012 Lisa Ann Moss Degrenia

You are welcome to use these prayers in a worship setting with proper attribution.
Please leave a comment for information and permission to publish them in any form

An Affirmation and Prayer Based on John 11

Summer in the Scriptures John (9)

Based on John 11:25-26
Jesus said to Martha, “I am the resurrection and the life. Those who believe in me, even though they die, will live, and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?”

In the midst of
unrelenting, unraveling, and unknowing
You are the Resurrection and the Life

In the midst of
hunger, disease, and great need
You are the Resurrection and the Life

In the midst of
conquest, prejudice, and oppression
You are the Resurrection and the Life

In the midst of
water, bread, and wine
You are the Resurrection and the Life

In the midst of
questions, promises, and prayers
You are the Resurrection and the Life

In the midst of
loneliness, hot tears, and agonizing decisions
You are the Resurrection and the Life

In the midst of
betrayal, saving your own skin, and abandonment
You are the Resurrection and the Life

In the midst of
injustice, brutality, and the misuse of power
You are the Resurrection and the Life

In the midst of
mocking, torture, and excruciating pain
You are the Resurrection and the Life

In the midst of
grave clothes, spices, and stone
You are the Resurrection and the Life

Imagining this prayer took me all the way through the coming chapters in the Gospel of John, Jesus’ passion and death.

What would you add to this prayer?
In the midst of
________, ___________, and _________
You are the Resurrection and the Life

_______________

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 <

Affirmation Based on John 11 © 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.