Prayers

[OBW]

Like some other threads for posting a song, or a verse, if you have a short prayer of hope, admonition, encouragement, etc., post it here.

While I attend a Bible church whose liturgy is mostly standard evangelical, with little that we would recognize as liturgy other than one responsive reading each week, plus the reciting of the Apostle's Creed before the Table, I have come to appreciate certain aspects of somewhat more liturgical practice. Among the things I have taken note of recently includes a Sunday prayer posted each week in a blog by Scot McKnight. Most are original. They are very short. I believe that he uses them in his own preaching (when he is preaching).

Here is the most recent.

O God, whose glory it is always to have mercy:

Be gracious to all who have gone astray from your ways,

and bring them again with penitent hearts and steadfast faith

to embrace and hold fast the unchangeable truth of your Word, Jesus Christ your Son;

who with you and the Holy Spirit lives and reigns, one God, for ever and ever.

Amen.

[aron]

Originally Posted by OBW

I have come to appreciate certain aspects of somewhat more liturgical practice.

I also. I still believe in the experience of "sola scriptora", of gazing at and even into the unadorned word. There is arguably no substitute. But liturgical practice shouldn't be a substitute, but a conversation about scripture, which has come from the past. There is wisdom in preceding experiences, and in the liturgies that were framed from those experiences.

There was story that recently recast my view of our Protestant heritage. It was a story about the death of Michael Servetus, who made the mistake of having (arguably bad) ideas in Calvin's Geneva. His stubborness to come to the word himself, and think, and speak for himself, cost him a horrible death. I'll spare the details here. But in reading the defense of John Calvin's actions by contemporary Reformed Christian apologists, I was really touched by one statement. It was by the Christian writer C.S. Lewis, a man with whom I usually agree whole-heartedly. In this case (I am paraphrasing) Lewis essentially said that "it was a barbaric age, recently removed from medievalism", and we should take Calvin's violent, merciless words and deeds against Michael Servetus in context.

Fine, but shouldn't we also then take everything Calvin, (and Melanchthon, and Luther et al) in context, as ones whose use of "sola scriptora" against the "traditions" of the preceding church(es) was the practice of those recently come from medieval barbarity? How truly rational were they, really? And have we further emerged from barbarity, or not? How logical was John Calvin, using death penalties from the OT to maintain order in town, and keep opinions in line with the current, accepted standard?

I don't have a proposed solution to Calvin's dilemma of how to keep order in the church, either in his age or mine. But seeing his actions, which were simply wrong, and similarly those of the Massachusetts Bay Colony Puritans, a century later, and later still the treatment of the Native Americans who had treaty after treaty overturned by supposed Christians who discovered material assets under those treatied territories, makes me reconsider our ability to see scripture for what it really is. Like Moses, we're fallen, and get frightened when we approach God, and turn our eyes away in fear. (Exod 3:6). We are blind. There is nothing wrong with the word. But there's something wrong with our vision, our capacity to see.

Perhaps those hard-earned liturgies can be of service here; not as a substitute for the word but as a kind of child-conductor, to calmly and carefully help us approach nearer to the word without becoming overwhelmed with fear. Just a thought.

[OBW]

Almighty God, whose blessed Son was led by the Spirit to be tempted by Satan:

Come quickly to help us who are assaulted by many temptations;

and, as you know the weaknesses of each of us, let each one find you mighty to save;

through Jesus Christ your Son, our Lord,

who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever.

Amen.

(BCP)

It may have been written, and written many years ago. But it is as fresh as the heart that prays it today.

[countmeworthy]

One of my favorites..with a twist to make it more personal to me:

Our Father/My Father. You Who are in heaven. How Holy and lovely is Your Name. May Your Kingdom come and may YOUR WILL be done in me, in us, and on earth AS IT IS in Heaven.

Bless me/bless us today with our daily bread, the Bread of Life to sustain us and nourish us. Give us a fresh drink of Living Water to refresh us.

Forgive my/our debts and trespasses as I/we have forgiven those who have wronged me/us, hurt me/us, betrayed me/us and trespassed against us.

Lead me/us AWAY from temptation. Deliver me/us from all evil. To You be the Glory and Praise for Thine is the Kingdom, Glory and Power forever and ever. Amen.

[OBW]

CMW brings up an interesting prayer. And in her slight modifications, I saw something in the original that I had not noticed, and that I do not recall anyone really pointing out before.

This prayer was given as a corporate prayer, not a personal prayer.

Not saying that it cannot be prayed individually. That it does not provide a pattern for a complete personal prayer.

But it was not given as "My Father" and "Give me" etc. But it was provided as if intended for corporate use, whether recited in the manner given, or used as pattern for prayers used in corporate worship. It would seem that Jesus started us out to pray together rather than individually. Teaching us to pray was provided in the context of something that would look more like liturgy than a collection of individual prayers, although individual prayers cast in this corporate manner could be a way that they are realized in worship.

Our God and Father, in majesty on your throne in the heavens, your name is higher than any other.

May your kingdom be realized according to your will here on the earth in our lives in the way that you have ordained it from the heavens.

We pray for your bountiful supply in all aspects of our lives, from the sustaining of our physical lives and health to our mental and emotional well-being.

We pray for our sins against your righteousness and holiness, and against our fellow man. We recognize that our intent to love others as ourselves is brought into question when we live as we do.

May we find your grace in us to forgive the sins of others against us as a necessary step in coming to love them and as a pathway to our own forgiveness by you.

Watch over us throughout our day. Lead us in paths that will avoid the temptations that so often stumble us. And grant us mercy with your power to overcome those temptations that still arise.

While we live in this world, we pray to live in the eternal kingdom that is yours, with your power and glory as our inheritance.

Amen

Every time it is prayed, something different may stand out because of the immediate needs or considerations of the participant. And it will be prayed both together, and differently for that very reason.

This morning, as I prepare for one of those Saturday work sessions due to the rise and fall of tax work, I note that I will have the opportunity to drive in my usual manner (like a bat out of hell) through the 8 miles of construction that crawls on regular workdays. That was what came to me as I considered my sins, both against God and others. It is far from the end of the list of my failures. But it needs a regular prayer. Whether in this way or in another.

And while I was here alone as I did it, my realization is that at this time there are countless others who may be beginning or ending their days with this same prayer. So while we do not hear each other, it still rises together to God, our Father. And Jesus is there, speaking on our behalf in support of what has come from our lips and minds. And surely the Spirit is in this. To suggest otherwise would just be wrong.

[countmeworthy]

Originally Posted by OBW

CMW brings up an interesting prayer. And in her slight modifications, I saw something in the original that I had not noticed, and that I do not recall anyone really pointing out before.

This prayer was given as a corporate prayer, not a personal prayer.

Of course. 2 things to point out. When Jesus used this prayer to teach PEOPLE how to pray, He was addressing a 'corporate' group, a large group of people. As they were gathered together listening to Him, He may have been teaching them 'secretly' we are One Body and together are children of Father God.

2ndly, the reason I sometimes add 'MY' Father to OUR Father is simply a personal matter.

For whatever it's worth here is a short testimony:
Since getting saved through the LC, (but nonetheless, a life changing, Glorious Salvation), I mostly have addressed my prayers to the Lord Jesus. I have taken John 14:6 to heart that no one comes to the Father but through Jesus.

As I began to pay close attention to the Trinity, I came to realize I did not recall ever addressing God, the Holy Spirit in my prayers. The Holy Spirit is the Voice of God and IS God. Just one of His many Titles and the means in which God speaks to our spirit and to our conscience. "A still small voice".

As I go to know the Holy Spirit of God, I realized I did not address my prayers to Father God either. So I have begun to develop a relationship with Father God too although I know the Father through the Son and the Holy Spirit.

I am still a work in progress. And all that to say why I personalize the "Our Father" prayer.