Additional Resources
Responsive Psalms
[Most books of worship include the Psalms. The following is but
one example.]
Psalm 104
+Response:
Lord, breathe your Spirit, make
the face of the earth come alive!
[We] will bless you,
God! You fill the world with awe,
with a genius that
shapes every thing. +
All look to you for
food when they hunger.
You give it lavishly,
they feast; you give it not, they fear. +
No food, no breath,
they drop back into dust.
Breathe into them,
they rise from the dust; the face of the earth is alive! +
May God delight in
creation, love it for ever.
[We] will make God a
song for [our] whole life,
To give God joy, who
is a joy to [us]. +
Prayers of Confession
We are reluctant, O
Author of Love, to set aside our hurt, our anger, our
disappointment. Heal us with your tender touch, that we might be
cleansed of all unclean thoughts, all schemes of revenge, all
hope of vindictive retribution.
Open our eyes to the
power of love, shown to us in the unselfish sacrifice of your
Son, our Savior, Jesus Christ.
Amen.
United Methodist Book of Worship
╬╬╬
Almighty and
everlasting God,
You are always more
ready to hear than we to pray, and to give more than we either
desire or deserve. Pour upon us the abundance of your mercy,
forgiving us those things of which our conscience is afraid, and
giving us those good things for which we are not worthy to ask,
except through the merits and mediation of Jesus Christ our
Savior; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one
God, forever and ever. Amen.
Book of Common Prayer, Episcopal Church
╬╬╬
Merciful God, we
confess that often we have failed to be an obedient church. We
have not done your will, we have broken your law, we have
rebelled against your love, we have not loved our neighbors, and
we have not heard the cry of the needy. Forgive us, we pray.
Free us for joyful obedience, through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen.
Consultation on Church Union
╬╬╬
Shield us, O Lord,
and have mercy upon us, O Thou Who hearkens to all. In Thy
mercy, hear the petition of Thy servants.
We beseech You to
forgive our transgressions and sins. Have mercy upon us in this
world and the one to come.
May Thy mercies
shield us, O Lord; Thy grace be upon us; and Thy Cross protect
us from the Devil and his armies.
May Thy right hand
rest upon us all the days of our life; Thy peace to reign
amongst us; and grant hope and salvation to those who pray to
Thee.
Syrian Orthodox Church of Antioch
╬╬╬
Prayers of Intercession
Loving God, in Jesus
Christ you teach us to pray and to present our petitions to you
in his name. Guide us by your Holy Spirit, that our prayers for
others may serve your will and show your steadfast love for all.
In your abundant mercy,
Hear our prayer.
Gracious God, you
have called together a people to be the
church of Jesus Christ.
May your people be one in faith and discipleship, breaking bread
together, and telling good news so that the world may believe
you are love, turn to your ways and live in the light of your
truth. In your abundant mercy,
Hear our prayer.
Creator God, you made
all things and called them good. May your planet Earth be held
in reverence by all people. May its resources be used wisely
and its fragile balance between life and death respected. In
your abundant mercy,
Hear our prayer.
Eternal Ruler, in
your mighty realm the nations rise and fall. Hear our prayers
for those who rule the nations, that they may learn wisdom and
truth, establish justice and mercy, and seek the ways of peace.
In your abundant mercy,
Hear our prayer.
Eternal God, ruler of
all things in heaven and earth, accept the prayers of your
people, and strengthen us to do your will; through Jesus
Christ. Amen.
Book of Common Worship, Presbyterian Church of Canada
╬╬╬
Lord open unto us
Open unto
us – light for our darkness.
Open unto us – courage for our fear.
Open unto us – hope for our despair.
Open unto us – peace for our turmoil.
Open unto us – joy for our sorrow.
Open unto us – strength for our weakness.
Open unto us – wisdom for our confusion.
Open unto us – forgiveness for our sins.
Open unto us – love for our hates.
Open unto us – thy Self for ourselves.
Lord, Lord, open unto us! Amen.
Howard Thurman
╬╬╬
Dios mío, we
pray for all of us who receive privileges crafted out of
oppression and prejudices, privileges that erroneously set us
apart as superior, better, and more worthy while marking others
as inferior, not as good, even unworthy. Touch our hearts with
your motherly love and care so we will be open to all our
sisters and brothers throughout the world and will be fully
respectful of this biosphere in which we "live, move and have
our being." Help us to trust those on whom we depend, who are
known to you, whether we know them or not. Let us see that your
justice goes beyond equality, for though we do not have the same
material, intellectual, and spiritual resources, we share your
equal regard.
¡Ay Diosito! Continue to embrace us tenderly. May your
love and the struggle of the poor and the oppressed touch our
hearts so that we can indeed be part of your family, true
children of God, welcomed at the feast of life you have prepared
for all those who embrace without exception all your creation.
Así sea. Amen.
Ada María Isasi-Díaz*
╬╬╬
Eternal God, You gave
wonderful forms to the amazed elements:
the tender world
blushed at the fires of the sun,
and the sleeping seas
wondered at the tug of the moon.
Lest no inhabitant
should adorn all this
and the sun's orb
shine on emptiness,
you made from clay two more excellent
likenesses
which a holy fire quickened within
and a lively spirit brought to life throughout their idle parts.
We may not look, O God, fully into the inner mysteries.
To you alone is known the full majesty of your work.
What there is in us:
the blood held in the
veins that washes the flexing limbs,
the loose bodies that
are held together by tightening nerves,
and the straight bones
that gain strength from the organs within.
Whence comes to great
a bounty to humble
humanity
that we should be formed in the likeness of you and your Child,
that an earthly thing should be eternal?
Yet we have often abandoned the care of your blessed majesty in
creation
and mourn the ways we have betrayed your beautiful world.
But your manifold
goodness and inestimable majesty
sent the saving Wisdom from heaven,
that Word should be made flesh by taking a human body,
that your Savior should care for that which we might have lost,
and that your Spirit
healed our ancient wounds.
Therefore all the
angels,
with the manifold
multitude of the saints praise you.
They proclaim your
magnificence,
made in the starry
realms and descended to earth.
We lift our voices in
praise to welcome what was revealed to us by a gift,
not only to be known
but also to be imitated
and, in living its
truth, to be made whole again.
Amen. Rita Nakashima Brock*
╬╬╬
Prayers from the Universal
Church
O Thou, from whom to
be turned is to fall, and to whom to be turned is to rise, and
in whom to stand is to abide forever; grant us in all our duties
thy help, in all our perplexities thy guidance, in all our
dangers thy protection, and in all our sorrows thy peace;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen.
St. Augustine
╬╬╬
Remember, O Lord, thy
whole church; all who join with us in prayer, all our brothers
and sisters, who stand in need of thy grace and succor. Pour
out upon them the riches of thy mercy, so that we with them,
redeemed in soul and body, and steadfast in faith, may ever
praise they wonderful and holy name; through Jesus Christ our
Lord. Amen.
Early Greek Liturgy, adapted
╬╬╬
Make us worthy, Lord,
to serve our neighbors throughout the world who live and die in
poverty and hunger. Give them, through our hands this day their
daily bread, and by our understanding love, give them peace and
joy. Amen.
Mother Teresa
╬╬╬
God our Creator, we
pray for your church, sign of your reconciling love in a world
of fearful division, instrument of your compassionate justice in
a world of frequent oppression. We give thanks for those times
when the church has nurtured us in the ways of peace and for
those leaders of the church who have challenged the society of
their day to address the needs of the poor. But we also lament
those times when we, the church, have been lukewarm in the cause
of justice and when we have settled for comfortable separation
rather than daring to receive your gift of unity in Christ.
Gracious God, known to us in Jesus
Christ, revive your church so that we may bear faithful witness
to you! Grant to its leaders the prophet's vision of that time
when no infant lives but a few days, no one labors in vain, and
even former enemies eat together. Grant to us the prophet's
courage to stand fast when those around us dismiss such vision
as utopian. Grant to us the prophet's zeal that we may
demonstrate the credibility of your future by acting to make it
so.
Through your
Holy Spirit, protect your church from the sins of arrogance and
complacency, and from the unjust use of power, that in all we
say and do your name may be praised!
Amen. Michael Kinnamon*
╬╬╬
Merciful God, who has
been our dwelling place for many generations; we invoke your
presence to ask you to quicken our hearts that we may be swift
to hear the cries of others from the pit of need. Enlarge our
hearts to embrace with love the world larger than out own; help
us to have special regard for and respond to the poor and weak,
sick and frail, the very young and the very old, whether it is
in Memphis or Darfur; in the Mississippi Delta or Afghanistan;
Haiti or Henderson County; Rwanda or Rhode Island.
Shine your light in us
in such a way that we see all of humankind as brothers and
sisters; shine your light through us to bring a new vision of
equality. Help us to see that our freedom doesn't demand the
enslavement of others; shine your light on us so that others can
see that even though we are marred and broken vessels, you still
use us as channels of your grace to bring mercy, joy and peace
into the lives of fellow pilgrims on this journey of life. We
seek the pure light of thy holiness so that we may find our way
in this world to do justly, love mercy, and walk humbly with
you. In Jesus' name. Amen. Vashti Murphy McKenzie*
╬╬╬
Holy God, giver of
peace, author of truth,
we confess that we are divided and at odds with one another,
that a bad spirit has risen among us
and set us against your Holy Spirit of peace and love.
Take from us the mistrust, party split, contention,
and all evil that now divides us.
Work in us a desire for reconciliation,
so that, putting aside personal grievances,
we may go about your business with a single mind,
devoted to our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen.
Book of Common Worship, Presbyterian Church USA
╬╬╬
Almighty God,
in Jesus Christ you called disciples
and pray for them to be joined in faith.
We pray6 for Christian churches from which we are separated.
Let us never be so sure of ourselves
that we condemn the faith of others
or refuse reunion with them,
but make us ever ready to reach out for more truth,
so that your church may be one in the Spirit;
through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Book of Common Worship, Presbyterian Church USA
╬╬╬
Lord, make me
an instrument of Thy peace;
where there is
hatred, let me sow love;
where there is
injury, pardon;
where there is
doubt, faith;
where there is
despair, hope;
where there is
darkness, light;
and where there
is sadness, joy.
O Divine
Master,
grant that I
may not so much seek to be consoled as to
console;
to be
understood, as to understand;
to be loved, as
to love;
for it is in
giving that we receive,
it is in
pardoning that we are pardoned,
and it is in
dying that we are born to Eternal Life.
Amen.
St. Francis of
Assisi
╬╬╬
Lord Christ,
at times we are like strangers on this earth,
taken aback by all the violence, the harsh
oppositions.
Like a gentle breeze, you breathe upon us the
Spirit of peace.
Transfigure the deserts of our doubts,
and so prepare us to be bearers of
reconciliation
wherever you place us,
until the day when a hope of peace
dawns in our world. Amen.
Brother Roger of Taizé
-
╬╬╬
God, you created all
people in your image. We thank you for the astonishing variety
of races and cultures in this world. Enrich our lives by
ever-widening circles of fellowship, and show us your presence
in those who differ most from us, until our knowledge of your
love is made perfect in our love for all your children; through
your Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Lutheran Book of Worship, 1978
╬╬╬
Benedictions/Blessings
Go forth, praying and
working with all Christians
for the visible unity
of the church in the way Christ chooses,
that people and
nations may be led to love, serve,
and praise God more
and more forever.
United Reformed Church Service Book
╬╬╬
Let us go and meet
the world which God loves and for which Christ died.
Let us proclaim that
God is worthy of our trust and Christ of our discipleship.
Let us live as heirs
of Christ and as the people of god in the midst of God’s world.
Book of Worship, UCC
* Taken from
Christian Iosso and Elizabeth Hinson-Hasty, eds., Prayers for
the New Social Awakening, WJK, 2008.
