Labor Day | Work as Worship

Can your work be a channel of worship? Can your cubicle or kitchen be a place of ministry? Watch this clever video from RightNow Ministries...

 

From the PRAYERwerks archives:

• How can I make my work an offering to God?
• Gratitude for vocation

The Lord's Supper

A good many sermons are preached about Communion in August. The Lectionary specifies readings from the 6th chapter of John. Is Jesus' claim something symbolic and mystical...or is it physical? 

I am the bread of life (v35) …which a man may eat and not die (v50) …for my flesh is real food and my blood is real drink. (v55) 

And the Disciples said: This is a hard teaching. Who can accept it? (v60)

Lord Christ, 

I had a breakthrough Sunday, 
about the bread and wine, 
about your body and blood. 

It wasn’t about transubstantiation, 
or other fine points of theology. 
It wasn’t about wine vs. grape juice, 
or bread vs. wafers. 

…but I finally got it: 

You are flesh and blood. 
You are a real presence. 

…and we need to be reminded, 
every week, every time we gather, 
of that which we can not see. 

You are flesh and blood. 
You are a real presence. 

I cannot see you, Jesus, 
or touch you, 
but you are present in my life.

I am blessed,
richly blessed,
that you see me, 
that you touch me. Amen.


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This is a Psalm? Really?

Father God, What am I to make of Psalm 109? King David pleads for retribution and vindication against his enemies: 

May his children be fatherless and his wife a widow. May his children be wandering beggars; may they be driven from their ruined homes. (v9-10)

I should resist those sentiments, right? What if I lived in a violent neighborhood or a war torn country or faced religious persecution. I just might be praying David’s prayer. Actually, his honesty and transparency are a worthy example: 

Sovereign LORD, help me for your name's sake; out of the goodness of your love, deliver me. For I am poor and needy, and my heart is wounded within me. (v21-22)

Lord Christ, you are the supreme example of suffering, of unjust and unwarranted misery. You are our salve for vengeance and payback. A contemporary theologian reminds me that you are "in the midst of human suffering, listening to every sigh, collecting every tear, resonating with the trembling of every fear-stricken heart." (Miroslav Volf)

I’m not besieged by enemies, but I am confounded by the injustice and suffering on this planet. At times I feel defeated by my own mistakes and burdens. 

Holy Spirit, give me King David’s candor before my God. Convey his trust and confidence. Out of the goodness of your love, deliver me. Amen. 


This prayer was inspired by Andy Bathgate’s Encounter with God Bible study on Psalm 109 for Scripture Union. He’s the CEO of SU/Scotland.

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Trifecta of Blessing

A few summer days on the coast…our full clan assembled…for a family wedding. An event that evokes gratitude: 


Creator God, I sense your presence on the beach. Your Spirit is revealed in the sun, the waves, the sand. Admittedly, I skipped the sun’s rising, but you were there in the sunsets and star filled evening sky. 

Lord Christ, I feel your Spirit in the warmth of family. I find it in the company of friends and their gift of hospitality. 

Thanks be to God for these expressions of your presence, love and care. Amen.

Lord of Creation

I don’t view Genesis as a science textbook. God is not trying to teach us biology or earth science, but his creative energy is the underpinning of science. That’s the first lesson of the Bible: God is the creator…of the universe…of you and me. 

I offer some prayers about creation and nature. CLICK HERE.

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Praying with America

When we view the blessings with which our country has been favored, those which we now enjoy, and the means which we possess of handing them down unimpaired to our latest posterity, our attention is irresistibly drawn to the source from whence they flow.

Let us then unite in offering our most grateful acknowledgments for these blessings to the Divine Author of All Good.


James Monroe, 
5th U.S. President
Message to Congress, 1818


I am re-posting these Independence Day prayers from 2009. Click here. And I offer this prayer For our Country from the Book of Common Prayer. I'm challenged to put aside my cynicism, savor the archaic language and pray with deliberation, line by line...


Almighty God, who hast given us this good land for our 
heritage: We humbly beseech thee that we may always prove 
ourselves a people mindful of thy favor and glad to do thy will.
 Bless our land with honorable industry, sound learning, and
 pure manners. Save us from violence, discord, and confusion;
 from pride and arrogance, and from every evil way. Defend
 our liberties, and fashion into one united people the multitudes 
brought hither out of many kindreds and tongues. Endue 
with the spirit of wisdom those to whom in thy Name we entrust 
the authority of government, that there may be justice and 
peace at home, and that, through obedience to thy law, we
 may show forth thy praise among the nations of the earth. In the time of prosperity, fill our hearts with thankfulness,
 and in the day of trouble, suffer not our trust in thee to fail;
 all which we ask through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

The Book of Common Prayer
Prayers for National Life, page 820

Praying with Paul

It's a struggle for me to be contemporary, but I have managed to update the design of PRAYERwerks. Now, I'm taking a break, and I present my version of summer reruns. 

This post is a reprise of prayers that have some basis in the the writings of St. Paul. CLICK HERE for the portfolio, and scroll through nineteen prayers written over the past three years.

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