MorningPrayer

Holy God,    For many years you have been our place of turning. When bewildered or lost or alone, we turn towards you.  You are the deep well from which we drink and refuel ourselves for the journey. You are the spring of life from which we are  replenished. You are the living water that renews our spirits. If you were not there, O God, surely the desert would claim our bodies and our souls would  wither and die. Hear our whisperings  from parched lips as we turn, again and again to you. AMEN

Holy Lord God,     May we find the quiet center of our spirit and rest in you.  May we be emptied of pain and stress .  May we be anointed with the oils of compassion and gentleness.   May we be filled full to overflowing.  May we know peace and simple holiness in the space of wisdom and love. May our prayer  be with us, all day. Hear our prayer, O God. AMEN

Dear God,      We hear weeping, the sounds of sorrow, loss and pain.  We see eyes filled with remembered grief and long-ago memories of love. We see shoulders slumping with the burden and cares of heavy thoughts and deep regrets.  Comfort us, O God. Bring us into the wellness of your love and wipe away tears, carry our burdens and forgive us our transgressions. Hold us in the palm of your hand. AMEN

Creator God,      The August symphony is in motion; the slow, sultry night sounds flowing like Pachelbel in the night air and the morning mist laying like a solemn voiced  blanket across tree and meadow. We slip lazily through the sounds like a ballerina or charge like a bull through the auditorium.  What sounds and emotions ignite our imagination and open our hearts to new forms of music and sensation?  What music shall we play today, God, as we create our own symphony in the orchestra of our being?  May we play the Rite of Creation and the Requiem of eternity, for you. AMEN

Dear God,        Help us with changes,  the ones that sneak up on us and shout a Ninja yell, or the ones that scare us with a ghostly ,Boo.          Help us to prepare carefully for changes that we see coming but still startle us and take us unawares. Prepare our heart and mind, our spirit and our soul.  In our expanding or contracting lives, help us to be flexible, adaptable and healthy. In your grace may we grow and be. AMEN        

Dear God,   Sometimes like cheetahs running or horses galloping   our thoughts race wildly through the meadow lands of our day. First, w e exhilarate in the speed  and then we gasp for breath.  Slow down mind, slow down and be still, we pray. There is much to hear and see in the serenity of the meadow and we miss the quiet, gentle wonder if we  race and careen. Be still, O Mind.  Be still and see and know the living God  of the meadow. AMEN

Holy Lord,    The caverns of our mind echo with the alleluias of praise.  Stars expand at light speed and streaks of compassion float in the vast expanse of space.  There is no end to our thoughts and no end to your presence and love.  The dark matter of grace flows through us like oxygen in our lungs. We are saturated with created life and immersed in the nurturing dreams of eternity. We pause, we reach out a hand and touch the table of abundance and walk the land of salvation. Home. AMEN

Dear God,    A prayer for simplicity, transparency and humility.  May we be simple enough to be childlike in our loving and our forgiving.  May we be transparent enough to be clear about our beliefs and principles.  May we be humble enough to have open hearts and minds to other thoughts and understandings. Help us Lord to be your vision for humanity. AMEN

Dear God,    May we have wisdom and deep contentment.  May we move gently through the forest of activity, placing our footsteps with care. May we sit quietly in the meadowlands of the heavens and be discerning in kindness and patience, observing the  flow of the breezes and the connections of life flying and crawling.  May truth and trust ignite our hearts as the Jesus of grace grabs our souls.AMEN

Dear God,    In the changing arena of life, we confess your love and compassion to be constant.  Though the mountains shake and the earth might tremble, we know that you are with us, attend to us and are ever present in our world. We give you thanks for being there for us, God. You are our foundation and plumb line in the comings and goings of our life. AMEN

Holy Lord,     In this precious gift of life, let us flow with integrity, dignity and spiffiness.  Let us walk in balance and rhythm and swagger. Let us be harmonious, unified and jive cleanly. May the vibrations of the universe mingle with the murmurings of the spirit and the whispering of the angels meld with the singing of our hearts. May we be mindful of the moment and relish the seconds as thy pass. AMEN

Dear God,       Sometimes the shelves, closets, floors and flat surfaces of our lives tend to be over-cluttered.  We hesitate to clean-up and discard the old and make room for the new. Maybe, we are more fearful of losing what we had than of obtaining new wisdom. Help us to freshen up and follow your creative lead, God.  Even stars burn  up and beautiful flowers nestle into the forest floor. Let our day be fresh and new. AMEN

Dear God,      The morning light falls softly across our land, glittering in the raindrops and sparkling on the grasses.  Trees glimmer and shake. Cascading  diamonds slither through the expectant air.  We are immersed in an awakening world. We pray to be aware and alert.  We pray to be saturated in the day and experience the whispering spirit in all its possibilities. May we be filled with the hush of new life and saturated in ever  present grace. AMEN

Dear God,    Create in us, clean hearts of mercy and grace.  We come before you confessing the clamor in our spirits and the chaos in our souls.   Cleanse us with the fire of your love and purify us in the healing  power of your presence.  For you are with us, leading us forward in wisdom and elegance;  preparing our hearts for new challenges  and new ways of being.  Smooth out our wrinkles and place us in the quiet meadows of mediation and prayer. AMEN

Dear God,    Thank You for this day, a day of new beginnings and fresh awakenings. With gratitude for the comforts and amenities of our life and no expectations of entitlement, we give thanks. For family, friends, community and church we give thanks.   We pause and reflect and take time to recognize what we have. Thanks God. AMEN

Dear God,      Sometimes we walk through the pathways of life like in a maze confused and lost.  We need a guide and we need and sight.  We need to take time to pause be still and reflect. Be with us we pray our vision our guide our God.  AMEN

Dear God,    May your Spirit flow like a refreshing breeze or a cooling mountain stream. May we be washed and purified, memories smoothed and clarified, visions sharpened and defined. May our day be an adventure in Holiness as we live this adventure. May we find peace of heart and soul. AMEN

Dear God,     Be with us, we pray, in our endeavors and efforts today.  May you pave our way with wisdom and knowledge.  May we be clear and discerning in our tasks and tests. May your light shine upon us and glow within us and radiate from us as vessels and vehicles of your loving grace. Quietly and serenely, may we flow today in the peace of your presence. AMEN

Lord,          The soft gray light of morning has washed and cleansed the air.  The fullest moon has gone into hiding and the stars have abandoned their fiery quest. We rise from slumber and face the illusion with eagerness and wonder. What opportunities will be presented today to our awakened potential, we ask? What new ideas and tasks undone will God give us? Another day, a fresh breath; let the mystery begin. AMEN

Holy Lord,     In the community of faith we gather, this morning, a fellowship of friends and church family. May we be strengthened and encouraged in worship and the love and caring of the community.  Be with those who are distant or unable to attend this morning. May we also hold them in our thoughts and prayers as the Holy Spirit embraces us all in loving kindness. AMEN

Dear God,     May the light of morning be sufficient unto our needs this day. May we clearly see the tasks done and undone. May we look up from our tasks and see the sky unfolding, the trees whispering, the grass folding, the rhythm of life flowing.  May we see ourselves resting comfortably and peacefully in the grace given to us.  May we look and see and say, "It is sufficient." Thank You. AMEN

Good Morning God,    Another day here in the neighborhood.  The children seem happy, school has begun. The gardens are rich in tomatoes. The peach jam is lovely in the jar. Sometimes we seem bubble wrapped in our selves. It is hard not to notice, the pain of loss and illness and suffering of others. It is hard to ignore the hurricanes and drought. It is difficult to pretend that  war has ceased and villages are not in rubble. So, we don't ignore and we don't pretend. With your help, God, we attend to ourselves as best we can and we reach out hands of compassion in our thoughts of love, as best we can. Have mercy on our world. Mercy. AMEN

Dear Lord,    Help us to float in faith through the swirling waters of life. We can't fight the current and we can't flee the chaos, so help us to float. For you, our Lord, are our buoy and our sustaining force. We relax into your buoyant being, we let go of our fears and we stay balanced in the life-giving air of your presence. Thank you. AMEN 

Dear God,     Another  day of transition, the endless movement from what has been to what will be.  Flower to bud, dark to light, light to dark, here to there, cocoon to caterpillar, crawling to walking... it is endless is it not God.  Always change. Always growth. Always decay. Life and death walking on hand in hand. Help us too stop in the moment of transition. To freeze dry this second. A "Kodak" moment, caught forever in the flash. In that flash may we breathe and realize the potential of the phrase, "I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses.  Choose life so that you and your children might live." AMEN

Dear God,     Sometimes we don't pray when we should; we forget or we don't want to make the effort or we don't think we need to.  Sometimes we pray too hard and we loose our way telling you what to do and how to think.  Prayer , we understand, God, is this amazing action of both humility and arrogance. Prayer must be a balancing act of body and spirit, a sometimes quiet union and sometimes a clashing cymbal. Let us be in prayer, today, as God would have us be, AMEN

Lord,      You planted many of us in the fertile soil of comfort, ease. love and prosperity.  We have grown through storm and drought, weed and nourishment and are bearing fruit as best as our health allows. We are grateful for our planting and our growing. We pray that you will continue to watch over us, God, and keep us in the meadow of your love and the nurture of your flowing spirit.  May our own spirit be that of vitality and energy in the garden of our neighborhood. AMEN

Dear God,    Feed your children.  Give drink to your children.  Give bread to your children.  Give your children shelter and clothes. Give your children comfort and care.  Give us hands to be your arms reaching out. Give us hearts to be your mind caring and loving. Give us ability and skill to do what is necessary. Give us wisdom to know what is right and of truth. Hear our prayer O, God. Hear our prayer. AMEN

Holy Lord,        It is a day of new beginnings. A day to launch from the palm of your hand into a world of possibilities.  A day to unleash our potential and dive into the opportunities that are presented to us. But even though we leave your hand, we don't stray from your presence, your watchful eye, your vision for us and your grace. We live within the mystery and wonder as angels in your heavenly chorus and souls of your endless love. In your spirit, we fly.  AMEN

Dear God,     The morning is still, just a heartbeat away from stopping. The sky and the trees have made an agreement not to move and the  birds are sleeping the dawn away. We slide into the stillness, like icing on a cake, not ruffling the moment.  Then, there is a whisper, a murmur in the hush of the silence and God floats in like an unseen mist. God breathes, we smile and the birds sing and the baby laughs. AMEN