Category: Prayer

Prayer

Help Me to Do What Is Right

Rev Kathy

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When the Christ surprises us all and comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on the throne of his glory.

All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats, and he will put the sheep at his right hand and the goats at the left.

Then He will say to those at his right hand, ‘Come, you that are blessed by having done what was right, guided by the Creator and the Spirit, inherit the kin-dom prepared for you from the foundation of the world;

for I was Muslim and you welcomed me,

I was a refugee and you sheltered me,

I was a stranger and you welcomed me,

I was forced to be counted and you stood to be counted with me,

I am black and you said my life matters,

I was LGBTQ and you performed my wedding.’

Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you Muslim, black, a stranger, a refugee, LGBTQ, Jewish, or a stranger and welcome you?’ And the King of all Souls will answer them, ‘Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me.’

May it be so for me and for you.

Amen.

Prayer by The Reverend Julia Seymour. She serves Lutheran Church of Hope in Anchorage, AK. She blogs at lutheranjulia.blogspot.com. She contributed to There’s A Woman in the Pulpit.

Politics, Prayer

Losing Heart

Rev Kathy

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What does it feel like to lose? How many tears does it take to begin to heal the pain?

I just listened to Hillary Clinton’s concession speech. It was a remarkable testament to all that is good about Hillary Clinton. She is truly a public servant, and she will not stop her efforts to make our country a stronger, kinder place.

I literally grieve this loss. I fear for our country. I fear for our brothers and sisters who fear deportation. I fear for women who have felt disfranchisement and disrespect. I fear for the millions of people who are benefitting from the Affordable Care Act. I fear about our relations with foreign nations. I fear for all of us.

Still, we must never give up on our country. We must remain involved in the political process and we must pray for our nation as we have never prayed before.

Most of all today, I pray for Hillary. I celebrate her life and give thanks for her many decades of service. And I will always remember the closing words of her speech from the sixth chapter of Galatians.

“So let us not grow weary in well-doing, for in due season we shall reap, if we do not lose heart.”

May God continue to bless Hillary Clinton and may God bless and protect this nation.

Politics, Prayer

A Prayer in the Shadow of the Presidential Election

Rev Kathy

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All knowing God,

We come to you in this season covered with the shadows of this presidential election. We come to you contemplating our choice. We are concerned about our lives, concerned about our nation.

We hope for a bright future, yet we have wavering confidence in the days ahead of us. It feels important that we pray about our democracy, about the the presidential election that will so profoundly affect our lives. Remind us that above our role as citizens is our role as your people.

We pray for our brothers and sisters who have felt disenfranchised by the hurtful words and actions of Donald Trump, who has attacked  women, immigrants, Latino and African American citizens, persons who are disabled, Muslim Americans, and many others.

Grant us a sense of unity, not divisiveness. Teach us to clasp hands in love and respect and to move forward together.

When we exercise our right to vote in this free and fair election, help us to remember who we are as people of faith. Grant us divine wisdom. Give us holy guidance. Give us hearts that act out of love not hate, hope not despair.

We ask you, God, to walk beside us and to lead us in the path of righteousness.

Cover us with your grace and give us wisdom and courage for the living of these days.

Amen.

Contemplation, Prayer, Spiritual growth

Washing the Spirit Clean

Rev Kathy

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It is a worthy intention, to wash my spirit clean. How freeing it would be to move all the messy stuff from my soul and to feel cleansed. The Psalmist prayed, “Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me.”

How do I even begin? A good start would be prayer, contemplation, reading prayers in Scripture, walking in the forest, making some time for silence. For me, singing hymns cleanses my soul and nurtures my heart. The writing of John Muir also suggests a path to soul cleansing. John Muir, also known as “John of the Mountains”, was a Scottish-American naturalist, author, environmental philosopher and early advocate of preservation of wilderness in the United States. Millions of people have read his letters, essays, and books telling of his adventures in nature, especially in the Sierra Nevada of California. These are his words.

Climb the mountains and get their good tidings. Nature’s peace will flow into you as sunshine flows into trees. The winds will blow their own freshness into you, and the storms their energy, while cares will drop away from you like the leaves of Autumn.

Keep close to Nature’s heart . . . break clear away once in awhile..climb a mountain..spend a week in the woods. Wash your spirit clean.

― John Muir, The Mountains of California

It’s a continuous effort, washing the spirit clean. It’s a necessary spiritual discipline. It opens us up to a life renewed and refreshed.

Politics, Prayer

Reborn

Rev Kathy

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All of us are enduring this season of our presidential campaign with a level of angst. Psychologist have written about the stress that we are experiencing. Some people are turning off their televisions in an attempt to escape the divisive language and incessant negative dialogue.

One thing is clear to me: this is a time for prayer, prayer that our nation will find its way to serenity, calmness and unity. I would like to share with you such a prayer, actually the text of the hymn, “O God of Every Time and Place.”

The words describe a people with “downcast eyes, tight, sullen and afraid.” Yet the hymn moves toward hope for divine rebirth.

O God of every time and place,
Prevail among us too;
Within the city that we love,
Its promise to renew,
Our people move with downcast eyes,
Tight, sullen and afraid;
Surprise us with Thy joy divine,
For we would be remade.

Grant us, O God, who labor here
Within this throbbing maze,
A forward-looking, saving hope
To galvanize our days.
Let Christ, who loved Jerusalem,
And wept its sins to mourn,
Make just our laws and pure our hearts;
So shall we be reborn.

Ernest T. Campbell, 1971

I am confident that, as a people, we will get beyond these days. I am confident that our democracy will continue to shine throughout the world as a beacon of hope. I am confident that, when all the harsh, harmful words have faded away, we will be reborn.

I am confident because of the God who gives us strength, resilience and abiding grace.

Prayer

A Blessing

Rev Kathy

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In this time of great need for prayer, I’d like to offer one of my favorite blessings.

On the day when
The weight deadens
On your shoulders
And you stumble,
May the clay dance
To balance you.

And when your eyes
Freeze behind
The grey window
And the ghost of loss
Gets into you,
May a flock of colours,
Indigo, red, green
And azure blue,
Come to awaken in you
A meadow of delight.

When the canvas frays
In the currach of thought
And a stain of ocean
Blackens beneath you,
May there come across the waters
A path of yellow moonlight
To bring you safely home.

May the nourishment of the earth be yours,
May the clarity of light be yours,
May the fluency of the ocean be yours,
May the protection of the ancestors be yours.

And so may a slow
Wind work these words
Of love around you,
An invisible cloak
To mind your life.

“A New Year Blessing”
Benedictus (To Bless The Space Between Us)

Prayer

The Lord Bless You and Keep You

Rev Kathy

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May you enjoy abundant blessings on this first day of Fall. This season always reminds me of homecomings, making me nostalgic about friends and family far away.

As I think of my friends and family today, scattered across the world, I am compelled to offer a prayer for each one. I long to offer God’s blessing to my grandchildren, to my far away family, to my dear friends. So across the miles, I ask God’s blessing to brighten your day.

One of the most moving blessings in all of scripture is found in the book of Numbers. This I send to you today.
The Lord bless you, and keep you;
The Lord make His face shine on you,
And be gracious to you;
The Lord lift up His countenance on you,
And give you peace.

Numbers 6:24-26 New American Standard Bible (NASB)

I invite you to listen to the moving anthem, “The Lord Bless You and Keep You” by John Rutter at this link.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=PO17DIeI7Ec

Beauty of Nature, Prayer

A Prayer for Morning Mercies

Rev Kathy

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What morning mercies are found in common images of nature! Nature shows us the extraordinary beauty of ordinary places, places that can revive our spirits and enliven our souls. Such a place is captured in the photography of J.V. McKinney who graces us with a view of one of the lakes in North Little Rock, Arkansas.

And I share with you a morning prayer written by James Richard Lahman in his book, Prayers of the Hours.

Caring God who watches over, nourishes, and invites me into union,

As I begin this new day, I offer thanks for the sleep, the rest, and the restorative gifts to my body and mind.

Holy God, you have watched over me while I did not know it.

You have awakened me with wholeness of body and spirit.

As you have blessed me in the silent watches of the night, enable me to make this new day a gift to you.

Visit my energies, skills and talents with a touch of divine grace so that when night comes I may present my gift with joy and thanksgiving.

Great Companion of all people, Holy Spirit, Truth Divine, to you I pray. Amen

peace, Prayer, Serenity, Silence

A Syllable of God

Rev Kathy

 

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I long for a space of deep listening, but in my humanity, I can’t get there. My mind is too busy with mundane things. I can’t seem to still my soul enough to truly hear God speaking to me. I could surmise that the reason I do not hear is because God is not speaking. I could settle for a silent God that is simply not communicating with me.

But my faith knows better than that. The years of my journey of faith have taught me that God is speaking far more than I am listening. It is my task to find a space of stillness, to put my heart into that good place of solitude and peace. It is my task to get to that place that allows me to hear God’s promptings.

Author and contemplative Macrina Wiederkehr describes this for me.

And don’t we all, with fierce hunger,
crave a cave of solitude,
a space of deep listening –
full of quiet darkness and stars,
until finally we hear a syllable of God
echoing in our hearts?

And so I continue, searching for that “space of deep listening full of quiet darkness and stars,” listening for that syllable of God.

Contemplation, peace, Prayer, Self care

Oh no! Mercury is in Retrograde!

Rev Kathy

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My friend, Martie, is always the first to sound the dire warning, “Oh no! Mercury is in retrograde.” She announces it with such emphasis that you believe her prediction and heed her advice. This phenomenon is one of the few that affects everyone in a fairly uniform way, and its effects are always obvious. Once you begin to pay attention to how events in your life change during these phases, you will soon see how important it is to take note of them.

I won’t go into detail about what Mercury is actually doing. You can look it up online if you’re interested. I’ll simply report that The Huffington Post confirms it: “The planetary cosmos has an evil plot to make your life go crazy from August 30 to September 22. It’s called Mercury Retrograde.”

The critical advice from all the best sources boils down to these ten points:

1. Don’t Make Agreements. It’s a horrible time for negotiating contracts or making decisions.

2. Don’t Accept or Start a Job. If you do, you may regret it.

3. Don’t Try to Close the Sale. Closing a deal is often based on taking advantage of great timing. Unfortunately, you’re timing couldn’t be worse when Mercury is retrograde.

4. Don’t Initiate New Projects.

5. Scheduling Meetings. Avoid (or minimize) scheduling meetings and events during Mercury retrograde, because you’re more likely to experience confusion, mistakes and cancellations.

6. Avoid Traveling A Lot. If you can’t put certain trips on hold, just be aware that you can expect an unusual amount of last-minute flight cancellations, meeting postponements and long transportation delays.

7. Don’t Purchase Computers or Begin Installations. This is when you’ll discover that you bought the “computer from hell.”

8. Don’t Repair Your Auto unless you absolutely have to.

9. Don’t Buy Things.

10. Don’t Select a Roommate or Move in With One.

So if you believe the planetary situation, you’ll basically lay low between August 30 and September 22. It may be a good time for recharging your batteries, taking care of your soul, contemplating all that is good in life, spending some time listening to God, otaking some deep breaths and gathering your strength.

That’s what I plan to do.

Fear, God's Faithfulness, Prayer, sadness

Night Prayers

Rev Kathy

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I have had some dark nights of the soul in my life. And it seems that when night falls, the fear is greater, the mourning is harder, the sorrow is more intense, the Lonliness is almost unbearable. In those times, I would pray for the morning, hoping beyond hope that I would survive the night. Sleep would not come and I spent hours worrying. I spent many of those kinds of nights in the hospital, fearful, lonely, worried about my health and wondering if I would ever get well.

I can remember that during those long nights, I would call my husband for support. The time didn’t matter. I might call at 1:00am or even closer to the dawn. My husband was always faithful to talk me through the night crisis.

But when I was completely alone, my prayers emerged from the depths of worry and fear. I was almost desperate to talk to God and hear God’s voice of comfort.

Steven Charleston describes night prayers.

Night is drawing near. Soon the night prayers will begin. The after-hours prayers. The prayers without the need for words. Spoken from the heart, the language of those who work the late shift of sorrow. Night prayers turn bar rooms into churches, motels into cathedrals, truck stops into shrines. Night prayers are first time prayers, last chance prayers, prayers tossed up into the stars to see if anyone is there to catch them. Prayers without expectation. Tonight I will pray with the midnight seekers and the far from home angels. I will offer my own night prayer. For them, with them, in the congregation of the all night diner.

I love the words that speak of tossing prayers “up into the air to see if anyone is there to catch them.” I can attest to the fact that God was always there to hear my night prayers. Thanks be to God.

Faith, God's Faithfulness, healing, Life storms, Prayer

Glory

Rev Kathy

 

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The year was 2014, the year I survived, the year so full of hard times. It all began in February with a diagnosis of end stage kidney disease. Then I was in and out of the hospital all year with complications and deadly infections. When the occupational therapist came to my room, I could not name colored blocks. At times, I did not know my own husband. I was very weak and could not walk for a time. Fortunately, much of the time I slept, not knowing how dangerously ill I really was.

I prayed a lot that year. Vulnerability brought me closer to God, the best source of help and life I knew. My church family brought food for us. My friends literally fed me and rubbed lotion on my feet. I had the invaluable help of a home health nurse, a physical therapist, and a doctor that came to my home each month. I graduated quickly from a wheel chair to a walker, and then was able to walk unassisted. Friends and family all over the world prayed for me. I am fully confident that their prayers brought me through.

Today is a new day for me. I can barely remember the hardest days of 2014. Though I still have end stage kidney disease and am on a dialysis machine eight hours everyday, I feel healthy on most days. I can eat and sleep. I can walk, cook and bathe myself. I can enjoy visiting with people without tiring out. I can go on shopping trips and buy my own groceries. I can care for my flowers and plants.

I am grateful to be alive, in awe of the way God intervened in my life and brought me back to the world I so enjoy. That’s my story. God played the major role. My husband was a close second by doing all the cooking, cleaning, washing, and especially, all the nursing care for me. I was blessed with the kind of help and support that helped me turn the corner.

William Barclay penned these words:

“Endurance is not just the ability to bear a hard thing, but to turn it into glory.”

I did endure. I did see my difficult year turn into glory, the glory of friendships, the glory of family, the glory of love, hope and health.

So thank you, God. Thank you, Fred. Thank you, dear friends, family, and church family for keeping vigil with Fred and me during hard times. Thank you!

Contemplation, Inspiration, Prayer, Spiritual growth, Transformation

Hear Deeply

Rev Kathy

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I try to practice deep listening. It’s a time for prayer and contemplation, but also a time set aside to really listen to God, to deeply listen to God. It is a quiet time and a tranquil space, not always easy to find. But it’s so cleansing and refreshing to listen to God from the depths of your soul.

Does God speak audibly? Does God communicate with us in a way we can literally hear? Probably not. It’s more about hearing with your soul and discerning with your heart. It can take time and personal discipline. Mostly it takes a desire to truly hear the message God wants to send.

Theron lies the problem. Perhaps I hear nothing because I am afraid of what God would ask of me. Perhaps I am afraid of what God might show me about myself. Perhaps I fear the truth of God’s message to me.

My desire is to get past that fear, to open my heart to God fully and completely, to listen with the ears of my soul. I will search for the sacred space I need, the quiet, alone place that is so important. I will figure out how to find the place that nourishes my soul, the place that enables me to hear deeply. Doing that brings transformation.

Prayer

A Prayer

Rev Kathy

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Dear God,

Enlighten what’s dark in me.

Strengthen what’s weak in me.

Mend what’s broken in me.

Bind what’s bruised in me,

Heal what’s sick in me.

And lastly,

Revive whatever peace and love has died in me.

Amen