Prayer for the Day - April 2015

[MajestyJo]

APRIL

Lead me this day, Lord,
not only to be of service to others
but to ensure
that I find quiet moments
for myself and for you.

Let us pray:
Slow me down, Lord!
Ease the pounding of my heart
by the quietening and calming
of my mind.

Break the tensions
of my nerves and muscles
with the soothing music
of the singing streams
that live in my memory.
Give me, amidst the confusion
of the day,
the calmness of the everlasting hills.

Steady my hurried pace
with a vision
of your eternal reach of time,
and restore and heal me
in the hours of sleep.

Teach me the art
of appreciating what is ordinary:
of slowing down
to look at and become more aware
of the beauty around me;
to take time to be with others,
to sit and enjoy music
or a good book
- to give myself time for myself.

Remind me each day
of the fable
of the hare and the tortoise,
that I may know
that the race is not always
to the swift;
that there is more to life
than increasing its speed.

Let me look upwards
into the branches
of the towering trees
and know
that they grew great and strong
because they grew slowly and well.

Slow me down, Lord,
and inspire me to send my roots
deep into the soil
of life’s enduring values.

Slow me down, Lord,
that I may grow true and well
in your light.
Amen.

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[MajestyJo]

Let’s pause for a moment to call to mind
that we are in God’s presence.

(pause…)

An English saint called Richard of Chichester
(whose feastday it is tomorrow)
wrote a short prayer that can easily be
memorised and used quietly at different
times throughout the day. The words of
his prayer have been set to music, and
the song ‘Day by day’ is found on the
album of the musical, ‘Godspel’. We use
his words as our prayer today:

Let us pray:

Jesus, Friend and Brother,
may we know you more clearly,
love you more dearly,
and follow you more nearly,
day by day.

Amen.

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[MajestyJo]

Let us pray:

Lord, we ask
that we may have the vision
to see when something is not right
and then try to do something
about it:

- that we may notice
when someone is unhappy
or isn’t well,
and set out to encourage them;
- that we may notice
when someone feels left out,
and then do what we can
to help them feel part of things;
- that we may notice
when something needs to be done,
and then get on with it.
Lord, we ask that we may notice
all that is around us,
and live in a positive
and cheerful way.
Amen.

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[MajestyJo]

On this day in 1968, Martin
Luther King was shot dead.

One of his best-known speeches was
delivered at the largest rally ever held in
the United States - when a quarter of a
million people gathered in Washington
in a Civil Rights demonstration. He said:

“I have a dream
that one day on the red hills of Georgia
sons of former slaves
and the sons of former slave-owners
will be able to sit down together
at the table of brotherhood.
I have a dream
that my four little children
will one day live in a nation
where they will not be judged
by the colour of their skin
but by the content of their character.
I have a dream today.”

Let us pray:

Father, sometimes I am too quick
to draw conclusions
about other people,
and I fail to see
many of the qualities in individuals
Remove from me any prejudices
that might lead me
to think of myself
as “better” than someone else.
If anyone should be negative
towards me,
inspire me to remain positive
towards them.
Because we are all different,
there are many things
I need to learn from others,
and so I ask for the gifts
of understanding and wisdom
and a clear vision
that will lead me to treat others
as I would like them to treat me.
Amen.

Let’s each of us think of two people in
our lives at home or in school or work
today whom we need to value and respect
a little more. In silence, let’s think
of ways today in which we can improve
those relationships.
(pause…)

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[MajestyJo]

Let us pray that we may discover
what is really important in life.

Lord, in your mercy - hear our prayer.

Let us pray that we may respect and value
each person who comes into our lives.

Lord, in your mercy - hear our prayer.

Let us pray that we may be willing to
learn from others.

Lord, in your mercy - hear our prayer.

Let us pray for those who will experience
hatred, abuse, and violence this day.

Lord, in your mercy - hear our prayer.

Let us pray for people of violence,
that their attitude and behaviour
may change.

Lord, in your mercy - hear our prayer.

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[MajestyJo]

Let us pray:

Lord, inspire me to give of my best
and make good use
of the talents you have given me.
Show me how to be positive in attitude,
appreciating and valuing others,
always being ready to encourage
and give praise.
Sometimes I draw conclusions
about people
in terms of what I think
is meant by “success” and “failure”,
but the “failure” of one person
might count as a great “success”
of someone with other talents.
Lead me never to judge people
but to accept others as they are,
knowing that it is together,
each with our differences,
that we build up your Kingdom.
Amen.

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[MajestyJo]

Let’s pause for a moment and think of
one practical way today of showing our
respect for others…

(pause…)

Let us pray:
Lord Jesus,
you invite each of us by name
and you call us “friends”.
Lead us to show
as much respect and care for others
as we would like them to show for us.
Help us to look for
and bring out the best
in all who share our lives this day.
Amen.

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[MajestyJo]

Let’s pray in silence for a moment for
those who, today, will suffer the death
of someone they love dearly…

(pause…)

Let’s pray in silence for a moment that,
as others will help us in our times of difficulty,
we, too, will be ready to stand
with others in their difficulties....

(pause…)


Let us pray:
Loving Father,
to you the dead do not die
and, in death, our life is changed
- not ended.
We believe
that all that binds us together
in love and friendship
does not end with death.
Hear our prayers for those close to us
who have died.
As you have made each of them
in your image and likeness
and have called them by name,
hold them safe in your love
in your kingdom
of light, happiness and peace.
Your Son told us
that those who mourn are “blessed”,
because only those
who love greatly can mourn.
Bless us this day
with the warmth of your love
as we mourn those we have lost.
Amen.

Do not be afraid; Abide with me; Christ be beside me;
There is a world; Make me a channel of your peace.


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[MajestyJo]

Today is the anniversary of the end of
the American Civil War in 1865.

Abraham Lincoln wrote a prayer about
injustice and war and all who suffer in
war. We use Lincoln’s words today, as we
pray for those who need justice and healing
and peace in their lives:

Grant, O merciful God,
that with malice toward none,
with charity to all,
with firmness in the right
as you give us to see the right,
we may strive to finish
the work we are in:
to bind up the nation’s wounds,
to care for those
who have borne the battle
and for their widows and orphans,
to do all which may achieve and cherish
a just and lasting peace
among ourselves and with all nations.
Amen.

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[MajestyJo]

Let’s simply spend a few moments in
silence, reflecting on how wealthy we are,
compared with the majority of people
throughout the world…

(pause…)

Let us pray:
Lord, that we may live simply
so that others may simply live.

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[MajestyJo]

Let us pray:

God our Father,
amidst the vastness of space
you treasure mankind
and you call each of us by name.
You so love our world
that, in the fullness of time,
you sent Jesus, your Son,
to live among us.
Inspire us each day
to live in wonder and appreciation
of all that is around us,
and may your love,
seen fully in Jesus, your Son,
surround us this day and for ever.
Amen.

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[MajestyJo]

There are poems in the Bible that reflect
on our place in the universe, and we use
one of them as our prayer today. It is
called ‘Psalm 8’, and a copy of this psalm
was later left on the moon in a sealed
capsule by American astronauts:

Let us pray:

Lord, our God and King,
your greatness is seen
throughout the earth.

When I gaze at the heavens
which your fingers have formed,
and look at the moon and the stars
which you have set there,
I realise how small we are
in the majesty of your creation.

Yet you treasure us
above all that you have made,
and you give us control
over all the works of your hand
- animals both wild and tame,
birds in the air,
and the creatures of the sea.
Lord, our God and King,
your greatness is seen
throughout the earth.
(Psalm 8, paraphrased)



✍ What might the Russian priest have meant
when he said: “If you haven’t seen God on earth,
you will never see him in heaven” ?
✍ Why might some astronauts have felt that their
experiences led them closer to God?
✍ James Weldon Johnson has an interesting
poem, ‘The Creation’: “And God stepped out
on space.”
✍ Yuri Gagarin, once the most famous person in
the world, died in 1968, aged 34, when testing
a new aircraft.
✍ Psalm 1397-10 - “If I climb the heavens you are
there
& O Lord, my God, when I in awesome
wonder; This day God gives me; Christ
be beside me; Yahweh, I know you are
near.


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[MajestyJo]

Let us pray:

God our Father,
may all that we see and experience
lead us to grow
in wonder and respect,
that we may value and be thankful
for everything in our lives each day.
Inspire us to choose wisely
and live positively,
and make good use
of our knowledge and talents,
both for ourselves
and for the benefit of others.
Amen.

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[MajestyJo]

Let’s pray in silence for all who are
suffering…

(pause…)

Let’s pray for those who care for people
who have suffered tragedies in their
lives…

(pause…)

Let’s pray for courage when we will face
difficult times…

(pause…)

Let’s pray for those who place their own
safety at risk for the good of others - for
all members of the rescue services....

(pause…)

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[MajestyJo]

Regular prayer N/A

Hear the words of the dancing God,
the music of whose laughter stirs the winds,
whose voice calls the seasons:
I who am the Lord of the Hunt and the Power of the Light,
sun among the clouds and the secret of the flame
I call upon your bodies to arise and come unto me.
For I am the flesh of the earth and all its beings.
Through me all things must die and with me are reborn.
Let my worship be in the body that sings,
for behold all acts of willing sacrifice are my rituals.
Let there be desire and fear, anger and weakness,
joy and peace, awe and longing within you.
For these too are part of the mysteries found within yourself,
within me, all beginnings have endings,
and all endings have beginnings.

charge of the god - author unknown

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[MajestyJo]

Let us pray:

Lord, inspire me always
to have genuine care and concern
for others,
and may people be as generous to me
as I am to them.
Amen.

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[MajestyJo]

One day, Benjamin Franklin gave someone
a list of practical suggestions about
getting along with others. This is what
he wrote:

“The best thing to give your enemy
is forgiveness;
- to an opponent, tolerance;
- to a friend, your ear;
- to your child, good example;
- to your father, reverence;
- to your mother, conduct that will make
her proud of you;
- to yourself, respect;
- to all people, love.”

Let us pray:

Lord, give me patience and tolerance
with everyone.
Lord, show me
how to be kind and generous
to everyone.
Lord, help me
to live positively and cheerfully
for everyone.
Amen.

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[MajestyJo]

Albert Einstein was born in Germany in
1879. He is now acknowledged as one
of the world’s greatest scientists. Yet,
when he applied to attend a college in
Munich, he was turned down because
they said that he “showed no promise”.
He worked in different jobs to get the
money he needed to follow his scientific
interests.

Important as knowledge is, without his
sense of imagination and creativity he
would not have been able to make use
of his knowledge to make such advances
in science. It’s interesting that he said:

“Imagination is more important than
knowledge.”

Einstein also said:

“When I see the Cosmos, I can't help but
believe that there is a Divine Hand behind
it all.”

He died on this day in 1955, having said
that “Only a life lived for others is worthwhile.”

Let us pray:
Lord our God,
you give different gifts to each of us
and you are pleased
when we use our gifts well.
Inspire each of us to reach our potential
and use our gifts
for the benefit of others.
Enable us by the power of your Spirit
to grow in faith
and in imagination and creativity,
living a life for others
that is worthwhile.
Amen.

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[MajestyJo]

The three main religions in the world -
Judaism, Christianity, and Islam - all believe
in one God. Jews sometimes call
him “Yahweh”, and Muslims call him
“Allah”.

Muslims follow the religion of Islam, and
their holy book is called the Qur’an (Koran).
Muslims believe that it is the message
of God spoken by the Angel Gabriel
to Mohammed, who died in the year
632 AD. The Qu’ran is written in Arabic.

From an early age, Muslims read from
the Qur’an each day. Their holy book is
so important to them that they learn
parts of it by heart, and many learn the
whole of the Qur’an by heart. The prayer
we are going to use is based on the opening
lines of the Qur’an. Members of each
of the three world religions could use this
prayer together:


Let us pray:

In the name of God, who is merciful:
All praise be to God,
who is the Lord of everything.
We serve no-one but you, our God,
and you are the only one
to whom we turn for help.
Keep us away from the path
of those who stray from you.
Guide us instead
on the way we should go
- on the path
of those whom you have blessed.

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[MajestyJo]

Let’s pray the shortest psalm in the Bible.
It invites people - not of any single
country but the people of all nations - to
give praise to God:

Let us pray:

Praise the Lord, all you nations.
Speak to him, all people of the earth,
because his love is great
and he is always faithful.
(Psalm 117)

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[MajestyJo]

Let’s remind ourselves in silence that we
are in God’s presence…

(pause…)

The word “prophet” means “God’s
spokesman”. It’s not anything to do with
trying to discover what’s going to happen
in the future.

We read of the prophets (God’s spokesmen)
in the Old Testament. One of the
prophets was called Micah. He spoke
very simply about three qualities that are
needed to live a good life:

“To act justly,
to love tenderly,
and to walk humbly with God
(Micah 68)

We make that our prayer today:
That we may act justly,
love tenderly,
and walk humbly with you, our God.

They are easy words to remember, and
they are the kind of words that some
people learn and repeat a few times during
the day, reminding themselves that
God is with them.

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[MajestyJo]

Peace Prayer

May the people on this planet be changed.
Changed from hatred to love,
Changed from greed to giving,
Changed from selfishness to selflessness,
Changed from apathy to action,
Changed from jealousy to joy over someone's accomplishments,
Changed from intolerance to acceptance,
Changed from being destructive to being constructive,
Changed from fighting to peace,
Changed from killing to protecting life,
Changed from censorship to freedom,
Changed from ignorance to education,
Changed from fearing our differences to rejoicing our variety.

May we each take it upon ourselves to feed the hungry, cure the sick,
house the homeless, educate the illiterate, love the unloved,
compete to do the right thing instead of winning at any cost,
be heroes that teach our children to
make the world a better place instead of glorifying violence and war,
stand up and speak out against things that are wrong
instead of sitting back and waiting for someone else,
demand honesty from our governments,
demand honesty from ourselves.

May we each take responsibility for our own actions
and realize that by refusing to change ourselves,
we condone all the evils in the world.
If one person changes, they teach others by example,
who in turn change and teach more,
one person becomes as a pebble rolling down a mountain,
picking up more pebbles as it continues,
becoming an avalanche of change.
It can happen, it must happen, it will happen.

To make this prayer work, you have to change yourself.

Copyright 1997 Don Morris.

[MajestyJo]

Today is Saint George’s Day, the patron
saint of England, and we pray for all
English people.

It is also the day on which William Shakespeare
was born in 1564. He died on his
birthday in 1616.

In his play, Richard II, (the second) Shakespeare
has one of his characters say:
“I count myself
in nothing else so happy
as in a soul
remembering my good friends.”
(Richard II,Act 2, Scene 3)

Each of us can think for a moment of a
few individuals who have improved the
quality of our lives, whom we remember
as good friends.
(pause…)

In Shakespeare’s play, King Henry VI, (the
sixth) the king says:
“O Lord, that lends me life,
Lend me a heart replete with thankfulness.”
(‘King Henry the Sixth’, Part 2, Act 1,Scene 1)

Let’s take these ideas and pray:

Lord, as you lend me life,
lend me a heart full of thankfulness,
that I may treasure good friends
and be appreciative
of all who are part of my life.
Inspire me each day
to live positively and cheerfully,
living in such a way
that I express thanks
and encouragement
to others,
so that, together,
we may bring out the best
in each other.
Amen.

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[MajestyJo]

Let us pray:

Loving Lord,
we need the power of your Spirit
in our lives
to build on what is good,
and to help change
what needs to be changed.
We pray that we may be faithful
in responding to your call to grow
as the people you have called us to be,
that we may ring out your praises
through the way we live each day.
Amen.

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[MajestyJo]

Let us pray:

Lord Jesus,
we remember that you said
that you would be with us,
so we do know in our minds
that you are present.
But there’s a difference
between knowing that you’re present
and growing in the faith
that you are beside us.
We ask for the power of your Spirit
in our lives each day,
so that we may live more fully
in your presence.
Only then will our attitude
and words and actions
better reflect yours. Amen.

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[MajestyJo]

Let us pray:

God our Father,
with the gifts you have given to us
we have responsibilities and duties.
Lead us to do our best
and act responsibly.
Give us courage
when we face difficulties.
Inspire us to make our choices wisely,
always remembering
that there are consequences
to what we choose to do.
Amen.

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[MajestyJo]

Yesterday, 26th April, in 1994, saw the
start of voting in South Africa’s first elections
to include people of all colours.
“The Rainbow Nation” is the phrase often
used by President Nelson Mandela
about South Africa’s multi-racial society.

We are going to listen to a translation of
some of the words of South Africa’s new
National Anthem. We can make the
words our own prayer for our own nation:

Let us pray:

Bless our nation, Lord,
and let your mercy come among us.
Let justice triumph in our land
as we live and strive for freedom.
Let our people stand before you
as you come to judge us.
Stretch out your hands, O Lord,
and have compassion on us.

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[MajestyJo]

Let us pray:
God our Father,
inspire us with a great respect
for all human life
from the time of the child
growing in the womb
to the point of death.
May that respect lead us
to grow in a sense of responsibility
for all our brothers and sisters
throughout the world,
knowing that,
where one person suffers
and is degraded,
all of humanity
is belittled and abused.
May we grow in a sense of love and care
for those less fortunate
than ourselves,
and lead us to do something
about the difficulites in our world.
Amen.

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[MajestyJo]

Let us pray:

Lord Jesus,
when you met Zacchaeus,
the tax collector
whom everyone hated,
you looked at him
and called him by his name.
In doing that,
you gave him back his dignity,
and he changed his life around.
He was able to see himself
in a better way,
and so he gave back to others
the money he had cheated
from them.
Lead us to show respect
for each person as an individual,
treating others in the same way
that we would like to be treated.
Amen.

http://www.kingjamesbibleonline.org/Inspirational-Images/Ephesians_6-10.jpg

[MajestyJo]

A German-speaking boy was often physically
abused - beaten by his father for
the smallest thing he ever did wrong. The
father did not call him by his name. Instead,
whenever the father wanted the
boy to come to him, he whistled for him,
as if his son was a dog.

Sometime later, the boy discovered that
his grandfather (whom he hardly knew)
was Jewish. In his twisted way of thinking,
he thought that his grandfather’s
“Jewishness” somehow must be the reason
why his father was so cruel and nasty
towards him.

Having been insulted and abused by his
father, the boy grew up with strange
views about himself, and with strange
views about Jewish people. This boy was
Adolf Hitler.

After leading Germany and Europe and
much of the world in devastation and
war, costing the lives of so many people
(including millions of Jews), Adolf Hitler
committed suicide on this day in 1945
in his bunker deep under the ruined city
of Berlin.
Let us pray in silence for a moment, thinking
of all who died during that war…

(pause…)

Let us pray for all who suffer
from hatred and prejudice,
from abuse and ill-treatment,
and for all who are victims
of other people.

Let us pray, too,
for the people of violence,
that they may change their ways
and learn to respect others.
Let us pray for ourselves,
that when we face
what is negative or evil
we may have
the courage and generosity
to break the cycle of violence,
taking responsibility
for the direction
in which we want our lives to go.
Let us pray
that we may always do to others
as we would wish them to do to us.
Amen.

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