Prayers for Community Life and Service
Sometimes we don’t know how to pray. Our minds are a maze, our hearts a menagerie of emotions. In such times – particularly when we are gathered with others – we could all do with a little help.
Christians have been praying for two millennia and most of the collective prayers have been prepared ones – that is, they have been intentionally crafted in order to give voice and shape to our God-responses. Historically, the Psalms (being the “prayer book of the Bible/Hebrew scriptures”), has been where most Jews and Christians have learnt to pray. Here, honesty and raw emotion form the core of the psalmist’s response to God. They cover the full spectrum of human experience and mood – grief, guilt, frustration, elation, anger, accusation, betrayal, confusion, wonder and deep gratitude. There are psalms of confession, thanksgiving, lament and ecstatic rejoicing.
In addition to this, over the centuries the Church has developed a huge range of prepared prayers and responses to God. Some traditions draw deeply on this rich resource. Others are completely disconnected from it.
Many evangelical and Pentecostal Christians have an aversion to prepared or written prayers, somehow thinking that what just slips out of our mouths spontaneously is somehow more spiritual than something we’ve had to ponder and grapple with. Such thinking considers prepared or written as dry or lifeless.
I think there is a place (in both private and public prayer) for the prepared and the spontaneous. Both need to be honest, intimate, truthful and without pretence.
But here’s the irony: I regularly meet Christians in non-liturgical traditions who find it hard to pray in public. They simply don’t know what to say and lack the confidence to express their thoughts and feelings to God in a communal setting. Then there are many others, who speak out in services and meetings in a babble of confused or just-plain-wrong thoughts about God and life.
If a faith community’s only form of collective prayer is the spontaneous, it can easily alienate the inconfident among us, causing them to think, “I could never pray as eloquently as Joe does” or “Only spiritual people can pray out loud”. These are the very kind of misbeliefs that will handicap our intimacy with God and each other.
For prayers shape our view of God, us and the world, just as much as Scripture, preaching and the songs we sing. Conversely, the prayers we pray give voice to what we truly believe. So corporate prayer has the potential to teach us about God. But it can also lead us astray – reinforcing wrong beliefs and perceptions.
I guess what I’m arguing for is a balance between prepared and spontaneous. To be fair, many prepared prayers are in language difficult to understand (though the same could also be said about many spontaneous utterances I’ve heard!). However, they can also teach us to pray, give us confidence to speak out our thoughts, feelings, aspirations and beliefs to God, and give voice to our deep heart-felt responses.
Here are a few prayers I’ve either written and/or drawn from in the communities I’ve been part of. They cover a selection of contexts and purposes. Where possible, I’ve tried to acknowledge sources. Perhaps you might like to add to these by emailing me a prayer that has been helpful for you and your community?
Prayer of confession (various sources)
Holy and merciful God, we confess to you and to one another that we have sinned in thought, word and deed; by what we have done and by what we have left undone.
We have not been grateful for your grace; we have taken for granted your good gifts to us.
We have ignored your speaking to us, your groaning within us, your liberating ways in this world that you love.
We have known the good and refused to do it; we have been content with half truths.
We have believed lies about who you really are, and who we really are.
We have been more concerned with comfort than goodness and truth.
We have muzzled the spirit of wonder and the spirit of hope.
We have tried to enforce control on others that we would not allow over ourselves.
We have accepted fixed roles that reduce us and limit our ability to bring about your dream for this world that you love.
Most merciful God, you dwell in us as a Spirit stronger than any spirit. You dwell in our history as a Word with the power to break lies that tell us we are less than we truly are and enable us to give ourselves in love to others.
Restore us, O Lord, and let your joy comfort our hearts.
Accomplish in us, O God the work of your salvation, that we may join all creation in glorifying You. Amen.
Prayer before reading Scripture
Lord, we confess we are finite beings and limited in our perspective.
You are infinite and unlimited.
We are broken and sin-ridden creatures.
You are the whole and holy creator.
We see through a glass dimly.
You see things in their completeness.
We see things as we are.
You see us and your universe as they really are.
So we ask for your help.
We want to hear and see you more clearly.
Break through our filtered lenses, we pray.
Open our eyes to help us see with increasing clarity your perspective, your truth and your direction. Amen.
Prayer for Work (Richard Foster)
The day has been breathless, Lord. I stop now for a few moments and I wonder:
Is the signature of the holy over the rush of the day? Or have I bolted ahead, anxiously trying to solve problems that do not belong to me?
Holy Spirit of God, please show me:
How to work relaxed
How to make each task an offering of faith
How to view interruptions as doors to service
How to see each person as my teacher in things eternal
In the name of him who always worked unhurried. Amen.
Prayer of Commission
We are your people Lord, called to follow, serve and love you.
We acknowledge afresh our dependence on you.
We want to be partners in your mission to this world.
Empower us by your Spirit we ask.
Give us vision to see what you want us to do.
Give us insight to see what you are already doing.
Give us humility to serve without complaint, in whatever tasks are before us.
Give us courage to testify to your goodness and faithfulness.
Give us patience and endurance in the race you have set before us.
Give us hope to believe that ultimately you will reign in all places and all hearts.
Transform us, we ask.
May your kingdom come, here on earth, as it is in heaven. Amen
Preparing for Daily Service (Missionaries of Charity)
Dear Lord, the great healer; I kneel before You
Since every good and perfect gift must come from You, I pray:
Give skill to my hands
Clear vision to my mind
Kindness and meekness to my heart
Give me singleness of purpose
Strength to lift up part of the burden of my suffering fellow men and women
And a true realization of the privilege that is mine.
Take from my heart all guile and worldliness, that with the simple faith of a child, I may rely on You. Amen.
Prayer for Communion
Father, Son and Holy Spirit – we come to your table now. Thank you for your gracious invitation to join in this meal. For here you model to us the heart of hospitality. Though we have little to bring – apart from our presence – still you welcome us with grace and generosity. May we in turn, welcome one another in the same spirit.
We recognize that you are not only our host but also our meal. So we eat and drink with and of you. May this bread and wine be sustenance for the journey, bringing forgiveness, cleansing, healing and empowerment, so that we find our very life in you.
We ask this in the name of Jesus – the one whose costly sacrifice made this meal possible. Amen.
Prayer for Advent
Lord Jesus Christ
Our world awaits you:
In the longing of the persecuted for justice;
In the longing of the poor for prosperity;
In the longing of the privileged for riches greater than wealth;
In the longing of our hearts for a better life,
And in the song of your Church, expectation is ever present.
O Come Lord, desire behind our greatest needs.
O Come Lord, liberator of humanity.
O Come Lord, O come Immanuel. Amen.
Prayer of Formation (Richard Foster)
O Lord, my God.
Form me more fully into your likeness.
Use the circumstances and interactions of this day to form your will in me.
From the frustrations of this day form peace.
From the joys of this day form strength.
From the struggles of this day form courage.
From the beauties of this day form love.
In the name of Jesus Christ who is all peace and strength and courage and love. Amen.
Prayer for Transformation (based on Romans 8 )
Lord, we are broken people. We’re so much less than what you want us to be. We confess this is true, as individuals, and as families, and as a community.
And we live in a fractured world. In this place we get hurt and knocked around. And we also hurt and knock others around.
Even so, you still believe in us. You love us so much that you’ll do anything to help us become more whole.
You’ll use any difficult situation we face, if we allow you to, to bring good for us – and for others.
So we come to you in hope.
We give you our difficult situation or person right now, and we ask that you would use it to make us whole and to bring good for us and for others.
We want to be whole, and so we invite you to work in this situation and our lives, in a way that will change us for the better.
We’re not asking to have this situation taken away, Lord. We know that while that might make us happy (for a while), there are things we need to learn and grow through in this situation. So we pray instead that you would do your work in our lives.
We long to become like you Jesus – because you’re the only fully whole, complete, perfect person who has ever walked this earth. And you have the power to make us whole. Amen.
Trustee’s Prayer
Lord, we remind ourselves today – all we have is yours; not ours.
So help us to manage your gift of time well.
Help us to invest your gift of money and possessions wisely.
May the unique personality, skills, experiences and abilities entrusted to each of us be well nurtured, developed and used for your purposes.
May we appreciate the gift of loved ones you’ve placed around us.
All of creation is a gift to be stewarded.
Let us be your servants this day – not abusing or misusing, always treating with care.
Lord, help us to know what to do with what you’ve given,
that you may be glorified and your kingdom built.
In the name of the supreme example of trustees – Jesus. Amen.
Prayer of Commitment (adapted from a piece by Gordon Aeschliman)
Lord, you tell us to seek first Your kingdom. Then you will meet our needs…
So we ask you, don’t give us blessings – give us grace to be unquestionably obedient to Your every last command and desire.
Don’t give us status – give us a place to serve.
Don’t give us things for our use – use us.
Don’t give us a mansion to live in – give us a springboard to take Christ’s love to the whole world.
Don’t give us good jobs – put us to work.
Don’t give us comfort – command us.
Don’t give us pleasure – give us perspective.
Don’t give us entertainment – enable us.
Don’t give us good salaries – give us strength to do Your will.
We want our great joy in life to be found in pleasing you O Lord – and for there to be no other joy comparable…
We don’t want to seek our personal rights – we want to see all people set free…
We don’t want to give ten percent of our income to You – we want to give it all.
We don’t work for You from 8-5 – we are Your’s for 24 hours of each day…
We don’t want to take pride in acquiring things – no, hoarding shames us.
We acknowledge that it is senseless to talk of availability or willingness, if we are not actively obeying You and serving others.
Help us to make this prayer a reality. Amen.
Benediction (Traditional Celtic Prayer)
May the Christ who walks on wounded feet
walk with us on the road.
May the Christ who serves with wounded hands
stretch out our hands to serve.
May the Christ who loves with a wounded heart
open our hearts to love.
May we see the face of Christ in everyone we meet,
and may everyone we meet see the face of Christ in us.
Amen.
Benediction (The Book of Common Worship, Presbyterian Church of USA)
Everlasting God, in whom we live and move and have our being.
You have made us for yourself, so that our hearts are restless until they rest in you.
Give us purity of heart and strength of purpose, that no selfish passion may hinder us from knowing your will, no weakness keep us from doing it;
That in your light we may see clearly, and in your service find perfect freedom through Jesus Christ our Lord,
Who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
One God, now and forever. Amen.
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