Prayer for First Sunday in Lent

Lord on this first Sunday in Lent
we come praying to you from the deserts of our lives.
For some of us it is a painful wilderness.
For some it is a wild and creative place,
For some it is a silent beauty.
Lord we pray for your guidance,
presence and shelter
as we journey this days of Lent.
Help us to deal with temptation,
Keep us from falling into our old traps,
And deliver us from the evil one.

Lord we lift up to you those with illnesses,
those with unmet needs,
those with financial problems,
t hose with brokenness in their lives.
May your tender loving mercy be poured into their lives
into the places it is most needed like warm soothing salve.

Lord we pray our communities where hardship is present,
where there are the homeless,
where there is traumatic violence,
where there are job losses and fear.
Pour your tender mercy into our communities
so that they may have justice that rolls down like water.

Lord we pray for our country with the divisions,
discontentment,
financial problems abound,
pour your tender loving mercy into our nation
healing and redeeming us.

Lord we pray for our world where there is starvation,
poverty, ongoing war,
slavery and abuse of power,
pour your tender loving mercy into our world
so that your Kingdom may come and your will be done.
Amen.


painting by Duccio di Buoninsegna, The Temptation of Christ (1308-10)

Prayer for Transfiguration Sunday

Oh Lord,
You call us to go to the mountain top with you
And we follow, not quite sure of what is to happen,
but we like mountain tops,
we like the view from up here,
we like mountain top experiences.
Lord some times we need mountain top experiences with you
when our days are dark and dreary,
when our hearts, are heavy,
when the valleys seem more depressing then ever.
Lord, may this mountain top experience
fill our hearts with your light,
may we be filled with your love,
may we be filled with hope.
Lord, we are aware,
that just as Moses and your disciples were changed by their experiences
that we too are changed and transformed into the image of Christ by your mercy.
Lord, may we have unveiled faces that reflect your love, your hope, and your light.

And Lord we add to this prayer;
These prayers for those in our communities affected by the heavy snows, power outages, loss of work, loss of lives, and illnesses.
We continue to pray for the recovery work in Haiti.
Amen.

This Icon is by the hand of Nicholas Papas. It is from St. Philip's Antiochian Orthodox Church in Souderton, PA.

Prayer for Epiphany 5C

Lord,
We are yours and you have called us in the midst of daily lives to follow you, to serve you,
to spread your good news.
We want to do so, but Lord we often feel unworthy, we feel like we are the chief of sinners, we feel unclean, and not holy at all. Your holiness, your love, your presence scares us.
Calm our fears, dry our tears, that we may know deep within ourselves your love, grace and forgiveness.
Empower us to follow you, to serve you, and to tell others the good news.

O Lord along with this prayer, we also pray for the people of Haiti, the rescue workers, the Doctors and nurses who are providing aid and healing to a devastated people.
O Lord we pray for those around us who may be living their own devastated lives.
Provide the resources, the aid, and the human touch they need for restoration.
In the name of your son, who c,
Amen