A Selection of Prayers
Other
This is a Selection of Prayers from
I Will Pour Out my Spirit and Celebrating the Decade
Blessing of Tears
(Th
e image of tears is found in the Jewish Seder. This ritual is adapted by Lynda Katsuno-Ishii and is based on phrases found in two resources:
Women's Song, Volume 2
and Aruna Gnanadason's book,
No Longer a Secre
t)
Leader: Jesus heard the cries of all the women he met
and hears the cries of all women who weep now.
He acknowledges the context of personal and structural pain
in which they were immersed.
Jesus gathers the tears of women and baptizes each one
into renewed and transformed life.
"If we were to gather together the tears already shed
and as yet unshed by women around the world,
I believe we could baptize the church into a life of solidarity and resolute action."
Aruna Gnanadason, India
Oh people, you shall not drown in your tears,
But tears shall bathe your wounds.
Oh people, you shall not die from hunger,
But hunger shall feed your souls.
Oh people, you are not weak in your suffering,
But strong and brave with knowing.
Oh people, if you have known struggle
Only then are you capable of loving.
Oh people, be aware of the love you have.
Let not your tears submerge it
Let not your hunger eat it
Let not your suffering destroy it -
Oh people, bitterness does not replace a grain of love.
Let us be awake in our love.
(Isaiah 40: 28-31, 43: 1-7)
Noorie Cassim, South Africa
Cry Justice,
ed. John de Gruchy, Collins 1986
Prayer for healing violence
Lord Jesus,
Healer of the hurt,
the broken,
the marginalised ones,
hear our prayer.
Hear us as we pray for healing
of the violence in our society.
Accept our prayers for those who are hurt, Lord,
the children, the women and the men
who are victims of violence.
Grant them wholeness, for they are your children.
Lord, hear our prayer.
Hear too, our prayers for the perpetrators,
so they no longer need to inflict pain upon others.
Teach them ways to live that don't need violence.
Grant them wholeness and healing,
for they, too, are your children.
Lord, hear our prayer.
You were no stranger to violence, were you, Lord?
The people didn’t approve of you.
They wanted your blood.
Pilate did the expedient thing and handed you over.
You were reviled, stoned, beaten, spat upon,
nailed, stabbed, and left alone.
Truth was subservient to the convenient
and to the fears and prejudices of the powerful.
Things haven't changed much in 2000 years, Lord.
Lord, hear our prayer.
Risen Lord, help us to change things.
Fill us with your Spirit of life and truth
so that we shall no longer permit the innocent
to experience their own Gethsemane.
Refresh and make whole
the beaten and the battered,
the aggressors and the abused alike.
Forgive us when we allow our intolerance or apathy
to outweigh our willingness to protect the victims
of unjust violence.
Let there be peace without pain for all your people.
Lord, hear our prayer.
Jennifer M. Glenister
Litany of Confession
L
eader:
Holy God, you know us better than we know ourselves. We come now aware of so many new possibilities, and yet bewildered by our need to sort through our thoughts, to make decisions about priorities, to admit past failures.
Response:
Liberating God, forgive our errors of the past and set us free to be new people.
Leader:
O God our Creator, startle us every day with what it means to be created in your image. We admit that we have too often accepted society's definitions of who we are as women and men, forgetting that we equally represent your image, that we are equally responsible for the care of your breathtakingly beautiful world.
Response
: Creating God, help us hear your call to creativity and responsibility.
Leader
: O God of Wisdom, how can you endure our human foolishness? We complain about injustice done to us, and yet do not act justly with others. We strut and pose as if power resides in riches or in the possession of armaments. When will we hear the quiet strength of deeds of mercy and justice?
Response
: Wise and loving God, forgive our slowness of heart and mind, and empower us to be true to your call to ministries of peace and justice.
Leader
: God of all people everywhere, we confess that we have allowed differences to divide us. We see race, tribe, customs, religion and denominations instead of people.
Response
: God of insight, forgive us. Grant us the vision of those whose sight comes from within, unblurred by outward distractions or circumstances.
Leader
: God of the universe and every atom in it, we confess that we have been poor stewards of your bounty. We are wasteful when we could be saving. We destroy when we could preserve. We arrogantly care for our own wishes, neglecting the basic needs of other human beings and other creatures.
Response
: God of all creation, forgive our willingness to squander earth's wealth for our own comfort and ease. Make of us, we pray, a new creation, ready to reflect your image in our actions and in our relationships.
Leader
: Be with the churches, O God, as they launch the campaign, On the Wings of a Dove, to overcome violence against women and children. Be with our leaders and congregations, help them to discern your will and act with faithfulness. In Jesus' name we pray.
Response
: Amen.
(Selections from I Will Pour Out My Spirit, Mid-Decade Worship Resource, WCC December 1992; and Celebrating the Decade, Worship Resource, WCC, November 1997)
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