- Meg Bucher (Megs)Crosswalk.com Contributing Writer
- 201730 Jun
- COMMENTS
“Make every effort to preserve the unity the Spirit has already created, with peace binding you together.” (Ephesians 4:3)
Here is a wonderful prayer to use to close a meeting, church service, or any type of gathering! Use your departure as a time to thank God and ask for His protection and blessings.
Father, praise You for the gift of unity that the Spirit creates in our relationships! You place others perfectly in our lives, and inspire us as Christians to work together with the gifts that we have been blessed with. When we look at this meeting through Your eyes, we see Your gifts fostered in us to further Your plans.
Forgive us, Father, for the control and the credit that we grasp for in these meetings while planning and accomplishing projects together. We confess that honoring You through our work is not always at the forefront of our minds as we strive for end goals. In the spaces of our hearts that harbor envy and ambition, we prayerfully ask You to make room for humility and shared credit.
The church doesn’t stand on any one person's’ shoulders. Not one of us can further Your plans on our own. But together, we can complement each other’s strengths and cancel out our weaknesses. As a team, a unified body focused on the gospel of Christ, we can do great things in Your honor as we were purposed to do.
Thank You for the ideas that You spoke life into here today, and for the courage of each voice that stood to be heard. In each one of us lies a puzzle piece. One by one, as we stand and speak and work, we see our individual pieces moving into place. We continue to strive for Your will, piece by piece, until You call us home.
Bless all of us in this meeting today. Each of us have a life outside of these walls. There are very real hurts that some are coping with, and needs of others that we ache to help with and meet. Take that stirring of love that we feel for each other and guide our steps to be faithful friends and extensions of Your love to those that You have seated beside pf and across from us today. As we bow our heads and lift up our plans to You, we pray that You bless our hearts and minds to know we have done well in Your eyes. We pray for your assurance that we are operating within Your will.
Lord, we believe that You will provide for us. We look forward to the ways that You will surprise and amaze us with Your faithfulness. The lives that You will touch and the people in this room You will use to brighten dark spaces and lift sad hearts. Our passion for discussion today is fueled by You, our Father, who with the same note of passion created us to be light to the world… color to dullness… life to dead places… and love to lost faces. Bless our work and our time. Guide our steps and our progress. Grant us the power of Your Holy Spirit to work together because it’s impossible to see past our human stubbornness without You.
Bless us Lord, as we leave here today, to take Your passion with us. Fan its flame after we part and inspire our best contributions. Remind us always of Your love, as we see our plans unfold and accomplish the goals we set here today.
Through the power of the Holy Spirit that dwells in us through our belief in Jesus, our Lord and Savior, inspire our hearts to seek You in Your Word daily. Grow us both individually and together, as we seek the peace of Your presence. Help us to walk faithfully and fiercely after Christ, reflecting His love. May we always lift our progress up to You, who holds the honor and glory for who we are and what we do. Use our lives, Lord, to reach those who desperately need to know You love them. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.
Meg Bucher writes about everyday life within the love of Christ on her blog, http://sunnyand80.org. “Mom” is the most important calling on her life, next to encouraging others to seek Him first… authentically. A dance mom, occasional substitute teacher, and youth worship leader, she can often be found having some kind of an adventure in the small little lake town she resides in with her husband of ten years, two daughters, and their doodle-dog.
Photo credit: ©Thinkstock/vadimguzhva
This article is part of our larger Prayers resource meant to inspire and encourage your prayer life when you face uncertain times. Visit our most popular prayers if you are wondering how to pray or what to pray. Remember, the Holy Spirit intercedes for us and God knows your heart even if you can't find the words to pray.
Prayer for Healing
Prayer for the Sick
Miracle Prayer
Prayer for Strength
Prayer for Protection
Morning Prayers
Good Night Prayers
Short Prayers
The Lord's Prayer
Serenity Prayer
A Birthday Prayer
Prayer for Forgiveness
Prayer for Guidance
of the Meetings of the Xavier University President's Leadership 2018-2019
Academic Years
Playing a Part in the Lives of Students
Good and loving God-
We thank you for the completion of another academic year, and for giving us the opportunity,
short though it may have been, to play a part in the lives of our students and our new
graduates. We are grateful for your guidance and love as we shared in this important work.
Please bless and guide our graduates as they reach this end, and as they chart new beginnings.
May what they have learned by being here with us allow them to truly be 'women and men for
others.' May what we have learned from them enable us to be the same.
Please help them to use all that they have learned here to make the world a better place - to
serve others in true solidarity and kinship - to seek ways to help the poor, the marginalized,
and those who are suffering - and to always seek the greater good.
We know that some of them will experience pain and hardship, and we know that some of
them already have, and we ask you to grant them solace and strength.
Finally, Father, we thank you for giving us the opportunity to build our community with these
young men and women while they are here. Though they are leaving our campus, we know
that they will always be with us as part of the Xavier family, and we ask that the bonds that
have been created here remain strong despite any distance.
We ask all of this in your name, and in the name of your Son.
Amen.
Written and offered by Phil Chick
For Vision
Disturb us, Lord, when we are too well pleased with ourselves;
when our dreams have come true because we have dreamed too little;
when we arrived safely because we have sailed too close to shore.
Disturb us, Lord, when with the abundance of the things we possess,
we have lost our thirst for the water of life.
Stir us, Lord, to dare more boldly, to venture on wider seas,
where storms will show your mastery;
where losing sight of land, we shall find the stars.
We ask you to push back the horizons of our hopes and to push us into
the future in strength, courage, hope and love.
Offered by Melissa Baumann
Author Unknown
Prayer for the End of the School Year
At the end of this school year we
give thanks to God:
For all the teaching and learning
that has taken place in our school,
both in and out of the classroom,
For the talents and gifts that have
been shared and the challenges that
have been faced;
For the respect and care that has
been given.
We give thanks for the friendships
that have just begun and for those
that have grown.
For the faith that has been lived in
our daily struggles,
For the hope that has lifted our
hearts,
And for the love that has kept us going
We give thanks to the community
that we are, and we ask you Lord -
Bless our students as they sit for their
exams: may your Spirit inspire
them with confidence and calmness
Bless our families as we take our
holidays, may our time together
leave us with memories to cherish.
Pour out your love on us that we
may return renewed and refreshed
to continue our journey together.
We make this prayer through Christ
our Lord. Free office software for windows 10. Amen
Offered by Doug Ruschman
Author Unknown - adapted from a prayer from www.catholicschooldenton.org
A Prayer for Peace
We are moulded, each one of us,
in the image of God,
and within our souls there is a fingerprint
none can erase.
We pray for those who have no regard
for anyone but self,
who put no value on human life.
For nations and individuals who abuse and kill.
We are not called to be judge or jury,
but we are called to be agents of change,
and if the butterfly that flaps its wings
should be our attitude to others
then so be it, Lord,
and may the hurricane this generates
somewhere within the world
reach into the hearts and souls of those
for whom we pray, and reveal to them
how precious are those
for whom they have no love,
and how precious are they
who now bring tears to the eyes of God.
Offered by Janice Walker
Prayer for a Group Meeting
Lord, as we go into this meeting, we place ourselves before You, for You are filled with the beauty and light and care deeply about us. Help us to value and appreciate those we are gather with. may Your light enfold us. May Your Spirit guide us. May Your grace abound in is. We make this prayer through Christ the Lord.
Offered by Jeff Coleman
Opening Prayer Church Council Meeting
Forgive Us
O Thou Eternal God, out of whose absolute power and infinite intelligence the whole universe has come into being, we humbly confess that we have not loved thee with our hearts, souls and minds, and we have not loved our neighbors as Christ loved us. We have all too often lived by our own selfish impulses rather than by the life of sacrificial love as revealed by Christ. We often give in order to receive. We love our friends and hate our enemies. We go the first mile but dare not travel the second. We forgive but dare not forget. And so as we look within ourselves, we are confronted with the appalling fact that the history of our lives is the history of an eternal revolt against you. But thou, O God, have mercy upon us. Forgive us for what we could have been but failed to be. Give us the intelligence to know your will. Give us the courage to do your will. Give us the devotion to love thy will. In the name and spirit of Jesus we pray.
Written by Martin Luther King Jr.
Offered by Greg Christopher
A Prayer for Discernment and Wisdom
When You Need God's Direction
Lord, thank You for the people You have divinely placed in my life who speak holy truth, love and words of wisdom. Give me a heart of discernment to know when You are using someone to speak instruction into my heart and my circumstances, and give me the strength and courage to follow through with that advice, even when it’s hard.
Fill me with peace in knowing that even if I take a wrong turn, Your purpose will prevail.
In Jesus’ Name.
Offered by Kelly Pokrywka
The Peace Prayer of St. Francis
Lord, make me an instrument of your peace;
where there is hatred, let me sow love;
where there is injury, pardon;
where there is doubt, faith;
where there is despair, hope;
where there is darkness, light;
and where there is sadness, joy.
O Divine Master,
grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled as to console;
to be understood, as to understand;
to be loved, as to love;
for it is in giving that we receive,
it is in pardoning that we are pardoned,
and it is in dying that we are born to Eternal Life.
Offered by Melissa Baumann
A Metaphor for Change
Spring is a metaphor for change. Some changes we eagerly await, and some we abhor. Some changes we plan and others arrive uninvited. To all these changes we ask the gift of Your perspective beckoning us to expectation, hope, and rebirth.
May the sunlight and the rain be reminders that You are at work renewing the earth. As a God of renewal, You are ever at work in our lives, too.
Open our eyes and lives to the needed changes in our lives this Spring. Awaken us to new life and perspective, for we pray in Jesus’ name.
Offered by Phil Chick
Author Unknown
Patient Trust
Above all, trust in the slow work of God.
We are quite naturally impatient in everything
to reach the end without delay.
We should like to skip the intermediate stages.
We are impatient of being on the way to something
unknown, something new.
And yet it is the law of all progress
that it is made by passing through
some stages of instability--
and that it may take a very long time.
And so I think it is with you;
your ideas mature gradually—let them grow,
let them shape themselves, without undue haste.
Don’t try to force them on,
as though you could be today what time
(that is to say, grace and circumstances
acting on your own good will)
will make of you tomorrow.
Only God could say what this new spirit
gradually forming within you will be.
Give Our Lord the benefit of believing
that his hand is leading you,
and accept the anxiety of feeling yourself
in suspense and incomplete.
Offered by Connie Perme
Authored by Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, SJ
Thank You for Your Presence
Father, Mother, God,
Thank you for your presence
during the hard and mean days.
For then we have you to lean upon.
Thank you for your presence
during the bright and sunny days,
for then we can share that which we have
with those who have less.
And thank you for your presence
during the Holy Days, for then we are able
to celebrate you and our families
and our friends.
For those who have no voice,
we ask you to speak.
For those who feel unworthy,
we ask you to pour your love out
in waterfalls of tenderness.
For those who live in pain,
we ask you to bathe them
in the river of your healing.
For those who are lonely, we ask
you to keep them company.
For those who are depressed,
we ask you to shower upon them
the light of hope.
Dear Creator, You, the borderless
sea of substance, we ask you to give to all the
world that which we need most—Peace.
-Maya Angelou
Offered by Janice Walker
A Prayer of Empowerment
Most Loving and Merciful God,
In whose law we find our guidance, in whose Love we find our healing and joy, and in whose will we find our peace, rule over our spirits in this hour that we will go from this worship with the freedom of those who trust you and need have no anxiety for themselves. Empower us, O God to be open to the seasons of life and give of our hearts Love generously to all in need. Grant us the silence of heart so that we can grow in your word.
As we go through this worship today and culminate what we call 'Black History Month', help us to never forget our history and instill in us the willingness to share our history with our youth and others throughout the year.
Now Lord God, fill us with the solemnity of the faith of the great commission; but also provide us with the means and the will to stay in Loving and Joyous relationships with one another and the world. We ask a special blessing for our pastor who will bring the message by sharing historical reflections.
Lord, we praise and adore you and we thank you for the joy we have in worshiping you in spirit and in truth.
In your name we pray,
-Author Unknown
Offered by Aaron Meis
Be Generous
Introduction: Regarding current events and especially political division in our society, hear the words ofC.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity -
'Suppose one reads a story of filthy atrocities in the paper. Then suppose that something turns up suggesting that the story might not be quite true, or not quite so bad as it was made out. Is one's first feeling, 'Thank God, even though they aren't quite so bad as that,' or is it a feeling of disappointment, and even a determination to cling to the first story for the sheer pressure of thinking your enemies are as abad as possible? If it is the second then it is, I am afraid, the first step in a process which, if followed to the end, will make us into devils. You see, one is beginning to wish that black was a little blacker. If we give that wish its head, later one we shall insist on seeing everything -- God and our friends and ourselves -- as bad, and not be able to stop doing it: we shall be fixed forever in a universe of pure hatred.'
Regarding the Baha'i faith -- it is a religion which teaches the essential worth of all religions, and the unity and equality of all people. It asserts that religion is revealed by one God through Manifestations of God; including the founds of major world religions like Buddha, Jesus, and Muhammad. Though varied in customs, Baha'is regard all major religions as having a single purpose, with an emphasis on the unity of all people.
This prayer is adapted from passage 130 of 'Gleanings from the Writings of Baha'u'llah' --
Bless this University and its leaders as we work to create a University that glorifies you through the education of our students, future leaders that will set societal discourse for years to come. In setting an example for our students:
- May we be worthy of the trust of our neighbor, and look upon them with a bright and friendly face.
- May we be fair in our judgment, and guarded in our speech.
- May we be as a lamp unto them that walk in darkness, a joy to the sorrowful, a sea for the thirsty, a haven for the distressed, and an upholder and defender of the victim of oppression.
- Let integrity and uprightness distinguish all our acts.
- May we be an ensign of the hosts of justice, a luminary above the horizon of virtue, a dew to the soil of the human heart, and an ark on the ocean of knowledge.
- May we be a gem on the diadem of wisdom, a shining light in the firmament of thy generation, and a fruit upon the tree of humility.
In all of these things, may our work glorify your Holy Name.
Prayer adapted and offered by Rick Mullins
A Pope's Prayer for Immigrants
Merciful God,we pray to you for all the men, women and children who have died after leaving their homelands in search of a better life.
Though many of their graves bear no name, to you each one is known, loved and cherished.
May we never forget them, but honour their sacrifice with deeds more than words. We entrust to you all those who have made this journey, enduring fear, uncertainty and humiliation, in order to reach a place of safety and hope.
Just as you never abandoned your Son as he was brought to a safe place by Mary and Joseph, so now be close to these, your sons and daughters, through our tenderness and protection.
In caring for them may we seek a world where none are forced to leave their home and where all can live in freedom, dignity and peace.
Merciful God and Father of all, wake us from the slumber of indifference, open our eyes to their suffering, and free us from the insensitivity born of worldly comfort and self-centredness.
Inspire us, as nations, communities and individuals, to see that those who come to our shores are our brothers and sisters.
May we share with them the blessings we have received from your hand, and recognize that together, as one human family, we are all migrants, journeying in hope to you, our true home, where every tear will be wiped away, where we will be at peace and safe in your embrace.
-by Pope Francis
Offered by Joe Feldhaus
Prayer for the New Year
Dear Lord,
Thank you for all that you've allowed into our lives this past year. We pray for your Spirit to lead us each step of this New Year. We ask that you will guide our decisions, let us listen to the people and world around us and keep us mindful of our impact as leaders of the Xavier University.
We ask for your wisdom and for your strength to be constantly present within us. We pray you would make us strong and courageous for the road ahead.
We pray for your protection over our families, friends and Xavier community. We pray that you would give us discernment and insight, to understand your will, hear your voice, and know your ways. Help us honor and see your grace in every person, plant and animal in this beautiful world you created.
Forgive us for forgetting our need for you. Forgive us for letting fear and worry control our minds. Fill us with peace and patience, and help us to be faithful. Help us enter the New Year joyfully with the anticipation of blessings to come.
Help us to be generous and kind, help us to look to the needs of others. Help us spread joy, kindness and goodness throughout our campus, homes and community this welcomed New Year.
- Adapted from a prayer written by Debbie McDanielOffered by Jeff Coleman
Excerpts from 'Gratitude is the heart's memory: A Thanksgiving Reflection'
A Musical Reflection
While “The Call, Ralph Vaughan Williams, is sung by Dr. Tom Merrill and played on the piano by Dr Polina Bespalko…
Attendees are invited to:
Prepare for a brief period of meditation by sitting comfortably, closing your eyes, and breathing deeply for a moment or two. Allow any present concerns to move across your mind and wait off to the side for now.
In the quiet of the music, ask yourself this question: Who are the people who helped me walk towards God? Wait a moment, and then follow with these questions:
- Who gave me a safe place to be?
- Who listened to me with great care and attention?
- Who told me the truth, even when it was difficult?
Now invite images of faces to emerge—faces of the people who have accompanied you in your faith journey. Listen for the memory of their voices. Remain still as these images and voices come to you.
When a face or a voice emerges, whisper a prayer of thanks for that person. Honor that person as he or she is now, whether living or dead.
Conclude with the prayer-
O Wisdom of our God Most High,
guiding creation with power and love:
come to teach us the path of knowledge!
- Offered by Tom Merrill
Thoughts in Solitude
MY LORD GOD, I have no idea where I am going.
I do not see the road ahead of me.
I cannot know for certain where it will end.
Nor do I really know myself, and the fact that I think I am following your will does not mean that I am actually doing so.
But I believe that the desire to please you does in fact please you.
And I hope I have that desire in all that I am doing.
I hope that I will never do anything apart from that desire.
And I know that if I do this you will lead me by the right road, though I may know nothing about it.
Therefore I will trust you always though I may seem to be lost and in the shadow of death.
I will not fear, for you are ever with me, and you will never leave me to face my perils alone.
- By Thomas Merton
Offered by Greg Christopher
Excerpts from 'Gratitude is the heart's memory: A Thanksgiving Reflection'
Thankfulness is much more than saying 'Thank you' because we have to. Thankfulness is a way to experience the world, a way to perceive, a way to be surprised. Thankfulness is having open eyes and a short distance between the eyes and the heart.
..
Remembrance is the most precious feature of the virtue of gratitude. One of the most important qualities is the ability to say 'thank you' to others and to take no one and nothing for granted. Those who possess the virtue of gratitude are truly rich. They not only know they have been blessed, but they continuously remember that all good things come from God.
To acknowledge others, to say 'thank you', is a mark of greatness. If our colleagues and volunteers are dispirited and unmotivated, might it have something to do with the fact that we have never expressed our gratitude to them for who they are and what they do? The courage to thank – that is, the courage to see the gifts and experiences of this world all together as a gift – changes not only the person who gains this insight. It also changes the environment, the world, and those who surround that person.
Gratitude is creative. People bound together by gratitude are always discovering and awakening abundant sources of strength. The more thankful a person is, the richer he or she is within. Thankful people store up in their grateful memory all the good experiences of the past, just as the French proverb states: 'Gratitude is the heart's memory.'
As we move from Thanksgiving into Advent, may we find strength in our gratitude, and our 'open eyes' and the 'short distance between our eyes and heart' allow us to present in these coming weeks and not consumed by them, so that we may find the true jpy of the Christmas season.
-Written by Fr. Thomas Roscia CBS - CEO, Salt and Light Catholic Media Foundation (Canada)
Offered by Phil ChickThe Gift of Mortality
I've had a lot of disparate things on my mind recently.
I've been thinking of the 100th anniversary of Armistice Day, and my German-speaking great-grandfather Calvin Sterner, the Pennsylvania Dutch grandson of immigrants, who awoke in 1918 among the dead on the battlefield of Belleau Wood, whose body and spirit were never the same, and whose encounter with death--he would later say--brought him to God.
For that reason and others, I have been thinking of mortality. Of the brevity and fragility of life, and its preciousness.
I've been thinking of meaningful work, inspired by the dozens of former students who returned to campus yesterday to honor Gene Beaupre, who has retired after 44 years of service to the Xavier community--and at the same time I've been reflecting on a conversation with another recently retired person who is struggling a bit to find new ways to feel meaningful.
And I've been thinking of migrants, fleeing war and violence and hunger around the world, who too often find themselves pawns in other people's politics.
Disparate thoughts, unconnected. Mostly sober ones.
Unexpectedly this week, I was offered a connection between these different thoughts, in a book that some of our cabinet members are reading, a novel by Mohsin Hamad, called Exit West--a book about migrants and migration. Near the end of the book, Hamad asserted something that caught me off guard: 'We are all migrants,' he wrote, 'through time.'
A simple thought, and the kind that instantly struck me as true. It offered me a new lens for reading those Hebrew Bible texts about migrants and life in exile, ones that had only very rarely resonated with own experiences. I'm thinking on the one hand of the laments of those who feel disoriented and out of place. Like Psalm 137's song about weeping by the rivers of Babylon. Migrants have loss to mourn. On the other hand, consider the heroic, life-giving urgent action of the orphan queen, Esther, who stood in solidarity with the powerless Jewish exiles in ancient Persia. Migrants have meaningful contributions to make, not least for their fellow migrants.
Mohsin Hamad, I think, is right: we are all migrants, some of us through space, and all of us through time.
Let me offer a prayer:
God of life, we thank you for the gift of mortality. God of eternity, we marvel at what our minds cannot comprehend. May both mortality and eternity inspire in each of us deep gratitude for the life we enjoy; may they help us to treasure the earth and the life-sustaining food that it yields; may they spark us to do good and meaningful work in the days allotted to us, work that engenders in us a solidarity with our fellow living beings--above all with those people who, like us, at one time or another find themselves migrants in space, or in time.
- Written and offered by David Mengel
Patience
Let nothing disturb thee;
Let nothing dismay thee;
All things pass;
God never changes.
Patience obtains all that it strives for;
He who has God wants nothing.
God alone suffices.
-St. Teresa of Avila
Autumn Months
O God of Creation, you have blessed us with the changing of the seasons.
Aw we welcome the autumn months
May the earlier setting of the sun
remind us to take time to rest.
May the brilliant colors of the leaves
remind us of the wonder of your creation.
May the steam of our breath in the cool air
remind us that it is you who give us the breath of life.
May the harvest from the fields remind us of the abundance we have been given and bounty we are to share with others.
May the dying of summer's spirit remind us of your great promise that death is temporary and life is eternal.
We praise you for your goodness forever and ever.
- Offered by Aaron Meis; Author Unknown
Prayer of Pope John Paul II to St. Pio of Pietrelcina
Teach us, we pray, humility of heart, so that we may be counted
among the little ones of the Gospel to whom the Father promised to reveal the mysteries of His Kingdom.
Help us to pray without ceasing, certain that God knows what we need even before we ask Him.
Obtain for us the eyes of faith that will help us recognize in the poor and suffering, the very face of Jesus.
Sustain us in the hour of trouble and trial and, if we fall, let us experience the joy of the sacrament of forgiveness.
Grant us your tender devotion to Mary, mother of Jesus and our Mother.
Accompany us on our earthly pilgrimage toward the blessed Homeland, where we too,
hope to arrive to contemplate forever the Glory of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
- Pope John Paul II recited this prayer
on the occasion of the canonization of Padre Pio, June 16, 2002
Offered by Gary Massa
A Reflection of the Dalai Lama
'I wonder how appropriate it is for us to pray to God or to Buddha for peace when the problems and conflict were created by us. I wonder if we were to meet Jesus Christ, the Buddha, or Muhammad, if they might not ask, 'Who Created these problems you are seeking help to resolve? Isn't it your responsibility to sort things out?'
- Dalai Lama
Offered by Joe Feldhaus
Blessings
Father, as we gather together we thank you for all of your blessings to us individually and to Xavier. Thank you for everyone that is part of this wonderful leadership team and for all of the skills and talents that you have given us.
We pray that you would give us wisdom and insight as we make important decisions and help us to always keep in mind the impact our decisions may have on our Xavier family and surrounding community.
May we always be mindful of the less fortunate, the marginalized, and those facing physical, mental, finaincial, and other challenges. May our decisions always be true to our mission of promoting the common good and serving others.
We open our hearts to you now and invite your Holy Spirit to be present amongst us.
- Written and offered by Jeff Coleman
Slow Me Down
Ease the pounding of my heart
By the quieting of my mind.
Steady my harried pace
With a vision of the eternal reach of time.
Give me,
Amidst the confusions of my day,
The calmness of the everlasting hills.
Break the tensions of my nerves
With the soothing music
Of the singing streams
That live in my memory.
Help me to know
The magical power of sleep,
Teach me the art
Of taking minute vacations
Of slowing down
To look at a flower;
To chat with an old friend
Or make a new one;
To pet a dog;
To watch a spider build a web;
To smile at a child;
Or to read a few lines from a good book.
Remind me each day
That the race is not always won by the swift;
That there is more to life
Than increasing its speed.
Let me look upward
Into the branches of the towering oak
And know that it grew great and strong
Because it grew slowly and well.
Slow me down, Lord,
And inspire me to send my roots deep
Into the soil of life's enduring values
That I may grow toward the stars
Of our greater destiny.
- Written by Orin L. Crain
Offered by Dave Johnson and Kyra Shahid;
Do We Want To Be Part of a Movement?
Do we want to be a part of a movement or a museum?
Do we want to be part of something dynamic..
that is growing and changing or something that has already died and is just relishing the glories of yesteryear?
The minute we start to coast or cling to that which is predictable and safe we atrophy and die.
You are either growing or dying.
There is no third option.
So listen: Healthy things live, living things grow, and growing things change.
Don't ever forget that.
- Greg Christopher
In Times of Transition
God of Love,
you are with us in every transition and change.
As we enter into this new era with excitement and even some anxiety,
we recall your deep compassion, presence, and abounding love.
We thank you for the gifts, talents and skills with which you have blessed us.
We thank you for the experiences that have brought us to this moment.
We thank you for the work of others that gives breadth and depth to our own work.
Be with us as we move forward, rejoicing with you and supporting one another.
We ask this in your holy name.
- Joe Shadle
Offered by Phil Chick
God Speaks to Each Of Us
God speaks to each of us as he makes us,
then walks with us silently out of the night.
These are the words we dimly hear:
You, sent out beyond your recall,
go to the limits of your longing.
Embody me.
Flare up like flame
and make big shadows I can move in.
Let everything happen to you: beauty and terror.
Just keep going. No feeling is final.
Don’t let yourself lose me.
Nearby is the country they call life.
You will know it by its seriousness.
Give me your hand.
- Rainer Maria Rilke as translated by Anita Barrows and Joanna Macy, in Rilke’s Book of Hours: Love Poems to God
Offered by Steve Herbert
The Prayer of Oscar Romero
It helps, now and then, to step back and take the long view.
The Kingdom is not only beyond our efforts,
It is even beyond our vision.
We accomplish in our lifetime only a tiny fraction of the magnificent enterprise that is God's work.
Nothing we do is complete,
Which is another way of saying that
The Kingdom always lies beyond us.
No statement says all that should be said.
No prayer fully expressed our faith.
No confession brings perfection.
No pastoral visit brings wholeness.
No program accomplishes the church's mission.
No set of goals and objectives includes everything.
This is what we are about.
We plant the seeds that one day will grow.
We water seeds already planted,
Knowing that they hold future promise.
We lay foundations that will need further development.
We provide yeast that produced effects far beyond our capabilities.
We cannot do everything,
And there is a sense of liberation in realizing that.
This enables us to do something, and to do it very well.
It may be incomplete, but it is a beginning,
A step along the way,
An opportunity for the Lord's grace to enter and do the rest.
We may never see the end results,
But that is the difference
Between the master builder and the worker.
We are workers, not master builders,
Ministers, not messiahs.
We are prophets of a future that is not our own.
Amen.
- Archbishop Oscar Romero
Offered by Melissa Baumann
Vally of Vision
Lord, high and holy, meek and lowly,
Thou has brought me to the valley of vision,
where I live in the depths but see thee in the heights;
hemmed in by mountains of sin I behold
Thy glory.
Let me learn by paradox
that the way down is the way up,
that to be low is to be high,
that the broken heart is the healed heart,
that the contrite spirit is the rejoicing spirit,
that the repenting soul is the victorious soul,
that to have nothing is to possess all,
that to bear the cross is to wear the crown,
that to give is to receive,
that the valley is the place of vision.
Lord, in the daytime stars can be seen from deepest wells,
deepest wells,
and the deeper the wells the brighter
Thy stars shine;
Let me find Thy light in my darkness,
Thy life in my death,
Thy joy in my sorrow,
Thy grace in my sin,
Thy riches in my poverty
Thy glory in my valley.
-Author Unknown
Offered by Janice Walker
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Merciful God and Father, you have not only declared that we will always have the poor with us, but have also commanded us to support them in their need. You have ordained the service of deacons for your church, in order that the needy members may receive the necessary support. You have called us to the office of deacon in this congregation, and we are now assembled in your name to deal with the matters pertaining to our office. We humbly implore you to dwell among us with the Spirit of discretion. Grant us his help, that we may be able to establish who are the ones that are truly in need. Lead us to them and help us to distribute the offerings that have been collected in a spirit of joy, fidelity, and liberality.
Kindle fervent love for the needy in the hearts of your people, that they may generously contribute to them as your stewards. Grant us sufficient means to bring relief to the needy. May we discharge the duties of our office as Christ’s ministers of mercy.
Give us your grace to relieve needs by means of material gifts and to instill the comfort of your holy Word into the hearts of the afflicted, that they may put their trust in you alone. Bless, we pray, our work of mercy that we all may praise and thank you, while we await the blessed appearance of your Son, Jesus Christ, who became poor for our sakes that he might enrich us with eternal treasures.
In his name we pray. Amen.
Here are five prayers for a staff meeting.
Board Meeting Prayer
Father God, You alone are sovereign over all things and I pray right now that Your will be done in this board meeting and that Your Son and His Name would be glorified in how we conduct our business matters for the church. We seek to always do Your will and ask for Your Spirit to give us guidance in how to make decisions, the freedom to speak up when somethings on our mind, and to make sound and wise decisions that would be for the benefit of the church and for this I pray and in the most glorious name of all names, Jesus Christ, amen.
Staff Meeting Prayer
Righteous God, I ask for Your presence in this meeting today that You would bring to mind the things that are most important and that we would be unified in purpose and not take things personally when someone disagrees with me or someone else or when there are disagreements between others. Help us to focus on the issue and not the person and avoid personal attacks so that the meeting can be more productive and we can do things as You would have us do them. That means we must sometimes humble ourselves before others and acknowledge that someone else’s ideas are better than our own. We must keep in mind what the desired outcome is and not what we think it should be, and so I ask for Your help in these areas and for the glorification of the name that is above all names I pray, and that Name is Jesus Christ, amen.
Prayer before Meeting
Father God in heaven, I ask You to fill us with Your Spirit and give us the courage to speak in the meeting if we have reason to and that the meeting would be in the best interests of everyone involved. The decisions we make can make huge impacts and so give us Your wisdom that is from above and not lean on our own human understanding. Open our minds to the ideas of others and open our ears to hear the words of others and to make fair assessments of what others might say and to treat with dignity and respect, everyone who is present. We want to be godly in our actions with one another and this means we should be slow to speak and quick to listen and value the opinions of others, so with regards to this, I pray for Your help and in the mighty name of Jesus Christ I pray, amen.
Prayer for Unity
Great God in heaven, You are in perfect union with Your Son and Your Spirit and so please I pray that You would give us unity. A unity of one mind, one purpose, and of one spirit so that we can be agreeing upon the one, true purpose for which we are meeting. I need You and everyone here needs You and so send us Your guidance through Your Spirit so that we can more easily be joined together in a common purpose and that all things would be done decently and in order as You would have them done and in a respectable manner that would bring You glory and in Jesus Christ’s beloved name I pray, amen.
Prayer for Humility
I ask You of Father God to help me focus on being humble in this meeting because I don’t want this to be about bringing my own personal agenda to the meeting. I want to esteem others and their opinions better than my own and want to humble myself before them and admit when I make mistakes and confess to everyone present when I was wrong. I desire to model the humility that Jesus Christ our Lord showed (Phil 2:4-9) but I also don’t want to be inhibited from speaking about what I think is best so please give me boldness to speak with I feel it is important but not because it’s my idea; but because I sincerely believe it is best and help me to keep my focus on You and Your will in making decisions in alignment with Your will. Let that be the chief purpose in my soul and in Jesus Christ’s precious name I pray, amen.
Conclusion
Staff meetings can be tumultuous and sometimes confrontational but they are sometimes called “bored meetings” for very good reason; they’re not much fun. They are necessary but sometimes grueling. Consider praying before every board meeting, every staff meeting, or any meeting that you have and ask for God’s presence and His leading by His Spirit because that will be the best goal and it will bring more glory to God.
Article by Jack Wellman
Jack Wellman is Pastor of the Mulvane Brethren Church in Mulvane Kansas. Jack is also the Senior Writer at What Christians Want To Know whose mission is to equip, encourage, and energize Christians and to address questions about the believer’s daily walk with God and the Bible. You can follow Jack on Google Plus or check out his book Teaching Children the Gospel available on Amazon.
Leading Your Church in a Sunday Morning Prayer Meeting | Just Imagine
On Sunday morning, October 13, 2013, I led our entire Cross Church Family in a prayer meeting. I believed it was time to issue a call to the Cross Church Family for spiritual revival in the church and spiritual awakening in America.
Our Purpose
Why dedicate an entire Sunday morning service to a prayer meeting? I felt God leading me to alert our Cross Church family of the need for spiritual revival and awakening in America. I lead them through a spiritual process that was both personal and sequential, and then sent our church out with a burden for revival and a hope for the future. Revival is the manifestation of the presence of God in our lives. Revival begins with me. Revival begins with you.
A Personal Conviction
I have a personal conviction about why we pray for revival and awakening. Personally, I believe we need to pray for personal revival, revival in the church, and awakening in the nation, so that we can see the Great Commission of Jesus Christ escalated and accelerated to completion in our generation. I am compelled to call the church to revival and the country to be awakened spiritually, so that we can see the completion of the Great Commission in our generation.
Opening Prayer During Church Meeting
Word-Based, Spirit-Led, and Worshipful
We focused solely on praying, and everything we did was based upon the Word of God. I took the Word of God, read it, taught it briefly, and then led our people to respond to God through prayer. Throughout the worship experience of teaching and prayer, we expressed various moments through songs of worship.
Prayer Times Built Upon Biblical Principles
I taught through five specific principles, spending four to six minutes on each.
- A Vision for Revival in the Church and Awakening in the Nation
- The Exceeding Sinfulness of our Sin
- Cleansing and Renewal
- Fully Surrendering to the Lordship of Jesus Christ and Experiencing the Fullness of the Holy Spirit
- Advancing the Gospel Everywhere
After each principle was taught from God’s Word, we moved to prayer. We prayed silently, we prayed together, we prayed on our knees, we prayed standing, and we prayed at the altar. My desire was to lead by the Spirit’s direction; built upon the Word of God, responding to God through prayer, and expressed through worship.
It was a Wonderful Experience
Without a doubt, the entire service was a wonderful experience. Lay people and pastors want to pray. Those who do not know how to pray want to learn to pray effectively. As spiritual leaders, we need to create a pathway for them. It was a highly memorable day for many, and life changing for some.
Harry, Ron, and Hermione decide to finish Dumbledore’s work and find the rest of the Horcruxes to defeat the Dark Lord. Harry potter deathly hallows part 1 full.
Just Imagine…
Just imagine what would happen in America if every church spent an entire Sunday morning worship service focused on prayer for revival in the church and awakening in America? Just imagine what would happen if each of those services led toward praying about advancing the gospel of Jesus Christ regionally, nationally, and internationally, calling upon the church to rise up and complete the Great Commission in our generation?
I am convinced that every great movement of God is preceded by the extraordinary prayer of God’s people. Now is the time we rise up as the church of Jesus Christ and elevate prayer in our churches. If we are not careful, we will reduce prayer in local church worship services to routine and less important than announcements.
Jonathan Edwards said it This Way
Jonathan Edwards, the man God used as the catalyst for the 1st Great Awakening said,
Open Prayer For A Meeting
“So it is God’s will that the prayers of His saints shall be great and the principal means of carrying on the designs of Christ’s Kingdom in the world. When God has something to accomplish for His church, it is with His will that there should precede it the extraordinary prayer of His people.”
Oh friend, just imagine, if every church in America turned just one entire worship service into a prayer service, calling upon the God of Heaven to bring revival into our lives personally, in His church, and awakening in our nation, so that we can see the Great Commission escalated and accelerated to completion in our generation.
Yours for the Great Commission,
Ronnie W. Floyd
Dr. Ronnie Floyd is the President & CEO of the Southern Baptist Convention Executive Committee.