Prayers for The General Convention

Prayers for the Daily Offices and Occasions of General Convention 2009
Jennifer Phillips (Clergy- Alt.1, RI)

1.
From West and North and East and South
we gather to do you honor, Blessed God.
We thank you for one another,
for the gracious earth that sustains us,
for the vision of your coming reign,
and for the love of the Savior, Jesus Christ,
through whom you have stooped to lift us
and the whole world heavenward,
and who with you and the Holy Spirit
is one God, to the ages of ages. Amen.

2.
Vigilant God, whose ears are always open to your people’s cry:
hear the plea of those who are poor and in distress;
attend to those whose clamor is for justice
and whose lament seeks comfort and reconciliation.
May your Spirit shape us into people of long listening
and patient understanding toward one another,
generous of heart, leavened by humor, truthful in speech
and kindly in intent;
and grant us a share of that mind which was in Christ our Savior
who called us friends,
and in whose name we ask it. Amen.

3.
God whose cresting hand
has quilted us into one fabric,
one pattern of beauty and right proportion for you pleasure:
teach us so to rejoice in one another
and to blend our wills in common purpose
that together we may warm the world with love,
serving your whole creation well
in the name of Jesus Christ
and by the energy of your Holy Spirit. Amen.

4.
Wisdom cries out at the gates:
let those who seek to discern wisely
sit and reason together in my presence!
And so, Holy One, we join in council here.
In the urgent concerns and in the clutter of our agendas,
may your Wisdom be our guide,
that we may love kindness, do justice,
and in humility desire only you;
we pray in the name and through the Spirit
of Jesus, the Beloved. Amen.


5.
Praise to you, Holy One!
You shower us with blessing
like grain poured out into our lap in full measure,
shaken down, running over.
Stir up in us such joy and goodness
that all whom we encounter
may see and know by our lives
that your reign has come near them;
this we pray through Jesus Christ our Savior,
who with you and the Holy Spirit
lives and reigns one God, now and for ever. Amen.

6.
Bountiful God,
before whom we stand in the poverty of our being,
which by your plentiful redemption becomes rich and full of blessing;
so draw us into habits of generosity and mercy
that, filled with thankfulness,
we may be mindful of all those who live in need or distress
and may love these others as you first loved us,
that we may walk in the footsteps of our Savior Jesus Christ
who with you and the Holy Spirit,
is one God living and true, to the ages of ages. Amen.

7.
All-Holy and Life-Giving God,
whose Spirit summoned the prophets into brave witness,
and dwelt in your Son Jesus, fully human and divine;
you poured out that same Spirit on the disciples
in Penetcost wind and fire, to flow into all your Church.
By the power of that Spirit given to us in Baptism,
send us continually into all your world
as glad messengers of the Gospel,
so that always and everywhere
we may honor you and give you praise,
Holy and undivided Trinity for ever and ever. Amen.

7.
God, our rock and refuge,
who for our restless hearts
are the only true rest and home:
teach us to be clement and welcoming
toward all who are strangers and sojourners,
all who travel for work or for safety,
all who migrate in fear and danger,
and all those who have no homes.
We pray in the name of your child Jesus
who saw the foxes in their dens and the birds on their nests
and yet had no place safely to lay his head,
but who welcomed us as heirs
and fellow-citizens of the reign of heaven,
where with you the Father, and the Holy Spirit,
risen and ascended he now dwells
with all the saints in light to the ages of ages. Amen.

8.
Invisible, almighty and eternal God
whose energy and order guides the atomic particles
and the planets in their dance:
deepen in us appreciation for our cosmos,
renew our joy in your goodness,
move us to respect and wonder at the mystery of your work
and grant us to be
prudent in conserving, temperate in using,
brave in self-restraining, generous in sharing,
and just in honoring every creature of yours in its own right
and for your sake,
that in all things we may honor you and give you praise. Amen.

9.
God whose desire for us will not be thwarted
when we lock ourselves away in fear:
your Christ comes to us through the walls we build,
filling us with peace and courage;
when we hide ourselves in the abyss,
even there your right hand holds us fast;
and when we wander in the greyfields of our sin,
you call us back
and your untiring love harrows hell to save us!
Give us grace, that even lying in the graves of our own devising,
we may stretch out our hands to be grasped by the strong arm
of our Savior, Jesus Christ,
and be raised with him by the power of the Holy Spirit
into eternal union with one another and with you,
who live and reign, one God, now and for ever. Amen.


10.
Let this be our green season,
God of the turning world and wheeling stars;
Fill us with the sweet fruitfulness of your love,
the urgency of the season to bring forth justice and joy.
Let the children play in the streets of the world safely,
and all the homes have open doors;
let the elders converse in peace on the porches
and the workers come home singing
over all your earth.
Let praise rise to you
like steam from the cooking fires
where all may be fed.
And let your Holy Spirit
and the life-bringing path of your Son Jesus,
draw the whole cosmos into perfect unity in you. Amen.

Occasional prayers for moments of stress, distress, particular thanksgiving, or special need:

Author of Life, whose Spirit comes to us
with the energy of wind and flame:
set us ablaze with passion to see your kingdom come;
fill us with your creative breath to help renew the face of the earth;
show us the brightness of your radiance in the faces
of all those whom you bring into being;
and by that same Spirit, move us always to say,
Thank you! Glory to you! Alleluia! and Amen!
Thank you! Glory to you! Alleluia! and Amen!

In the morning, Blessed God, our cry comes to you,
and at the noon hour we send our voice
seeking your mercy and forgiveness.
Again and again we wound one another
and step from the path of what is just and right;
Again and again in our narrow vision and self-preoccupation
we pass by and disregard our neighbor in need;
And still you love us and draw us back
with the nail-imprinted hands of your mercy
and wiping the soil of sin off us
call us your own beloved children:
sisters and brothers of Jesus and heirs with him
of your eternal promises.
All thanks and praise to you,
holy and undivided Trinity, one God
for ever and ever. Amen.

How is it that you could make and love me
even as you have made and love my enemy?
How is it that your creation contains such a wild diversity
of life and form and climate?
What were you thinking, mysterious God…
and what are you thinking now?
Surely, that divine delight has endless iterations,
that your work is many-splendored, your goodness ever-new,
and your love playful, fierce and inexhaustible!
And surpassing all -- your love poured out for the world
in the mortal life and death of Jesus the Messiah!
You come so near us, Blessed and Blessing One,
small as we are,
and so we praise and thank you through that same Jesus Christ
who, with you and the Holy Spirit, live and reigns
one God, now and for ever. Amen.


Source of all being, Sustainer of all that lives:
the sound of your reverberant creating word
travels still through the universe making your love manifest.
How wonderful and beyond our knowing, most holy God,
is your grace and goodness toward us and all that you have made!
The whole cosmos cries Glory!
and we, your people, give our thanks and praise.
From continent to continent we stretch our hands toward one another
and send our voices to you in the hymn of all creation
acknowledging you alone as the Holy One.
In the power of your Spirit,
in the name of our Redeemer Jesus Christ, we pray. Amen.

We are listening.
God known to us through the hubbub and buzz of business,
known to us in the voice of friend and stranger,
known to us in grief and in laughter,
known to us in the still center of our heart,
when the mind turns and returns and sees more clearly:
speak now, that all may hear. Amen.


Not a sparrow falls without your knowledge,
Even the hairs of our head are numbered;
You have said it, gracious God.
In our grief in trouble and in [the fear of] loss
we lift to you our prayers for ________
and remembering that you have engraved us,
every one, on the palms of your hands,
and that in life and death your right hand holds us fast
and we dwell in the light of your Holy Spirit
through the self-giving of our Savior Jesus Christ,
with you, one God, Lord of time and memory,
now and for ever. Amen.