#BeUMC Monthly Prayers

He gives power to the faint and strengthens the powerless.
Isaiah 40:29

But now thus says the Lord, he who created you. O Jacob, he who formed you., O Israel: Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are mine.
When you pass through the waters, I will be with you.
Isaiah 43: 1-2a

Lord, you are our keeper and preserver. We have a promise spoken by the words of the prophet Isaiah that you are a loving God who gives power to the faint and strengthens the powerless. We know that our capacity for resilience emanates from you. We beseech you for strength and wisdom that we would be able to endure the liminality of our current seasons. Calm our hearts and instill strength and hope in us. 

Gracious God, please revive our spirits and refresh our souls. Grant us wisdom and direct our paths as we daily rise and tend to the tasks ahead of us. Things are happening around us right now that we do not understand, and we sometimes find ourselves weak, helpless, and afraid. Yet, even amid our travail, we raise our voices to proclaim that you are the Lord! Your Truth nourishes the root of our hearts, helping us bloom in the desert. Your love revitalizes us when circumstances threaten to dehydrate our faith. So, we remain steadfast that while we may be changed by what happens to us, we will not be reduced by it because we find our identity and calling in and through you in whom we live and move and have our being. And although we may be hard-pressed on every side, we stake our claim to strength to persevere as we put our trust in you. 

Lord Jesus, mercifully accept our prayers and, because through the weakness of our mortal nature we can do no good thing without you, grant us the help of your grace because by and with and through the presence of your Holy Spirit, we are well able to regain our sure footing. God, thank you, for we are beloved. Amen.

Written by Rev. Chris Brady. Used with permission.

Dear Lord, we come to You in need of a renewed commitment of our love for You and our neighbor. Lord, I confess that I have often chosen my passions over You in the middle of a polarized world. I have often stayed silent and neutral amid injustice and oppression. I have been bound to anxiety, not trusting that my life, the church, our community, and the world are in Your hands. We confess that as the body of Christ, many times, we have chosen apathy over Your love. Today, we ask You to help us be committed to our Christian teachings. Please help us be committed to giving the good news of salvation, work for social justice, and be agents of racial healing. Help us, oh Lord, to be committed to one other, as we claim to be committed to You. In the name over all names, Jesus Christ. Amen.

Written by Rev. Ernesto Barriguete. Used with permission.

Giver of every gift,

You know us before we know you; in our every breath, your spirit surrounds us with your love and grace. Our life begins and ends with you, a lifetime of discipleship, starting with faith, itself a gift, the one we nurture with relationship, with discovery.

That faith we tend: through growing seasons, through fallow seasons, through seasons that challenge us. That faith sustains us: through questions, through trials, through hard days. That faith carries us: when we cannot carry ourselves, and helps us soar in days of joy and peace.

In these Lenten days, let us nurture our faith with holy rest, in your Holy Spirit, your holy breath. And so as we breathe, we pray:

As you inhale: More of you, Lord.

As you exhale: Less of me.

Repeat several times; allow your mind to rest and the Spirit to fill you and strengthen your faith. You may choose to end your prayer time with the words below:

Fill my cup, Lord, with your love and grace. Fill it with the testimonies of the faithful who have gone before me, whose stories shape my own faith.

Amen.

Written by Rev. Anne Sims. Used with permission.

Dear Lord, our God,

We thank you for your faithful presence. Your love toward us never fails. Your grace is always sufficient for us. We are deeply grateful that you are our Good Shepherd and our most loving Father. You are our greatest Blessing. We want to be with you always.

But it is not always easy to seek you. In good times, we sometimes forget about you while indulging ourselves in earthly pleasures. In bad times, we sometimes lose sight of you while filling ourselves with self-pity. Have mercy on us. Put us back on your way when we go astray. We want to be a people who seek you always and everywhere under any circumstance.

You have promised to be with us. You told us that you would never leave us or forsake us. But we confess that there are times when we sense you not near us but in a far distance. In such times, we feel that we seek you in darkness just as Mary Magdalene sought you at the empty tomb.

Even though you were with her, she didn’t recognize you. She had to seek you desperately with tears. We remember that her eyes were opened to your presence only when you called her name. We ask you to grant us the same blessing that you gave to her.

Just as you called her name, call our names any time we seek you in darkness. Call our names when all we see is divisions; when all we see is greed and hatred; when all we see is discrimination and oppression. Call our names when all we see is hunger and poverty; when all we see is violence and death; when all we see is meaninglessness and hopelessness.

Call our names so that our eyes may be opened and see your light even in our darkness. By your Spirit, empower us to continue to be the people who seek you at all times. We pray these in your name, Jesus Christ. Amen.

Written by Rev. Sunny Limm. Used with permission

Thank you for being our Heavenly Father; for gifting us your unconditional and boundless love without price and for the promise and security that in Your love, we are never alone. As the world begins to reopen and our schedules become increasingly frenetic again, encourage us to avoid succumbing to the tempting distractions of daily life and to seek You through deeper connections to our local church, our conference, and to each other.  Help us slow down, marvel at Your creation, recognize You in everything and everyone we encounter, and to not only share but be Your light in the world.  Remind us that our deeper interactions with each other, strengthen, enrich, and guide us and others to Your transcendent love and transformative power.  Empower us to find new creative ways to serve, support, appreciate, and relate to one another and to be Your hands, Your feet, and Your living connection in the world.

In Your name, we pray, Amen.

Written by Jordan Miller. Used with permission.

God of all creation, thank you for the many gifts of life.  We praise you Lord, for your church and how it invites us to boldly share in the many gifts, opportunities, and graces, offered to us in the service of others. We are amazed by your glorious and generous nature. You are loving, kind, faithful, forgiving, and blessing your people. Bless your holy name!

Scripture tells us that you created everything and when our love fails us, your love remains steadfast.  We are not the people we could and should be. But our faith is that you have redeemed your creation by sending your son, a savior, to fulfill every promise of God. Your love prevails.

Be with your world; we acknowledge our utter dependence upon your grace.  We serve others by bringing healing to your creation, hope to all people, and light in darkness. By your grace, we pray, Amen!

Written by Rev. Mattheue Locklear. Used with permission.

Be strong and courageous, for you shall cause this people to inherit the land that I swore to their fathers to give them. Only be strong and very courageous, being careful to do according to all the law that Moses my servant commanded you. Do not turn from it to the right hand or to the left, that you may have good success wherever you go.
Joshua 1:6-7 ESV

The Commissioning of Joshua

Dear Heavenly Father,

We acknowledge the deep-rooted unaddressed systemic racism. Please release all those that are being bent and bound by the weight of the sin of oppression. When one is bound, we are all bound. So,

• give us the hope to run and not be weary and to walk proud of our heritage;
• give us love so that we can accept each person as they are;
• give us the passion to move beyond what humanity expects of us, to what You have us to do;
• give us hope that the past is not a reflection of what the future will be;
• give us the kind of love, so that, once a door has been unlocked for us, we will unlock doors for others.

Heavenly, Father, as we pray for change, help us to be willing to be change-makers. If we change ourselves, we can help change the world around us. So, help us to be strong and courageous, not turning from the right hand or left but keeping our focus on You.

Hear our prayer O Lord and raise our consciousness to help end the injustice everywhere and strive for compassion rather than hatred, and for eternal peace instead of war. Amen.

Written by Rev. Linda Harris. Used with permission.

Gracious God,

You have called us your own. Once we were no people, but now we are yours. Water-washed, spirit-born, chosen, beloved. You embrace us with a love that is steadfast and everlasting, and your mercies are new each day. We give you thanks and praise for calling us out of the darkness into the marvelous light of your grace.

We rejoice in our calling, O God, and we are grateful for the grace shown us that we did not earn and do not deserve. We celebrate that our calling is not only to love you, to worship you, and to adore you, but also to reach out in love and service to our neighbors. We are called, and we are sent.

Go, you said, to a land of promise. And the people of God went. Go, you said, to the prophets, and they went, to see justice roll down like waters. Go, you said, to searchers and the seekers, to Mary and to Joseph, to magi and shepherds and fisherfolk and the least and the lost. Go, you said, to the disciples, and make disciples and teach and witness.

You have called us, loving God, and sent us, and we claim this truth, too: you go before us. We go to witness your work in saving, redeeming, and making new. We go to participate in your work of healing and sharing, of learning and of growing, of feeding and offering hope. With glad hearts, we your people, called and blessed, go.

We pray that our gifts, shared out of your abundance, and our work, enabled by the power of your Holy Spirit, may be a sign of your beloved community, that all may know of your call upon their hearts and lives, so that they, hearing, may go forth to serve others as well. In the name of Jesus, we pray. Amen.

Written by Rev. Larry Bowden. Used with permission.

God of grace and God of glory, your goodness, and your care for us are bigger than anything we can understand. Your unending and unfailing love knows no bounds. Sometimes we feel overwhelmed, we have doubts, and fears, and become frozen in fear. 

We know we don’t go this alone – you are with us, guiding, encouraging, preparing, leading, and loving. We’re so grateful for friends who mentor us in the faith who inspire us, and pastors who guide and encourage us. We thank you for the people who walk alongside us, encouraging us, sustaining us, and holding us accountable to you and to each other. 

Our discipleship journey is filled with twists and turns, with peaks and valleys, but you are there with us every step of the way. Your presence is such a comfort to us that we often take you for granted. We ask your forgiveness, sometimes we need to be reminded that You are the source of our strength and that You provide the gifts of love and grace for us to share. Give us a passion to share our story, to tell others how we have experienced God’s love and mercy and grace and what a difference it is making in our daily lives. We love you, Lord. In Jesus’ name, Amen. 

Written by John Hall. Used with permission.

Dear God, we live in a world that suffers from selfishness, violence, and systems that oppress the most vulnerable.  In the midst of this reality you call us to make disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world.  You call us to be a sign of the Kingdom of God by serving others, embracing our neighbors, and praying for our enemies. Today, we give thanks and pray for all of those who as servants of Christ, while not of this world, are sent into the world to engage in the struggle for justice, unity, and reconciliation. We in particular highlight Africa University and the work of UMCOR as examples of our global witness; we are called with them to be the hands and feet of Christ in the world. Help us, oh God, to persevere in the work of transformation, as we continue confidently awaiting the arrival of your Kingdom. In Jesus’ name we pray, Amen.

Written by José Luis Villaseñor. Used with permission.

O God who has created the great biodiversity of life, we celebrate that you have made all things well. You created life to weave together in harmonic symbiosis and called it good. Though we are created in your image, we repent that we humans have often rebelled against your design. We have caused species to go extinct. We do not love and care for human life as we ought.

May the power of the Spirit fill us to respect, care for, and nurture all life to thrive. May we see an end to harm as we come into alignment with your will. May we love and cherish all life forms, including people celebrating enthusiastically the diversity of skin colors, ethnicities, sexual expressions, ability, and neurodiversity. Where we see another in pain, may we come alongside and help ease the pain. May we be just, merciful, and humble like Jesus. Amen.

Written by Rev. Sung Moy. Used with permission   

(Invitation: Open your hands as you offer this prayer.)

Generous and Gracious God, we come before you with open hearts and open hands.

Hearts open to who you are: the One who was, who is, and who is to come; the God who provides, protects, and calls us to be your hands, and to be about your work, in your way in this joyous season.

With open hearts and hands, we are better able to accept and to share with gratitude and generosity all you have for us.

With hands open to receive freely and to give freely, we acknowledge that these days are often full of responsibilities, activities, gatherings, and celebrations.

Grow us in gratitude, that our lives would overflow with joy from the recognition that all we have and all we are is because of your grace.

Gratitude releases us from the bonds that cause our hands to close into fists. With fisted hands we are useless, but with open hands and hearts, we are positioned for ministry and mission.

Giver of every good and perfect gift, may we overflow with acts of charity during this season of receiving anew your most precious gift, the Christ Child, in whose name we offer this prayer.

Amen.

Written by Rev. Lynn Benson. Used with permission.