Favorite Prayer by Henri J.M. Nouwen

“Dear God,

I am so afraid to open my clenched fists!
Who will I be when I have nothing left to hold on to?
Who will I be when I stand before you with empty hands?
Please help me to gradually open my hands
and to discover that I am not what I own,
but what you want to give me.” 
― Henri J.M. Nouwen, The Only Necessary Thing: Living a Prayerful Life

Building Walls: Prayer of Confession May 12

O God of lasting peace,                                                                                                     

We have built up walls

     to protect ourselves from our enemies,

     to protect ourselves from being exposed

          as the flighty, sinful people we are,

     to protect ourselves from hurt pride,

     to protect ourselves from embarrassments,        

     to protect ourselves from seeing the need,

          the loneliness, the suffering in

          our neighbor’s eyes,

to protect ourselves from getting our hands messy

          by working with orphans, the homeless,

          the drug addicts, the convicts, the mutilated,

to protect ourselves from worldly ridicule

         for loving and worshiping You.

Lord, those same walls have also confined us.

They have shut us off from receiving Your love,

     from seeing the needs of others,

     from following and serving You

          as You expect us to follow You.

Break down those walls we have built.

Help us to see that the way to Your heart

      is through reconciling our own hearts

             with the hearts of our enemies.

Bless our enemies and bless us.

Teach us to value and love each other.

Teach us to find great joy in our relationships.

Teach us to feel with our emotions and our hearts

     as well as with our hands.

Let our love for You grow and become more evident

     to others.            In Christ’s name, I pray,  Amen. 

Supreme Creator God

Almighty and Most Merciful,  Loving God, How easy it is to forget that You are indeed      an almighty, omniscient, omnipotent God. How easy it is to forget that You are incomprehensibly      greater than the universe.  Forgive me when I want to shrink  You to my size,      when I want to create You in my own image,      as if I am God, and You are my servant.  Forgive me when I let my weak, sinful-self redesign You      into being so many thousands of times less      than what You are.  How pompous I can be, Lord! How do You tolerate me with all of my quirks and warts? I am so unworthy of Your love, Your mercy, Your faithfulness. Yet, You continue to keep Your covenant with me.  You never let me down;   You are sad when I let myself be dragged down      by worldly temptations that I cannot resist        although, like arsenic, they are not healthy for me.  Like the alcoholic, the smoker, the drug addict,      I struggle to avoid my insidious temptations. I cannot resist trying to make myself      look bigger and more important than I am.  I gossip about others, boast about my accomplishments,      pretend to be someone I’m not.  Forgive me for my sinfulness,      for not loving others better than I do;       for not going the extra mile for those in need;      for not using the talents and treasures      You have given me to do Your will.       Too many times I disappoint others, myself, and You. Give me the courage and the desire      to change my attitude and my behavior.  Impress upon my heart the need to be humble;      the need to listen to Your voice;      the need to let You lead me;      the need to follow You. How easy it is to forget that You had the power,        the ability to create a universe out of nothing.    What a wonderful world You have made. Where did You get the framework You used? Where did the great idea of the cosmos come from? What made You choose to create the sun,       the moon, the stars in the heavens?  How did You construct the blueprint for the planets      for our earth with the waters, the land, the sky? Such a beautiful world, Lord!      Such beautiful sunrises and sunsets we enjoy!!  You are the Supreme Creator;      nothing created will ever match      the awesomeness of Your universe.   And what does Your creation say about You, Lord?  You are imaginative, inventive, resourceful, limit-less,      --all worldly adjectives that cannot even begin      to describe what I feel about You.  You are a radical and an awesome God;      and I thank You for loving me,      small, unworthy person that I am.

Be My Anchor, Lord

Lord Jesus, Blessed Redeemer,

Put on my heart the need for repentance,                                           

      the need for change in my mind and in my heart.                      

Give me strength and courage to follow You,                                    

      into deeper, blacker waters,

      rougher waters beyond the buoys,

      where my feet cannot reach the bottom,

      into waters that frighten me

      because I am not a good swimmer,

      and I panic if water is over my head. 

Lead me, Lord, and keep me afloat.

Assure me of Your presence, Your strength, and Your power.

Let me remember that I do not need to fear changes in my life

       and in my journey with You as long as I remember

       to stay within the safety net of Your loving arms.

Forgive me, Lord, for wanting to cling to my childish flotation devices

       instead of taking them off and trusting you to hold me up.

Protect me as I swim in a sea of worldly trials and temptations,

       among monsters that would pull me under into their watery lairs.

Encourage me to pull up the anchors that keep me in my safe place,

       but prevent me from moving out 
       into the depths to which You call me.

Let me put aside all those devices that prevent me from being

       the person You want me to be.

Give me the courage to paddle out to answer Your call.

Give me the strength and the will to go where You want me to go.

Convince me to change ineffective customs and habits.

Give me the ears to listen for Your voice,

       And when I hear Your beautiful, wonderful voice, 
              let me obey You.

Lord, be my anchor, my compass, my north star.

Impress on me the need to let You be the Navigator of my life.

Steer me into new rivers and oceans to give me new opportunities 
       to glorify you and to enjoy being in Your presence forever.

Wonderful, Loving Savior,  thank You 
      for loving me unconditionally.

“Save me, O God, for the waters have come up to my neck. I sink in the miry depths, where there is no foothold. I have come into the deep waters; the floods engulf me. I am worn out calling for help; my throat is parched. My eyes fail, looking for my God. Those who hate me without reason outnumber the hairs of my head; many are my enemies without cause, those who seek to destroy me. I am forced to restore what I did not steal.”   Psalm 69                  

Teach Me and Guide Me, Lord.

 Heavenly Father, 

I do say I follow Christ,

I am most sincere when I say it,

But sometimes I find myself rushing in,

     determined to fix situations You need to fix,

     situations You can fix much better than I.

But in my foolishness  and in my vainness

     I am so sure that I can do more than I am able.

Teach me patience, Lord,

Show me how to wait on You and on others.

Help me to trust in You to work Your miracles:

     to fix those broken hearts that seem unfixable,

     to mend those broken relationships that seem unmendable,

     to replace anger and hatred with love and caring,

     to give purpose to life when there are so many doubts.

Help me to be quiet instead of speaking inappropriately.

Teach me discernment when interacting with others.

Give me wisdom to know when to speak and when to listen.

Give me the courage, Lord, to do the right thing,

     even if I must put aside personal pride ,

     even if I must risk suffering the pain of rejection.

Encourage me to go the extra mile for those in need.

Help me to be a better forgiver than I am.

Cleanse my mind and heart of those delicious, juicy grudges

     that I enjoy chewing and mulling over.

Demolish  those ugly, jealous thoughts and prideful boasts

     that dwell in the depths of my heart,

     the sinfulness that surfaces when I am not alert.

 How quickly I slide from the heights of joy

     to the depths of human sin and degradation!!

I do not seem to learn do I?

And still, in spite of all my short comings,

     all the ugliness I enjoy wallowing in,

     You still look for me, love me, and forgive me,

     when I cry to You and ask You to find me

     because I am lost and cannot find myself.

Give me the strength and the faith to trust that You

      will hold me up and stay with me

      when I try to follow You down unfamiliar roads,

      when I go out to meet You in the places to which You call me.

Guide me and show me where You want me to go,

      what You want me to do.

Use me to show Your wonderful love to others.

Let me share the joy of being Your beloved child with them.

Let me show them the peace obtained from knowing and abiding in You.

Call to Worship for May 5, 2013

We have come into this sanctuary

              to celebrate our risen Lord’s presence,

              to affirm the gifts of love, hope, joy, and peace.

It is in this sanctuary that we

              discover the meaning of life,

              know the power of love,

              celebrate our new life in Christ together.

We have come to this place where God is with us.

As a community of faith, we look to the future with hope.

With neighbor, friend, and strangers

              we have come together,

              to worship and to praise God.

May we now

              celebrate new life in Jesus Christ,

              sing the praise of a loving, compassionate God.

What We Can Learn from the Geese

 Lessons From The Geese  by Dr. Robert McNeish:  http://www.aikentdc.org/Lessons_From_The_Geese.pdf

(People with disabilities, parents, staff, businesses, etc., all need to work together. Synergy is the concept that when we all work together the end result is greater than if each of us acts independently. There’s a great deal to be learned from the teamwork shown in Lessons from the Geese.)

Geese are easily identified because they fly in a V-formation, and by the sound of their "honk".  Scientists have learned some interesting facts about the geese, some of which we can apply to our own lives.

1. As each bird flaps its wings, it creates uplift for the bird immediately following behind. By flying in a V-formation, the whole flock adds at least 71% greater flying range than if each bird were flying on its own. 

For us this means that people who have the same beliefs, the same purpose and destination will get  where they are going more quickly and easily if they travel together, because they will benefit from each other's thrust. It means we need to be with each other to make our life journey easier; we need to join a group that supports and uplifts us. We need to associate with others who will give us support as we journey through life. We need to be faithful in our church attendance where  we can share our joys and concerns with others, and, in turn, give support to our church family as they share their joys and concerns.  Jesus said for us to love our neighbors as ourselves; we cannot do that if we live in isolation and do not know our neighbors. 

2. When a goose falls out of formation, it suddenly feels the drag and resistance of trying to go it alone—and quickly gets back into formation to take advantage of the lifting power of the bird in front.

We should realize that we need to stay in the formation for which we were created and not try to go off on our own. We need to stay with those who have common goals, common values, common destinations; we need to stay with those who will help us get where we want to go so that we can fulfill our purpose.  We need to stay with those who will share their strengths with us, and who will guide us along the paths we need to follow.  We also need to be sure to identify and give strength to those dear ones who fall out of the formation,  trying to go alone.  We need to provide whatever it takes to bring them in to the presence of God. 

3. When the Head Goose gets tired, it rotates back in the wing and another goose takes his place and flies point.  

 This goose-behavior should tell us that we need to take turns with other people when we are doing demanding jobs. We cannot always do the hard task of leading; that will cause us to burn out.  We need to let others be the leader sometimes so they can build up their own leadership strengths.  On the other hand, especially, when the task is a grungy one, we need to stop hanging back, avoiding involvement, and take a turn at leading and give those who are working a chance to rest.

4. Geese honk from behind to encourage those up front to keep up their speed.  

Why do we honk at others?  Do we honk at others in order to encourage them, or do we honk at them because we are impatient and want them to get out of the way?  We need to be sure our honking from behind is encouraging - not critical and nasty.

5. Finally… and this is important…when a goose gets sick, or is wounded by gunshots, and falls out of formation, two geese fall out with that goose and follow it down to lend help and protection. They stay with the fallen goose until it is able to fly, or until it dies. Then they fly out on their own or with another formation to catch their group.

Do we stand by each other like that? Are we strong enough, compassionate enough to sacrifice our personal agenda and halt our own journey for a friend in need?  We should try to be.