#MorningPrayer
Fill us, Lord,
not only with desire
for your kingdom,
but also with
its characteristics.
Help us to be attuned
to your ways
and to your will,
never pushing
for what we want
over against
what you want,
never forcing
our timing or methods
onto your purposes
of love.
#MorningPrayer
Remind us, Lord,
that we are never alone
in our journey of discipleship,
for you surround us
with angels to watch over us.
Whatever the aims
of the principalities
and powers of this world,
your angels strive
for your kingdom to prevail
and to be revealed
among us.
#MorningPrayer
Remind us, Lord,
that you continually
prepare the ground before us,
so that we may prepare
for the revealing of your kingdom
in our lives and the lives
of our communities.
Let us be not diverted
by our plans
that we think are right,
but open always
to your leading.
#MorningPrayer
Lord, you lavish your love on us;
free us to lavish our love on you
and to show it
in how we love one another,
especially those
who can do least in return.
May that love transform us,
and bring us to the richness
of true community
which breaks
the web of poverties.
#MorningPrayer
Fill us with your Holy Spirit, Lord,
that we may be moulded
in our inner being;
moulded into the people
you made us to be,
fitted for your kingdom.
Take away any preoccupation
with external image and show,
and instead open our hearts
to be transformed
by your love.
#MorningPrayer
Day by day, Lord,
we pray “your kingdom come”.
Help us to think
not only of a future time
when you will bring all things
to fruition,
but to ask
how we can reveal
more of your kingdom
to the world and its people,
now.
Let your kingdom come
in and through us,
today!
#MorningPrayer
Lord,
give us vision,
that we may truly
see your glory.
Give us faith,
that we may truly
acknowledge your kingdom.
Help us to recognise the signs
that you are at work among us,
and give us courage
to engage in what you are doing,
that we may grow as your disciples.
#MorningPrayer
Lord,
you stay closer to us
than life itself;
help us always
to stay close to you,
especially when
the changes and chances of life
try to deflect our attention.
Let us not be swayed
by false priorities or promises,
but remain focused on your love,
and your kingdom.
#MorningPrayer
Keep us, Lord,
from putting our faith
in what we construct,
whether physical buildings
or clever arguments,
rallying cries
or human empires.
Keep us instead
firmly rooted in your love,
focused on your kingdom,
that all may be seen
in its light
and through its lens.
#MorningPrayer
Give us a passion
for your teaching
and your wisdom, Lord;
let us be hungry
to grow in our understanding
of you and your kingdom,
that we may be
ever more eager
to listen for your guidance
and follow your call.
Keep us ready always
to deepen our grasp
of your love.
#MorningPrayer
Soften and open our hearts, Lord,
that we may truly love you
as you love us;
putting nothing before you,
yearning for you
with all that we are.
Help us show our love for you
by the love we show to others,
seeing and honouring your image
in each person you send us.
#MorningPrayer
Encourage us,
enable us,
and enthuse us
to sing the song
of your kingdom, Lord.
May we sing it
not only with our voices,
but with lives full of love,
with hearts open
to see your image
in the people we encounter,
and hands open
with generosity,
kindness,
and peace.
#MorningPrayer
Strengthen our relationships
with one another, Lord,
better to reflect
in our daily lives
the community
that is at the heart
of your being.
May we be
so bound together in you,
that we reveal
the life of your kingdom
to the world
by the life
and the love
we share.
#MorningPrayer
Inspire us Lord,
to pursue the things
of your kingdom
in all we do,
and in that,
to seek the best
for the wellbeing
of our communities,
our nation and our world.
Show us how
we can bring your blessings
and prompt us to action,
that your love
may be shown
and known.
#MorningPrayer
Lord of life and love,
hold our focus
on the truth of who you are
and the truth of your kingdom.
Keep us from the temptation
to recast you in our own image,
or to remould your kingdom
to suit our own desires.
Help us instead
to be open
to your work
of reshaping us.
#MorningPrayer
Lord, give us, we pray,
the gift of discernment,
that we may recognise
what is of you and what is not.
Grow our awareness
of the opportunities
that you place before us
to reveal your kingdom,
to show your love,
to bring your peace to bear,
and help us to take them.
#MorningPrayer
Deepen our understanding, Lord,
of what reveals your glory
and brings you glory;
give us courage and faith
to offer ourselves
to the mission of your kingdom,
to follow where you lead.
Light our way
by the glory of your cross,
and the new dawn
of your resurrection.
#MorningPrayer
Give us vision, Lord,
to see where you have
prepared the ground before us;
open our minds to understand
the signs of your activity
in our communities
and in our world.
As you enlighten
and encourage us,
may we sing our
Hosannas of welcome
as we proclaim you to all.
#MorningPrayer
You remind us, Lord,
that the struggle
to reveal and realise your kingdom
is joined by your angels,
striving with principalities and powers,
so that your will may be done.
Encourage us in our journey,
to know their help and protection,
and always to know your love.
20th anniversary of 9/11
Lord,
may the twin towers of our lives
be faith and hope,
rooted in and formed of love,
standing for peace.
May we know them
to be built
in you and by you,
so they can never fall,
for they are a sign of your promise
that nothing in all creation
can ever separate us from you.
#MorningPrayer
Lord, in the face of
all that would
assault and hurt us,
all that constrains
or concerns us,
in the face of anything
that is not of your kingdom,
may our prayer to you
never be silenced,
may our trust in you
never diminish,
may we always know
your love,
your peace.
#MorningPrayer
Release us, Lord,
from worldly ideas
of position, power,
and prestige.
Remind us
that the greatest
in your kingdom
is servant of all.
Fill us with the desire
to give ourselves lovingly
to one another,
to the communities
and the world around us,
and to point to you.
#MorningPrayer
So often, Lord,
we build our own image
of what your kingdom must be,
reflecting our own agenda
and our own priorities.
Help us to listen deeply to you,
as you teach us the truth.
May our prejudices
and preoccupations
never frustrate your call,
or stifle your love.
#MorningPrayer
Take from us, Lord,
all possessiveness;
not just that over
material things and
worldly wealth,
but also our desire
to possess control,
to possess the truth,
to possess the agenda,
to possess each other.
Give us grace
to let ourselves instead
be possessed by love.
#MorningPrayer
Remind us, Lord,
that your essence is love;
a perfect community
of three persons
yet one God.
Teach us the importance
of relationship
in your kingdom
and among your people.
In all our diversity help us
to recognise, remember,
and show
that we are one
in your love.
#MorningPrayer
Give us kingdom hearts, Lord,
hearts that seek out
the good in others;
hearts that are
open to embrace
the diversity and difference
you have created,
hearts that begin
by asking how
we can work together
for your kingdom.
Give us hearts like yours;
make us like you.
#MorningPrayer
Amid the busyness & clamour of life, Lord,
all our effort & activity
to get things the way we want them,
catch our attention;
remind us of our need
also to be silent before you,
to listen, learn, worship & wonder
in prayer that carries
the fragrance of the kingdom.
#MorningPrayer
Keep us, Lord,
from preoccupation
with those things
which are not of your kingdom.
Let them not
invade our thoughts
or take up room in our hearts.
Rather may our desires
be for the grace, mercy and peace
that you bring,
and to share your love
with a world in need.
#MorningPrayer
Strengthen our faith, Lord,
but keep us from any arrogance
in our relationship with you.
Remind us daily
that we are not
the finished article
and you have work to do in us.
So though we believe,
help our unbelief.
Teach us to pray,
that we may be open
to your love.
#MorningPrayer
Give us, we pray,
a vision of your glory, Lord.
Let us see it
in your willingness
to give yourself
to and for your people.
Let us see it
in your cross
and your empty tomb.
Let us see it in your image,
present in all people.
And let us show it,
by the love we share.