#MorningPrayer
Lord of life,
in the face
of all that seeks
to discourage
in our world,
all that seeks
to tear down
or undermine
hope, faith,
and love,
inspire us
to be enablers
and encouragers,
to build others up
and strengthen
communities,
to promote
and pursue
the common good.
#MorningPrayer
We pray, Lord,
with Priscilla and Aquila,
refugees from Rome
in the time of Claudius
who were so important
to the Church
in the first century.
Open our hearts
to those
seeking refuge today,
leaving their lives behind
to seek safety.
May we show
and share
your love.
#MorningPrayer
Lord of love, life,
patience and peace;
bear with us
in our foolishness,
and release us
from captivity
to the ways
of the world.
Set us free from
the burdens
and bonds
that imprison
our souls;
liberate us
into the ways
of your kingdom,
the fullness
of life
in you.
#MorningPrayer
Give us
boldness, Lord,
to speak of
and to show
your love;
to speak truth
to the power
of self-interest,
to speak truth
to injustice
and greed,
to speak truth
to those
who pursue
their own comfort
at the expense
of others.
May your
justice flow;
a river
of healing.
#MorningPrayer
Fill us, Lord,
with your passion
for justice.
Fill us with desire
to see things
as they should be.
When the rich
and powerful
oppress and exploit
the poor
and vulnerable,
give us boldness
of speech
and clarity
of action,
that we may
show your way
to a broken world.
#MorningPrayer
Keep clear, Lord,
the eyes of our minds
and the ears of our hearts,
that we may be
guided by your Spirit
in the ways
that we should go,
and kept from
the ways
we should not.
Keep us open
to your call,
ready to both
give and receive
your love
as we
journey
together.
#MorningPrayer
Work in us, Lord:
give us Christlike
minds and hearts;
keep us from
preoccupation
with the details
of outward show
in matters of religion,
and help us
to focus instead
on the fundamental
questions of
kingdom living,
the attitudes
and values
by which
we follow
you.
#MorningPrayer
Flood our lives, Lord,
our hearts
and minds
and souls,
with the current
of your love,
that our responses
to one another
and to the
circumstances of life,
may ever be full
of your wisdom,
guided by your Spirit
and point to your kingdom.
May we shine
with your light.
#MorningPrayer
Give us, Lord,
your passion
for the margins,
for the edges,
for addressing
those areas of life
where borders
and boundaries
still make people
feel excluded,
or hinder
their engagement
with you.
Inspire us
to work with you,
to tear down barriers
and share your love.
#MorningPrayer
Give us
welcoming hearts,
open arms and
kingdom minds, Lord,
that we may embrace
those you draw to you,
never placing in the way
barriers, obstacles,
hurdles or hoops
of our choosing.
Remind us
that your love
extends to all;
help us
not to limit it
for our comfort.
#MorningPrayer
Shift our focus, Lord,
from the pursuit of
prestige, position,
reputation or riches;
give us instead
a joy and contentment
in the love
we receive from you,
a passion
to share it with
and show it to,
those whom
we encounter
day by day,
that all
may find
true wealth.
#MorningPrayer
Defend us, Lord,
from the temptation
to be possessive
about our faith
or the faith
of others.
Steer us
away from
our tendency
to want
your activity
to fit into
our framework,
your love
to be constrained
by our understanding.
Release us
into the joy
of your kingdom.
#MorningPrayer
We pause, Lord,
and we reflect,
as we lay
a Queen
to rest;
commending her,
with all who have died,
to your keeping,
O King of Kings.
May the example
of loving devotion
to duty and calling,
be an inspiration to us,
as daily we seek
to serve
one another
in your love.
(On the day of the State Funeral of Her Late Majesty Queen Elizabeth II)
#MorningPrayer
Captivate us, Lord,
with your vision
for your world;
for the life
of communities
and nations,
for their people
and relationships:
a vision that inspires
our life together,
and enthuses us
to build peace,
to pursue
the common good,
to seek the healing
of brokenness.
#MorningPrayer
Make us
receptive, Lord,
to your guidance,
your wisdom,
your challenge,
and your call;
keep us constant
on the path
you have
set before us,
and nimble
in responding
to the breath
of your spirit.
May we
never seek
to pursue
selfish ends,
but work
to show
your love.
#MorningPrayer
Remembering
our vocation, Lord,
to value people
and make use
of things,
rather than
the other way round,
help us
to take the focus
off ourselves,
off our own sense
of self-importance,
and seek
the common good.
Bring us
to love you
and our neighbour,
as you love us.
#MorningPrayer
Keep us, Lord,
from being
so bound
in the structures
of our own thought,
they we fail to see
the liberation
wrought
by your work
and wisdom;
keep us
from being
so limited
by our own
expectations
that we miss
the ways,
small and great,
in which you seek
to bless us.
#MorningPrayer
Help us, Lord,
to recognise
when you are
speaking to us,
however
you choose
to do that.
Help us to hear
and comprehend,
to take in,
and take on,
your call.
As we focus
this day
on the triumph
of the cross,
inspire us
to be bearers
of your love,
your gospel,
to all.
#MorningPrayer
Declutter
and declog, Lord,
the pathways
of our hearts,
minds and souls,
that the breath
of your Spirit,
the current
of your love,
the stream
of your wisdom,
may flow unhindered
in us, and through us.
Lead us into
an ever-deeper
desire and passion
for your kingdom.
#MorningPrayer
Our human nature, Lord,
in its brokenness,
so often wants
to control, to limit,
to prescribe
and proscribe
the boundaries
and behaviours
that we decide
are comfortable.
Keep us ever open
to your challenge
to be less limited
in the love we show,
the welcome we give.
#MorningPrayer
We pray, Lord,
“Lead us not
into temptation”.
The temptation
is so often
towards self:
self-satisfaction,
self-importance,
self-preservation,
self-aggrandisement…
Yet we know
another way,
a way of service,
of focus on others,
of discipleship.
Keep us
in this way.
#MorningPrayer
Today, Lord,
we find ourselves
gathering fragments;
fragments
of memory,
fragments
of opportunity,
fragments
of understanding,
fragments
of love.
We bring
our fragments
to you,
the restorer,
renewer
and replenisher
of all life:
we find
we have
baskets full
of hope.
#MorningPrayer
We awaken, Lord,
to a world which
feels strange;
a world without
one of the constants
we knew,
a world where
much is changing,
and in which
certainties are,
for many,
a distant dream.
Reassure us
of your constancy,
and anchor us
in your love,
whatever life brings.
(The morning after the death of Her Late Majesty Queen Elizabeth II)
#MorningPrayer
Lord,
as we celebrate
the birth
of she who
bore and birthed
the Word made flesh,
help us emulate
her willingness
to follow your call,
her desire
to understand,
her faithfulness
and courage
in following.
May her Magnificat
inspire and ignite
our passion
for justice.
#MorningPrayer
As we journey
through life, Lord,
keep us always ready
to encounter you
and to be apprehended by you.
In being apprehended by you
may we be open to you.
In being open to you
may we be changed by you.
In being changed by you
may we show and share
your love,
for all.
#MorningPrayer
Work on our hearts
and minds, Lord;
keep us open always
to encountering you,
and being
apprehended
by you.
When we
are going
our own way,
may we be ready
to be brought up short
by your challenge.
Give us courage
to respond,
to follow
your call,
to embody
your love.
#MorningPrayer
Keep us, Lord,
alert to your presence
and to your prompting;
may we be always ready
to respond to your call,
always ready
to rise to your challenge,
always ready
to embrace opportunities
for mission and ministry,
that your love may flow
to and through
our hearts.
#MorningPrayer
Fill us, Lord,
with a desire
to be your people,
to be in your presence.
Save us
from the temptation
to value only
what we do;
help us to be,
to know the value
of being.
May the fragrance
of our prayer
delight you;
may your word to us
inspire, challenge
and refresh.
#MorningPrayer
Keep us, Lord,
from thinking
or behaving
in a way
that treats you
or our faith
as a commodity,
a product to be
packaged,
marketed,
managed and
manipulated.
Help us instead
to rejoice
in the individuality
of each
journey with you;
in our diversity,
and in your love.
#MorningPrayer
Give us
the courage, Lord,
to demonstrate
our faith in you,
by our words,
our actions,
our attitudes,
our love for others
and for your world.
May our lives
reveal something of you
to those around us,
our forgiveness
witness to yours,
our faith
kindle faith
in many.
