PRAYING FOR THE
EARTH: A Prayerbook for Peace
-John Philip Newell
Friday Prayers
Blessed are the
clear in heart for they see the Living Presence. Matt.5:8
2.15.17 Friday Morning Prayer of Awareness
At the beginning of
the day
We seek your countenance
among us, O God….
Your Presence
within every presence
Your Light within
all light…
May the fresh light
of morning wash our sight
That we may see
your Life
In every life this
day. –excerpt
JPN
I stayed up too late last night finishing
reading The Shack. And then I was too
‘stirred up’ to fall asleep very quickly.
But the ending seems to affirm this morning’s prayer (funny how often
God works in these ways!) Our quest is
to see God in everything, everyone, to discover the awesome awareness that God
IS IN EVERYTHING! Not just the part of
the day we set aside for God, but all times and in all places.
Blinders
of self and mistrust
Hide
the glory of
God-Light
pouring forth
In
streams of radiant colors
From
all Life.
Ever
present God….May I have eyes to see your Light shining in all. Amen.
2.16.17 Friday Morning Prayer for the Life of the
World
Grant us to
remember you at the heart of each moment.
Grant us to
remember. –excerpt JPN
Remember. Focus. Seek. God is in all things. God is in us.
In every moment. In everything. In every person we encounter. We simply need to change our vision, open our
eyes, remove the blinders to truly SEE God at work, to see the love flow from
everything.
The pulse of God's heart
Beats Love-strong
Within me, within you,
Linking the hearts of all.
Linking the hearts of all.
Seek the Living Love.
God
of love…may I seek your Living Presence in everything and everyone. Amen.
2.17.17 Friday Morning Prayer of Blessing
Peace where there
is war
Healing where there
is hurt
Memory where we
have forgotten the other.
Vision where there
is violence
Light where there
is madness
Sight where we have
blinded each other.
Comfort where there
is sorrow
Tears where there
is hardness
Laughter where we
have missed life’s joy
Laughter when we
remember the joy. –JPN
Open our hearts, Lord,
to see that which is hidden
to heal the pain and injustice
to laugh in joy
enveloped within
your Presence and Love.
God of joy, God of sorrow...may I see your Living Presence in all happenings. Amen.
2.18.17 Friday Scriptures
‘Come’, my heart
says, ‘seek God’s face’. Psalm 27.8
Let
your light shine before others. Matthew
5.16
You have but to
remember and you will see the light. Quran-The Heights 7.201
Teach me your way,
O God, that I may walk in your truth. Psalm 86.11
The
presence of God is like treasure hidden in a field. Matt. 13.44
Speak for justice
even if it affects your own family. Quran-Cattle 6.152
Go treasure hunting
To discover God
Hiding in the field of Life
Amidst the trials and joys.
Presence everywhere.
‘Treasure hidden in a field’. That’s the Presence of God. We have to seek it. We have to be on the watch for God. We have to ‘seek God’s face’ as the Psalmist
says. But to find God in all things is
truly a treasure – it brings a joy, a fullness to life, a desire to serve.
God of Presence….May
I discover your face in the joys and sorrows of my life. Amen.
Seeking the positive is like treasure hunting for God-Presence. You find it hidden everywhere. gmr
2.19.17 Friday Evening Prayer of Awareness
Clear our heart, O
God, that we may see you.
Clear our heart, O
God, that we may truly see ourselves.
Clear our heart, O
God, that we may know the sacredness of this moment
And in every moment
seek you, serve you, strengthen you
As the Living
Presence in every presence.
Clear our hearts, O
God, that we may see. –JPN
Chain Reaction:
Clear hearts,
Clear eyes,
See God-Presence.
Impulse to serve,
Prompts action.
Our humanness blinds us to God. Our desires and wants, our biases and prejudices blur our vision, our ability to see God-Presence in the face of one another. We must clear our hearts of our ME-ness and then look at one another as God sees in order to clear our eyes. Once we can see, we are filled with the desire to serve one another.
Chain Reaction:
Clear hearts,
Clear eyes,
See God-Presence.
Impulse to serve,
Prompts action.
Our humanness blinds us to God. Our desires and wants, our biases and prejudices blur our vision, our ability to see God-Presence in the face of one another. We must clear our hearts of our ME-ness and then look at one another as God sees in order to clear our eyes. Once we can see, we are filled with the desire to serve one another.
Living
Presence…”Open my eyes that I may see”. Amen.
2.20.17 Friday Evening Prayer for the Life of the
World
Your Wisdom, O God,
to show us the way. -JPN
Lies. False-Media.
Injustice.
We are lost and wandering,
Caught in webs of deceit.
Caught in webs of deceit.
We need God-Truth
to lead us.
Our world is sorely in need of Wisdom right now, Lord. And perhaps a healthy dose of good-old fashioned TRUTH. The political-media realm is filled with falsehoods, misleading statements, and propaganda. No one knows who or what to believe. Other nations mistrust the US, for what many Americans believe are just reasons! Prayers that God will insert God-Wisdom into the hearts and minds of our leaders. Prayers that God will call forth people of Wisdom to voice their hearts.
May I
not remain silent, Lord, when my heart hears your Truth. Amen.
2.21.17 Friday Evening Prayer of Blessing
May the mighty
bearers of Presence
Safeguard the
direction of our hearts this night
That we may sleep
in peace
That we may dream
of justice
That we may wake to
the world’s oneness
That we may wake to
the world’s newborn oneness. –Excerpt JPN
“May
the bearers of Presence safeguard the DIRECTION of our hearts…” prays
Newell. Not just prayers for each of us
as we sleep, but prayers that our hearts can stayed turned and tuned to God. Do
I dream of justice? As I sleep do images
of how and when I can act for justice, create unity and oneness in our world,
in my small realm of the world? As we
travel, do I attempt to bring people together, or keep each part of my life
separate from another? Wouldn’t it be a
celebration of God-in-action if we were to waken to the rebirth of unity and
Oneness, to waken to a world comfortable with the diversity of its skin? We talk of the body of Christ and the hands
and feet. It makes me think of the whole
world as the body of God and the need for all the diversity of belief and
culture and interpretations to make for ONE earth.
Dream of God.
Dream of Justice.
Dream of Diversity
Celebrated, Blended
Into Wholeness.
Awaken as One.
God
of Diversity…May your Presence create Oneness in our world. Amen.
No comments:
Post a Comment