FCCR-ACE Prayer Blog

Congregationalists Learning to Pray

Hi God,

I tried not to get mad
at the dogs when they insisted
on a long walk in the rain.
I explained the problem,
but they wouldn’t, or didn’t, listen.
Do you sometimes feel that way
about how we don’t seem to hear
the things you sent your prophets
and then even your son to tell us?

I used to think that one needed
to repeat something three times
before the hearer would get it.
Then this year, I read that
the required number of repetitions was seven.
When it comes to our hearing you, however,
it seems the number is a gazillion.
Why is that?

So my prayer today is, yet again,
that you help us hear more clearly.
Please remove the beans from our ears,
so to speak, to enable us
to live our lives as you would have us.

While I have your attention,
I want to say, “Thank You”
for the good report on my buddy, Joe.
Please watch over him and help him heal fully.

Finally, I ask you, please,
to have mercy on my soul
hearing-impaired sinner though I be.

Amen

Hi God,

Yes, I’m jumping the gun a wee bit here.
Let’s pretend I’m in Nova Scotia.
Tomorrow, I’m off early
to visit my mother.
My visits always make a special day for her.
I pray I’ll find her in fine fettle
and that she will indeed
to find the day special.
I pray we’ll find ways to communicate,
Presence will no doubt be one way.
It looks to be a bit chilly
for sitting out to watch the motorcycles go by,
but I’m sure we’ll find other things to share.
As always, the trip is long and tiring,
I pray for a safe trip for Brewster and me.

Amen

Hi God,

The Psalm-o-matic
coughed up Ps. 37
twice this week.
I guess you figured
I’d need more than one
recital of the following:

“Give up your anger,
abandon your wrath;
do not be provoked;
it brings only harm”

I’ll be the first to admit
that I’ve been
a bit cranky recently.
So, I’ll give it up.
I’ll be just like the dogs
and take joy in little sniffs,
even the same little sniffs
over.and.over.again.
What’s not to like about ritual?

So, I think I’ll need
you to send some reminders
now and again
lest I backslide
on my good intentions.
Or is that why
you sent me the dogs?

Also, I ask you, please,
to have mercy on my soul,
cranky sinner though I be.

Amen

Hi God,

For some reason,
I started thinking about
sowing the wind
and reaping the whirlwind.
Aparently, the Israelites
were doing that
and coming to no good.
At least that’s what
Hosea seemed to imply.

What made the idea
come into my mind
was that the teabaggers
seem to have gone ballistic.
They’re mad at everyone
and have started
issuing death threats,
both to those who
want something they do not,
and also those who
initially organized and financed them.
Hence the reference to Hosea.

But it got me thinking
about how we all
have a problem with
sowing on the wind
and reaping on the whirlwind.
It relates to the issue,
from another place and time,
about having our vision blurred
by a log in our own eyes,
all the while we’re complaining
about a speck in someone else’s eye.
So, with our blurred vision,
we often go off half cocked
and end up making things worse.

So my prayer today
is that you help us discern
the difference between logs and specks.
Also, that you teach us
the appropriate times to sow
our particular discontents
and the appropriate times
to refrain from sowing,
but instead be silent.
In silence, we can sometimes
achieve better understanding,
understanding which can lead
to a more appropriate transformation.

My prayer would also be
that you set me straight,
and also that you
have mercy on my soul,
perennially confused sinner though I be.

Amen

scriptural reference
Hosea 8:7
Matt 7:3–5

Hi God,

It seems to me
that some people,
just like some dogs,
appear more loveable
than other people or dogs.
But generally, I’ve always found,
that once I get to know
an individual person or dog
I find things about each to like.

So, I guess my prayer today
would be to get some help
to be a bit less hasty
in judging whether or not
some being is lovable.
In theory, we’re supposed to believe
that you find us all lovable, right?
Thus there must be
something lovable about all of us,
even those false teachers and heretics
that ol’ John worried so much about.
Another prayer would be
to ask you to help us to find a way
to help those we find unlovable
to be less so.

Also, I ask you, please,
to have mercy on my soul,
confused sinner though I be.

Amen