October 1 2020
On this day in 1962, James Meredith became the first African-American to attend the University of Mississippi in one of the challenging moments of desegregation.
Lord God, we still have prejudice and division based on race. Help us find ways to break down the barriers that we set up for us so that we can become one with another. May we see each other as beautiful children of God and love one another as you love us. Help us to see the wonder in the wide spectrum of your created people. Let us look to ways that bring us together rather than divide. May we work toward a world where one’s only limitation to learn and succeed is one’s imagination. All this we ask in the name of God. Amen
October 2 2020
I find it interesting that the day after James Meredith began at University of Mississippi, was Johnny Carson’s first night as the host of the Tonight Show. Also on this day in 1967, Thurgood Marshall became the first African American member of the Supreme Court.
Loving God, you want our joy to be complete and created us as a people for whom laughter brings that joy. Thank you for the people who have made us laugh when we are overwhelmed with fear and anxiety. May we once again look for those things that bring us true joy. Let us look for the best of what is around us and recognize the blessings that are around us in the midst of times where hope seems lost. We truly need to find the positive in a time of negativity. It is in you O God that our joy will become complete. Amen.
Second prayer this day.
O Lord our God, I ask your prayers for the President, his wife Melania and Hope Hicks as they are sick with Covid. I also ask that you be with all who are dealing with this illness. May they recover quickly. May all of the those with whom they have exposed be found to not have the illness. Be with their families who are also worried about their loved ones. All this I ask in the name of the Healing God. Amen.
October 3 2020
Today O God, I ask that you be with those who are suffering in silence. So many people are carrying burdens that seem unbearable and are wearing them down. Let them feel your presence and give them the relief and comfort they need. Help those who are around them be a part of your presence to them. Give them the gifts they need to care for those they love. Give those who are suffering patience when the pain they are carrying makes it hard to be cordial to those around them. Comfort them, release their pain. Allow them to find relief from their pain in your presence. I ask this in the name of a Healing God. Amen
October 4 2020
Loving God, I know that I cannot control the actions of others and that the only thing I can do is attempt to be the best person I can be even when I might not feel like it. Give me the patience when I begin to get angry. Give me empathy, when I want to say, “I told you so.” Give me faith when I falter, strength when I am weak and may I forgive rather than judge. May I this day remember that almost everyone is struggling to find their way and to live a loving life. May the forgiveness I desire be visited upon those I have struggled to forgive a thousandfold. All this I ask in your Name. Amen
October 5 2020
I know that you are a God that forgives in ways we cannot imagine. You will forgive people we do not want to forgive, including ourselves. Help us to recognize that we are less forgiving than you. Let us support programs that bring people back to true redemption and atonement in our society. We forgive people who overextend themselves or steal without violence so much more easily than we forgive those who are so poor that they break the law because we have not helped them be in a place where they can even eat. May we forgive both with the idea that we want them to be, we have not given the same opportunities of all the forgiven as we expect of the forgiveness that we hope to attain when we are with you. May we be as forgiving as we want you to be. Amen.
October 6 2020
Lord God, Like so many of us, I want you to be as partisan as I am. I want you to support my values more than others who are asking you to do the same against what I have decided are my measurable definitions of who I would prefer you to be. Make me not who I would prefer you to have me be, but who you would have me be. May I be someone who sees that you expect us to struggle with so many challenges to our morality by looking at how it shows your love. Let us see where you want us to move forward and be confident enough to follow the path you have set before us. Amen
October 7 2020
May those who are struggling find you this day feel your presence. May they recognize that you are present in so many ways. Help them to find you in what they see, in the people they meet and in their hearts. Let them find peace when the world is swirling around them and causing them anxiety. May we, as the people who may meet them, be caring, empathetic, and a calm presence for them. May they be comforted by the peace and love that you can give them. When they feel like they are alone in what they are carrying, help them to find that person who reminds them that they are a part of a loving community. All this we ask in your name. Amen.
October 8 2020
Compassionate God, be with us this day. So often we find ourselves (if we are truly honest with ourselves and truly following you) praying for people we have animosity towards, often for valid reasons and knowing that we need to be as forgiving of others as we hope you are of us. Help us to recognize that when we pray for people who really bother us, that we are not doing it because we want to feel better about our guilt for hating that person, but that we are praying for ourselves recognizing that we may be in that same position for others. Instead, let us become the vessels of redemption and forgiveness that we truly hope you are for the sins we have ourselves committed. Amen
October 9 2020
Lord God, thank you for all the many blessings we have been given. In this time where we are faced with so many challenges it is hard for us to recognize the many blessings you give us. Help us this day to see those things which give us joy. May we see more fully the wonders this world has to offer. May we see the myriad colors of the sunrise, the beauty of turning leaves, the peacefulness of looking across the water and all the incredible scenes around us. May we laugh like an infant simply joyous because they have just figured out how wonderful it is to laugh. May we skip and play like we did as children and get excited about learning new things. Help us to celebrate more than we mourn. All this I ask in the name of the God who wants our joy to be complete. Amen
October 10 2020
Lord God, thank you for giving us this day. May we make full use of the opportunities it has to offer. May we show forth your love to those we encounter today. Let us look for ways to comfort those who sorrow, feed those who are hungry and provide support to those who are in need. Helps us this day to forgive those who have hurt us and to ask for forgiveness of those we have hurt and begin the process of rebuilding relationships with those people. May we work hard to feel as if this day was well spent. All this we ask in the name of a Loving God. Amen
October 11 2020
Loving God, give us a sabbath from the fears and anxieties of the world today. Help us to take a little while to let us simply be in your presence. May we be able to release our cares for a few hours in order that we might be able to see them better for what they are having set them down long enough to breathe. Let us revel in the music of the day, help us to find enough community to know we are not alone and to feel your presence around us this day. Let this sabbath refresh our batteries for the ministry and work you would have us do this next week. All this we ask in your most Holy Name. Amen.
October 12 2020
Compassionate God, there are people who are waking up today struggling to be ready for the week ahead. They carry burdens that no one else knows and still put on the happy face expected of them in whatever job they find themselves. Fill them with your spirit, and help them know that they are not alone. Allow them to be so comforted by you that the anxieties they are carrying become less overwhelming. Let them know that they are among a great cloud of witnesses of your love and compassion. May they find strength in those around them that they think are carrying burdens like theirs and understand that others are, like them, putting on a good face. Comfort them, strengthen them, and empower them to meet what life has given them and may they become witnesses to your love. It is in the empowering name of God that we pray. Amen.
October 13 2020
Comforting God, there are an incredible number of people who are without hope. They have hit a wall that makes them want to give up. Be eminently present to them at the time when they most need you. Help them to know that they are loved and there are people who love them deeply. May they find not only the hope of something better, but actually experience that something more wonderful. Allow them to find it in something so small as a mustard seed that will grow into the greatest of bushes. Give them the strength to find that faith when they need it most. All this I ask in a God who wants us all to be well. Amen.
October 14 2020
Creator God, you formed us in your image, help us to see you in everyone we meet and the beauty of your creation in all that we see today. When we are tempted to get angry give us peace, when the world wants us to hate, let us respond in love, when it seems as if things are all wrong, let us find what is right and cling to it. Let us look for the all that is true, all that is just, all that honorable, pleasing and commendable. Help us to strive for those excellences to which you would have us aspire. And above all may we love one another as you love us. Amen.
October 15 2020
Patient God, who loves and forgives when we ask, be with us today when we struggle. Help us to slow down enough to care for those around us. Let us not be so overwhelmed by this day that we forget to live it. Let us cherish the moments of peace when they come this day and be willing to give others the time they need to find that same peace. May we forgive as quickly as you forgive us. And when we feel the need to rush help us to slow down and enjoy the day you have given us. All this we ask in your name. Amen
October 16 2020
Lord God, I know that I have a tendency to repeat myself. My daily prayers can seem somewhat redundant. Thank you for hearing me when I repeat myself. I know you heard me the first time, and understand that you are responding. Sometimes it is that you are telling me, not yet. Other times you are saying that my request is being answered in a different way that I have yet to understand, and still other times the answer is “no.” Help me to understand that I don’t need the answers right away to know that you are beginning to answer me. May I be able to be patient enough to let your time happen. All this I ask in a God more patient than I find myself. Amen
October 17 2020
I am so thankful for the day you have given me Loving God. I recognize that each day that I am given is an opportunity to start again, fresh, with the chance to live this day to its fullest. Help me to respect and honor that gift. Help me cherish the time I get to spend with those I will encounter. May I treat them with the love that you have for me. May I be fully present to those around me, and may I respond to them with grace and honor. Let me be comfortable enough with myself that when I fail, I can take responsibility for my actions and learn from those zmistakes. May this day like every day be one where I feel your presence and guidance. All this I ask in the name of God. Amen.
October 18 2020
Healing God, be with us during this time of growing pandemic. We know we are entering a season where more and more people will be at risk. Help us to endure the challenges that will bring. Let us be more patient and caring as we move through this time. Give those who are working on a cure what they need to make that happen. Allow us to release the anxieties that we are bound to have over these next few weeks and months. Let us look for ways to come together and support those who are in need and those who are ill. May we not tire in how we love one another as you have loved us. It is in your name we pray. Amen
October 19 2020
O Lord our God, these past few months I have attempted to pray a new prayer each day. This is another of those days. I am so thankful for what that has provided me. I have become much more aware of you as I live each day. It has given me a sense of your presence in ways that I have not experienced before I started this practice and it has connected me with people, who like me, want to feel you, and honor you, every day. Thank you for somehow getting me to continue in these prayers that feed me more by the people who share them with me than I could have imagined. May we all continue to pray to you each and every day. Amen
October 20 2020
O Lord our God, one of my favorite prayers in the Book of Common Prayer starts with, “ this is another day O Lord”. That is how I begin each day recognizing that you have given me another day to live in the incredible world you created for us. Let me live this day relishing in the wonder of what you have given me. Allow me to enjoy each person I see, from the children at carline, to the parents struggling to deal with all the world is hitting them with today. May I be your presence to them and may your spirit guide me this day and every day. Amen
October 21 2020
On this day in 1854, Florence Nightingale (the mother of modern nursing) and 38 other nurses were sent to Crimea. As we deal with perhaps the worst epidemic in modern times, help us to honor our nurses and other caregivers. May we learn from those who would have us be healthy, may we support them with our prayers and actions. Protect them as they continue to put themselves in harm’s way, help them comfort and heal those for whom they care. All this we ask in the name of God. Amen
October 22 2020
Creator God, thank you for the writers who have given me the escapes I have needed over the years. From the early anthologies and short stories that began our ability to suspend disbelief and paint those scenes in a way that we became part of the story to the epic novels that took us on adventures beyond our world. Those who write technical books that help us to understand your created world better and those who have challenged us ethically and spiritually by their writings give us more knowledge of our selves. The writers whose names we don’t know who have attempted in scripture to describe you Lord God. Each of them allowed us to imagine new worlds, realities, and your own creation in new and exiting ways. May we never give up on what the written word has to offer. May we celebrate sharing the writers who have helped form us. May we continue to support writers in sharing their gifts. Amen
October 23 2020
O God of Grace and Glory, may we be loving and caring to one another this day. May it be a day where we find joy and wonder. Let us lift up rather than tear down. May we look for ways to make people’s days better by how we greet, interact with and leave them. Let us find new opportunities to make things better in our families, communities and world. Allow us to revel in your creation. May the smells and tastes of this day fill us with awe for what you have provided us, and may we be filled with your spirit of love and compassion. Amen.
October 24 2020
On this day in 1939, Germany began to require that Jewish people wear the Star of David with the word “Jude” to identify themselves. That time of hate and murder is something we pray never happens again. It was a time in Germany where there were hungry and afraid, and some people created a divisive spirit that treated certain people as more than outsiders, and less than human. Looking at the pictures of the depravity of that time is a painful reminder of what can happen when we don’t stand up to what is wrong. May we as a country and world remember those lessons and look for ways to lift each other up rather than divide ourselves. May we love our neighbors as God loves us. Let us be filled with your love and never let such a diseased-filled hate infect our souls. All this I ask in the name of a God who loves all God’s children. Amen
October 25 2020
Creator God, this morning I am lucky enough to be waking up to a beach sunrise. Seeing the colors of the beginning and ending of the day over water is perhaps my favorite way to bookend the day. One can best do that on an Island. The colors you provide at those times are like no other. Thank you for giving us something glorious to see when we are looking forward to or back on a day. Whether it is the Sunset looking across the plains of the upper Midwest or the sunrise over the snow of Wisconsin, there is nothing like the beauty of those times that can never be recreated. They, like every day, are unique events. May I be aware of the wonder and opportunity of today and treat it with the same awe that I do when I recognize the gift of another sunrise. Amen
October 26 2020
Patient God, be with us these next few weeks as we are pretty sure we are headed into a time of turmoil. There are so many people who will be struggling with the decisions of the next week and will have a hard time accepting whatever the result that occurs. May we find opportunities to look for unity and empathy no matter the outcome. May we look for ways to express your love and act in a way that you would expect of us. Let us tone down the rhetoric that leads to violence and anger and move toward a language of love and support. Allow us to recognize that those we love have their own experiences and expectations and they don’t always match our own experiences and expectations. Let us find a way, no matter the outcome, to choose the pathway to loving one another as you love us. May your love and peace prevail. Amen
October 27 2020
Loving God, help us to make serious changes in how we treat one another. On this, the one year anniversary of the Tree of Life shooting, may we find ways to change the hearts of people who hate. May we look at each person as a child of God deserving to be beloved. May we stand up to those who promulgate hate and disarm them with love and compassion. Allow us to become a world that truly lives into who we say we want to be. While we know that acts of hate will always happen in this imperfect world, help us to fight against the desire for revenge and instead respond in ways that express your love. Amen
October 28 2020
Caring God, we have a choice in how we respond to each other. We can choose love, we can measure our actions based on how they express your love. Give us the strength of character to answer situations that arise in ways that are about how they build up rather than tear down, how they follow what we know will benefit others rather than take from someone, and how they express love over hate. The choices we make this day and everyday give us the opportunity to choose love, help us make that choice. All this we ask in the name of our Loving God. Amen
October 29 2020
Giving God, we are often selfish, wanting things that we don’t need at the expense of something more important. We put our priorities on things temporal and not on things eternal. Help us to recognize the difference. May we focus on the hard work of building our relationships with others over our distracted nature of getting the next great thing. Let us recognize the joy if giving ourselves to others. When we live into being good stewards of what you have given us and sharing the many gifts you have given us to your glory, we begin to see the world as you created it to be. Help us to have our time, talent and treasure represent our faith in the continuing blessings you give us. Let us find the joy that comes from giving others the unconditional love you regularly give us. All this we ask in the name of the God who wants our joy to be complete. Amen
October 30 2020
Joyous Lord. May we sing your praise this day and every day. The musical you have written into creation by the sounds of our world fill all our emotions. Help us to listen well today to the song you are playing for us. The sound of children playing, the birds singing and the bustle of the day all help us write the songs of our lives. When our song is slow and sad help us to know that the tune will become brighter. May we find the harmonies that help us to know we are not alone and we are meant to be part of the great orchestra of life. Let the storms allow us to express the wide breadth of our emotions and when night comes may we hear the lullaby of a contented world. Amen
October 31 2020
Rotary has a thing called the 4-way test. It calls us to ask of the things we think, say or do, “Is it the truth? Is it fair to all concerned? Will it build goodwill and better friendships? Will it be beneficial to all concerned?”
O God of all Creation. You call us to treat one another with integrity in an imperfect world that challenges so many of the realities we once thought incontrovertible. Help us to come back to the questions of the four-way test and recognize that there are truths and then let us come back to what it is to be fair to everyone, not just what we deem as fair to ourselves. May our actions be about building goodwill and friendships with those around us, and let all our actions be ones that are beneficial to everyone. Let us measure our actions toward one another as if they were about building each other up. Amen.
Prayers for Challenging Times 