Category: prayer

Awake in the Night

The news about the school shooting at the elementary school in Nashville today has been so hard. I’ve been wondering what I would say to all of those who are hurting. All those families who lost someone, who know a person who was killed. All the teachers and parents and first responders and pastors and — oh, gosh, all of us who keep realizing with a sinking feeling that we can’t ultimately protect ourselves and our loved ones from the terrible things that sometimes happen in this world. 

We had this job here — to learn to love this earth and the people on it. To treat folks the way we would like to be treated. And it feels like that things have gotten away from us and our world is racing along towards disaster. 

And here I am, awake in the night. Feeling afraid, alone, full of grief and bewildered about how we got to this place of brokenness. 

We are held captive by the false idolatries of the Second Amendment, beliefs in conspiracy theories, a multimillion dollar industry of guns.

And where is the holy one tonight? 

God is weeping in a hospital hallway where parents seek their injured or murdered children and loved ones. 

God is holding a first responder overwhelmed by the scenes they saw today. 

God is sitting beside the bed of every parent who lies awake trying to figure out how to keep their child safe as they go to school, the mall, the movie theatre. 

God is reaching out to hold the heart and mind of the one so wounded that this horror gets acted out. 

God holds the space between us as we numbly see the news, read the latest statistics. 

Have mercy, dear creator of the universe. We are danger of tumbling into the abyss. 

We Have No Words

We Have No Words

We have no words
To express the depths of our grief,
Our sorrow, our outrage, our despair.

Lord, have mercy.
Christ, have mercy.

For parents and grandparents,
Aunts, uncles, siblings, and friends
Who have lost someone
They knew and loved.

Lord, have mercy.
Christ, have mercy.

For first responders
And all those who witness violence firsthand.
For survivors and their loved ones.

Lord, have mercy.
Christ, have mercy.

For all held captive by fear,
And those imprisoned by wounds,
Minds twisted by mental illness and rage.

Lord, have mercy.
Christ, have mercy.

For the leaders of our country and our world,
Who seem powerless to stop the violence
That fills our news feeds,
Our schools, churches, grocery stores …
The public places that used to feel safe.

Lord, have mercy.
Christ, have mercy.

Holy One, we stand before you in grief,
In sorrow, in outrage, in despair,
And we cry out …

Lord, have mercy.
Christ, have mercy.

A Prayer for Ukraine

SoulCollage, 5/21/21, Beth A. Richardson

God makes wars cease to the ends of the earth. …
God breaks the bow and shatters the spear;
God says, “Be still, and know that I am God;
I will be exalted among the nations,
I will be exalted in the earth.”

God makes wars cease to the ends of the earth. …
God breaks the bow and shatters the spear;
God says, “Be still, and know that I am God;
I will be exalted among the nations,
I will be exalted in the earth.”

Psalm 46:9-10, NRSV

God of peace,
Russia has invaded the Ukraine and war seems inevitable.

Lord, have mercy. Christ, have mercy.

God of wisdom,
Rain down your Spirit onto the leaders of the world
That they might find a way where there is no way.

Lord, have mercy. Christ, have mercy.

God of comfort,
Wrap the grieving ones in your cloak of consolation.

Lord, have mercy. Christ, have mercy.

God of courage,
Be present with all those who are in harm’s way.

Lord, have mercy. Christ, have mercy.

Amen.

Reposted from UpperRoom.org.

When the World Seems So Broken

Birds

These mornings, when the world seems so broken,
I skip the news and social media.

Instead, I go outside and contemplate the sky …
Morning dawning in the firmament.

I watch the creatures around me
Doing creaturely things:
Hopping, flying, walking, breathing.

I am, in my little life,
Part of a great, still-beautiful world.

I breathe myself into union
with the One who is never broken.

 

Let My Worries Be Prayer

When I wake up in the middle of the night
Weighed down by news of illness, hate or war
Let my worries be prayer

That beloved one in the hospital
Let her be free from pain
Hold him if he is afraid
Thank you for all those working to comfort, care, and heal

So many signs and sounds of war
Send wisdom to the leaders of the world
Protect the vulnerable who sit or live or walk in harm’s way

Hatred and fear divide us
Friends, families, communities torn apart
Heal us, hold us
Help us see that we are more alike than different

When I wake up in the middle of the night
Weighed down by news of illness, hate or war
Let my fretfulness be time with you
Let my fears be intercessions
Let my worries be prayer

Prayer Practices for This Time of Crisis

During the past few days, I realized that my normal prayer practices were not working very well. When I went into meditation or silence, my brain filled up with anxiety. I’ve realized that I need a different set of practices in this time of crisis. Here are some practices that seem to be working for me. (And I’d like to know — what practices are working for you these days? -Please let me know!)

  • Bring in Spring. Fresh flowers from the yard brought inside.
  • Share the light. I keep a candle burning when I’m awake.
  • Meditate with others. My Headspace meditation app invites me to meditate with others beginning every 1/2 hour.
  • Daily prayer. Upper room colleagues are leading morning prayer each day at 11:00 a.m. (Central Time). We are using Facebook Live. Like our Upper Room Facebook page and tune in to pray with us.
  • Pray for others. I’m spending a little bit of time each day praying for others on The Upper Room Prayer Wall.

How to Pray for Others on The Upper Room Prayer Wall.

Blessings and love to each of you.
Beth

Don’t Worry. Instead, Pray.

I was already a world-class worrier
long before the current crises we face …
before the Coronavirus …
before the tornados hit my middle Tennessee neighbors.

I remember the nights in my childhood,
when I couldn’t sleep because I was afraid.
I remember my mom helping me cut out
a scripture passage from my Sunday School lesson.
We taped it to the dresser mirror in my bedroom.
“Don’t worry. Instead, pray. …”

Mom and I would read the scripture when she tucked me in.
I could read it in the night if I was afraid.
I repeated the passage until the words became a part of me,
until the words began to pray themselves in the silence of the darkness.
“Don’t worry. Instead, pray. …”

These days, I light candles.
The light of them shines
into the darkness of this world,
into the darkness of my worries.
The light says, “Don’t worry. Instead, pray. …”

“Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything; tell God your needs, and don’t forget to thank God for the answers. If you do this, you will experience God’s peace, which is far more wonderful than the human mind can understand. God’s peace will keep your thoughts and your hearts quiet and at rest as you trust in Christ Jesus.”
-Philippians 4:6-7, The Living Bible

Welcome Home

Three deer, a blue heron, the call of a pileated woodpecker
Welcome me home.

The wind in the leaves, the ripples on the lake, the silence of this place
Welcome me home.

The water of life, the greetings of old friends, the words of the liturgy
Welcome us home.

This place is our home.
This place is God’s home.
Welcome home.

Session six of Academy #41, Camp Sumatanga, Alabama.

How Lovely Is Your Dwelling Place


How lovely is your dwelling place, O LORD of hosts! My soul longs, indeed it faints for the courts of the LORD; my heart and my flesh sing for joy to the living God. Even the sparrow finds a home, and the swallow a nest for herself, where she may lay her young, at your altars, O LORD of hosts, my King and my God. Happy are those who live in your house, ever singing your praise.

Psalm 84:1-4, NRSV