Prayers for Christian Worship: Samples--I

One of the weekly responsibilities for most pastors is the pastoral prayer. I've always appreciated some "starter ideas" as I prepared my prayers. Following are portions of prayers I've used at different times of the year.

Here is a portion of a prayer offered on Palm Sunday:

Lord, here we are to celebrate an event that seemed to start well and ended with your death.

We confess that we have heard the story so often that we tend to write it off as a nice story that we can celebrate with palm branches, and children moving through the sanctuary, and with the echo of Hosanna's ringing in our memories.

And too often, Lord, we confess that we leave it at that and miss the deeper meaning that this was not a celebration of a triumphant entry, but the forerunner of a terrible and painful death on a cross.

Forgive us for seeing only the good and not the Good Friday that lay ahead. Forgive us for celebrating a march into Jerusalem when we should be thanking you for the death that made our salvation possible.
Forgive us for offering palm branches when we should be offering ourselves to you.

Prepare us, Lord, for Easter.
Prepare us for the bloody death that made possible the cleansing of our sinful nature.
Prepare us to join the crowd that cried for your crucifixion-because we know why it had to happen.

But even as we look back to the event that shaped our present and our future, we would not forget that there are people in our fellowship who are suffering their own pains and troubles.

Lord, may we be your instruments of encouragement and hope and good news to these people and to many others.

Use us, please, to make a difference in this part of our city.
Use us, please, to make a difference across the world.
Use us, please, in the name and Spirit of Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior.

Amen.

Here is part of a prayer used on a Sunday when the sermon emphasized the greatness of God.

Someone has said that happiness depends on circumstances and joy does not depend on circumstances. When the Apostle Paul was sitting in a Roman jail, he could be joyful, not because he was in prison, but because he was in God through Jesus. Life may change, but God doesn't.

Let's Pray:

We praise you because you are solid and unchanging and we can count on you when we can't count on anyone or anything else.
We praise you because you make promises and keep them.
We praise you because you are God, and you are powerful, and you love us.

Forgive us when we make someone else or something else the god of our lives.

We confess that we are too easily swayed by the world around us.
We confess that we have elevated things and shunted you off to the side.
We confess that too often we do not trust you to be who you say are and to do what you say you will do.

We want to believe you.
We desperately need to believe you.
We need to know your joy in this world that lies to us and points us in the wrong directions and gives confusing advice.

Lord, please open our eyes to see you,
Our ears to hear you
Our minds to better understand you
And our hearts to more deeply experience you.

And not just us.

There is a world of hurting people outside this building.
There are many inside who need to experience the joy of being your people.
Please work deep into their lives and reveal more of yourself to them, and to us who would stand with them and encourage them.

We are your people, Lord.
May that be obvious to the neighborhood and the world around us.
We pray for your best that we might be our best.

Through Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior.

AMEN.

The following prayer was offered on a Sunday when the congregation celebrated the Lord's Supper.

Oswald Chambers once wrote: "If God has made your cup (by which he means 'your life') sweet, drink it with grace; if He has made it bitter, drink it in communion with him."

Whoever we are, wherever we have come from, whatever is happening in our lives, we will join at the Lord's table to remember that He gave himself that we might have an abundant life in and through him. It's his table and he gives the life that we need.

Let Us Pray:

Thank you, Lord, for the meal you offer to us and for the sacrifice that had to happen in order for you to provide that meal.
Thank you for your deep love of us.
Thank you for the life you desire for us.

We confess that too often we have determined what we want and have hoped that you would bless our desires.
We have tried to define the good life in our terms.
We have tried to bend your will to our will.
We have forgotten that you have called us to pick up our cross and follow you.

Please forgive us for being so presumptuous and so self-centered.

Open our eyes to the wonderful things you have prepared for us to enjoy and the wonderful things you have prepared for us to do.

We gather this morning as vastly different individuals: please show us that we are one body, even though it doesn't' seem like it.
We gather as people who have different degrees of faith: please use the little faith or the much faith we offer to you.
We gather as people who see ourselves with big talents or little talents or no talents: please show each of us how we fit into your big plan.

And, Lord, we don't' want to forget those who are struggling with illness and other problems. They are part of your body and we lift them up to you this morning.

Bless them with healing and a deeper faith, and a hope for your best.
Bless us with a special sense of presence as we continue to worship and as we join later in a time of remembrance and celebration through the Lord's Supper.

Thank you for all things through Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior.

Amen.

Here is a portion of a prayer offered during an Advent

The purpose of Advent is to prepare us to celebrate the birth of Jesus into the world. The danger we face is that the story is so familiar that it no longer amazes us. As we gather this morning, let's imagine ourselves as the simple shepherds watching their flocks in the Judean countryside.

Let us pray.

Lord, you did an amazing thing over 2000 years ago.

Thank you.
Thank you for humbling yourself to become like one of us.
Thank you for leaving luxury to become part of a rough and crude world.
Thank you for the love that drove you from comfort to suffering...for us.

Thank you.

We confess that too often we have failed to be astonished by the story of your coming to earth.
Too often we have read the story at this time of year, then tucked it away with the decorations.
Too often we have missed the miracle of Christmas because we have heard the story so often.

Forgive us for shoving you aside as we gathered for Christmas get-togethers, and Christmas trees, and Christmas presents.

You are worth much more than the time and effort we give you.

As we continue our preparations for the celebration of your birth, please reveal yourself more and more as the Lord of all lords and the King of all kings.

Please remind us of what you have done and what you still have planned for us.

We lift up the sick and suffering among us.

We lift up the spiritually and emotionally damaged among us.

We lift up this congregation (and this building) as a place of rest and worship.

Bless us, please, with your best.

We pray through Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior.

Amen.