Friday, November 15, 2013

A prayer based on Psalm 5 1-3 (As a call to worship), the hymn 'Holy Holy Holy' and Walter Brueggermann's understanding or Psalms of orientation, disorientation and reorientation

This prayer is has come out of several things...
...looking at laments in the Hebrew Scriptures
... Walter Brueggemann's wonderful categorizing of the psalms as Psalms of orientation (when it feels the way its supposed to be) Disorientation (To use Bono's words 'when hope and history don't rhyme) and re-orientation (when we find a deeper understanding of  and trust in God), which has been of great help to me.
... choosing Psalm 5:1-3 as a call to worship (if its helpful here  are the slides I used for it







...followed by that wonderful hymn and treasure of our tradition 'Holy, Holy, Holy Lord God almighty'.



I've tried to capture all this by saying in all circumstances we say Holy, Holy, Holy LORD God almighty. We acknowledge your sovereignty and your goodness.

Hopefully I've also picked up something of the fact that people coming to worship find them selves in many different places and give voice to those places. feel free to use any of this that you feel would e helpful.
 

 
Lord God to you this morning we lift our prayers and give thanks.
In all circumstances we say Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord God almighty
 
We thank you when life feels right and proper
When dawn has come and the sun shines
We thank you for the beauty of your creation,
For your provision for all our needs
We thank you for your grace and love in Jesus Christ
For sins forgiven
For the wholeness you are weaving into our lives
For leading and guiding us by your spirit and your word
For holding our times in your hands
For working your purposes for good
Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord God almighty.
 
We thank you when it feels all chaotic and churned up
When it’s as if night has won
We thank you for your reality,
Even when we cannot see you
We thank you for your constant presence,
Even when it feels beyond our grasp
We thank you that our prayers reach your ear
Even when it feels as if they simply echo off the ceiling
We thank you for your goodness even in the face of suffering
Our hallelujah’s  will still ring in this night
Holy, holy, holy, Lord God almighty
 
We thank you as we find a new sense of trust and hope
We thank you that you are here with us
We thank you that you are sovereign
That you hold sway over all our turmoil
We thank you for stepping into our world
In Christ you shared all our suffering and pain
We thank you in Christ there is the hope of a new day
New creation, restoration, abundant life
We thank you for storms calmed, prayers answered
We say ‘your grace is sufficient for us’
Holy, Holy Holy, Lord God almighty
 
We come today and confess our sin
We have done wrong
We have left the good you call us to do, undone,
Forgive us Lord
We give you thanks for fresh starts and clean slates
We ask that you might renew us by your Spirit
Fill us afresh to praise your name
Enable us to live for you
Empower us to witness to the hope we have in Christ
That you may be glorified, Father, Son and Holy Spirit
Holy, Holy Holy, Lord God almighty
 
Lord God to you this morning we lift our prayers and give thanks.
In all circumstances we say Holy, Holy, Holy Lord God almighty
 

 

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