Prayer For the Poor and the Neglected (1979 Book of Common Prayer)

”Almighty and most merciful God, we remember before you all poor and neglected persons whom it would be easy for us to forget:  the homeless and the destitute, the old and the sick, and all who have none to care for them. Help us to heal those who are broken in body or spirit, and to turn their sorrow into joy. Grant this, Father, for the love of your Son, who for our sake became poor, Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen.”

• From the Book of Common Prayer (1979)

Prayer For The Oppressed (1979 Book of Common Prayer)

“Look with pity, O heavenly Father, upon the people in this land who live with injustice, terror, disease, and death as their constant companions.  Have mercy upon us.  Help us to eliminate our cruelty to these our neighbors. Strengthen those who spend their lives establishing equal protection of the law and equal opportunities for all.  And grant that every one of us may enjoy a fair portion of the riches of this land; through Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen.”

• From the Book of Common Prayer (1979)

MLK Untitled Prayer 06

“Our loving Father, from Thy hand have come all the days of the past. To Thee we look for whatever good the future holds. We are not satisfied with the world as we have found it. It is too little the kingdom of God as yet. Grant us the privilege of apart in its regeneration. We wish the joy of fellowship with those sons of God who are bringing in the new day. We are looking for a new earth in which dwells righteousness. It is our prayer that we may be children of light, the kind of people for whose coming and ministry the world is waiting.—Amen.”

• Taken from a short collection in the King Papers simply called “Prayers” and available here.

MLK Untitled Prayer 05

“Our Holy Father, we confess the weakness and sinfulness of our lives. We have often turned away from thee to seek our own desires. And often when we have done no evil, we have undertaken nothing of good, and so have been guilty of uselessness and neglect. From this sin of idleness and indifference set us free. Lead us into fruitful effort, and deliver us from profitless lives. We ask this in the name of Jesus. Amen.”

• Taken from a short collection in the King Papers simply called “Prayers” and available here.

MLK Untitled Prayer 04

“O God, the Creator and Presever of all mankind; In whom to dwell is to find peace and security; toward whom to turn is to find life and life eternal, we humbly beseech Thee for all sorts and conditions of men; that thou wouldst be pleased to make thy ways known unto them, Thy saving health unto all nations. We also pray for Thy holy Church universal; that it may be so guided and governed by thy Spirit, that all who profess and call themselves Christians may be led into the way of truth, and hold the faith in unity of spirit, in the [land?] of peace, and in righteousness of life. Finally we commend to thy Fatherly goodness all those who are in any way afflicted or distressed in mind or body. Give them patience under the suffering and power of endurance This we ask in the name of Jesus. Amen.”

• Taken from a short collection in the King Papers simply called “Prayers” and available here.

MLK Untitled Prayer 03

“Most Gracious and all wise God; Before whose face the generations rise and fall; Thou in whom we live, and move, and have our being.6 We thank thee [for?] all of thy good and gracious gifts, for life and for health; for food and for raiment; for the beauties of nature and the love of human nature. We come before thee painfully aware of our inadaqucis and shortcomigs. We realize that we stand surrounded with the mountains of love and we deliberately dwell in the valley of hate. We stand amid the forces of truth and deliberately lie; We are forever offered the high road and yet we choose the lo to travel the low road. For these sins O God forgive. Break the spell of that which blinds our minds. Purify our hearts that we may see thee. O God in these turbulent day when fear and doubt are mounting high give us broad visions, penetrating eys, and power of endurance. Help us to work with rewed vigor for a warless world, for a better distribution of wealth, and for a brotherhood that transcends race or color. In the name and spirit of Jesus we pray. Amen.”

• Taken from a short collection in the King Papers simply called “Prayers” and available here.

MLK Untitled Prayer 02

“O God our eternal Father, we praise thee for gifts of mind with which thou hast endowed us. We are able to rise out of the half-realities of the sense world to a world of ideal beauty and eternal truth. Teach us, we pray Thee, how to use this great gift of reason and imagination so that it shall not be a curse but a blessing. Grant us visions that shall lift us [strikeout illegible] from worldiness and sin into the light of thine own holy presence. Through Jesus Christ we pray. Amen.”

• Taken from a short collection in the King Papers simply called “Prayers” and available here.

MLK Untitled Prayer 01

“O thou Eternal God, out of whose absolute power and infinite intelligence the whole universe has come into being. We humbly confess that we have not loved thee with our hearts, souls and minds and we have not loved our neighbors as Christ loved us.4 We have all too often lived by our own selfish impulses rather than by the life of sacrificial love as revealed by Christ. We often give in order to receive, we love our friends and hate our enimies, we go the first mile but dare not travel the second, we forgive but dare not forget.5 And so as we look within ourselves we are confronted with the appalling fact that the history of our lives is the history of an eternal revolt against thee. But thou, O God, have mercy upon us. Forgive us for what we could have been but failed to be. Give us the intelligence to know thy will. Give us the courage to do thy will. Give us the devotion to love thy will. In the name and spirit of Jesus we pray. Amen.”

• Taken from a short collection in the King Papers simply called “Prayers” and available here.

Because They Couldn't Breathe, We Cannot Be Silent (A Responsive Reading For George Floyd and Others)

This responsive reading was inspired by the following Tweet from Latasha Morrison:

Because I can breathe, I don’t want another person to die at the hands of police brutality because they can’t breathe. What will you do with the breath in your body?

Creating, Sustaining, and Saving God,
Hear us in these heavy times
because it feels like no one else does.

People of God take heart, for the Scriptures tell us:

“God hears the hearts of the afflicted;
He encourages them and listens to their cries,
He defends the fatherless and the oppressed,
so that people will no longer terrorize us”
(Psalm 10:17-18)

How long?
How long, O Lord?

People of God take heart, for the Scriptures tells us:

“everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved”
(Joel 2:32)

How long?
How long, O Lord?

I don’t know.

It feels too long.

I know.

It feels too heavy.

People of God take heart, for the Scriptures tells us:

“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”
(Matthew 11:28-30)

But it doesn’t feel that way.
The oppression feels too heavy.
Another video.
Another life taken by authority

By those who are supposed to protect

People of God take heart, God has word for you:

“Woe to those who make unjust laws, to those who issue oppressive decrees, to deprive the poor of their rights and withhold justice from the oppressed of my people, making widows their prey and robbing the fatherless.”
(Isaiah 10:1-2)

But it keeps happening:

Alton Sterling
Tamir Rice
Trayvon Martin
Philando Castile
Eric Garner
Bothem Sean
Breonna Taylor
Amaud Arbery
George Floyd

And so many more.

Live cut short

“Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.
We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality,
tied in a single garment of destiny.
Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly.”
(Martin Luther King Jr., Letter from the Birmingham Jail)

Creating, Sustaining, and Saving God,
Remind us of our mutuality

Their suffering is our suffering

George Floyd couldn’t breathe.

But we can.

Eric Garner couldn’t breathe.

But we can.

So what will we do with our breath?

Remind ourselves that it is a gift.

And gifts are not to be wasted.

We will use our breath to speak for the voiceless.
We will use our breath to cry with the afflicted.

Because they could not breathe,
we cannot be silent.

God, you promised to cast down the mighty
and we don’t know how much longer we can wait.

Because they could not breathe,
we cannot be silent.

God, give us the courage to lead with love,
to challenge unjust systems
and to name the national sin of racism.

Because they could not breathe,
we cannot be silent.

Because they could not breathe,
we will not be silent.

A Prayer For Resurrection Sunday

“Almighty God,
who through your only-begotten Son Jesus Christ
overcame death and opened to us the gate of everlasting life:
Grant that we, who celebrate with joy the day of the Lord's resurrection,
may be raised from the death of sin by your life-giving Spirit;
through Jesus Christ our Lord,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.

Amen.”

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• Found in the Anglican Book of Common Prayer

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Prayer In Time Of Epidemic (1951 Lutheran Book Of Prayer)

Heavenly Father,
We beseech Thee to turn from me and fellow citizens the destruction and terror of this epidemic.
I pray Thee,
stay the hand of the Angel of Death
as he proceeds from dwelling to dwelling.

I ask Thee, above all, to draw me closer to Thee
as Thy chastening rod afflicts us.
Grief-stricken and fearful,
may we not despair of Thy mercies.

Grant me the grace in humble repentance
and sincere faith to look to Thee,
who turns all things to the good of them that Love Thee.

Grant the necessary wisdom and success
to those who strive to stem the tide of afflication,
and quicken our hearts to bear the burdens of one another’s grief and need.

Lord, in Thy mercy save us.

I am mindful of my many shortcomings and transgressions.
Blot them out that I may find peace
and rest for my soul.
Make me sure of my salvation through Thy Word.
Then give healing and relief
according to Thy good will in Christ Jesus,
our Lord and Redeemer.

Amen.

(taken from the 1951 Lutheran Book of Prayer)

"A Prayer from Apollo 8 for Universal Peace"

On Christmas Day (25 December 1968), astronaut Frank Borman broadcast the following prayer from Apollo 8*:

“Give us, O God, the vision which can see Your love in the world in spite of human failure.
Give us the faith to trust Your goodness in spite of our ignorance and weakness.
Give us the knowledge that we may continue to pray with understanding hearts.
And show us what each one of us can do to set forward the coming of the day of universal peace.
Amen.”

*(taken from the “Justice Prayers” section of Xavier.edu’s “Jesuit Resources” page)

A Prayer For Ash Wednesday (Psalm 51)

Have mercy on me, O God,
    according to your unfailing love;
according to your great compassion
    blot out my transgressions.
2 Wash away all my iniquity
    and cleanse me from my sin.

3 For I know my transgressions,
    and my sin is always before me.
4 Against you, you only, have I sinned
    and done what is evil in your sight;
so you are right in your verdict
    and justified when you judge.
5 Surely I was sinful at birth,
    sinful from the time my mother conceived me.
6 Yet you desired faithfulness even in the womb;
    you taught me wisdom in that secret place.

7 Cleanse me with hyssop, and I will be clean;
    wash me, and I will be whiter than snow.
8 Let me hear joy and gladness;
    let the bones you have crushed rejoice.
9 Hide your face from my sins
    and blot out all my iniquity.

10 Create in me a pure heart, O God,
    and renew a steadfast spirit within me.
11 Do not cast me from your presence
    or take your Holy Spirit from me.
12 Restore to me the joy of your salvation
    and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me.

13 Then I will teach transgressors your ways,
    so that sinners will turn back to you.
14 Deliver me from the guilt of bloodshed, O God,
    you who are God my Savior,
    and my tongue will sing of your righteousness.
15 Open my lips, Lord,
    and my mouth will declare your praise.
16 You do not delight in sacrifice, or I would bring it;
    you do not take pleasure in burnt offerings.
17 My sacrifice, O God, is[b] a broken spirit;
    a broken and contrite heart
    you, God, will not despise.

18 May it please you to prosper Zion,
    to build up the walls of Jerusalem.
19 Then you will delight in the sacrifices of the righteous,
    in burnt offerings offered whole;
    then bulls will be offered on your altar.”