Summer of Prayer I

The Gift of Today

Gracious and loving God,

Thank you for the gift of this day: for the brilliance of the rising sun, for the ripples of the flowing river, for the music of the birds and the industry of the small animals.

May I use this day wisely and reverently and to your glory, always remembering that each and every day is a blessing from you to be shared and honored.

I pray this all in Jesus’ Name. Amen.

(UTO Book of Prayers – The Rev Jennifer Kenna of Central New York)




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From Beginning to Pray by Anthony Bloom

What we must start with, if we wish to pray, is the certainty that we are sinners in need of salvation, that we are cut off from God and that we cannot live without Him and that all we can offer God is our desperate longing to be made such that God will receive us, receive us in repentance, receive us with mercy and with love. And so from the outset prayer is really our humble ascent towards God, a moment when we turn Godwards, shy of coming near, knowing that if we meet Him too soon, before His grace has had time to help us to be capable of meeting Him, it will be judgment. And all we can do is to turn to Him with all the reverence, all the veneration, the worshipful adoration, the fear of God of which we are capable, with all the attention and earnestness which we may possess, and ask Him to do something with us that will make us capable of meeting Him face to face, not for judgement, not for condemnation, but for eternal life…

Resources: UTO Book of Prayers, Disciples Prayer Book, Day by Day, Forward Movement Prayers (Morning), Prayers for Sleepless Nights and more can be found in the Narthex of the Church.