A Prayer for the Headlines, Monday, January 31

Good Morning, God
Lord, sometimes it is good to just take a break from serious stuff and laugh a bit or guffaw a lot!  Someone said one that "laughter is the best medicine".  Another said that we should save our energy and smile more because it takes fewer muscles and less effort to smile than to frown.
Lord, it is healthy when we can laugh at the follies or tongue-in-cheek witticisms or cartoon panels that tickle our funny bones.  It is good when we can laugh at ourselves.  And, Lord, we can even laugh at cartoons that somehow tie back to some of your biblical stories.
So, Lord, may we begin today being more willing to laugh at ourselves and to see the humor in situations and to decide to bring more joy into our conversations.  There are many things today we will have to seriously face, but there will also be times when a bit of joviality will help.  As the song says, "A spoonful of sugar makes the medicine go down"!.  Let us laugh - a lot!
In Jesus name, Amen

A Prayer for the Headlines, Friday, January 28

Good Morning, God
Lord, all of this terrorism stuff around the world is getting old!  How long will it be before those plotting to be terrorists realize that it is a futile effort to try to change things by blowing up one's self and innocent people?  Terrorists are simply selfish people wanting only for themselves.  People who are left, people who are in power, governments that make laws and care about protecting life, liberty and happiness, work all the harder to combat terrorism before it happens and put barriers in place to ferret out terrorist cells and block the person carrying the bomb.
Lord, many terrorists claim that their religion advocates and rewards being a suicide bomber.  Many terrorists believe that if people don't believe like they believe, that those people deserve to be targeted and killed.
Heavenly Father, we are blessed to be known and loved by you and that your sacrifice was your own son so that we might live and have life!  And, Lord, we remember  that we also can have no greater love that to give up our own rights, privileges, even our life, so that others may live and have life and abundance.
In Jesus name, Amen

A Prayer for the Headlines, Wednesday, January 26

Good Morning, God,
We come to you this morning praying for discernment, wisdom and good decisions in the days and weeks ahead. We have heard our President's "State of the Union" address. We have heard the official and unofficial responses to the speech...from both sides. Now, we the people, are mulling things over over coffee this morning and will chew on things over lunch and dinner the rest of the day.
Gracious God, we pray that as agendas are formed for "Winning the Future," we will act in ways that will, first of all, be pleaseing to you and honor you for giving us all we have in the first place. Then, we pray that what we do will honor each other, that we won't put undue burdens on some of us while letting others of us live free of obligations. Your desire for us, Loving God, is for us to live righteously - "God-rightly" - in all we do.
And, we do well when we remember to turn to you each day, humbling ourselves in prayer before you each day, asking your forgiveness for our short-comings each day, and turning away from the things you don't like each day, that you will then bless us and our land. May we do our part "each day."
In Jesus' name, Amen.

Prayers for the Headlines, Monday, January 24, 2011

Good Morning, God
Lord, you see them, just as some of us see them, walking along the highway with their dogs.  Doesn't seem to matter how cold or hot it is, either, there is the man and the woman and the two dogs.  Most often, the man and the woman are carrying something that looks like it was just bought from one of the stores along the way.  Rain, snow or shine, it seems that this couple is always out for their walk and purchases.
Lord, this couple will probably never be in the headlines as such, but only in this headline prayer.  Lord this couple may be like many others around town - taking daily strolls, buying just what they can carry home, sharing life with the beloved pets, sharing life with each other, sharing life with anybody with whom they come in contact.
Heavenly Father, how blessed are we when we can share life with someone - a store clerk, a partner, good neighbors, fellow coffee drinkers, those who gather to do some community service.  Lord, bless all of us each day who travel life's highways and byways, keep us safe and give us someone or something to love and share life with.
In Jesus name, Amen

Prayers for the Headlines, Friday, January 21, 2011

Good Morning, God
Lord, the resident in the nursing home repeated her words three times in that forty-five minutes again the other Sunday.  She said "God answers prayers in the morning, God answers prayers in the afternoon, God answers prayers in the evening, so keep your heart in tune".  She also tells that she gave her heart to you at the age of fourteen, and "guess how old I am now?"  Yes, Lord, she is still 94!
Lord, thank you for the way you often let our brains think about and remember such things that keep us from dwelling on the difficult parts of our life.  Thank you for memories of you that span even 80 years or more.  Thank you for giving us such faith that we can see beyond sound and sight to the places where we feel safe in believing and saying "in life and in death I belong to God".  Heavenly Father, always care especially for the widows and widowers, the cared-for and the care-givers, and those who are near to your heart and those who are afar off.
In Jesus name, Amen.

A Prayer for the Headlines for Wednesday, January 19

Good Morning, God,
Lord, we sometimes call Wednesdays "hump day" because once we're finished with Wednesdays we're "over the hump" for the work week and can look forward to the soon-coming weekend.
This may be true and helpful for our minds to think, but there is the getting over other humps for which we can give thanks today. We can give thanks that Gabrielle Giffords is over the hump in her healing from her gunshot wound in the head down in Arizona. We can give you thanks that once again we have been able to make it over the hump of the Martin Luther King, Jr., recognition day without violence, but with respect and thoughtful consideration. We can give you thanks that we don't have the same humps to get over as the Tunisians, the Iraqi's, the Haitians and others around the world, who daily face the devastation from wars, weather and poverty.
Loving Lord, we give you thanks for all the times you have helped us over our humps, and may the humps we still face be made small.
In Jesus' name, Amen.

Prayers for the Headlines, Monday, January 17, 2011

Good Morning, God
Lord, we often quote what we call "The Golden Rule" down here.  It may even still be on our school room walls, although it may not be there since the golden Rule is a New Testament Bible verse.  But in our best times of trying to get along with each other, we remember to say "Let me do unto others as I would have others do unto me".  Lord, help me, give me the strength and honor to see that other person and treat him or her as if I was looking in the mirror.
But here's another thought, Lord.  What if the way we want to be treated is not the way someone else would like to be treated?  What if that other person loved quiet solitude rather than a boisterous party for handling the blues?  So, what if we didn't treat the other person in ways we wouldn't want to be treated?  We don't want to be discriminated against due to one or more of our traits.  We don't want to be ostracized from a group just because we believe differently.  We always hope that we can live lovingly, pursuing life, liberty and happiness and pray that no one will try to take these things from us.  So, may we not treat others like we hope to not be treated.  An interesting twist, eh Lord?
In Jesus name, Amen

Prayers for the Headlines, Friday, January 14, 2011

Good Morning, God
Lord, January is a month of new beginnings for many of us.  We usually run our personal lives on a "calendar year".  Our businesses probably are on a calendar "fiscal year".  Even for the "business end" of our churches, we most often operate on a secular calendar year.
However, Lord, churches also have another calendar called "The Liturgical Calendar".  On  this calendar are placed all of the days we remember and celebrate in the life of Jesus Christ.  Our most recent celebrations have been for the coming of Jesus; Christmas when we celebrate Jesus' birth; Epiphany, when the "Wisemen from the East" revealed who Jesus was as King, Priest and Sacrifice with their gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh; and last Sunday when we celebrated your Son's baptism, Lord.
Now, in the short weeks ahead we will remember Jesus beginning and carrying out his ministry among us, until we once again celebrate Jesus' crucifixion, resurrection and return to you in his ascension.  Lord, we live under two calendars: the secular and the sacred.  May we use both to their fullest.
In Jesus name, Amen

A Prayer for the Headlines, Wednesday, January 12

Good Morning, God,
Lord, the conversations are still about the headlines of the weekend - the acts of violence that happened in Tucson, Arizona. All of us, from coffee drinkers at Hardy's, McDonald's, Dairy Queen, Headquarters, Denney's, to name just a few places, as well as us at our places of work and home, are talking about the actions, trying to make sense of things, trying to find outlets for our outrage, trying to manage our anger. Lord, haven't you observed many of us acting a bit out of character ourselves these past few days, because we believe that what happened is atrocious, but we feel powerless to do anything about it? so, we kibitz about it around our coffee conversations.
However, you do for sure hear our prayers. Please, Lord, restore Gabrielle Gifford and all of the other wounded to full health. Please, Lord, comfort the grieving who have lost loved ones. And, please, please, Lord, keep all of our conversations away from casting blame on politics, but turn our conversations toward compassion, concern, and love for outcomes of peace, health and safety for all alike.
In Jesus' name, Amen.

Prayers for the Headlines, Monday, January 10, 2011

Good Morning, God
The headlines showed a little girl scavenging for food on a cold, snowy winter day.  Even though this was in Afghanistan, Lord, it is a plight that children face around the world and even in our own country.  Oh, we don't talk about it so openly here, because we don't want to be thought of as folks who don't watch out for our children, but the facts are in front of us.
All we have to do is watch our children going into a school building - they may or may not have their hair clean and brushed.  They may or may not have on long pants, or at least leggings.  They may or may not have on a heavier dress, rather than one more suited for spring or summer.  That child may or may not have on a snugly-warm coat, rather than a thin one or even just a sweater.  That child may not have a fire in the furnace of his or her body, because he or she had to leave home without breakfast.  Heavenly Father, who gives us children, may we take very good care of each little, young live in our charge.
In Jesus name, Amen

Prayers for the Headlines, Friday, January 7, 2011

Good Morning, God
The headlines have spoken about history and an historian around Dubois County.  The historian is a valuable person who keeps track of where we have been as people and as a community.  Hopefully, we will always build on an historical past, growing from it and building a better tomorrow.
Lord, a little poem from a movie gets it right when it says "Yesterday is history; tomorrow is a mystery; today is a gift", that is why it is called "the present."
So, Lord, the question is how will we use our gifts of the present?  Will we put it away, because we don't like the gift?  Would we just as soon "todays' would not come?  Will we use our gift to its fullest potential?  Will we run out of the present each day, because we love all that life has to offer?  Will we use the gift you give us of each day to learn more, listen more and love more - and share these gifts of the present?  May this be our choice.
In Jesus name, Amen

A Prayer for the Headlines, Wednesday, January 5

Good Morning, God,
We have an old saying among us, Lord, that goes, "If you keep doing what you're doing, you'll keep getting what you've got." So many of us, Lord, have done so many things the same way for so many years that we believe that this is the only way to do things. Not only this, but we don't even want to think about change because we believe that we are always right doing things the way we do them.
Heavenly Father, you are the God of "newness." Most importantly, your love is fresh and new every day. When we awaken from our refreshing sleep, our prayer may be, "I thank you, O Lord, for your care of me through the night. Now, guide and direct me this day and keep me in your loving care always; in Jesus' name, Amen.
And, you promise, Lord, that when we pray a prayer in Jesus' name, you will hear it from heaven. So, Lord, may you help us to see each day as an opportunity to change to your will, living our life in your way, and we pray this. . . In Jesus' name, Amen.

A Prayer for the Headlines for Monday, January 3

Good Morning, God,
As we begin work on this first day of the first week of 2011, we pray for the men and women who boss, supervise and guide us. We are grateful for their faith in us to get the job done well. We pray thanksgiving for our customers who use our services and buy our products. We pray we that we may satisfy their needs throughout this year.
As we begin this first day of the first week of 2011, we pray for a new prosperity - First, a prosperity of kindness between every person, then a prosperity of love in each family, then a prosperity of caring for each person who is lost, lonely, or ill. We pray for a prosperity of joy in each of our lives that gladdens our heart and soothes our mind.
We pray for a prosperity of love, Lord, a prosperity that sees us through hate to forgiveness, through sin to goodness, and through death to life and love everlasting.
Lord, may your prosperity that exceeds even the value of precious jewels and all things natural, fill our lives this good new year, a year in which you can make all things new.
In Jesus' name, Amen.