The Noontimes

Good and gentle Jesus,

Help us to speak your truth openly in kindness.

Guide us to be honest without damaging others.

Lead us in your way of confronting hypocrisy with honesty rather than anger.

Keep us always in the way of your holy integrity.

Be with us always as we walk in your light.

We ask this in your name.

Amen.

Just, yet merciful God who sees and knows all, we return our lives to you.

We, who have been created by your hand, turn back to you all that we have managed to enact in our lives in your name.

We, who have known the protection of your power, fly home to live in you.

We, who have been saved by your love, gather all that we are as booty to be taken in by you.

In your mercy, guide us. In your kindness, guard us. And in your great love, give us the hope, the grace and the endurance we will need to live in joyful hope for you.

We ask this in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Generous and gracious Spirit of God,

Remind us that you give us the gift of life.

Guide us in living that life in gratitude to you.

Lead us in the life of charity that Jesus shows us; lead us in the life of love to which the Spirit calls us.

Bring us to your eternal goodness.

Grant us the courage and fortitude to forswear vengeance even when we are urged on by friends.

Keep us ever in your heart and mind.

We ask this in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Wise and saving God,

your plans for us are too vast and too complex for us to understand and so we stand before you – humbly – returning to you after having gone off on our own.

We listen, we watch, and wait for your word.

We seek your understanding and we yearn for our completion in you.

We witness as we watch and wait.

Allow us to feel and acknowledge your presence and power in our lives.

Continue to call us and to forgive us, your loyal and faithful servants.

Remain in covenant with us, and keep us in covenant with all humankind, even as Jesus does.

We ask this in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Bright and beautiful God, you are so patient with us as we flutter in your hands, wanting to be near you yet insisting on our independence.

Good and gracious God, you are so merciful in your forgiveness, allowing us to find our way, never leaving our side and always welcoming us home.

Perfect and holy God, you give us the gift of life, and you call us to discover our present as the fusion of our past and future.

Help us to see that all time is yours . . . and that the most important moment is now.

Guide us to live and act in you alone.

We ask this in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Good, and honest God, abide with us and strengthen us.

Keep us close to you.

Remove our deepest fears, bolster us with your certainty, and bring us into a place where the cares of our daily struggle will not overwhelm us.

You promise us your eternal happiness.

Keep us mindful of you just as you are mindful of us.

Show us your authority.

Guide us away from the leaven and keep us from the puffing up in pride.

Lead us in the practice of your “new teaching”.

Protect us with your loving care.

Bring us peace in you alone.

We ask this in Jesus’ name.

Amen.