We are accustomed to the words and language we use. We don't think about the language, grammar, spelling, pronunciation  or even how fast or slow we speak. And yet, the mother tongue is at the heart of everything we think or say. It even shapes the way we grow. Some scientists have said that learning to crawl teaches a child to move the eyes from left to right as she places one hand in front of the other. This is important in learning to read. Still others have suggested that language is actually genetic and that one of the differences between humans and other species is that we have this innate ability to use words.

We do it so well and so often, we take words for granted. Even words we use about God. Perhaps it would be wise to occasionally think about how we speak about God, and how maybe the language used in the 16th century might need a little changing.

Let us Pray...

O God, you spoke in words of Hebrew, Greek and Latin to saints of old. You spoke to the disciple struggling to be faithful in a world of change. You spoke in the high mass of the Roman catholic church and you spoke to the first reformers in Geneva. You spoke in the great words of the King James Bible to our parents and grandparents. With all the words spoken in the past help us rediscover the Word you speak to us today.                                                                                            Amen.

The Words we use

We are accustomed to our daily use of words and language. We don't think about the  grammar, spelling, pronunciation  or how fast or slow we speak. And yet, the mother  tongue is at the heart of everything we think or say. It even shapes the way we grow. Some scientists have said that learning to crawl teaches a child to move the eyes from left to right as she places one hand in front of the other. (However, I must confess, if that's true, I am clueless how Chinese babies learn to read.) Still others have suggested that language is genetic and that one of the differences between humans and other species is that we have this innate ability to create and use words.

We do it so well and so often, we take them for granted. Even the words we use about God. Perhaps it would be wise to occasionally think about how we speak about God, and how maybe the language used in the 16th century might need a little changing.

Let us Pray...

O God, you spoke in words of Hebrew, Greek and Latin to saints of old. You spoke to the disciple struggling to be faithful in a world of change. You spoke in the high mass of the Roman catholic church and you spoke to the first reformers in Geneva. You spoke in the great words of the King James Bible to our parents and grandparents. With all the words spoken in the past help us rediscover the Word you speak to us today.  Amen.

Its Your Birthday

One thing we all have in common is a birthday. There are lots of different traditions we have to celebrate a birthday including a birthday cake with candles, singing Happy Birthday, buying that special present he wants or, if your like me, make a last minute run to the bookstore to get a present for the party.
Today is my sister's birthday. My wife baked a cake, I am going to make a run to the store before the party, and I  imagine we will embarrass her by getting the restaurant staff to sing her a birthday song.
So here is a birthday prayer for her and all the birthday boys and girls. For what can be a greater gift than God's gift of new birth.

Let us Pray

O God who made the oceans swell and the mountains rise, you bring each of us into this world to live, love and laugh. We give thanks for our birthday girl (boy) and rejoice in all the good gifts we see in her. We ask your blessings upon her as she ages with hope and joy. Bless her with health, prosperity and love, especially from us, the ones who love her the most. May her days be filled with joy and her nights find peace and rest. May your Spirit bring wisdom as she ages, and may her years be marked by the ability to overcome the obstacles and challenges that life brings her.

We pray these things as her friends and family. Amen.

A prayer for saying "Good Night"

My wife and I have been talking about how difficult it is to get children to go to sleep. Children, and lots of adults, don't have the knack of turning off all the problems, excitements and memories of the day. A nighttime bath, reading a book and saying a prayer are rituals that help us get ready for sleep.

A prayer is a ritual that a child can experience with the ones she loves.This ritual can include movement by making up body gestures for each line; it can include posture such as a traditional one like kneeling and folded hands; or it can include a sign of love, such as holding the child, or touching the child's forehead while you pray for her. If you choose to end the prayer with a traditional "amen" add something of your own to it that you will repeat every night.

Most important of all, praying for a child in the evening is an intimate time between you and her. Make this time your own by creating your own movements, postures, words and gestures.

Remember, if you want to teach your children to pray, the best way is to show them that your prayer time is important to you. After all, "Monkey see, Monkey do." They will imitate what they see you do.

Replace the words in brackets with the best description of your own child: babe, boy, girl, child, etc.

Now I lay my [babe] to sleep,

Give rest to [her] that's good and deep.

Chase the fears of dark away

And bless [her] now, O Lord I pray.

Till morning brings a brand new day,

Let angels watch [her] where [she] lay.

Love and peace shield you,

Now and forever, my love.

This prayer appeared in my first book, Prayers 2 Pray.

A prayer for Peace in Politics

It's nearly a year and a half until the next election, yet the passion, the name-calling, the accusations and campaigning for the November 2012 elections has already begun. Every election there seems to be a higher level of vitriol that should be reached in order to beat the incumbent, and this year seems to top them all. Perhaps there is something about the American psyche that thrives on superlatives and name calling.
What's even more disturbing is that many of Jesus' followers are involved in this orgy of hate on television. Why is it that people, and even more importantly, disciples of the Prince of Peace are so anxious to sling words that are filled with anger? Are there limits to what can or should be said by politicians?
Maybe that should be the litmus test we Christians should apply to our political leaders. Let us judge them not by whether we agree or disagree with them, or whether they voted up or down on a particular bill, but on the violence in their words.
James 3 says, "the tongue is a fire... It corrupts the whole person, sets the whole course of her life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell."
Is this what we want in our leaders?


Let us pray.
O God of peace, our words can bring healing waters or they can start a fire to burn the world. Give us ears to know the difference and how to speak with peace. Teach us ways to calm our passions that they may be guided with love and hope. Help us to listen to the news and find peace and hope. Lead us away from those who would tempt us into violence or anger. The freedoms we enjoy can not be built on accusations, lies or deceit but on peace and hope. Give wisdom to see behind motives of greed, power and ego so that all your children will find peace and hope. Amen.

When God Disappoints

Instead of answering many of life's questions, I'm afraid that Mr. Camping's end of the world scenario raises one very large question: What do you do when God disappoints? We are all too aware that disappointments frequently happen in any relationship. We chalk it up to forgetfulness, apathy, sin or just a bad day. But what do you do when the offensive one is the Almighty? Church dogma teaches that God doesn't make mistakes, never forgets, has our best interest at heart and is perfect. But there are times, particularly when things just don't go right and there is no one else to blame but God. Can we blame God? Does God ever disappoint?


Theologians have been wrestling with this issue for centuries. There is even a special word for it: Theodicy, or to borrow Rabbi Kushner's great title, When Bad Things Happen to Good People. I'm sure we have all come up with theories about why God allows war, why the Tsunami devastated Japan or why there is cancer. We have been taught to accept that there is a mystery in life, and that God's ways are above us, we can't understand them, or perhaps in time, or after the world ends, we will see the whole picture and understand. But when the illness is in my family, when the death happens in my house, when a car accident takes the life of my child, then I know that there is something wrong. God has disappointed me. The tragic thing about the Christian faith is that to share this incredibly important feeling can be interpreted as a sign of weakness or a flaw.


It may seem obvious to most that the failure for God to bring the end of the world this Saturday will not be a fault of God, but of one man's poor theology. And when one man's misguided theology fails to deliver the goods, what will these people who have sold their homes, left their jobs, forsaken mortgages and families do? I fear for them. These are the ones we must pray for.


Oh God of truth, the Gospel of Matthew reminds us not to believe any who says, "There is the Messiah...." Yet, many are deluded and shamed by their folly. We pray that they would be embraced by hope and love. Like every other son or daughter of Adam, we all face trials, failures, deceit or shame. Help those who find disappointment to discover that even though things do not make sense, even when there is doubt, love and goodness still prevail. Let your Spirit of wisdom move around the world reclaiming those who have put their faith in a false hope so they might return and discover that the Kingdom of God is already here in the precious gift we have received in Jesus the Christ and our Lord. Amen.

Praying for the end of the world

With all the media hype circling around the end of the world this weekend, I can't think of any scripture that says Jesus' return and the end of the world are causes for rejoicing. Certainly there is rejoicing for those who suffered in martyrdom, death or oppression and  find relief in the coming Kingdom of God, but Jesus doesn't give us any real reason to look forward to the end of time. Sure, everyone gets to go to heaven, but I get that anyway after I die. No, Jesus doesn't tell his brothers and sisters to pray for the end, he tells them to pray that they might be saved through the horrible time that is coming.

That's what confuses me about believers who seem to want the world to end. They are spinning the Bible in a different way than Jesus, Paul or the Gospel writers ever imagined. The Bible speaks of the apocalypse in terms of blood, violence, despair: all the things that make up a good Showtime television season. It's almost like these end-time believers want the end of time because they get to watch all those scoffers suffer from the clouds.

Hmmmm, instead of watching a violent, bloody, gory show from the comfort of my couch, I could be a believer and watch it from a cloudy throne. Now there's a reality show for you.

I think the prayer of the day should be for those who will be disappointed on Sunday. I wonder if they will go to church the morning after the Messiah doesn't come. After all, the Apostle Paul said that Jesus would return. in his life time. Apparently, believers kept going back to church even though, Jesus didn't come the way they expected. Maybe Paul's church wasn't disappointed because they knew there was something more important than the end of time.

Let us Pray
O God, you say you will come as a thief in the night. We do not know when you will approach or how you will enter our lives. We always expect you, yet your Spirit appears in the most simple and mundane things. Help us to not get excited by a newsflash or rumours flashing across the internet. Help us open the doors that allow your Spirit to come into the lives of people who truly need you. Make us aware of those who are in despair or know grief and sadness too intimately. Use our hands and our words to enter into this world again and again and again every day. Amen.