Prayer Request from Our Youth Leaders

Please pray for the youth of our church. We are blessed to have a great group of kids, and we pray that they will always find a place of acceptance at our church, that God's love can be witnessed here, and that we provide programs and activities that will help them grow spiritually and teach them the importance of compassion for all people and service to God and others.

Please pray that God will guide, inspire and equip the youth leaders for this ministry so that they may provide a loving, accepting environment for the youth, be a source of support for them when they have a problem and help provide them with activities and experiences that teach the value of respecting and serving others and being faithful to God in all that they do.

A Prayer for Johnson Memorial

A prayer for Johnson Memorial United Methodist Church

Heavenly Father, in the quiet of this room, I call to you. May your spirit bless our time together. I celebrate your presence in our church. You are in each room; your spirit strengthens and guides us.

• In your Sanctuary, I can feel you breathe as you move through our worship. May our praise, confession and offerings be pleasing in your sight.
  
• In your Chapel, your soundless footsteps are heard in early worship and in committee meetings. I pray that your footprints lead our steps.
  
• In your Sunday school rooms, I can hear you in the laughter of children, in the fellowship of adults, and in the moments of discovery as we come to understand your Word. May those moments be numerous and may they be used for your glory.
  
• In your Social Hall, I can feel your love in the fellowship. I can taste your generosity in the food which is shared, and I can hear your Word in song and worship. May all that is in me know You.
  
• In your offices, I can see your presence as the staff works to make your Way known to all of us, your children. May they be strengthened by your guidance and love, and may we be a generous and loving congregation, open to the work of our pastors and supportive of their efforts.

May we meet you in the hallways and on the steps, in the bell tower and in the furnace room. I pray that no where in this building will we be able to hide from you. Fill your building with your spirit so that we, your children, are overwhelmed by it. May there be so much love and grace inside these walls that it overflows, bursts it seams, and showers our community with your blessings.

I pray that you will make known to each of us our talents so that we may in turn, with your guidance, transform them into gifts, given back to you in abundance.

Forgive our doubts, heavenly Father. Forgive our short-sightedness, our selfishness and our greed. Replace our heavy hearts with hope, our crushed spirits with praise, and our self-doubt with the gift of your grace.

It is with gratitude that I come to you in this time of quiet. I am grateful for all that you are and for all that you do. I am grateful, Lord, for your presence.

It is with the confidence of the disciples that I lift my voice to you in prayer, and ask that your will be done in your church. All of this I pray in the name of your son and my savior, Jesus Christ.

Amen.

Saint Patrick's Breastplate

I bind unto myself today the strong Name of the Trinity, by invocation of the same, the Three in One, and One in Three. Of whom all nature hath creation, eternal Father, Spirit, Word: praise to the Lord of my salvation, salvation is of Christ the Lord.

Christ be with me, Christ within me, Christ behind me, Christ before me, Christ beside me, Christ to win me, Christ to comfort and restore me. Christ beneath me, Christ above me, Christ in quiet, Christ in danger, Christ in hearts of all that love me, Christ in mouth of friend and stranger.

I bind unto myself today the strong Name of the Trinity, by invocation of the same, the Three in One, and One in Three. I bind this day to me for ever, by power of faith, Christ’s Incarnation; his baptism in Jordan river; his death on cross for my salvation; his bursting from the spicèd tomb; his riding up the heavenly way; his coming at the day of doom: I bind unto myself today.

I bind unto myself the power of the great love of cherubim; the sweet "Well done" in judgment hour; the service of the seraphim; confessors’ faith, apostles’ word, the patriarchs’ prayers, the prophets’ scrolls; all good deeds done unto the Lord, and purity of virgin souls.

I bind unto myself today the virtues of the starlit heaven, the glorious sun’s life-giving ray, the whiteness of the moon at even, the flashing of the lightning free, the whirling of the wind’s tempestuous shocks, the stable earth, the deep salt sea, around the old eternal rocks.

I bind unto myself today the power of God to hold and lead, his eye to watch, his might to stay, his ear to hearken, to my need; the wisdom of my God to teach, his hand to guide, his shield to ward; the word of God to give me speech, his heavenly host to be my guard.

Words: attributed to St. Patrick (372-466)translated by Cecil Frances Alexander, 1889

Psalms to use as Prayers

Psalm 8
Psalm 23
Psalm 95
Psalm 96
Psalm 98
Psalm 100
Psalm 103
Psalm 121
Psalm 131
Psalm 139
Psalm 148
Psalm 150

What is a prayer host?

If you are looking for information concerning how to do a prayer vigil, this might be helpful. We used prayer hosts for our vigil. A prayer host is someone who would volunteer to be at the church during its open hours (Friday, 3pm to 9pm and Saturday, 7am to 9pm). I described the prayer host position to the volunteers as follows:

• To make sure that the person who is praying at the church can get into the building.
  
• Be a presence in the building, so that the prayer person doesn't feel alone (the church is creepy when you are in it by yourself).
  
• Be a silent, unobstrusive presence. In other words, (how do I say this nicely?) leave the participant alone. This hour is for the praying volunteer to have alone with his/her God.
  
• If it is dark, you may want to offer to walk the partipant to her car.

I had snack foods available for the hosts in the kitchen off the parlor. Each person could volunteer to serve any amount of time he/she liked and could sign up to pray during his/her hosting time.

Once the prayer vigil schedule was complete, I was able to tell the hosts who, if anyone, would be at the church for his/her shift. If no one is planned to be in the church praying, then the host could go home.

The cross

A cross was constructed for each prayer vigil participant. Directions for constructing the crosses (and a photograph) is found in the next post.

Our United Methodist Men (UMM) received kits to make the crosses. Each kit contained the nails, wire and directions for assembly. Once the man had made the cross, he said a prayer as he held the cross.

The crosses were then returned to the church at a UMM breakfast. At the breakfast, the men prayed over the crosses together, dedicating them to God.

Once we knew who was participating in the vigil, a name was assigned to each cross. The crosses were then distributed to a prayer team. Each cross was held by a member of the team, and a pray was sent to God, using the name of the intended recipient of the cross.

A cross and a card describing its prayer journey was included in each partipant's packet.