Prayers of the People we prayed in church today

I pray that you truly experience the prayers below in their fullest. We prayed them in church today and I was moved with the depth of who each of us is, what we are to be, and how our Lord moves through us for His glory...

PRAYER
God of all that is good, in this season of Pentecost You fill us with Your Holy Spirit. In scripture You give us Your vision for the world. In love You give us Your grace. In wisdom You give us each other. We are Your presence, Your power and Your body in the world. For this we give You thanks and, as one body, offer ourselves and each other we pray.

Holy Spirit of community...
RESPONSE
Bless Your holy people

PRAYER
We praise You for the possibilities that come from Your imagination, and for the gifts that we offer to fulfill the vision of ministry and mission You set before us. We pray for all who minister in the church.

Holy Spirit of servanthood...
RESPONSE
Bless our mission

PRAYER
We pray that we may see the sacred in our everyday lives, believing with our brothers and sisters in faith that we can make a difference through You.

Holy Spirit of life...
RESPONSE
We remember the promises made at our baptism.

PRAYER
We prayer for the world around us. For other nations and people far away. For their hopes and fears, and for those who weep and those who dance in every part of the world.

Holy Spirit of diversity...
RESPONSE
Open our hearts to both strangers and friends.

PRAYER
We also pray for our own nation, that we may learn Your vision of freedom, and that our privilege be blessed in how we use it to benefit those around us.

Holy Spirit who works in everything...
RESPONSE
Open our eyes to Your compassion.

PRAYER
We pray for the courage to learn the names of those around us, to honor the beauty of their gifts, as well as the urgency of their needs, and that we may boldly speak the truth in love to our neighbors.

Holy Spirit who makes power of powerlessness...
RESPONSE
Make us channels of justice and peace.

PRAYER
We pray for those who suffer and for the gift of being companions with them. Bless those in our midst who are tired or hurting, and those who trust us to pray for them.

Holy Spirit who comforts us...
RESPONSE
Open our hearts to know the healing power of Your love.

PRAYER
We pray for those who have died, that we may know the presence of the cloud of witnesses around us. Bless those who mourn and those who, in their grief, know the sure and certain promise of eternal life in You.

Holy Spirit of forever and from before time...
RESPONSE
We praise You for the wonder of eternal life!

Commandment...

What rolls through your mind when you think of the word "Commandment?" Most of us, including myself conjure up negative thoughts in regard to this word.

I would never say to my husband, or an employee, or even my children "I command you to ________ _________ (you fill in the blank(s)). Out of respect for one another we do not "Lord" over people in this way.

As I read the following Scripture passage:
A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another, even as I have loved you, that you also love one another.
John 13:34

When I read this this evening I began to contemplate this passage in a way that I really never have before. We are given so many lessons through out the Bible that teach us about righteousness, fairness, wisdom, and love. Obviously, back then, as well as today, each of us want to be respected, to be loved purely and to be loved deeply.

We don't really see Christ command that many things through out the Bible. But here in this passage we are given a command. We are not being told to think about behaving this way, or to consider another way to live. We are being commanded! This commandment is THE ANSWER to all man kind! Mystery solved.

So why is it that we do not talk about this COMMANDMENT? Is it because of the fact that it has the word "commandment" in it? Do we allow the word to be taken out of context, thereby becoming an offensive word? Thereby not teaching the value of this commandment? Oh gosh, if we could just live into this commandment can you imagine what a beautiful planet of love we would have! But because we find the word offensive we pretend, or think that we have other options on how to treat another? I am guilty myself, and that is the struggle. That is why we have such misunderstanding running amok in our society. If we as a human race were to accept this commandment without question, can you imagine how our world would be? How our lives would be?

Let each of us meditate on the fact that this is honestly not an option, but a commandment. Let us allow the transformative Holy Spirit cause each of us to live into this commandment and change our little corner of the world bit by bit.