prayers – Wandering and Wondering

Prayers for a Graduation

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As we edge toward many a graduation, I thought you might appreciate some graduation prayers.

Here is an invocation and benediction that I will be offering this year:

Invocation

Holy Divine One, whom we know by many names,

Today we gather to celebrate the accomplishments of the outgoing class of 2026. We honor the years of work that have gone into reaching this mark and give thanks for the family, teachers, friends, coaches, mentors, and staff that have supported them on their way. As we watch them each receive their diplomas and move their tassels from the right to the left, we ask that you bless each one of them. May they know their own belovedness and potential. Let us with glad hearts recognize and praise these accomplished young adults on this auspicious day of graduation. AMEN

Benediction

As our time concludes here today, and each of you graduates head out onto new adventures, receive this blessing:

May the culmination of your time at [insert school name] be not the end of your [school name] story, but the grounding from which you will continue to develop and grow.

May the ideas and ideals that you’ve learned here provide you with the foundational tools that you need for tomorrow.

May you continue to thrive and grow, recognizing evermore your role and responsibilities in an interdependent world.

May you each be brave enough to imagine and live into a world where all have what they need and where all care for each other and the world itself.

May God bless you and keep you.

Go with the blessing of God upon you, now and forevermore.

Here is what I offered last year:

Invocation

God of the heavens and the earth and all there within and without,
We gather here on this day to celebrate the lives of these students who are graduating today.
As we hear of their accomplishments and watch them receive their diplomas, we ask you to bless them. Bless them as they begin their journey into an even wider world. Bless their family and friends who have supported them along this journey. Bless this place and this day.
May your Holy Spirit be a gentle prescence throughout this ceremony this morning. AMEN

Benediction

As we go from this place
and you, newly graduated, begin to explore the next chapter of your life,
May you remember your time here at [school name] and in [town name] fondly.
May it give you the strength and fortitude to stand up for what is right and good.
May it offer you the wisdom to lean in with curiosity
and the ingenuity and creativity to build bridges of connection.
May you live into the character that you developed here
always looking out for
and standing up for
those who are in need.
Go with the blessings of God upon you
and be the change you hope to see in the world.
Peace be with you.
God bless.

And here is what I offered in my first year here. This was one of my very first acts in my newest setting:

Invocation

Holy God, who is known by many names,
as we gather here to celebrate the accomplishments of these students,
we ask for your blessings.
May our time together be rich with meaning.
May we listen intently with open ears and open hearts that we might notice stories of courage, perseverance, creativity and kindness.
May we recognize each individual and also the community which has surrounded and supported them.
Through our time together today,
may we be filled with hope for the future
and be inspired to go back into the world bringing with us all the goodness we witness and partake in today. AMEN

Benediction

As we end our time together today, I ask for God’s blessing upon all the students, their families and friends, the teachers and staff of Brewster Academy, and the wider supporting community of this institution.

May the grace of the Holy One be upon you all.

May the Spirit lead you out into the world and encourage you to be bold.

May you not shrink back from the enormity of the troubles of this world

but instead be empowered to know that you are just what the world needs in this time.

May you be courageous and creative in developing your dreams.

May you be kind and compassionate in all of your interactions.

May you find mentors who will continue to press you in your pursuits and others who will share in your passions.

May you continue to learn and create, daring to share your full self with this world,

and may the world receive your gifts with joy and appreciation.

Go with God’s blessings creating love, peace and justice wherever you go.

And may we all trust that the world will be better place because you all are in it. AMEN

Traveling mercies upon you all.

One thing that I found helpful in writing these was reviewing the school’s website to search out their mission and vision for their students and looking for other values that the school held up as important.

NOTE: All rights are reserved for these prayers. Permission is given for use in educational or religious setting with citation.

A Flexible Liturgy

Call to Worship – based on Psalm 19

Pastor: The law of the Lord is perfect;

People: it revives the soul.

Pastor: The decrees of the Lord are sure;

People: making the wise simple.

Pastor: The precepts of the Lord are right.

People: We rejoice in our hearts the ways of God.

Pastor: God’s ways are more precious than gold.

People: They are sweeter than honey dripping fresh from the honeycomb.

Invocation

Holy one, we seek to know you. Enlighten our eyes. Give hunger to our souls. Teach us and show us your ways. Let not just the words of your mouth and the meditations of our heart be acceptable to you, but let all that we do bring you honor and praise. Amen

Unison Prayer of Transformation

God of tangles and frayed edges, we lay ourselves before your seeking healing and wholeness. Patiently untangle our life. Hem our edges and mend the tears. See the beauty in our disarray and weave us even more fully into the wonder and beauty you imagined. Remind us that we are created by your hand and that your acts of creation do not end at our birth. Continue to act on us and in us. Let us become the masterpieces you imagine. AMEN

Assurance of Love

Pastor: God is always working on you, with you, and in you. You are a masterpiece in the making and you are beloved just as you are. Both are true. May you feel the love of God constantly around you, guiding you, sustaining you, and celebrating you.

Pastoral Prayer

Holy God,

Your children are crying. Hear their pain. Be attentive to their suffering. Recognize their fears. Hold them in their anxiety.

Search each person’ heart for that which they are holding onto.

Today, we hold all of humanity. We hold the young and the old and everyone in between. We hold those that live next door, those that live on the other side of the world and everyone in between. We pray for the care of all. We pray for their needs to be met. We pray for not only their survival but for their flourishing.

May warfare be quelled.

May food be plentiful.

May education be available.

May water be clean and the air fresh.

May kindness and compassion, love and care, infuse all.

We pray this for all;

And we pray specifically today for . . .

We pray all of this in the name of your son, Jesus Christ, who taught us to pray together saying . . .

Lord’s Prayer

Prayer of Illumination

Holy and Gracious God,

You have gifted us with language. You gave us letters that we could combine to make words. Words that we could combine to make sentences. Sentences that we can put together to tell stories. Stories which get built up and retold to create our culture. As we hear our story today, let us hear at all levels. What did this story mean? What might it mean now? What can it mean in the future? Bless our hearing. Bless our understanding. AMEN

Prayer of Dedication

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you, Adonai. You have poured on us abundant blessings. We recognize that what we return is but a portion of what we received. We are so grateful for all that you have done; so receive these gifts as a token of our gratitude and a sign of our appreciation. As we give here in these plates, we give also through our lives. Accept it all with the honor with which it was given. AMEN

Lenten Prayers

Call to Worship (based on Psalm 51 & 103)

Pastor: We come to you, O Lord, imperfect, but hungry.

People: We trust in your steadfast love and take hope in your abundant mercy.

Pastor: We turn to you, O Lord, recognizing that too often we turn away.

People: We trust that indeed you are merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in compassion and lovingkindness.

Pastor: We desire, O Lord, your wisdom in our inmost heart.

People: We open ourselves to you.

Invocation

Creator, Meet us here. Meet us now. Walk with us on our Lenten Journey. Continue to create us and form us in your likeness. Let our very being act as an offering to you. AMEN

Unison Prayer of Blessing for Communion

Holy Spirit, we invite you here into our midst. Bless this bread and this juice that in receiving it, we might know you better. In drinking and eating, we might see more clearly. In being filled, we might also become more hungry. AMEN

Unison Prayer of Thanksgiving for Communion

Unison Prayer of Thanksgiving: (DMA – shared)

Holy One, you accept us as we are. You invite us to your table. You make space for all. Your gracious love astounds us. It humbles us. We pray that we might live lives worthy of your generosity. Receive our thanksgiving and our praise. AMEN

Call to Worship & Invocation

Prlude

Call to Worship (based on Psalm 138 )

L: We give you thanks, O Lord.

P: We give you thanks with our whole heart.

L: We give thanks for your steadfast love.

P: We give thanks for your abiding word.

L: We give thanks for your presence in our lives.

P: We give you thanks.

L: Let us honor the one who is, was, and ever will be.

ALL: AMEN

Invocation

Holy and steadfast God,

You stand beside me each step I take and yet I look past you, over you, and around you. I act as if I am an island floating on the open sea. In our time today, open me to seeing, noticing, and appreciating the many ways you seek to make yourself known and the many ways in which we are interconnected with our siblings and the earth itself. Give me eyes to see and ears to hear your constant and consistent presence. AMEN

Prayer of Illumination

Yesterday, we spoke literally about Illuminating the Word. Today, we are talking about illuminating the word in a more figurative sense; that is, making the reading of the Biblical text more clear and understandable.

I don’t remember growing up with a Prayer of Illumination as part of our liturgy; instead, I was introduced to this prayer when I was working in partnership with two other pastors as part of our joint planning. It was a prayer that Pastor Kathy used regularly in her liturgy and so we all agreed to use it in our planning.

Since then, I have found that this Prayer of Illumination is much like the ancient practice of Illuminating the Word through drawing. It focuses us in and gives proper attention to the importance of text. The Feasting on the Word Worship Companions include such a prayer in their liturgies and you can find them elsewhere as well. I have even used music to invite the congregation into focus before the text is read.

Today, as I continue to write my Lenten / Eastertide liturgies, I was inspired to focus on the Prayers of Illumination because I came by this quote in the book Witness: Lessons from Elie Wiesel’s Classroom by Ariel Burger.

I came to learn that my questions about the disconnect between learning and living had a parallel in Wiesel’s critique of normative education. . . The gap between humanity’s supposed wisdom and the world he lived in troubled him . . . He had many painful questions to ask, but perhaps the one that drove him to become a teacher was this: Why didn’t learning and knowledge inoculate the German people against hatred?
Ariel Burger, Lessons from Elie Wiesel’s Classroom

This made me reflect on the disconnect that is often witnessed in Christians. What we say and proclaim our belief in often varies from our actions. And so I tried to carry this marrying of concept to action as I wrote my Prayers of Illumination today.

Here are several which you are welcome to use with citation:

God, Open our ears. Open our hearts. As your inspired word is spoken, let understanding unfold within us. AMEN

God, Sometimes we trust our eyes and our mind too much. Sometimes we let what we believe we know override what you know to be true. Help us to set down our preconceived perceptions and release our understanding of the world so that your truth may be revealed. Let us release our expectations so that you can show us your way. Let us open our heart and hear today’s sacred text. AMEN

Holy One, as we hear your word read, speak into our hearts. Add in what we particularly need to hear today. Draw our focus not out into a story of old, but in toward our innermost heart. Speak to us, O God. Speak so that we might hear. AMEN

Prepare our hearts, O God. Bring us to attention so that as we hear the scripture read, we do not just hear words spoken but also receive a message from you. Open us to your purpose and calling. AMEN

Author of words divine, In the words we are about to hear reveal yourself. Greet us. Meet us as we hear this story of old. AMEN

God of eternal light, Shine your rays through the words are about to hear. Like a laser, emblazon them upon our heart so that we might ponder them long after the reading has ended. AMEN

God, Etch the words we are about to hear upon my heart. Give me pause to return to them, remember them, and revive them as I have need. Your word is my strength and my guide. AMEN

FOR EASTER – On this most blessed day, O Lord, let us witness to your word. Let us join with the people of the past, the people around the globe, and the people of the future to celebrate the wondrous story of your son’s resurrection. Let our hearts receive the good news so that we may go out into the world and live it out. AMEN

Wondrous One, Wake my heart that it may hear the word about to be read. Let me gather it like a precious woven tapestry so that I may take it out and admire it again and again and again. AMEN

Radiant God, who placed the stars in the night sky and gives them the power to shine, as we hear today’s word read bring them your radiance as well. Let us hear them and know them in ways that bring forth awe, admiration, and a change in our way of being, AMEN

Holy One, Reveal your word to us today. Let us hear your inspired word in the depths of our soul. Let it unfold within us that we may be transformed having heard it. AMEN

God of word and witness, Wake us from our sleepy ways. Shake us from our passivity. Call us to attention. Prepare us to hear your holy word and thus to become part of your living embodied message in the world. AMEN

ASSCENSION SUNDAY – Holy God, As we hear this glorious word, let us not stand and gawk. Let this word move us, propel us, and inspire us. May your inspired word not close us in, but open us up to the needs of this world and the actions that you call us all to. May these words we hear spark our internal fire of compassion, love, and justice. AMEN

Teacher, Abba, Creator, As we prepare to hear your word, let us open our whole selves to the hearing of it. As your word is read, let us not just prepare to store it as a memory, but instead let it flow through us, changing us as it does. Let your word not fade from our memory, but become a part of us and who we are going forward. AMEN

PENTECOST SUNDAY –Holy Spirit, as you alight on our hearts today inscribe the words we are about to hear upon it. Let them not leave us when the reading is complete, but let them continue to form and inform us long after our time today. AMEN

Do you use a Prayer of Illumination in your worship? Do you find such a prayer helpful?

Please feel free to share any that you would like to for others to use below.

Economic Justice Sunday

This Sunday we are holding an Economic Justice Sunday as we kick-off our drive for our mission trip to Maine this summer to repair houses through MATE.

For that worship service, here is a Call to Worship and an Invocation:

CALL TO WORSHIP – Based Psalm 69

Pastor: Save us, O God. The water is up to our neck.

People: We are sinking with nowhere to place our feet.

Pastor: The water is deep

People: and our voice is being drowned out in the tumult.

Pastor: Hear, O God, our cumulative cries.

People: Respond to those in peril and send angels to their sides.

Pastor: If we are among the troubled, bring us peace and justice.

People: If we are among those already in peace, bring us purpose and perspective.

INVOCATION: –

Holy One, In our time together this morning, press open our hearts to the pain and pressures of life that others are bearing. Let us hear the cries of those being overwhelmed by the world around them. Shake us from complacency. Move us to action. Forgive us when we justify inequity. Inspire us to act as your emissaries in this world, and let us become a part of your healing balm. Be with us as we are awakened to and reminded of the harsh realities that exist in world today. AMEN