Tuesday, July 4, 2017

Prayer of suffering

Help us Lord to become you and to sacrifice ourselves at the altar for you. We are so concerned about our status and our future that we have forgotten the gospel and the suffering which accompanies it. In Matthew 16 our Lord Jesus, when Peter said that you are the Messiah, you declared that you would build your church on Peter the rock. But when he took you aside and said that you will never suffer, you declared to him “Get behind me Satan”, for he became a stumbling block for you. May we God, never be a stumbling block before you and prevent the poor from being fed and the needy from getting help. Instead let us declare that you are the living God who takes care of all who come to you. May we never see and experience the gospel as comfortable but as suffering which will bring victory and the foretaste of the kingdom of God. Bless us and strengthen us Lord to carry our cross cheerfully. Amen.

Monday, July 3, 2017

Prayer for true friendship

What a friend we have in Jesus and how wonderful it is to know that. Loving God, you have loved us like a friend through Jesus Christ your son. He told us to do the same and love each other and lay down our life for our friends. Today we thank you for the gift of friendship and for the spirit to make new friends so that we may sacrifice for them. We know that unless we accept others into our circle of friendship, we will never love them completely. They will always remain strangers and we will never help strangers. Help us to build circles of friendship instead of one circle which is limiting and small. You have accepted us Jesus in so much that we are not just your servants but your friends. May we accept each other unconditionally and know that we have been created by God for each other and to be in each others caring arms. In the name of Christ Jesus we pray. Amen.