The Prayers

There are two kinds of prayer on this page, and we keep them apart on purpose.

The first kind we did not write. It is what Jesus said, and what scripture records. We quote it exactly and never paraphrase it.

The second kind is ours. We wrote it for this practice, this year, for people who work at screens. It is not old, it is not handed down, and it carries no authority beyond being useful. Use it, change it, or ignore it.

Neither kind is required. The shortest prayer Jesus praised was three words from a man who could not lift his eyes: “God, be merciful to me, a sinner!” You are not short of the right phrases. There is no such thing.

What he said, and what scripture records

The prayer he taught

The one prayer he gave his followers when they asked him how to pray. It is Matthew 6:9-13, and the passage is quoted in full in week seven of the readings.

Say it in the form you already know. On a call the voices land out of step, because of the lag. Let them. It is one prayer.

The peace

What he said to his friends when he came back, John 20:19:

Peace be to you.

Said to one another as “Peace be with you,” and answered “And also with you.” It is a greeting, not a ceremony. Two seconds.

Where two or three are

Matthew 18:20, which is the whole warrant for a watch of two people on a call:

For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there I am in the middle of them.

Maranatha

One word in the language Jesus spoke, prayed by the first watchers and kept in 1 Corinthians 16:22. It means “Lord, come.”

Maranatha. Come, Lord Jesus.

This is the closing line of the weekly watch and the watchword of the daily one.

Ours

Written for this site, in our own words. Short on purpose.

The call, to open a watch

In the name of Christ, we keep watch.

Before the first task of the day

God, I am about to start. Keep me honest in what I make today, and awake to what it does to people I will never meet. Amen.

At the mending

God, I got this wrong, and I know it. I am not going to explain it away. Show me what to repair and let me start there. Amen.

For someone whose work you are weighing

God, N built this and now has to decide about it. Give them a clear head and the nerve to be right. Keep them from doing harm they can see coming. Amen.

Say the person’s name where the N is.

For someone who is ill

God, N is ill and we are frightened. Be near them. Ease what hurts. Steady everyone caring for them. We are asking plainly for healing because we want it. Whatever comes, do not let them be alone in it, and do not let us leave them alone in it. Amen.

After a death

God, N is gone and we do not understand it. We will not pretend to. We give them back to you, trusting they came from you and return to you. Hold them. Hold us. Teach us how to carry this. Amen.

For someone you cannot forgive

God, you know who I mean. I cannot make myself feel kindly toward them yet, and I will not lie to you about it. You asked us to pray for them, so here I am doing the one thing I can. Do the work in me that I cannot do. And do not let me turn into the thing I am angry at. Amen.

Say it before you mean it. Meaning it is what it is for.

At the end of a hard week

God, this week took more than I had. I am not asking you to fix it tonight. I came to sit with you a while and be reminded that I belong to you on the weeks I have nothing to give. Amen.

When the week was good

God, it was a good week and I noticed, and I wanted to say so before I forgot. Thank you. Keep me awake to the people for whom this week was hard. Amen.

At night

God, the day is done and I did some of it badly. Forgive the wrong I did and the good I left undone. Watch the people I love while they sleep. If you come in the night, find me ready. Maranatha.

One a child can say

Thank you, God, for today. Help me be kind tomorrow. Watch everyone I love while we sleep. Amen.

If none of these fit

Then do not use them. Pray in your own words, or in the form your family already uses, or in silence, which is also prayer. Set words are for the nights when you want to say something and cannot find it. That is the whole of their job.