Mike King

A Prayer of Blessing

May God bless you with a restless discomfort about easy answers, half-truths and superficial relationships, so that you may seek truth boldly and love deep within your heart.

May God bless you with holy anger at injustice, oppression, and exploitation of people, so that you may tirelessly work for justice, freedom, and peace among all people.

May God bless you with the gift of tears to shed with those who suffer from pain, rejection, starvation, or the loss of all that they cherish, so that you may reach out your hand to comfort them and transform their pain into joy.

May God bless you with enough foolishness to believe that you really CAN make a difference in this world, so that you are able, with God's grace, to do what others claim cannot be done.

And the blessing of God the Supreme Majesty and our Creator,
Jesus Christ the Incarnate Word who is our brother and Saviour,
and the Holy Spirit, our Advocate and Guide,
be with you and remain with you, this day and forevermore.

AMEN

Free Download

My friend Jeff Johnson, who I've worked with to lead Spiritual Retreats, is a Windham Hill Recording Artist and has written, recorded and produced some amazing music.  You can find his music for prayer, contemplation and worship through ArkMusic.  For Holy Week Jeff is offering a free download of a song written by him and Janet Marie Chvatal based on this prayer attributed to St. Francis of Assisi.

Where there is hatred, let me sow love.

Where there is injury, pardon.Where there is doubt, let me show faith.Where there’s despair, hope.Where there is darkness, let me bring light.Where there is sadness, joy.It is in giving that we receive,In dying we’re born to life.

Make me a vessel of your peace, Lord.

Download here

St. Patrick's Breastplate

HAPPY ST. PATRICK'S DAY

The most famous Celtic prayer is attributed to St. Patrick.

Tradition dates the context of St. Patrick’s prayer to the year 433.  The occasion was when Patrick defied high king of Ireland Laeghaire. (La Gare uh)  Once a year the King commanded that all fires be extinguished.  The King would go to one of the highest spots in Ireland and light one big bonfire to his own glory.  

St. Patrick, a passionate follower of Jesus Christ took his life into his own hands and challenged the king by lighting a huge fire on the Hill of Tara to represent the brighter light of His Lord Jesus Christ, and according to tradition uttered a powerful prayer, which has been handed down to us as Patrick's Breastplate.

I arise today
Through a mighty strength, the invocation of the Trinity,
Through the belief in the threeness,
Through the confession of the oneness
Of the Creator of Creation.

I arise today
Through the strength of Christ's birth with his baptism,
Through the strength of his crucifixion with his burial,
Through the strength of his resurrection with his ascension,
Through the strength of his descent for the Judgment Day.

I arise today
Through the strength of the love of Cherubim,
In obedience of angels,
In the service of archangels,
In hope of resurrection to meet with reward,
In prayers of patriarchs,
In predictions of prophets,
In preaching of apostles,
In faith of confessors,
In innocence of holy virgins,
In deeds of righteous men.

I arise today
Through the strength of heaven:
Light of sun,
Radiance of moon,
Splendor of fire,
Speed of lightning,
Swiftness of wind,
Depth of sea,
Stability of earth,
Firmness of rock.

I arise today
Through God's strength to pilot me:
God's might to uphold me,
God's wisdom to guide me,
God's eye to look before me,
God's ear to hear me,
God's word to speak for me,
God's hand to guard me,
God's way to lie before me,
God's shield to protect me,
God's host to save me
From snares of demons,
From temptations of vices,
From everyone who shall wish me ill,
Afar and anear,
Alone and in multitude.

I summon today all these powers between me and those evils,
Against every cruel merciless power that may oppose my body and soul,
Against incantations of false prophets,
Against black laws of pagandom
Against false laws of heretics,
Against craft of idolatry,
Against spells of witches and smiths and wizards,
Against every knowledge that corrupts man's body and soul.

Christ to shield me today
Against poison, against burning,
Against drowning, against wounding,
So that there may come to me abundance of reward.
Christ with me, Christ before me, Christ behind me,
Christ in me, Christ beneath me, Christ above me,
Christ on my right, Christ on my left,
Christ when I lie down, Christ when I sit down, Christ when I arise,
Christ in the heart of every man who thinks of me,
Christ in the mouth of everyone who speaks of me,
Christ in every eye that sees me,
Christ in every ear that hears me.

I arise today
Through a mighty strength, the invocation of the Trinity,
Through belief in the threeness,
Through confession of the oneness,
Of the Creator of Creation.

Praying Prayers of the Church

One of the sessions I'm teaching in the Sanctuary is Praying the Prayers of the Church.  Many of us who have grown up in traditions that focus on spontaneous prayer are discovering the beauty of the classic written prayers of the church. These are prayers that have been prayed for centuries and have stood the test of time and culture.  Here are a few to share with you.

Holy Father, creator and sustaining wisdom of all that is, both in heaven and on earth, take from me those thoughts, actions and objects that are hurtful.  Give us instead those things that are profitable for me and all who seek rightly to praise you.  I ask this grace in the company of all believers and through the name of Jesus Christ our Lord, who is, with you and the Holy Spirit, one God forever and ever.  Amen.

Loving God, we offer these prayers, joining our voices to the great chorus of those who sing your praise and depend on you alone.  We long for that day when all your children will live in your peace and praise your name.  Until that day, give us sturdy patience and enduring hope, rooted only in Jesus, in whose name we pray, Amen

Ever-faithful God, you have knit together as one body in Christ those who have been your people in all times and places.  Keep us in communion with all your saints, following their example of faith and life, until that day when all your saints will dwell together in the joy of your eternal kingdom, Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

A Prayer for today

“Dear God, I’m having a good day so far. I haven’t lied or cheated or cursed or lost my temper. But I’m about to get out of bed and then I’m really going to need your help!”

Silent - Do nothing!

I mentioned in a post a couple of months ago how I spent several days in Silence.  I have been trying to increase the amount of Silence, Solitude and Contemplation in my life lately.  And yes that means the kind of silence at times that is about doing nothing and thinking nothing, just being.

Dallas Willard warns that the hardest thing to get North American people to do is nothing.

“The regular practice of doing nothing, however, is crucial for spiritual growth. It keeps us from having an inflated view of our importance, it surfaces anxiety, fear, and worry along with our controlling strategies to keep from facing them, and it opens our heart to hear from our real, authentic selves and God. These benefits of solitude combined with silence — a form of "doing nothing" — are of crucial importance in today's climate. Arguably, the most distinctive, pervasive characteristic of contemporary folk is stress. And a stressful life is one prone to depression and anxiety. So now more than ever it is important for Christians to incorporate the disciplines of solitude and silence into their regular practices.” J.P. Moreland

BE STILL...

If you are reading this and plan to make a comment about how New Age these thoughts are, just know that I got the J.P. Moreland quote from a Focus on the Family website.  Instead of fighting it just Be Still and Know that God is God.

Right by my side and Don Chaffer

The song (prayer) Right by my Side has been with me non-stop since last Friday.  I had a dozen visitors with me at Youthfront South.  We went to Midday together and joined 300 high school students in the chapel for this prayer time.  We prayed theologically rich prayers of the church, declared our faith with the Apostles Creed, read a Resurrection narrative from Luke and embraced silence.  The prayer song was simple and beautiful.

I could run away   
You would never leave
You will always stay right by my side
Oh, right by my side
Right by my side
And I need You
I need You
Every step of the way
Everything I ever wanted I’ve found in You
Everything I ever wanted I’ve found in You 

I didn't want it to end.  It didn't, it is still going on inside me one week later.

I saw Micah Thomas over the weekend.  Micah leads the music.  He said something like, "It was kind of interesting leading Right by my SIde with Don Chaffer in the room."  That is when I found out Don wrote the song.  I am much more familiar with Don's music of the last five years since we have become friends.  I talked to Don yesterday and told him that I have been living in his song for a week now.  Since the song was written around nine years ago he was happy that he could still embrace those lyrics today.  That is significant when you are on a life-long journey.  He also talked about writing some new kind of liturgical music.  As we continue to develop our liturgy at Youthfront South I am hopeful for more of Don's work. 

If you are in the Kansas City area you can see another side of Don Chaffer, the artist, when the Khrusty Brother's perform.

August 15 - Voodoo Lounge
September 13 - Bottleneck 
September 20 - Crosstown Station

St. Patrick's Breastplate

Today in Midday, at YouthFront, we prayed a prayer of the church attributed to St. Patrick.  It was awesome.  In addition, all week during Holy Week our community at Jacob's Well is keeping the hours.  We get three text messages per day for morning, midday and evening prayer.  Here is a beautiful way to Pray St. Patrick's Breastplate on St. Patrick's Day or any day for that matter. 

ht Tony Jones

O God, Protect your Church

O God, you are the fountain of all truth; we ask you to protect your church from all false teaching.

Protect the Church 

From all teaching and preaching which would destroy men’s’ faith;
From all that removes the old foundations without putting anything in their place;
From all that confuses the simple, that perplexes the seeker, that bewilders the way-faring man, 

And yet at the same time protect the Church

From the failure to face new truth;
From devotion to words and ideas which the passing of the years has rendered unintelligible;
From all intellectual cowardice and from all mental lethargy and sloth. 

O God, send to your Church teachers,

Whose minds are wise with wisdom;
Whose hearts are warm with love;
Whose lips are eloquent with truth. 

Send to your Church teachers

Whose desire is to build and not to destroy;
Who are adventurous with the wise;
And yet gentle with the simple;
Who strenuously exercise the intellect,
And who yet remember that the heart has reasons of its own. 

Give to your Church preachers and teachers who can make known the Lord Christ to others because they know him themselves; and give to your Church hearers, who, being freed from prejudice, will follow truth as blind men long for light.

This we ask through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

   

 

Prayers for the Christian Year by William Barclay

Evening Prayer

May God shield me; may God fill me; may God keep me; may God watch me; may God bring me this night to the nearness of His love.  Amen.