John L Kipp

Prayers for Congregational Worship and Personal Devotion John L Kipp

This collection of prayers is an attempt to deal with the discontinuity between the world as it is and the world as it should be. Christians regularly pray that the kingdom of God may come on earth as it already is in heaven. The fact that God's sovereignty is not apparent in every day life in the world is experienced as a discontinuity, or tension, that faith struggles to embrace. People of faith often perceive that the world is unfinished and that human life falls far short of what it could and should be. These prayers struggle with that tension and seek a resolution. Most of the prayers expressed here were developed and have been used in the context of worship in a congregation. But they may also be helpful in personal and private devotion. Even when praying alone, individuals may be aware of a larger community of faith who are also engaging in prayer. Thus, individuals may be comfortable using the "we" of congregational worship even when closeted with these prayers. Fifty nine of the prayers follow the cycle of the church year: Advent, Christmas, Epiphany, Lent, Easter and Pentecost. The final six prayers include: Scottish Reformation Sunday, National Day of Prayer, Veteran's Day, A Wedding Blessing, Prayer for Healing from Cancer, and An Interfaith Invocation for a New Health Care Facility. These prayers were written for congregational worship that also included specific prayers to facilitate the movement of worship. Brief congregational prayers of confession, prayers for illumination, sermon prayers, and offering dedication prayers are not included here. These "pastoral prayers" or "prayers of the people" do include all the elements of adoration, confession, thanksgiving, supplication and intercession even though not every prayer includes all of these types.