Friday, April 29, 2011

An Easter Prayer from Mark Galli

Every year, my Christianity Today colleague Mark Galli composes an Easter prayer which he offers as family and friends gather for his family's Easter dinner. On Monday, he shared this with the CT staff, and with his permission, I'd like to share it with you before this Easter Week is over.


Easter Prayer 2011

O Risen Lord, be our resurrection and life.

Be the resurrection and the life for us and all whom you have made.

Be the resurrection and the life for those caught in the grip of sin and addiction.

Be the resurrection and the life for those who feel forsaken.

Be the resurrection and the life for those who live as if you do not.

Be the resurrection and the life for those who do not believe they need resurrection and life.

Be the resurrection and the life in churches that believe they are dying, and in successful churches who don’t know they are dead.

Be the resurrection and the life in us who know the good but fail to do it, who have not been judged but still judge, who know love but still live for self, who know hope but succumb to despair.

Be the resurrection and the life for those dying of malnutrition and hunger.

Be the resurrection and life for those imprisoned unjustly and those imprisoned justly.

Be the resurrection and life for those who live under regimes that seek to crush all who proclaim resurrection and life.

Be the resurrection and the life for those in the throes of sickness that leads to death.

Be the resurrection and the life in families where the weak are maltreated by the strong.

Be the resurrection and the life in marriages that are disintegrating.

Be the resurrection and the life for women trafficked and enslaved by the forces of wickedness.

Be the resurrection and the life for those whose lives are snuffed out in the womb.

Be the resurrection and the life for anyone anywhere who knows suffering and death in any form, and for Creation itself, which groans in travail.

Be the resurrection and life in the life we share and the fellowship we enjoy, that filled anew with the wonder of your love and the power of your grace, we may go forth to proclaim your resurrection life to a world in the grip of death and yet on the verge of redemption, a redemption promised by you and assured by what occurred on the first Easter morn.

Amen.

Although Mark wrote the prayer for use before a festival meal, it can easily be adapted for liturgical use.

Mark Galli is the author of Beyond Smells and Bells: The Wonder and Power of Christian Liturgy (Paraclete, 2008) and eight other books.

3 comments:

DanutM said...

Thanks a lot, David. Christ is risen!

Greg Metzger said...

I love this prayer! Thanks, David, for sharing. Seeing it as Easter passes into Ordinary Time, but will carry it with me.

steve kindorf said...

PRAYING GOD'S WRITTEN WORD

Hello,
My name is Steve Kindorf,
I thought you would like to use these free Bible study resources on your web site or for yourself, or give them out to others for edification.

It is a prayerbook called 'A Method for Prayer' -the 1710 edition, by the puritan writer Matthew Henry, who also wrote a commentary on the whole Bible. With added Bible study and reference aids for daily devotions.

‘A Method for Prayer’ is a classic bible-based prayerbook, I newly transcribed it from the 1710 editions with modernized spelling; and it has all the cross references from Matthew Henry's original prayerbook.

–Featured in this new expanded edition is a collection of 700 short devotional prayers to the Godhead of Jesus Christ called ‘My Affection’ (that is, proclamations and praises of his many names, titles and attributes; being with you in worship and adoration before his throne as you think on them throughout the day and meditate in the night watches; God has said in Philippians 4:8 & Psalm 63:6.)
–A poetic setting of Psalm 119.
–A Glossary containing 2400 words of the King James Bible.
–And a daily Bible reading plan.

A free instant PDF download of the June 2014 revised edition of 'A Method for Prayer' by Matthew Henry is now available (this PDF is from the printed book, and has a fully active table of contents)- http://goo.gl/JbzPWI

A free audiobook of 'A Method for Prayer'
Chapter 1- Adoration http://goo.gl/7hxCiK
Chapter 2- Confession of sin http://goo.gl/3vqnDT
Chapter 3- Petitions and requests http://goo.gl/3tMtA2
Chapter 4- Thanksgiving http://goo.gl/4evRNr
Chapter 5- Intercession http://goo.gl/gGqC7U
Chapter 6- Addresses to God upon particular occasions http://goo.gl/N9gF56
Chapter 7- Conclusion of our prayers http://goo.gl/K3f4uQ
Chapter 8- A paraphrase on the Lord's prayer http://goo.gl/LK6JhB

It will always be free to download at-
kindle- http://goo.gl/QowZm8
iBook- http://goo.gl/2n3dfX
Nook- http://goo.gl/apofU2
Smashwords (this site has an ePub file and also a mobi file for kindle)- http://goo.gl/7aHshr
Scribd- (this PDF file is the June 2014 revised edition of the printed book, and has a fully active table of contents)- http://www.scribd.com/doc/176484165/A-Method-for-Prayer

The home site for 'A Method for Prayer' is www.mrmatthewhenry.com

thanks,
Steve