More Prayers for the Offering

Jesus, that day when you were teaching the crowds
On the mountainside and night was coming and
They were all getting hungry,
Your disciples said:
“Where on earth could we get enough bread
that everyone could have a bite?”

Then one little boy came forward and offered you his lunch:
Five small loaves and two little fish.
That’s all he had; but you took it
And gave thanks and handed it around—
and everyone ate as much as they wanted, with
Twelve baskets-full left over.

Jesus, we know that that day you showed us that
There are no limits to what you might accomplish through us
For your glory, if we’ll simply offer what we have.

Give us the grace to do that here, and now, in this moment of offering.
Make it like that little boy’s lunch, we pray, for your sake alone.
Amen.

*****

Jesus,
We remember that time you pointed to the birds of the air and the lilies growing in the field, how they don’t labor or work or spin or toil, and yet the Father in Heaven provides for them from his wisdom and love.

And then you told us that we ought not chase after wealth and material possessions like those who don’t know God, but that we should seek his kingdom first, and trust in him to provide these things to us in the same way: according to his wisdom and love.

God, please give us the grace to trust in you like that; and may this act of offering today be a sign to us that we’re starting to get it, what Jesus meant when he said, “Do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.”

Amen.

*****

It seems pretty presumptuous, God,
that we would call what we’re about to do
“An offering,”
when everything we have and are and own
is really yours.

We remember that place where you said it in the Psalms:
“If I were hungry, would ask you for a hand out?
The whole world is mine and everything in it.”

So we realize that we’re not really “offering” you anything here, God.

But we love Jesus.
And we want to be involved in his work in the World.
And so we ask that in this moment of offering you would offer us that:
A heart for you; the guts to follow you where ever you lead;
And a passion for the things you’re passionate about.

And then use this offering—
both the money and the time we’re taking to give it—
For your purposes for us.

We pray this in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Prayer for the Offering (8)

I haven't posted any prayers for the offering for a few months now, but I know that people check in once in a while on these, and find them helpful, so I thought I'd add some to the archive today. Lately at the FreeWay we've been working through the Book of Ecclesiastes, so many of our offeratory prayers have been written in response to the incisive and rather pointed things The Teacher has had to say about money in this very wise book.


God, the ancient Teacher you inspired once
looked at the way things are with people and money,
and he said: “All our toil in life is for the sake of our mouths,
and yet our appetites are never satisfied.”

And we know Lord, that you meant:
If you’re trying to satisfy your longing for life with things like money, stuff, property wealth— you’re sure to come up empty.

God, we want our lives, as your people, to be about so much more than that— we want our lives to count for you. So can you set us free, today from working just for the sake of our own mouths—our appetites—desires—wants— and set us instead on the path of working for you in the world.

Make us your servants today, Lord, because we know you’re the only task-master worth serving.

And then, God, can you make this offering here just one small sign of that life-altering work your doing here in our midst. In Christ’s name we pray, Amen.

***
God, you give us all work to do:

From the jobsite to the household
From the classroom to the boardroom
At the office desk, the computer terminal, the workbench,
the countertop, the restaurant, the home, the shop—
Where ever it was that we earned the money
we’re about to give today,
you were with us there.

Even the Adam in perfect paradise had work to do—
he was made to till the ground and take care of it.
And so we acknowledge, God that you’ve given us all our work
And you give us daily, the heart, strength, skill and wisdom to do it.

Thank you for these gifts to us.

As we rest from work today, may this offering of money
Be our way of admitting that all we have and all we do
Is really a gift from you.

And with this offering, God , please receive our prayer
For the wisdom, grace, mercy and faith
To be instruments of your peace
in whatever job you’ve given us to do.

We’re going to need this if we’re going to be
fully-devoted followers of Jesus in this world,
Because it’s in his name and for his sake we pray,
Amen.

***

Father in heaven,

Thousands of years ago, one of the wise teachers you inspired looked at the global economy—though it wasn’t called that then—but he looked at it and called the whole project “a chasing after the wind.”

He said things like, “whoever loves money never has money enough and whoever loves wealth is never satisfied with his income.” He said things like, “The sleep of a poor labourer is sweet, but the abundance of a rich man permits him no sleep.” He said things like, “I have seen a grievous evil under the sun: wealth is hoarded, to the harm of its owner, or lost through some misfortune.”

“This, too, is vanity.”

God, thousands of years later we still stand under those all-wise words. And if we’ve been losing sleep over our money, or hoarding money to our own harm, or never satisfied with our income, Lord, I invite your gracious, loving Spirit to convict us of that vanity today.

Set us free from chasing after the wind, and set us, instead, to chasing after the Way of Jesus. With all our heart, soul, mind and strength may we live as his servant-followers and sibling-friends.

It’s in his name and for his sake we pray, amen.

Prayer for the (Advent) Offering

Over the Advent season I've found the offertory prayer more difficult to write than usual. This is partly because the consumeristic spirit of Christmas these days leaves me hesitant to associate Jesus with the gift-getting impulse of our annual, year-end Saturnalia. Full confession: there's a growing part of me that deeply struggles when I hear things like "Jesus is the Greatest Gift of All" at Christmastime, because it leaves me wondering if we aren't really saying, or at least leaving non-Christians with the impression that we're saying: "Not only does Jesus endorse the hedonistic, consumeristic, materialistic frenzy of December, he is, in fact, nothing more (or less) than its ultimate climax."


As I continue to wrestle with this, I thought I'd post a few of the gift-giving prayers we've prayed at the Freeway.


Father in Heaven,

As we pause in the middle of this busy time of year, it seems almost silly for us to say: Jesus is the Reason for the Season. The one who came to give us divine simplicity, pure generosity and holy rest; is he the reason for all of this hectic buying and getting and rushing around?

But God, he is the reason for what we do in this place this morning, because he is your gift of life and love and hope to us. And his presence has always inspired joyful gift-giving in the hearts of his followers.

So when three learned star-gazers followed the omens at his birth and found him lying in the lap of his virgin mother, they gave gold and frankincense and myrrh in humble awe.

And later when he came to eat in the house of a humiliatingly-short tax-collector who’d climbed a tree to get a glimpse of him, that tax-collector gave half of all he owned to the poor for pure joy.

And later still, when he sat in the house of his friends the week before he would be executed, a woman named Mary gave a pint of pure perfume, poured a year’s wages-worth over his feet and wiped it with her hair in deep gratitude.

God, can you inspire that kind of gift-giving in us again?

And as we worship him through our gifts and offerings today, we invite you to teach us once more the divine simplicity, and pure generosity, and holy rest that is your gift to us in Christ Jesus.

Amen.


***

God, as we give our tithes and offerings today,
We want to do it with the all trust and simplicity of a child.

After all, your Son Jesus told us
that we would enter the Kingdom of Heaven
only if we could receive it with the humility of a child.

And so on this second Sunday of Advent, we remember that
Old children’s carol, and make it our humble prayer today:

What can I give him, poor as I am?
If I were a shepherd, I would bring a lamb.
If I were a wise man, I would do my part.
Yet what I can, I give him, give him my heart.

Amen.

Prayer for the Offering (6)

God, we think of the wise King you inspired so long ago,
How he spoke this proverb:
“Better a little with the fear of the Lord / Than great wealth with turmoil.
There’s an edge to that wise saying, Lord,
that hasn’t grown dull in 3000 years:
those words still cut to the heart of the matter today.

“Better a little with the fear of the Lord / Than great wealth with turmoil.”
We confess Lord, that this world is in deep turmoil
because of our endless striving for great wealth.
And we confess Lord, how the idea that we might be content
with what we have, so long as it’s coupled with the fear of the Lord--
the notion that deep reverence and awed respect for you
might be the true and only source of our life and sustenance and happiness-
That suggestion cuts against the grain, Lord.

So as we participate in this offering today,
We’re going to need the wisdom of Solomon, here.
Grant us the Wisdom to put you before all things and over all things
and the wisdom to let go of our tumultuous accumulation.
God, teach us to say these words
with perfect honesty and clear sincerity today:
“Better a little with the fear of the Lord
Than great wealth with turmoil?”
Because it’s in Jesus’ name and for his sake we pray.
Amen.

***

God, we think about your word, where the ancient writer you inspired challenges us with these words: “This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And so we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters.”

And then he told us specifically what that laying down of our lives would look like. He said: “If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him.”

God those are sobering words.

But we want to know the love of God in us. And we want to love each other, not with fine sounding words or empty speech, but like that same writer said: with actions, and with truth.

So God, can you continue to shape us as that kind of a people today: people who show in word and deed together that the love of God really is in us. People who—when they see their brothers or sisters in need—they overflow with your compassion, your mercy, your love?

And as we set aside some of our material possessions today, to help in those concrete moments when we see a brother or sister in need, God, we pray in advance for the people you want to bless with these gifts—because you already know the needs that this money will meet— may it find its place in your good plan to show the world what the love of Jesus looks like, because it's in his name and for his sake we pray.

Amen.

****

Father in Heaven,
As we prepare our hearts to worship through our tithes and offerings, we remember the story your Son Jesus told us, about a farmer who sowed seed: how some of the seed fell on rocky soil and wouldn’t grow, and some was snatched away by birds, and some was choked out by weeds.

Later Jesus explained that the seed was the message about your love, and the weeds that choked it out were the worries of this life, the deceitfulness of wealth, and the desire for other things.

God we’re remembering this story today because we’re about to make an offering of money, and we don’t want the desire for stuff or the deceitfulness of wealth to choke out the message of love that Jesus is speaking over us now. So God, can you do some weeding in us? Uproot anything in us that might try to choke out his message for us today, weed out every false desire and every empty ambition in us, so that his word might bear fruit in us.

We ask this in Jesus’ name and for his sake.

Amen.

Prayer for the Offering (5)

God, as we prepare to worship through this act of offering today, we invite your Holy Spirit to remind us that really, we all come to you empty handed.

We have nothing to offer the Creator of the Universe that isn’t yours already. We have nothing to give a perfectly pure God that isn’t somehow muddied up with our human ambition and agendas. Nothing to do for the Lord of the whole Earth that you couldn’t do for yourself.

We’re empty handed.

And yet by your beautiful and mysterious grace, God, you invite us—empty handed though we are—you invite us to be part of your plan to heal and renew and bless this world through the unconquerable love of your Son Jesus Christ.

Thank you for that invitation, God. And as we give back to you now a portion of what is yours to begin with, Lord will you transform this offering into just one of the many ways we say “yes” to your gracious call on our lives?

Purify our motives, transform our agendas, and bring our ambitions into perfect alignment with Jesus, because it’s in his name and for your Glory that we pray. Amen.

***


Loving God, in Jesus we’ve discovered that you are generous beyond our ability to imagine.

So as we prepare to give back to you a portion of the money that you’ve entrusted into our care, we remember what he taught us.

He said: whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much… and whoever is dishonest with very little will also be dishonest with much… And he said: If we’ve not been faithful in handling worldly wealth, how can we expect God to trust us with true riches?

God, we invite your Spirit now to show us the true riches that you want to entrust into our care: riches like the grace, hope and love that is ours in Jesus Christ; riches like the good news about his immeasurable love for this aching world that is ours to share so generously; riches like the real life-purpose, the meaningful mission in the world, the beautiful destiny as His people that is ours to spend so freely.

O God, help us to see those riches today.

And then God, can you make us faithful in handling this worldly wealth here, today, so that we might learn in a small way what it means to be faithful in handling of the invaluable things of God?

Can you teach us, in this act of offering today, what it means to be trustworthy with the small things like money… so that we will grow more and more trustworthy with the big things… the good news of Jesus and the generous gifts of his Spirit. Make us trustworthy with those things, we pray, in his name, and for his sake. Amen.

****


God, in your book you tell us not to put our hope in wealth, which is so uncertain, but to put our hope in you, because you richly provide all things for our enjoyment.

And you tell us, too, to do good, to be rich in good deeds, to be generous, and willing to share. You said that in this way, we might take hold of the life that is life indeed.

So we ask, Lord, that you would show us where we’ve been putting our hope in uncertain wealth instead of in you. Show us where we’ve been spiritually poor, despite our material wealth. Teach us how to become truly rich in generosity and good deeds.

O God, make us want, more than anything, to take hold of the life that is life indeed. And then Lord, take this offering today, and transform it into a sign of that desire in us, the passion for heavenly things that you are kindling in us.

We pray in Christ’s name and for his sake. Amen.


***




Father in heaven,

Thousands of years ago, one of the wise teachers you inspired looked at the way people are with money and he called the whole project “a chasing after the wind.”

He said things like, “whoever loves money never has money enough and whoever loves wealth is never satisfied with his income.” He said things like, “The sleep of a poor labourer is sweet, but the abundance of a rich man permits him no sleep.” He said things like, “I have seen a grievous evil under the sun: wealth is hoarded, to the harm of its owner, or lost through some misfortune.”

“This, too, is vanity.”

God, thousands of years later we still stand under those all-wise words. And if we’ve been losing sleep over our money, or hoarding money to our own harm, or never satisfied with our income, Lord, I invite your gracious, loving Spirit to convict us of that vanity today.

Set us free from chasing after the wind, and set us, instead, to chasing after the Way of Jesus. With all our heart, soul, mind and strength may we live as his servant-followers and sibling-friends.
It’s in his name and for his sake we pray, amen.

Prayer for the Offering (4)

These posts of liturgical "prayers for the offering" receive more traffic-- both in online hits and in off-line comments from other pastors-- than I would have ever expected. I never would have expected, either, that I'd find it so challenging and inspiring to write them, when once a week every week I'm forced again to think through the theological significance of those little chips of metal and slips of paper (and blips of light on the bank machine screen) that carry so much power in this world.


For the record here are a few more offeratory prayers we've done at the FreeWay:

Perfectly-Wise God,

We remember how the Book you inspired tells us so bluntly:

“Keep yourselves free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God himself has said ‘I will never leave you nor forsake you.’”

You asked us there, God, to long for your faithful presence in our lives more than any material thing this world has to offer. And you asked us to let your faithful presence in our lives teach us to be content with the stuff we already have.

God, that goes so against the grain of this world we live in, where “discontent” seems to be the only measure of things and “more” the only thing worth desiring.

So we invite your Spirit to set us free from the love of money today, and ask you to give us deep contentedness. Make us fully satisfied in the promise of your unfailing love.

Cut against the grain in us we pray, so that we might give this offering today out of that contentedness; the peace of Christ which passes all understanding.

It’s in his name and for his sake we pray. Amen.

***


God, We think about the all-wise Law that you gave your ancient people long ago.

You told us: When we’re harvesting the land and we’ve missed some of the grain in the field, just leave it there. That way the homeless, the orphan and the widow will have something to gather too...

And when we’re picking the fruit off our trees or grapes off our vine, don’t go over the branches a second time. That way there’ll be something there for the homeless, the orphan, and the widow.

And God, in that all-wise Law, you taught your people to remember: The outcast. The powerless. The downtrodden. And to remember that we were once where they are now. Or we might have been. Or we might one day be.

And you reminded us that wringing every last drop out of life—just for ourselves—squeezing every last bit out of the land—just for ourselves—grabbing and hoarding and consuming– just for ourselves. That’s just not your way.

So God, as we make this offering of money today—in this world where so few of us actually gather grain or grapes anymore—God, can you make this offering of money today a reminder of those very same things?

And then, God, can you give us the wisdom we’ll need to use this money in your mission in the world: to include the outcast, to lift up the powerless, to defend the downtrodden. And to show the world that wringing out every last drop for ourselves alone... that not the way of Jesus.

It’s in his name, and for Your glory we pray. Amen.
***


God, In this act of offering today, can you show us where our hearts are at?

Because we remember how your Son Jesus told his followers: don’t store up treasure on earth, where things rot and fail and get stolen. Instead, he said, instead store up treasure in Heaven—imperishable, unfailing, unsteal-able treasure in Heaven— “Because where your treasure is, that’s where your heart will be, too.”

That’s what he said.

So God, can you show us where our hearts are, today, by showing us what our treasure really is? Let this moment here be about more than just putting some money in the plate as it passes by; let it be about discovering where our treasure really is—what we really trust in, and what we really hope for.

And God, if we’ve stored up earthly treasure, as a substitute for heavenly treasure, O God, as hard as it might be to see, can you show us that, too? Because we want hearts fixed on heavenly treasure today: the imperishable hope, the unfailing faithfulness, the unsteal-able love that you’ve offered us in Jesus Christ. It’s in his name, and for Your glory we pray, Amen.

***


God: you taught us that it is more blessed to give than to receive.

So we pray now that you would increase our blessings: give us many opportunities to give, deepen the wisdom we show as we give, and multiply the joy we discover when we give.

Teach us to distinguish between uses of money that enrich life, and uses of money that actually kill the life in us. And save us from making these gifts today a substitute fo the gift of ourselves. Instead, may they be outward signs of our inward commitment: an act of total self giving, for Jesus' sake, in whose name we pray, Amen.*

*based loosely on a prayer found in W. B. J. Martin. Acts of Worship. Nashville: Abingdon, 1960. p. 186.

Prayer for the Offering (3)

Not that I'm planning to make this a regular feature or anything, but with the blog-well running a bit dry these days, and feeling like, after all, a bit more theological reflection on the offering couldn't hurt the Evangelical tradition, I thought I'd post few more of the offeratory prayers that we've prayed at the FreeWay over the last few months:


God, behind this offering lies the busy world of our working life—the market, the classroom, the office, the shop, the home, the open road. You gave us this work to do and you were present with us in it all. So we ask your blessing on those places, now, and the people we work with: bosses, clients, colleagues, partners and peers. Can you make us lights of your grace and goodness towards them all?

And Jesus, can you spare us from creating a world where wealth accumulates, but our souls shrivel. Let this act of offering today remind us of what you taught us so beautifully: that if we gain the whole world but lose our souls, we`ve really profited nothing.
Because it`s in Your name and it`s for Your glory we pray. Amen.




God, we remember how your word says:
“The one who’s stingy with the seed at planting time will have a stingy harvest; And the one who’s generous with the seed at planting time, will have a bountiful harvest."
We want a bountiful harvest, God;
so can you help us to sow seed generously today?
Not just our money,
but our time, and our talents, and our spiritual gifts
our availability to each other and our encouragement of each other
our availability to you, and our commitment to your ministry in this world
our laughter with those who laugh, and our tears with those who mourn
our love for Jesus, and for his people, and for our enemies
forgiveness and compassion and reconciliation and peacemaking
God, can you make us generous sowers of these kinds of seeds today?
So that we’ll also reap these kinds things richly at the harvest?
And can you make our act of offering today that kind of a seed-sowing?
And a sign of the generosity that you’ve begun to sow in our hearts.
Make us into the bountiful people of Jesus, in whose name we pray.
Amen.

Words from the Cross

It's only a bit after the fact, but I thought I'd post this Good Friday confession I wrote for our Tenebre service last weekend. It's a confessional meditation based on the seven words of Christ from the cross.


The Seven Words of Christ
from the Cross:

The gospels tell us of seven things that our Lord Jesus Christ spoke from the cross as they crucified him. Let’s use his seven words from the cross to teach us true righteousness and to direct us in confessing our sin to him:

1. When they came to the place called the skull, they crucified him, along with the criminals—one on his right, the other on his left. Jesus said: “Father forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.”
God, we confess that we have sinned against you. We’ve walked roads that led to death instead of to life with you. We sinned in ignorance: we really didn’t know what we were doing.
Please show us our sin today, so that we might turn to you and discover that we are included in Christ’s prayer for our forgiveness.

 2. One of the criminals hurled insults at him... but the other said: “We are punished justly, for we are getting what our deeds deserve. But this man has done nothing wrong.” Then he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.” Jesus answered him, “I tell you the truth today you will be with me in paradise.”
God, we confess that so often we’ve lived like that first criminal: we’ve spurned your grace, we’ve rejected your love, we’ve made light of your salvation. We heaped insults upon you.
Remind us today that you promise the joy of paradise to the repentant. Enable us now to repent and receive your grace in this world, and in the world to come.

 3. When Jesus saw his mother standing there, and the disciple whom he loved standing near by, he said: “Dear woman, here is your son,” and to the disciple, “Here is your mother.”
God, in his hour of greatest suffering Jesus showed compassion for the sufferings of others. He made arrangements for his grieving mother’s care. We confess that so often we’ve not lived like that. Instead we’ve let the burdens of our own petty crosses turn us inward, and harden us, and blind us to the need of those around us.
Lead us out of ourselves. Turn our eyes outward. Enlarge our hearts and give us the compassion of Jesus.

4. About the ninth hour Jesus cried out in a loud voice, Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani? Which means: my God, my God, why have you forsaken me?
God, we confess that it was our own God-forsakenness, that Jesus tasted in that moment.
We confess those times we when we were blind You, because our grief and despair was so heavy. We thought you’d abandoned us.
We confess those times we’ve tried to pretend that things were all shiny and happy with you, when in truth our hearts were breaking. We didn’t believe you could handle our hurts.
We confess those times when we wallowed in our feelings of God-forsakenness, out of pride. Because what we really wanted was to have things our own way, even if that led us away from you.

 5. Later, knowing that all was now completed, and so that the Scripture would be fulfilled, Jesus said, “I am thirsty.”
God, Jesus taught us to quench his thirst by quenching the thirst of those around us. We confess that we have not been faithful in this: we have seen people hurt and not helped. We have seen people on the outside and not welcomed them in. We have seen people persecuted and not prayed. We’ve turned Jesus away thirsty.
O blessed saviour, who thirsted for our forgiveness, give us the water of life. Relieve our deepest spiritual thirst now. And lead us to bring this relief to others.

 6. When he had received the drink, Jesus said, “It is finished.”God, we confess that we’ve tried to add to the finished work of the cross.
Those times when thought we had to earn your acceptance by our own merit. Those times when we thought we could make things right between us and you on our own. Those times when we doubted that what you did through the cross was enough. When we wouldn’t let your grace be sufficient for us.
We confess that now and turn to you in faith.

 7. Jesus called out with a loud voice, “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit.” When he had said this, he breathed his last.
Father, your Son Jesus Christ committed his spirit into your hands.
Through out our lives, in our joys and in our trials and at the moment of our death, grant that we too may entrust our lives into your loving hands. In the name of Jesus, who gave his life for us all we pray.
Amen.

A Prayer for the Offering (2)

A couple of months ago I signed up for Google Analytics, the popular internet service that tracks your website usage. The other day I was looking at my "stats,"and I noticed that recently many of the first-time visitors stumbling across my blog found their way here after doing a Google search for "a prayer for the offering."

This surprised me somewhat.

Could it be that there's such a paucity of offeratory prayers out there that Google would direct people to my humble corner of the internet when they're looking for words to say when people put God's money in a basket on Sunday morning?

Curious, I googled "prayer for the offering" myself, and sure enough, terra incognita came up number eight. So, in the interest of filling a liturgical hole in the world-wide inter-web, I've collected this mini anthology of some of my more thoughtful offeratory prayers. If you're here today because you asked Google for "a prayer for the offering," here are some of the prayers we've prayed at the Freeway over the last couple of months:

God,
In your book, the Apostle Paul told us:
here’s what I want you to do, God helping you:
Take your everyday, ordinary life—
your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life—
and place it before God as an offering.
Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for him.

That’s what we want to do today as we give: place our everyday lives before you as an offering you’ll be happy with. Can you help us do that? And can you make these gifts of money here be a sign of that desire in us?

In Jesus name and for his sake we pray.Amen.


God,
You are the Giver of every good and perfect gift:
You gave us your Son Jesus, to find us when we were lost.
You gave us your Spirit, to fill us when we were empty.
You gave us all sorts of spiritual gifts to heal and strengthen and build up what was fallen and weak and broken.

And you gave us the very money that we're now offering back to you.
So as we give now, will you remind us once more that every good and perfect gift comes from you? And will you give once more? Out of the infinite riches of your love for us, will you give us the imagination and skill we’ll need to use this money for your plan in the world. May it be used to bring fellowship where there is enmity, and peace where there is fear, and hope where there is despair.

We pray this for glory of Jesus Christ our Lord.Amen.


God,
We live in a world that continually weighs and measures things by asking "how much." How much did you... earn? win? accomplish? How much did you give?

But your Son Jesus stood by the offering plate in Your house a long time ago, watching as the rich came and gave out of their great abundance.

How much did they give? Well, your book didn't write down the sum,

But then a poor widow came and only gave two pennies. Humble and devoted and trusting, she gave all she had. And Jesus pointed to her and said: "She gave more than all the others combined."
Your book wrote down the two pennies.

And their Your Son taught us that you don't ask "How Much." You weigh and measure things by asking "how." How did you earn? How did you accomplish. How did you give?
God, can you make us like that widow today? As we offer back to you only what you;ve already given to us, can you make us humble, devoted, and trusting? So that our gifts-- whatever the sum-- would be pleasing in your sight?

In Jesus name we pray.Amen.


God,
As we put money in the offering plate today,
Show us how the spiritual and the material,
worship and work,
How in some mysterious way they’re coming together here.
Remind us today as we give,
that you invite us to love you,
mind, heart, soul and strength,
with our hands as well as our hearts,
our substance as well as our spirits.

And then give us eyes to see those places where we earned this money—on the jobsite, in the classroom, at the office, the storefront, the boardroom, the market, the home—wherever it was—to see them as sacred places where your grace is at work, and your Spirit is present, and your love has staked its claimed.

In Jesus name we pray,Amen.


God,
Your Son Jesus taught us that we can’t serve two masters.
We remember how he said it: you can’t serve God and money, because either you’ll love one and hate the other; or you’ll be devoted to one and despise the other.
God, if we’ve been trying to serve two masters like that—you and money—will you show us that today?

Will you show us? So that in your great love for us you can redeem us from that half-hearted, double-minded, willy-nilly kinda of life with you, and lead us into the life that is life indeed: a life of rich, deep, full fellowship with you?

We ask this because we’re about to give an offering of money today, and we don’t want it to be about going through the motions, dropping a few pennies in the jar, patting ourselves on the back for what we did or didn’t give. We want to be serving the right master.

Can you make our offering today an act of whole-hearted devotion to you, an act of cheerful, eager partnership with you and what you’re up to in the world?

In Christ’s name and for his sake we ask it.Amen.

A Prayer for the Offering

I was putting together my notes for Sunday morning and, wanting to say something more than the typical "bless the gift and the giver" prayer for the offering, I started writing out some thoughts. As I wrote, it struck me how radical an act of worship the offering is, and how lightly we take this theologically weighted moment in the Sunday morning service, and how so often the spirit with which we give says much about what kind of god we think we're giving to.

A half hour of wrestling with the right words later, here's the prayer I came up with (who says written prayers are less spirit-directed than impromptu, "we-just-want-to-say" kind of prayers?):


God: You're Lord of all creation (of water, earth and sky). It’s not like you need anything from us. And everything we have is actually yours anyways: it came from you and it’ll go back to you; we’re only holding it in trust.

So God,
can you deliver us today—in this moment of offering— can you deliver us from seeing you as some needy god who’s just after our wallets...

Deliver us from seeing you as some hard-up god who’s short of cash and’ll just take what he can get...

Deliver us from seeing you as some stingy god, that we could buy off, or bribe, or impress with our money...

Deliver us from seeing you as some vending-machine god, who's just selling us religious goods and services at fair market value...

Because in Jesus we’ve discovered that the stingy god, the hard-up god, the needy god, the vending-machine god—that’s not you. That’s an idol. And if we give right now with any of those pictures of you in our hearts, we’d be worshiping an idol.

Instead, can you help us to see you as you really are? The God Jesus showed us and taught us to worship: the Father of lights, the generous giver of every good and perfect gift, who gives graciously and wisely to those who ask for His will to be done.

And then, can you help us to see this moment of giving now as the rich gift from you that it actually is: a generous invitation to join with you, through our giving, in what you’re up to in the world, a rich moment to be delivered from our petty visions of you, and a chance to be caught up in your purposes for us.

For Jesus’ sake make us into the cheerful, adventurous, Spirit-filled givers that he taught us to be and that you delight in. Because it’s in his name we pray.

Amen.