Prayers

1. Your thumb is nearest you. So begin your prayers by praying for those closest to you. They are the easiest to remember. To pray for our loved ones is, as C.S. Lewis once said, a "sweet duty." 2. The next finger is the pointing finger. Pray for those who teach, instruct and heal. This includes teachers, doctors, and ministers. They need support and wisdom in pointing others in the right direction. Keep them in your prayers. 3. The next finger is the tallest finger. It reminds us of our leaders. Pray for the president, leaders in business and industry, and administrators. These people shape our nation and guide public opinion. They need God's guidance. 4. The fourth finger is our ring finger. Surprising to many is the fact that this is our weakest finger; as any piano teacher will testify. It should remind us to pray for those who are weak, in trouble or in pain. They need your prayers day and night. You cannot pray too much for them. 5. And lastly comes our little finger. The smallest finger of all which is where we should place ourselves in relation to God and others. As the Bible says, "The least shall be the greatest among you." Your pinkie should remind you to pray for yourself. By the time you have prayed for the other four groups, your own needs will be put into proper perspective and you will be able to pray for yourself more effectively.

I offer you my cup of stress that you may fill it with quietness.
 I offer you  my cup of criticism that you may fill it with     
encouragement.
 I offer you  my cup of resentment that you may fill it with
forgiveness.
 I offer you  my cup of fear and worry and control that you may fill it
with trust.
 I offer you  my cup of loneliness and selfishness that you may give
me your cup of communion.
 I offer you  my cracked and crumbling cup that you may remold me
and make me strong.
 I offer you  my cup of pain, the cup you know too well.
 Fill my cup with thanksgiving  and hope that someday my cup of
tears will be filled with joy.
  I surrender my cup to you that you may fill it with service and the
sweetness of your presence.
I offer my cup of me that it may be filled to overflowing with you.

The Lord is my Mother, I want for nothing. She lays me down at night She takes my hand by day as we stroll by the sea.
She makes me feel good about myself. She guides me in the right direction For her name's sake.
Sometimes I must walk through lonely alleys but You're with me, Mom. Your wit and Your compassion, they encourage me.
You prepare me a strengthening meal in front of those who would make fun of me. You bathe me in Your perfumed oil, Your love spills over me.
I expect good and even great things to happen to me. And I will be at home in the Lord's house forever.

I believe in God who created woman and man in God's own image who created the world and gave both sexes the care of the earth.
I believe in Jesus, child of God, chosen of God born of the woman Mary who listed to women and liked them who stayed in their homes, who discussed the Kingdom with them who was followed and financed by women disciples.
I believe in Jesus who discussed theology with a  woman at a well & first confided in her his messiahship who motivated her to go and tell her the great news to the city.
I believe in Jesus who received anointing from a woman at Simon’s house,      who rebuked the men guests that scorned her.
I believe in Jesus who said this woman will be remembered for what she did- ministering to Jesus.
I believe in Jesus who healed a woman on the sabbath and made her straight because she was a human being.
I believe in Jesus who spoke of God as a woman seeking the lost coin, as a woman who swept seeking the lost.
I believe in Jesus who thought of pregnancy and birth with reverence not as a punishment- but as a wrenching event- a metaphor for transformation- born again, anguish into joy.
I believe in Jesus who spoke of himself as a mother hen who would gather her chicks under her wings.
I believe in Jesus who appeared first to Mary Magdalene- who sent her with the bursting message...GO and Tell....
I believe in the wholeness of the Savior in whom there is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for we are all one in salvation.
I believe in the Holy Spirit as she moves over the waters of creation    and over the earth.
I believe in the Holy Spirit- the women spirit of god, who like a hen created us and gave us birth and covers us with her wings.

Lord, make me an instrument of Your peace; 
Where there is hatred, let me sow love; 
Where there is injury, pardon; 
Where there is doubt, faith; 
Where there is despair, hope; 
Where there is darkness, light; 
And where there is sadness, joy. 

O Divine Master,
Grant that I may not so much seek
To be consoled as to console; 
To be understood, as to understand; 
To be loved, as to love; 
For it is in giving that we receive, 
It is in pardoning that we are pardoned, 
And it is in dying that we are born to Eternal Life. 
Amen.