a disciple's prayer

Mark 10:17–31 

look at me with love,

Jesus, tell me I am home 

look at me with love,

Jesus, tell me I am known 

I have kept God's Way,

Jesus, faithful all my life

I would follow you, Jesus,

if you would tell me how

must I give it up? 

Jesus, this is hard – 

harder than imagined,

Jesus, more than I can bear 

I will follow you, Jesus,

leave it all behind – 

the wealth, the home,

the people even – all, yes, all 

but Jesus, this is hard,

please meet me with your love

look at me with love, that

I may love with you 

help me love your Way,

Jesus, your people as my kin

help me give my all,

Jesus, all in love for you 

Inexplicable Paradox

Mark 9:30–37 

Confession 

Forgive us when we do not understand; 

help us understand. 

We don't understand your death,

or our death with you;

how, so to live, you say, 'die'; 

how, if to die, still with you – life! 

Forgive us when we do not understand; 

help us understand. 

We don't understand your life,

or our life with you, 

rising out of the tomb, 

shining, light in the dark. 

Forgive us when we do not understand; 

help us understand. 

We don't understand greatness,

that with you, it hardly matters 

as much as littleness, or little ones;

that, to you, all matter, all, and each. 

Forgive us when we do not understand; 

help us understand. 

We don't understand your way,

the taking nobodies as somebodies,

putting them in your arms,

turning life upside down: 

Forgive us when we do not understand; 

help us understand. 

We don't understand welcome

or humility or servanthood;

the paradox of first and last,

of grace not merit, home not position. 

Forgive us when we do not understand; 

help us understand. 

Assurance of grace 

Welcome, all you children

into the embrace of Jesus,

which is the embrace of Holy One – 

welcome home, each

and every one. 

Be at peace:

we are forgiven, 

and we will never understand. 

Amen.

Love abandoned

Mark 7:1–8 

a lament

How often have we abandoned

God's commandment to love

in favour of human traditions? 

Instead of love, we have hated

those of other faiths, or none,

condemning them to hell; 

instead of love, we have hated 

noise and movement and not

welcomed the vibrant, curious, young; 

instead of love, we have hated

drama or drums, teachers or leaders

changing what we like best;

instead of love, we have hated

those of different sexualities, or genders,

dismissing their right to marry; 

instead of love, we have hated

those not pinkish white for not

being pinkish white like 'us';

instead of love, we have hated

political adversaries, vilified,

and criticised, not worked together for good; 

instead of love, we have hated

our embodied selves as if God 

never looked, and saw, and said, 'good.' 

How often have we abandoned

God's command to love

in favour of human traditions

we suffocate without the breath of Love? 

We cry shame!

2 Samuel 11:1–12:15 

Confession 

We hear the stories of thieving folk,

those who take what belongs not to them,

and we cry shame! the effrontery! 

Until your word reminds us

'you are the one.' 

When we are the thieving folk,

our God, call us to turn from wrong,

put away our sin,

let us begin again. 

We hear the stories of powerful folk,

abusing their forced for their own ends,

and we cry shame! the effrontery! 

Until your word reminds us

'you are the one.' 

When we are the overbearing folk,

our God, call us to turn from wrong,

put away our sin,

let us begin again. 

We hear the stories of manipulative folk,

twisting, deceiving, others like pawns in a game,

and we cry shame! the effrontery! 

Until your word reminds us

'you are the one.' 

When we are the manipulative folk,

our God, call us to turn from wrong,

put away our sin,

let us begin again. 

We hear stories of self-righteous folk,

so sure their harm is justified,

and we cry shame! the effrontery! 

Until your word reminds us

'you are the one.' 

When we are the self-righteous folk,

our God, call us to turn from wrong,

put away our sin,

let us begin again. 

Assurance of forgiveness 

Come to God with your contrite heart,

your willingness to turn from wrong. 

God will welcome your confession,

and will, and has, put away our sin. 

Look up with thanksgiving,

God will indeed let us begin again.

Thanks be to God. Amen. 

Restore us to your story

Mark 6:14–29 
 

Confession

When we do not understand,

but like to listen to your Story, 

be present, Holy One. 

When we feel brought to shame

by the truth proclaimed in your Story,

be patient, Holy One. 

When we make rash promises

that lead us to dishonour you, your Story, 

be kind, Holy One. 

When we do not know that what we ask

will harm another, contradicting your Story,

be merciful, Holy One. 

When the consequences of our acts

take life, bring death, and break your heart,

forgive us, Holy One. 

silence 

Hear our cries,

our heartbreak at 

the ruin we bring

to the Story you

would have us tell. 

Heal us, Holy One. 

Assurance of forgiveness 

Our cries are heard,

Holy presence in our 

lack of understanding,

patience with our shame,

kindness for our thoughtlessness,

mercy, forgiveness,

healing. 

Receive God's grace

to restore you;

it is a new day,

begin again. 

Amen. 

Where welcome is found

prayers with Mark 6:1–13 

1. Confession 
Not welcome back home

unheeded, disrespected,

rejected, at home, where 

kin and neighbour knew him 

best, they knew him least 

when he became most

fully the Son of God, 

Son of Humanity, promised. 

Forgive our disrespect, our

lack of welcome and hearing

for our kin and neighbours

returning home to be

rejected, unexpected 

in their fullest becoming: 

forgive us, Holy One. 

2. Assurance of forgiveness 

Amazed at the disbelief

of kin and neighbour turned

strangers, Jesus yet

healed a few. 

Jesus does not reject 

the few who yet seek

his touch, his grace,

his healing – so turn

and shed that disbelief,

for faithfulness and trust: 

we are forgiven, and we 

thank you, Holy One. 

3. Intercession 

Into villages and homes

of closed-mindedness,

where messages of hope 

go unheeded, offers of peace

unwelcome, Holy One, 

bring your love. 

Into villages and homes

of open minds, 

where new ideas delight,

stories evoke wonder, and peace

is nurtured, Holy One,

we see your love. 

Into villages and homes

of disrespect and rejection,

where returning kin

go disbelieved, their fulness

unwelcome, Holy One, 

bring your love. 

Into villages and homes

of courageous embrace, 

where change evokes wonder, 

fulness of being is nurtured,

and all are welcome, Holy One,

we see your love. 

In all the village and homes,

towns and cities, farms

and camps, where hope

is rare and peace so 

keenly needed, Holy One,

may we be your love. 

4. Commissioning 

Take nothing: 

no bread, no bag,

no money in your belt,

no extra tunic for the cold. 

Have sandals for your feet,

a staff for support

as you walk,

two by two,

seeking welcome. 

Take everything 

I have taught you,

food and water for

yearning souls, love

for broken spirits: 

restore, revive,

reconcile wherever you

are welcome. 

Take nothing: 

no offence, no sorrow,

no anger or resentment;

leave the dust

at doors unopened,

at the feet 

of the unwilling,

when you meet not

welcome. 

Take everything

I will give you: 

love that heals,

wisdom that guides

a flourishing life, 

peace that transcends

understanding. Take

and share abundantly

my welcome, God's 

welcome, home. 

The world you made

John 3:1–17 

 

Sometimes we wish you had 

come into the world to condemn – 

those others over there

doing the wrong thing – 

jumping queues to enter our country,

stopping traffic to shout about 

justice, flouting our sense of decorum

with their liberated self-expression. 

 

Since you did not come to condemn,

but for love and fulness of life,

help us look more kindly

on those who challenge our comfort,

to offer compassion, safety, home, to

desperate humans, to stand 

with women or Aboriginal neighbours

and raise our voices with their voices,

to celebrate closet doors flung open,

the glorious kaleidoscope of culture

and religion in our community. 

 

Sometimes we do find it hard

to believe what Jesus taught us,

the Spirit blowing where it will,

birthing us anew,

bringing heaven among us on earth. 

 

Since you taught us and sent us

your Spirit, please help us

surrender to the Wind and go

where it will take us; to enter

Spirit and water so to enter

your resurrection life here on earth,

to listen, wait, receive your teaching,

and live love and fulness of life. 

 

Sometimes we cannot see; 

help us to open our eyes.

 

Sometimes we fail to listen;

help us to pay better attention. 

 

Sometimes we fail to love,

and we diminish the life you gift us. 

 

Help us to love; 

Help us to live more fully.

Creator, please help us

to love the world you made. 

Amen. 

raised to life

Acts 3:12–19 

Confession 

Dear God;

we have been unjust, unkind, unwilling

to believe you can transform life. 

We have looked at lives transformed

by love, by the invitation to wonder,

and we have dismissed what

makes us feel uncomfortable. 

We are sorry. 

Like the crowd who turned

from their trust in Jesus to save them,

we have not trusted in your mystery;

forgive us our cold hearts,

our reluctance to grow,

our lack of welcome for each other. 

Forgive us when we crucify Jesus 

again with our rejection of each other. 

Forgive us when we let go of your faith,

betray your trust, abandon you in our fear. 

Love, 

your people. 

Assurance of Grace 

To my dear people, 

Thank you for saying sorry. 

Please remember that I raised Jesus from death to life, 

and so I raised you with him: 

get up, now, and live! 

Do not be afraid, but be at peace. 

I forgive you. Always. 

Love, 

God. 

who?

Holy Week. Year B. Wednesday 

John 13:21–32

I lifted my head

from close to his heart I asked

which one of us, first? 

Prayer of honesty and hope

Mark 16:1–2 

Easter Day confession & intercession 

When the Sabbath was over – 

Oh, God, help us to pause, 

to breathe, to focus on you; 

help us find the courage

to stop, to feel – even 

what hurts, even what hopes. 

Help us to hold the moment 

long enough to be there;

help us to stay with you

and with each other, even

in the garden of grief. 

Mary, Mary, and Salome brought spices – 

Oh, God, this is a story 

of women, written out of 

so much of your story, our 

story. So we pray for 

the ones written out of the story

for so long, and now finding

their voice, claiming their place;

and we pray for the ones 

still hidden between the lines,

obscured in the shadows, held

off to the edges, the margins,

the outside. More, we pray

for ourselves to see

as you see, welcome as you

do, and listen to shaking voices

with your message to speak. 

So that they might anoint him – 

Oh, God, how do we honour you,

having come among us

in Jesus, having stood firm

for the Way of Justice and Love

in the face of the fiercest 

persecution? What can we do

to honour that act of love,

of reconciliation, of invitation

back to your Way of Justice,

of Love? Help us to see, 

help us to act, to live, our 

honour for you. 

Good Friday Prayers

John 18:1 – 19:42 

1. 'I am he' 

Praise/ Call to worship 

You are the one we look for

You are the one we seek

You are the one we follow

You, the one we try to defend

You are the one who corrects,

the one who shows the Way

You are the one who heals,

You, the one who always forgives

You are the one we look for

You are the one we seek

Amen 

2. 'The cock crowed' 

Confession 

You saw it

You said it

You knew 

You know our hope

You know our fear

You know our tendency to let fear win

We're sorry

We are so sorry

With Peter, we are dismayed 

3. 'Standing near the cross' 

Intercession 

we pray for the soldiers,

the ones following orders

they may prefer to ignore

we pray for the leaders

giving orders, making judgements,

not always able to be courageous 

we pray for parents and children,

for goodbyes, for new connections,

we pray for the ones we love 

we pray for ourselves

encountering this story again: 

confront us, disturb us, leave us not unchanged 

palm leaves in the dust

Palm Sunday 

Mark 11:1–11 

we shout Hope! 

we shout Joy! 

we shout Love! 

we shout Peace! 

all the things you promised

all that we have longed for  

riding into town

on a colt we dress in our imaginations

as a war horse

have you wielding a sword

and shielding us from indignity

injustice and oppression ... 

[pause] 

it is a donkey 

his hands are open

we stumble

fatal hesitation

leaving hope and joy

and love and peace fallen

with the palm leaves

in the dust 

God's people

Lent 5. Year B. 

Jeremiah 31:31–34 

Confession 

'I am your God.

You are my people.' 

You promise

You give

You trust 

money is our god: 

success, fame, power,

humans, our selves,

are our gods, 

and we try belonging 

anywhere but with You. 

broken promise

rejected gift

betrayed trust 

silence 

we are sorry

we are sorry

we are sorry 

silence 

Assurance of Grace 

'I am your God. 

You are my people. 

I forgive

I restore

I heal 

welcome home.' 

God Among Us

Lent 4. Year B

John 3:14–21 

Confession 

You came among us for love,

though our lack of faithfulness

bites at our ankles like a poisonous snake. 

You came among us for light,

though our lack of faithfulness 

has kept us in the dark. 

You came among us for life, 

though our lack of faithfulness 

keeps us from dying to death. 

Forgive us our lack of faithfulness,

come again into our midst

with love, and light, and life, we pray. 

Assurance of Grace 

God so loves the world,

so loves creation,

that They sent, They came,

among us to bring us back

to life. Trust that, and live! 

Amen.  

In the clouds

 

A lament 

Genesis 9:8–17 

Lent 1 Year B 

When the bow is in the clouds

do we remember promise? 

Promise Divine, promise that life

will not be drowned out again? 

How often we forget with our floods

of anti-others vitriol we spit

to drown out life we do not like; 

pushing promise under water.

When the bow is in the clouds

do we remember trust? 

Trust in the Word Divine,

covenant established and remembered? 

How often we forget with our turning

to the gods and idols that we make

with the muse that you refuse 

to take away, Creative Spirit. 

When the bow is in the clouds

do we remember hope? 

Holy Hope of green to fill

the fields that rise as waters fall.

How often we let fear

strangle, twist, and tangle

all that's good and full of life,

starve 'us' so we can keep 'them' unfed. 

When the bow is in the clouds,

God has told us we can 

trust the promise and the hope.

Oh, God, help us remember! 

Amen. 

 

Breathe Again

Confession, Thanksgiving, and Praise 

after Psalm 51:1–17 

for Ash Wednesday 

I stop.

Drop to my knees. 

I can see,

I will look,

all the ways I have not

walked Your Way. 

By my shame

I am brought

to my knees; 

in my sorrow

I fold my head low,

for I know

You know

there is nothing left

but to confess. 

I confess. 

Hear me fairly, 

look through Your eyes

of lovingkindness

that see 

and then choose not

to see

so I may breathe 

again. 

I stop. 

Drop to my knees. 

I can hear,

I will listen, 

in the chamber of my 

secret heart – 

oh, meet me there,

Merciful One, 

and whisper joy,

promise grace

as you have of old,

and I will lift my eyes,

throw wide my arms

and let you in

where You – to my surprise

and my delight – have told me

You will dwell! 

I thank you: 

this freedom,

this life,

this begin anew. 

I thank you

as I breathe

again. 

I stop. 

Drop to my knees. 

I can speak,

I will sing,

Your story 

and your glory

shining, shimmering,

sparkling glass of bubbling gold 

that overflows! 

Come near,

people dear: 

come sing the Song of Life,

the Song of Joy! 

We praise You,

Source of Life;

we praise You,

Way of Life;

we praise You,

Breath of Life,

and we breathe

again. 

Is it right to be angry?

 Jonah 3:1–4:11 

1. Is this not what I said? 

Jonah, obedient,

proclaims judgement, sentence: 

but then – God's mind changed 

2. Who knows? God may relent? 

Nineveh condemned,

mourning; sackcloth, ash, fast – 

the people believed 

3. ... angry enough to die 

God plants him a tree:

to care for all these people

or a withered plant? 

Who is Holy One?

Isaiah 64:1–4 

Advent 1: Hope 

Who is Holy One? 

The One who dwells in heaven

The One who dwells on hearth 

The One whose hand made all things

The One whose hand holds all things 

The One who looks with favour on a humble spirit

The One who looks with favour on the receptive heart 

The One rejected by those who diminish life 

The One rejected by those who worship idols 

The One we did not answer when called 

The One we hurt with our turning away 

The One who calls again, anger put aside 

The One who redeems again, Love personified  

Sometimes the Story tastes sour

Judges 4:1–7 

Holy One of the Sacred Story,

sometimes I do not understand. 

That you hear the cry of Israel

oppressed in Canaan, twenty

years oppressed by cruel hands – 

I do see you, Merciful One. 

That you speak redemption

through prophet-judge Deborah,

end to misery by their own hands – 

I do see you, Faithful One. 

That you promise to deliver

the oppressor through battle,

ten thousand swords in hand – 

I try to see you, Justice. 

That you choose to work 

through human ones, women

as well as men – 

I do see you, Holy Partner. 

But must I see you descending Tabor

before Barak and ten

thousand solders' swords,

leaving not one of Sisera's 

men alive? 

Must I see your hand in Jael's,

rending peace with tent peg

and hammer, not 

one left? 

Is that really you, subduing

one army through the weapons 

of another, redeeming some

humans, rejecting others? 

Holy One of the Sacred Story,

meet me here as I know you, 

Justice, Mercy, Steadfast Love; 

meet me in my confusion

even if this story must remain 

You are wondrous

Psalm 106:1–6, 19–23 

Praise Holy One! 

Give voice to your gratitude,

for the goodness of Holy One,

whose lovingkindness endures always! 

We haven't the words

to say it all – 

the wonder of Holy One,

the depth of our thanks! 

But we know joy, living 

out your justice, sharing 

the love we know in you. 

Remember me, we cry, 

remember, Holy One, 

your people – do not forget. 

We want to rejoice, 

to celebrate the fulfilment

of your Dream. 

We know we have wronged you,

us, our ancestors before us; 

we have participated in tyranny: 

forgive us

forgive us. 

We make idols, worship images,

success, wealth, status, ourselves,

when we are made to worship you: 

forgive us

forgive us. 

We forget you, Holy One,

who hears our cries, who rescues

promises, redeems our lives: 

forgive us

forgive us. 

You could choose to leave us, 

unfaithful, inconstant, as we are;

we plead with you again, again, 

forgive us

forgive us. 

Thank you for not turning from us,

we sigh with relief, for our lives.

You are wondrous, awesome, faithful: 

help us remember

help us remember. 

Amen.