Hospitality Prayers

I spent some time this morning looking at pictures from the Create in Me retreat.  Each morning, we began with worship and Bible study.  The Bible study was led by Kevin Strickland, who has gone on to a position in the national church, but once upon a time, he was a Lutheridge camp counselor.

He began each Bible study with a prayer.  I was impressed with how all the elements worked together to support/explore the hospitality theme of the retreat:  the opening prayer, the Bible passage, the exploration, the music.  It's how a Bible study in a retreat should work, but so much can go wrong.  These sessions were pretty close to perfect.

Usually, if I hear an inspiring prayer, I can only write down what I can recollect.  But with modern technology, I could take a picture of the screen.  I'll post them here, knowing that you will probably need to click on the picture to be able to actually read the prayer.

Here's the prayer from Friday:

I love the language:  "Be with those who have never known a table."


And here's the prayer for Saturday:

Perhaps I like the second prayer even better, with the image of the shuttered hearts and boarded up spirits.  I love this petition:  "When we are cast out and wandering, may we find welcome and compassion that calls us back to accountable relationship."


I don't always like our reliance on PowerPoint.  But when it's used well, I appreciate it.  It's good to remember its value as a way to document our creativity too.  I was glad to encounter these prayers again this morning.