Introduction 

Welcome to Mulberry Meditations! I’m so glad you’ve decided to join today in prayer. When we pray, we connect our heart to God’s heart, giving of our needs and praises while also receiving the grace, love, and provision of our great God. My name is Ted Goshorn, senior pastor of Mulberry Street United Methodist Church, and I’ll be guiding us through this time of prayer. 

Our prayers follow a contemplative liturgy, or pattern, in the long tradition of Christians who have utilized scripture readings, repeated refrains, and silence to commune through prayer. Together, we will hear scriptures from the daily lectionary, familiar hymn lyrics and music, and engage gradually in a time of silence, always preceded by scripture, that we may hear from God through God’s word. 

Now, I invite you to get comfortable, praying in whatever position feels natural, as we go through this time of prayer.

On this Tuesday in the season of Easter, April 2, 2024, we bring ourselves expectantly before our Lord in prayer, with praise and thanksgiving, opening ourselves to give and receive, from our heart to God’s heart. 

And so we pray:

God, come to my assistance. 

O Lord, make haste to help me. (Ps. 70:1)

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit; as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end, Amen. (Gloria Patri)

Let all who are thirsty come. Let all who wish receive the water of life freely.

1 The Lord is king; he is robed in majesty;

    the Lord is robed; he is girded with strength.

He has established the world; it shall never be moved;

2     your throne is established from of old;

    you are from everlasting.

3 The floods have lifted up, O Lord,

    the floods have lifted up their voice;

    the floods lift up their roaring.

4 More majestic than the thunders of mighty waters,

    more majestic than the waves of the sea,

    majestic on high is the Lord!

5 Your decrees are very sure;

    holiness befits your house,

    O Lord, forevermore. (Ps. 93)

Let all who are thirsty come. Let all who wish receive the water of life freely.

Turn your eyes upon Jesus, look full in his wonderful face, and the things of earth will grow strangely dim in the light of his glory and grace. [UMH 349]

Let all who are thirsty come. Let all who wish receive the water of life freely.

Hear us now, O God, as we offer our prayers for:

• Our families and all who call us friend
• Our church and all who claim your name 
• Our community, be it neighborhood, town, or city 
• Our nation and world, especially remembering those caught up in conflicts
• My needs and praises this day

O Lord, hear my prayer. 

A reading from the gospel of John, as we prepare ourselves to hear from God through keeping silence:

“Do not let your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me. 2 In my Father’s house there are many dwelling places. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? 3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, so that where I am, there you may be also. 4 And you know the way to the place where I am going.” 5 Thomas said to him, “Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way?” 6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. 7 If you know me, you will know my Father also. From now on you do know him and have seen him.” (John 14:1-7)

Silence 

And now we pray as Jesus taught us to pray by saying: 

Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name.

Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on Earth as it is in heaven.

Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. 

Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil, for thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory forever; Amen.

Let all who are thirsty come. Let all who wish receive the water of life freely.

O God, who by the glorious resurrection of your Son Jesus Christ destroyed death and brought life and immortality to light: Grant that we, who have been raised with him, may abide in his presence and rejoice in the hope of eternal glory; through Jesus Christ our Lord, to whom, with you and the Holy Spirit, be dominion and praise for ever and ever. Amen.

And now, may the Lord bless you and keep you: may the Lord make his face to shine upon you, and be gracious to you: may the LORD turn his face toward you, and give you peace. 

Amen.

Subscribe by signing up for daily emails to pray each day. To learn more about Mulberry Street UMC and to give to support our work, visit mulberrymethodist.org. New prayers post daily, both as audio podcasts and blog posts, so I hope you will return often. Visit tedgoshorn.org to see written prayers and to learn more. Prayer transforms our hearts, as we seek to be evermore like Jesus.