PRAYERS FOR THE MEDIA

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The prayer below was written by Mike Smith, Editor

of the Spartanburg Herald Journal, Spartanburg, South Carolina.

This is only part of it - the link to the entire prayer is below this text.

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Lord, the traditional institutions of the media are crumbling under economic pressure. While some of us may be tempted to celebrate this destruction, the death of these institutions will leave a void that will be filled by less responsible avenues of information. Already, news outlets that seek to provide objective information are over-shadowed by outlets that seek only their own segment of our population and tell that fraction only what they want to hear. This divides rather than unites us. This often obscures rather than reveals the truth. And it furthers the antagonism in our society that demonizes anyone who disagrees with the prevailing views.

 Lord, give our people a renewed hunger for the truth rather than the confirmation of their own preconceptions and prejudices. You have told us that the truth will set us free.
Too many of us are not interested in learning the truth and
too few of us are interested in spreading it.
 Change our hearts Lord.
 Give our nation a true curiosity to learn the truth and allow those news outlets who reveal that truth to grow and prosper.

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Lord, too often we see a media today that looks down its nose at traditional social institutions, at ethical standards other than its own relativism, at faith itself. Give those of us in the media respect for those institutions, values and faith.
 Help us to realize that God is not mocked, and when people of faith and devotion to you are denigrated that our society is harmed, cheapened and made a little more brutal.

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Lord, give us a media that lifts us up rather than drags us down. Give us a media that celebrates the good rather than the evil. Help our media and our society to move away from the voyeurism and the celebration of degradation that characterizes much of our entertainment. Help us not to revel in gossip and the tearing away of others’ privacy. Help us to rise above an interest in seeing others debase themselves by surviving tortures and being stripped of human dignity.
 Lord, give us a news and entertainment media that pushes us to become better rather than to reduce us to our basest level.

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Lord, make us a media that acknowledges evil but refuses to celebrate it. Make us a media that exults in triumph and perseverance and joy and virtue. Lord, make us a media that tells us what is happening and tells us forthrightly and honestly. Make us a media that not only tells us what’s wrong, but make us a media that also points us to whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable. Let us report on what is excellent or praiseworthy as well as what is outrageous and shocking.

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Lord, make us a media that acknowledges the worst in us, but refuses to wallow in that evil.
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To see the complete prayer, go here:

http://www.mikehamlet.com/index.php/2010/05/07/prayer-for-our-media
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From The Book of Common Prayer

of the Episcopal Church

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Prayer 39.  For those who Influence Public Opinion

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Almighty God, you proclaim your truth in every age

by many voices; Direct, in our time, we pray, those who speak

where many listen and write what many read;

that they may do their part in making the heart

of this people wise, its mind sound, and its will righteous;

to the honor of Jesus Christ our Lord.

Amen.

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 The prayer below is from the Catholic

Pauline Order, a media-centered religious group

of priests and brothers.

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Father, in a world deafened by a cacaphony of sounds,

 may all be able to hear your whispering voice. 

We ask this first of all for ourselves, men dedicated to the
 Sacred Scriptures and the teaching of the Church, who must
 communicate your truth, Father, in a world

 that would prefer to hear lies.

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Secondly, we ask this for all who work in media,
 the press, radio, television, the internet.
 May they cherish truth more strongly than their own
 prejudices and personal agendas. May they present truth
 in a way that will enlighten hearts rather than
 inflame passions and conflicts.

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Thirdly, we pray for the artists and musicians of the world.

 May they utilize their talents to give you glory and in the
 process receive the recognition that they deserve.

 May they expose the horror and error of sin and 

the beauty and truth of virtue. We ask this Father,
 in the name of your Son, our Divine Master, the Way,
 the Truth and the Life, who lives and reigns gently with you,
 and the Holy Spirit, one loving God, forever and ever.

 Amen.

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A PRAYER FOR THE UNEMPLOYED

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From the Episcopal

Book of Common Prayer

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Heavenly Father,

we remember before you those who suffer

want and anxiety from lack of work.

Guide the people of this land so to

use our public and private wealth

that all may find suitable and fulfilling

employment, and receive just payment

for their labor; through

Jesus Christ Our Lord.

Amen.

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PRAYER AND SCIENCE

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Any attempt to speak of prayer in the 21st century is likely to lead to a confrontation with a cluster of objections - the two most notable being that prayer is irrelevant in a sophisticated age of science and technology; and that prayer is primarily a solipsistic dialogue with the self. Both rest on a belief that prayer is by its nature psychologically suspect. But its critics, if they are intellectually honest, ought to ask themselves whether they can dismiss or deny profound interior experiences claimed by others merely because they themselves are strangers to those experiences.

We should not lose sight of the fact that psychology itself is a remarkably fluid and mysterious discipline, one that deals with all manner of highly variable conjectures and subjective interpretations. Various schools of analysis have emerged, and partisans often apply their own fixed systems as templates for interpreting each and every human life or dilemma. This methodology, however, tends to reduce the unique human person to a standard issue that can be "treated" by certain established principles. But good science does not proceed in so reductive a fashion.

Just so, it is helpful to recall that no less a figure than Albert Einstein observed that human awareness of the divine could not be summarily discounted, and that in fact (as he wrote) "science without religion is lame, religion without science is blind." Since Einstein's death a half-century ago, most scientists would agree that what we call "laws of nature" are best regarded as a series of probabilities in a universe that remains mysterious and open.

The idea that there are fixed laws of nature is in fact useful only as a way of assessing the current state of what is known about the material world: in other words, these so-called laws enable us to understand certain phenomena as they appear to us now, at our current stage of interpreting the world.

On the other hand, the realms of creative thought and art, the worlds of aesthetic and interior spiritual life, gain little from being subjected to a priori principles. In this regard, we can consider that when Aristotle contemplated the universe, when Mozart composed, when Monet painted and when Mendel experimented with plants and seeds, they were engaged in interior activities that were not ultimately comprehensible through merely rational methods.

Still, for some people prayer is fundamentally incompatible with a modern scientific worldview. What good is it, they ask, to pray for rain in the midst of a drought? After all, tomorrow's weather is determined by today's conditions - more accurately, it was determined by yesterday's. A similar argument might be made about the course of an illness. What use is it to pray once all the medical remedies have been applied? Nature, they conclude, has taken and will take its course, either in response to scientific protocols or despite them.

Two replies come to mind. First, we constantly alter the course of "nature" by expressions of our will and in light of evolving knowledge. We seed the clouds; we build breakwaters and construct complex irrigation equipment; we discover that a rare herb just might treat a grave illness. It is ridiculous to suggest that we can always know the circumstances under which a desired end might be accomplished. The second response is more abstract and yet more to the point. Scientists receptive to a mysterious and often unpredictable universe can, as we have seen, admit that the laws of nature have more to do with a current sense of probability than with anything like certainty.
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From In Silence - Why We Pray

by Donald Spoto
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PRAYER AND DECISION-MAKING

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I pray today for people

faced with difficult decisions:

decisions which will seriously affect

their lives and the lives of their loved ones:

decisions about jobs,

about their marriage,

about where to live,

about money.

I pray for those who can see no way

through their problems:

for whom it is all too much.

Help them to see that you,

who control the universe,

are in control of their lives too.

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From Further Everyday Prayers

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PRAYER BEFORE AN IMPORTANT DECISION

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Lord, Almighty God,
source of light, truth, and eternal goodness,
transform this present moment
into an hour of vision and inspiration.
Help me to find wisdom;
shed light on my thoughts.
May my aspirations come true
through righteous and good deeds.
Give me the strength to concentrate,
to think objectively,
and to see clearly.
Shed your light on me so that I may see
which decision to make.
Help me, O my Eternal God,
to avoid vanity and pride,
and thus be able to make worthy decisions
as a true child of yours.

Amen.
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From the Ithaca College website, which has

a select number of prayers for various occasions -

good stuff...see it here:

http://www.ithaca.edu/sacl/catholic/prayers/decision/

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A PRAYER FOR THE ADDICTS

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From the Episcopal Book of Common Prayer

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O blessed Lord, you ministered to all who

came to you: Look with compassion upon all

who through addiction have lost their health

and freedom. Restore to them the assurance

of your unfailing mercy; remove from them

the fears that beset them; strengthen them

in the work of their recovery; and to those

who care for them, give patient understanding

and persevering love.
 Amen.

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For more prayers on this subject,

including a Prayer to Seek Drug Treatment,

a Blessing for a Person in Recovery,

and more -go here:
http://www.suite101.com/content/prayers-for-drug-addiction-a155106

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