Divine Entreaty: Prayers for Public and Diverse Settings

By Robert L. Menz

Divine Entreaty is a great resource for all who are called upon to offer prayer for gatherings that include people from diverse backgrounds. The prayers written by Dr. Menz provide us with sensitivity training and show that he is both a verbal artist and philosopher.Suellen Mazurowski, JD; Hilton Head, SC
Teach us to pray was the elementary request of the first disciples of Jesus. Yet their desire is a universal one; a spiritual longing at the heart of persons of all religions and cultures. In this remarkable little volume Dr. Menz captures both the complexity of cultural sensitivity and also the commonality of public prayer. This is a resource for both guiding those who are called upon to articulate a prayer in our diverse world and encouraging business and civic leaders who feel the need for the prayers of the people to be voiced. James Gebhart, PhD, clinical psychologist; Columbus, Ohio
Bob Menz and I have a friendship that goes back twenty-plus years revolving around human resource conferences and issues. Bob has shared prayers with people for decades and I would like to thank him for giving others a place to begin as we seek communication with our Creator.Bill Henry, human resources manager; Ava, Missouri
We live and work in a culturally, religiously, and spiritually diverse world. For those of us who are challenged by issues of diversity every day, Dr. Menzs volume, Divine Entreaty, is a welcome resource calling our attention to the necessity of inclusiveness. Both the famous prayers of the past and those for public and diverse settings will enlighten your own sense of oneness with humanity.Carl Kyle, DMin, board-certified chaplain; Jacksonville, Florida

Divine Entreaty offers a collection of inclusive prayers for leadership in civic, business, education, politics, ministry, and other disciplines to adopt or modify when communities seek to clarify their purpose and capture the moment.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Balboa Press
• Release date: May 9, 2014
• ISBN: 9781452597270

Robert L. Menz

Robert L. Menz, DMin, is a retired Certified Employee Assistance Professional, Educator, and Pastoral Psychotherapist. He is the author of A Memoir of a Pastoral Counseling Practice and A Pastoral Counselors Model for Wellness in the Workplace: Psychergonomics, both from Haworth press. He is the editor/author of Changing Society: A Social and Spiritual Vision for the Year 2020 and Beyond from University Press of America. In addition, Dr. Menz authored Divine Entreaty: Prayers for Public and Diverse Settings from Balboa Press and is a contributing author to Departures 2010: Writings by the Faculty, Staff, Alumni, & Students of Edison Community College – as well as numerous articles in professional journals. Robert and his wife Ruth live in Sidney, Ohio and enjoy traveling, communing with nature and grand parenting.

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Copyright © 2014 Robert L Menz.

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Scripture quotations taken from the New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. (www.Lockman.org)

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ISBN: 978-1-4525-9726-3 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4525-9728-7 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-4525-9727-0 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2014908199

Balboa Press rev. date: 05/07/2014

CONTENTS

PART ONE

INTRODUCTION

Making A Case For Inclusivity

What Is Prayer?

Prayers That Are Genuine And Authentic

Opening The Prayer

Closing The Prayer

Types Of Prayer

PART TWO

FAMOUS PRAYERS

Make Me An Instrument Of Your Love (Saint Francis)

Arjuna Said (The Bhagavad Gita)

We Belong To The Earth (Suquamish Chief Seattle)

The Shema (Deuteronomy 6:4-9)

I Arrive Every Second (Thich Nhat Hanh)

Serenity Prayer (Reinhold Niebuhr)

Commit To Me (The Bhagavad Gita)

Jesus’ Model Prayer (Matthew 6:9-13)

Unity (Psalm 133:1)

A Prayer Of Muhammad (Sura 17:1)

Thou Art God (Psalm 90:1-2)

A Thanksgiving Prayer (T.d. Jakes)

Master Of Our Home (Yajur Veda)

The Adhan – The Call To Prayer (Islam)

The Salat (Sura 96:19)

Illusions (A Course In Miracles)

The Prayer Of Jabez

Grow In Me (Teilhard De Chardin)

Senate Prayer (Peter Marshall)

Great Spirit (Traditional Native American Prayer)

Flow Into The Tao (Tao Te Ching)

PART THREE

PRAYERS FOR PUBLIC AND DIVERSE SETTINGS

Community Prayers

Community Prayers With Special Guests

Community Prayers Focusing On The Seasons

Community Prayers Focusing On The Holidays

Community Prayers Concerning Employee Appreciation

Community Prayer Poems

Endnotes

About The Author

This book is dedicated to

Sofia, Hailey, and Gracie

The three newest additions to our

Wonderful dynasty of grandchildren

And is committed to

The constant prayer

I have for all of our

Children and grandchildren.

PART ONE

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INTRODUCTION

I do not believe in the exclusive divinity of the Vedas. I believe the Bible, the Koran, and the Zend Avesta to be as much divinely inspired as the Vedas. My belief in the Hindu Scriptures does not require me to accept every word and every sense as divinely inspired. Nor do I claim to have any first-hand knowledge of these wonderful books. But I do claim to know and feel the truths of the essential teaching of the Scriptures. I decline to be bound by any interpretation, however learned it may be, if it is repugnant to reason or moral sense.

- Mohandas Gandhi ¹

Divine Entreaty: Prayers for Public and Diverse Settings simply asserts that we, especially in the United States, are well established as a complex and diverse Global Community, and gestures of inclusivity are favored when engaging in public prayers. Secular settings for prayer need a goal of binding groups together over common concerns.

This book is presented in three parts. Part one, the Introduction, seeks to define prayer and set parameters for public prayer in civic and diverse settings. The introduction will address prayer from the limited perspective of this