You are invited to begin this time with a breath prayer. As you enter into a stillness, use these words to align with your breath. Explore this breath prayer for this month as a way to center your body, mind and soul.
Breath Prayer
Inhale: You welcome all
Exhale: Help me do the same
THE CENTER PRAYER
Will you pray for the Center for Spiritual Formation?
Dear God:
We pray for the life and ministry of the Center:
May it become a healing stream
for those who would be sustained by prayer;
May it become an ever-flowing river
for those whose spirits have grown dry;
May it become a fountain of life,
for those who would practice their faith
in a dry and thirsty land;
And may it nourish the seed of your Word—
the Church,
yielding a bountiful harvest for your
Kingdom.
AMEN
Specific Prayer Needs of the Center
Please join in prayer for these specific needs of the work of the Center in this season. If you would like to help with provision for these needs, contact Rhonda Strouse at director.rhonda@centerformation.org
Opening Statement:
We present these prayers to the Holy One to whom all praise and gratitude are given as we seek to travel the sacred pathway of the Center…
We open our doors wide as we welcome those seeking refuge and relief from a world of noise and distraction – those who long for a deep and never ending well of peace. May the Center be a quiet still place to listen, to come closer to the One who invites us to share in sanctuary.
May we be prepared through Your Wisdom to lead the Center into the minds and hearts – the souls – of those seeking a space of Love’s holding. Let our actions reflect the will and way of Your Spirit as we reach out with a fresh wind of renewal. For all needing and wanting refreshment, may they be met where they are, and always “come as you are.”
Let us give our very best – God’s best through us – in every encounter, reflecting Your Spirit’s grace. May we be a witness to the Divine in living out fullness in trust, compassionate presence, and sacred exchange – in Word and in silence.
We present this way of being as our prayer for the Center – as hosts and soul companions on the journey together – may we be still and know.
Amen
Featured Prayer From Richard E. Jorgensen, Jr.
Gracious and merciful God, you have made us in your image, and you have provided for us out of your goodness and generosity. We are guests at your table of grace, and you call us to welcome others as you have welcomed us.
Open our hearts to welcome the stranger among us. Open our lives that we may welcome those who are considered the least, the last and the lost in the eyes of the world.
Open our eyes that we might see you in the face of the poor, the homeless, the displaced and dispossessed and in welcoming our siblings, we might welcome you.
In all things, make us aware that your goodness knows no bounds, and may we reflect your love and hospitality to all people.
In Christ’s name, Amen.
The Rev. Richard E. T. Jorgensen, Jr.currently serves as the Intentional Interim Pastor of Camp Hill Presbyterian Church. Richard was ordained in 1989 and served 23 years as a parish pastor in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. From August 2012 until November 2025, Richard served as the Director for Evangelical Mission for the Lower Susquehanna Synod, ELCA and he assisted leaders and congregations as they met the challenges and transitions of ministry. Richard has been married to the Rev. Dr. Janyce Jorgensen since 1986 and together they have two married adult children, four grandchildren, and two tuxedo cats. Richard cares for his own soul through hiking, praying the Psalms, spending time with his family and weekly trivia games with his friends.
Prayer from the Center’s Archives
The Center for Spiritual Formation has a treasure trove of prayers collected over the years through our Ministry of Spiritual Direction training, retreats and workshops.
Grant me, I beseech thee, my God, in thee name of Jesus Christ thy Son, the charity
which never fails, that my light may shine, warming my own heart and enlightening
others.
~Columbanus, c. 550-615 CE
Lord! Going out from this silence, teach us to be more alert, and humbly expectant than
we have been in the past; ever ready to encounter you in quiet, homely ways: in every
appeal to our compassion, every act of unselfish love which shows-op and humbles our
imperfect love, may we recognize you, still walking through the world. Give us that
grace of simplicity which alone can receive your mystery.
Come, and abide with us!
Meet us, walk with us!
Enlighten our minds!
And then, come in! Enter our humble lives with their poverty and limitations, as you
entered the stable at Bethlehem, the workshop of Nazareth, the cottage at Emmaus.
Bless and consecrate thee material of our small, ordinary lives.
Bless our souls.
~Adapted from Evelyn Underhill, 1875—1941 CE