Prayers that Bring Us Home

John Garland

[To receive the daily Psalm rendering, notes, and encouragement by email, sign up through the link at the top of this page.] The Prayers That Bring Us Home is a daily journey through the Psalms, the prayer book of the Bible. Together, Ramona, Paula, Gaye, and John pray these ancient songs as a spiritual vocabulary for healing, resilience, lament, trust, and praise. The Psalms were prayed and carried by God’s people through worship, suffering, exile, return, and renewal, becoming a sacred meeting place where wounded communities bring their whole lives into the presence of God. These are the prayers Jesus knew, prayed, embodied, and gave to us as a way of praying together. As we pray them with him, we are formed into our true identity as children of God. From San Antonio Mennonite Church, a joyful community seeking to do justice, love mercy, and walk humbly with God in our Southtown neighborhood.

  1. Episode 1

    Psalm 1: Rooted in the Way

    Prayer Mantra: YAHWEH, root me in Your Way. Let me flourish from what You give. Psalm 1 is the first gate of the Psalter. Before the book gives us lament, rescue, abandonment, praise, and kingdom, it asks where a life is planted. What counsel is shaping us? What path is training our desire? What seat is offering apparent belonging but cannot truly hold us? In this episode, we listen for the Messiah’s invitation in Psalm 1. The Flourishing One is not first a moral achiever, but the truly Aligned human. Followers of Jesus hear this Psalm as an invitation to be replanted in the Way of Christ, whose life delights in God’s Lighted Direction and whose fruit comes in season. Together, we bring our real needs, our real fears, and our longing for belonging into the presence of God. We receive the Spirit of Adoption, pray the Lord’s Prayer, and ask to be rooted again in the love that has already claimed us. May your roots drink deeply. May your life flourish from what God gives. May your fruit come in season. The Prayers That Bring Us Home is a daily Psalm prayer podcast from San Antonio Mennonite Church. We pray Jesus’ prayer book in order, listening for the Messiah’s voice and learning to bring our whole lives into the presence of God. For daily Psalm renderings, notes, and encouragement, visit SanAntonioMennonite.org and sign up on the main page. Psalm renderings are original working renderings for prayer and formation, not official translations. Hosted by the pastor John Garland, with Ramona Garcia, Paula Loring and Gaye Slomka.Produced by John at the San Antonio Mennonite Church.

  2. Episode 2

    Psalm 2: Shelter in a Raging World

    Prayer Mantra: Beloved Son, hold us in Your shelter. Teach us awe in a raging world. Psalm 2 is the second gate of the Psalter. Psalm 1 gives the Way of the Aligned. Psalm 2 gives the world that resists that Way. Together they open the prayer book with formation and conflict, rootedness and rebellion, Lighted Direction and Messiah. In this episode, we listen for the Messiah’s voice inside a raging world. The Son does not grasp for rule in fear. He receives himself from God: “You are My Son.” Followers of Jesus are invited to notice that order. We receive identity before mission, shelter before courage, and belonging before we face the powers of the world. Together, we name public chaos without absorbing it. We bring our outrage, fear, longing for justice, and temptation toward control into the presence of God. We receive the Spirit of Adoption, pray the Lord’s Prayer, and ask to take shelter in the Son rather than becoming louder, harder, or more afraid. May the Beloved Son hold you in shelter. May you serve with awe and rejoice with trembling. May you refuse to let the raging world become the raging self. The Prayers That Bring Us Home is a daily Psalm prayer podcast from San Antonio Mennonite Church. We pray Jesus’ prayer book in order, listening for the Messiah’s voice and learning to bring our whole lives into the presence of God. For daily Psalm renderings, notes, and encouragement, visit SanAntonioMennonite.org and sign up on the main page. Psalm renderings are original working renderings for prayer and formation, not official translations. Hosted by the pastor John Garland, with Ramona Garcia, Paula Loring and Gaye Slomka.Produced by John at the San Antonio Mennonite Church.

  3. Episode 3

    Interlude: The Rhythm of Psalms 3–6

    Psalms 1 and 2 form the doorway of the Psalter: Psalm 1 asks where a life is planted, and Psalm 2 names the raging world that resists the Way of God. Then Psalm 3 begins with trouble. In this brief interlude, John introduces the movement of Psalms 3–6 as a basic rhythm of prayer: Psalm 3 teaches us to lie down when the threat is still real. Psalm 4 teaches us to bring anger, shame, and agitation into the night without letting them become violation. Psalm 5 teaches us to rise in the morning, lay out our life before God, and keep watch. Psalm 6 teaches us to pray when the body cannot pretend, when grief has entered the bones, the bed, and the tears. This series grows out of the daily practice of a small Mennonite church in San Antonio praying the Psalms together. These prayers give us language for fear, exhaustion, anger, longing, hope, and the desire to be held by God rather than ruled by pressure. For written notes, Psalm renderings, and daily encouragement, visit SanAntonioMennonite.org and sign up on the main page. These are the Prayers that Bring us Home. The Prayers That Bring Us Home is a daily Psalm prayer podcast from San Antonio Mennonite Church. We pray Jesus’ prayer book in order, listening for the Messiah’s voice and learning to bring our whole lives into the presence of God. For daily Psalm renderings, notes, and encouragement, visit SanAntonioMennonite.org and sign up on the main page. Psalm renderings are original working renderings for prayer and formation, not official translations. Hosted by the pastor John Garland, with Ramona Garcia, Paula Loring and Gaye Slomka.Produced by John at the San Antonio Mennonite Church.

  4. Episode 4

    Psalm 3: Safe Covering in the Night

    Prayer Mantra: YAHWEH, You are my Safe Covering. Hold my life and let me rest. Psalm 3 places us immediately inside the conflict opened by Psalms 1 and 2. Psalm 1 gives the rooted Way. Psalm 2 gives the raging world. Psalm 3 brings us into the experience of being surrounded, accused, and told, “There is no Rescue for you in God.” In this episode, we listen for the Messiah’s voice in Psalm 3. Prayed as Christ’s prayer, this is the voice of the Beloved under threat. The Son is opposed, mocked, and encircled, yet still calls YAHWEH “my Glory” and “the One who Raises my head.” Followers of Jesus are invited to notice that trust is not the absence of danger. Trust is the body learning to lie down because Rescue belongs to YAHWEH. Together, we name the voices that have been speaking over us: accusation, threat, contempt, dismissal, and the inner lie that says we are alone. We bring those voices into the presence of God, receive the Spirit of Adoption, pray the Lord’s Prayer, and ask to rest beneath the Safe Covering of the One who upholds us. May YAHWEH be your Safe Covering. May the Holy One raise your head. May you sleep beneath God’s blessing and wake upheld by mercy. Rescue belongs to YAHWEH. The Prayers That Bring Us Home is a daily Psalm prayer podcast from San Antonio Mennonite Church. We pray Jesus’ prayer book in order, listening for the Messiah’s voice and learning to bring our whole lives into the presence of God. For daily Psalm renderings, notes, and encouragement, visit SanAntonioMennonite.org and sign up on the main page. Psalm renderings are original working renderings for prayer and formation, not official translations. Hosted by the pastor John Garland, with Ramona Garcia, Paula Loring and Gaye Slomka.Produced by John at the San Antonio Mennonite Church.

  5. Episode 5

    Psalm 4: Brought into the Wide Place

    Prayer Mantra: YAHWEH, bring me into Your wide place. Settle my heart in Your Security. Psalm 4 lies down with anger, shame, and agitation still awake inside the room. Psalm 3 teaches us to rest under threat. Psalm 4 teaches us to bring the trembling body, the wounded heart, and the tight place into the presence of YAHWEH. In this episode, we listen for the Messiah’s voice in Psalm 4. The Aligned One is pressed into a tight place and given wide space by God. Followers of Jesus are invited to hear the command: “Tremble-with-Rage, but do not violate.” Anger is not denied, but it is brought to the bed, the heart, and the presence of God until it becomes still enough not to govern action. Together, we notice where we are still clutching: shame, accusation, unfinished conversations, the longing to be understood, the temptation to seek relief in Vain Emptiness or the Lie. We receive the Spirit of Adoption, pray the Lord’s Prayer, and ask God to set our feet in a wide place where we can breathe again. May YAHWEH meet you on the cliff face. May the Holy One bring you into a wide place where you do not have to clutch. May joy come from a deeper place than visible abundance. May you lie down in Thriving Peace. The Prayers That Bring Us Home is a daily Psalm prayer podcast from San Antonio Mennonite Church. We pray Jesus’ prayer book in order, listening for the Messiah’s voice and learning to bring our whole lives into the presence of God. For daily Psalm renderings, notes, and encouragement, visit SanAntonioMennonite.org and sign up on the main page. Psalm renderings are original working renderings for prayer and formation, not official translations. Hosted by the pastor John Garland, with Ramona Garcia, Paula Loring and Gaye Slomka.Produced by John at the San Antonio Mennonite Church.

  6. Episode 6

    Psalm 5: At Morning, I Keep Watch

    SIGN-UP FOR THE DAILY EMAIL Prayer Mantra: YAHWEH, at morning hear my voice. Lead me in Your Aligned Way. Psalm 5 teaches us that morning prayer is not only devotion. It is discernment. After the nighttime prayers of Psalms 3 and 4, the pray-er rises, lays out the day before God, and keeps watch for what is true, what is false, and what belongs to love. In this episode, we listen for the Messiah’s voice in Psalm 5. The Beloved sets the day before God before the demands arrive. Followers of Jesus are invited to notice the order: groaning, cry, morning, laying out, watching, guidance. Prayer does not make us less available to love. It makes us less available to Twisting. Together, we bring the pressure, fear, groaning, list, ache, and hope of the morning into the presence of God. We receive the Spirit of Adoption, pray the Lord’s Prayer, and ask YAHWEH to make the Way straight before our face. May YAHWEH hear your voice at morning. May the Holy One discern the groaning of your Being. May you lay out your life before God before the day lays claim to you. May you be surrounded like a Great Shield with favor. The Prayers That Bring Us Home is a daily Psalm prayer podcast from San Antonio Mennonite Church. We pray Jesus’ prayer book in order, listening for the Messiah’s voice and learning to bring our whole lives into the presence of God. For daily Psalm renderings, notes, and encouragement, visit SanAntonioMennonite.org and sign up on the main page. Psalm renderings are original working renderings for prayer and formation, not official translations. Hosted by the pastor John Garland, with Ramona Garcia, Paula Loring and Gaye Slomka.Produced by John at the San Antonio Mennonite Church.

  7. Season 7 Trailer

    These Are the Prayers That Bring Us Home: An Introduction

    This series grows out of a daily practice of praying the Psalms together in community. The Psalms are not treated as isolated poems or private devotional fragments, but as a prayer book with a formational movement. Prayed in order, they carry us through fear, grief, anger, shame, trust, praise, and longing, helping us bring our whole selves into the presence of God. In each episode, we listen for where the Psalm stands in the larger movement of the Psalter, how the Messiah’s voice can be heard within it, and what this prayer can form in an individual, family, church, or wounded community. We pray the Psalms as Jesus’ prayer book, allowing the “I” of the Psalm to become the voice of Christ, and then receiving our own lives into his prayer. Each episode also moves toward the Spirit of Adoption and the Lord’s Prayer, the prayer Jesus gave to the whole family of God. Together we learn to bring our real needs, our real feelings, our longing for rescue, and our desire to participate in unconditional love. These are the Prayers that Bring us Home. May the Peace of Christ walk with you on your long journey home. We are all going home together. Amen. The Prayers That Bring Us Home is a daily Psalm prayer podcast from San Antonio Mennonite Church. We pray Jesus’ prayer book in order, listening for the Messiah’s voice and learning to bring our whole lives into the presence of God. For daily Psalm renderings, notes, and encouragement, visit SanAntonioMennonite.org and sign up on the main page. Psalm renderings are original working renderings for prayer and formation, not official translations. Hosted by the pastor John Garland, with Ramona Garcia, Paula Loring and Gaye Slomka.Produced by John at the San Antonio Mennonite Church.

Trailer

5
out of 5
13 Ratings

About

[To receive the daily Psalm rendering, notes, and encouragement by email, sign up through the link at the top of this page.] The Prayers That Bring Us Home is a daily journey through the Psalms, the prayer book of the Bible. Together, Ramona, Paula, Gaye, and John pray these ancient songs as a spiritual vocabulary for healing, resilience, lament, trust, and praise. The Psalms were prayed and carried by God’s people through worship, suffering, exile, return, and renewal, becoming a sacred meeting place where wounded communities bring their whole lives into the presence of God. These are the prayers Jesus knew, prayed, embodied, and gave to us as a way of praying together. As we pray them with him, we are formed into our true identity as children of God. From San Antonio Mennonite Church, a joyful community seeking to do justice, love mercy, and walk humbly with God in our Southtown neighborhood.

Information