Saturday Psalm #16
because I trust in you.
I say to you, Lord, "You are my Lord.
Every good thing I have comes from you."
Let me be counted among the godly people in the world,
the wonderful ones I enjoy.
Let me not be like those who turn to idols,
they will have much pain.
Let me not bow down to idols
nor even lean in their direction.
No, you, Lord, are all I need.
You take care of me.
You have given me a pleasant life;
should it end tomorrow, it has been beautiful.
I praise you, Lord, because you advise me.
Even at night, I feel your leading.
I want to keep you always before me.
As long as you are close by my side,
I will not be hurt.
So I rejoice and am glad.
Even my body has hope,
because I’m confident that you will not leave me in the grave.
You proved it by not letting your Holy One rot in the tomb,
but you will raise me as you raised him.
Please teach me how to live a holy life.
Give me your presence, and fill me with joy;
keep me at your right hand, where I will find pleasure forever,
in Jesus’ name, amen.
Self-Discipline
Prayer of an Unsettled Soul
Pity my unsettled soul;
Guide and nourish me and keep,
Till Thy love shall make me whole.
Give me perfect soundness, give;
Make me steadfastly believe.
I am never at one stay,
Changing every hour I am;
But Thou art, as yesterday,
Now and evermore the same.
Constancy to me impart,
Stablish with Thy grace my heart.
Give me faith to hold me up,
Walking over life's rough sea;
Holy, purifying hope,
Still my soul's sure anchor be.
That I may be always Thine,
Perfect me in love divine.
(by Charles Wesley; photo by Daniel West, via everystockphoto.com)
To Overflow With Hope
Vacation!
Gracious God,
thank you that our vacation is finally here!
Thank you for these days to spend with my lovely wife
of forty years, my love of forty-three,
and the chance to see our son, daughter-in-law, and grandkids.
Give us safe and timely travel today.
Steer us away from dangers, delays, and disruptions.
Protect us from sickness and storms.
Help us to enjoy each other,
our lovely surroundings,
our reading and resting,
eating and digesting.
Go with us.
Keep us aware of you,
and of your kindness and generosity,
in Jesus' name, amen.
(photo via everystockphoto.com)
Prayer from a Wild Heart
I have a wild heart
And cannot stand before thee;
I am like a bird before a man.
How little I love thy truth and ways!
I neglect prayer,
By thinking I have prayed enough and earnestly,
By knowing thou hast saved my soul.
Of all hypocrites,
grant that I may not be an evangelical hypocrite,
Who sins more safely because grace abounds,
Who tells his lusts that Christ’s blood cleanseth them,
Who reasons that God cannot cast him into hell,
for his is saved,
Who loves evangelical preaching, churches, Christians,
but lives Unholily.
My mind is a bucket without a bottom,
With no spiritual understanding,
No desire for the Lord’s Day,
Ever learning but never reaching the truth,
Always at the gospel-well but never holding water.
My conscience is without conviction or contrition,
With nothing to repent of.
My will is without power of decision or resolution.
My heart is without affection, and full of leaks.
My memory has no retention,
So I forget so easily the lessons learned,
And thy truths seep away.
Give me a broken heart that yet carries home the water of grace.
(from The Valley of Vision, a collection of Puritan prayers, edited by Arthur Bennett)
Tax Relief
some of us are paid up,
some of us owe,
some of us await a refund,
some of us have no income to tax.
But all of us are taxed,
by war,
by violence,
by anxiety,
by deathliness.
And Caesar never gives any deep tax relief.
We render to Caesar . . .
to some it feels like a grab,
to some it is clearly a war tax,
to some – some few –
it is a way to contribute to the common good.
In any case we are haunted
by what we render to Caesar,
by what we might render to you,
by the way we invest our wealth and our lives,
when what you ask is an “easy yoke”:
to do justice
to love mercy
to walk humbly with you.
Give us courage for your easy burden, so to live untaxed lives. Amen.
(a prayer by Walter Brueggemann, from his book, Prayers for a Privileged People, Abingdon, 2008; photo via everystockphoto.com)
Risen Lord
You are risen, Lord Jesus! You are risen from the dead!
You are risen indeed!
Hallelujah!
You died.
You have risen.
You will come again.
Hallelujah!
I praise you, Risen One!
I praise you, Conqueror of Death!
I praise you, Banisher of Darkness!
Hallelujah!
I bow before you.
I kneel at your feet.
I prostrate myself,
Rabboni!
My Lord and my God!
The First and the Last!
The Alpha and Omega!
The One who is, who was, and is to come!
Hallelujah!
Silent Saturday Prayer
Rest you well, beloved Jesus,
Caesar’s Lord and Israel’s King,
In the brooding of the Spirit,
In the darkness of the spring.
(N. T. Wright, from The Challenge of Jesus: Rediscovering Who Jesus Was and Is)
The Marks of Thy Cross
Where are the marks, the marks of Thy anointing?Savior reveal, how am I joined with Thee?
Have I embraced the cross of Thy appointing,
Thy Cross constrained a true response in me?
Spare not the truth, I spurn all shallow seeming;
Where are the proofs of Thy dying in me?
As I am Thine by my pure love to Thee.
Henceforth, for Thee inured to gain or loss,
Let me be known by the marks of Thy Cross.
Thy brow was torn, but mine has known no bleeding;
Thy hands were nailed, but mine are whole and free.
Thy cheek has burned beneath the traitor's greeting;
Have I endured the lonely way for Thee?
Thy tears fell down upon a world's transgression;
When have I wept for the souls that love not Thee?
It was Thy heart that filled Thee with compassion;
Oh, may that heart renew Thy life in me!
Henceforth, for Thee inured to gain or loss,
Let me be known by the marks of Thy Cross.
(a prayer of Albert Orsborn)
Wash
Lord, wash,
not my feet only,
but also
my hands
and
my head.
And
my heart.
And
my mind.
And
my life.
Amen.
(based on John 13:9).
A Prayer on Holy Wednesday
Lord Jesus, gracious Savior, I come to you in this sacred week to ponder your great and wondrous love; love that led you to the cross that my sin might be blotted out and that I might be reconciled to my heavenly Father. O Christ, give me strength and grace to crucify my sinful desires and dedicate myself anew to you, who has loved me with an everlasting love and brought to me eternal salvation. I confess to You my sins. They are many, and You know them all. For each and every one of them you suffered the agony of the cross and shed your precious blood that I may be cleansed and made acceptable in your sight. Thank you for the forgiveness and cleansing that is mine. Thank you that none of the sins of yesterday cling to me. Humbly I come, grateful for your mercy. Daily let me fulfill the tasks and duties to which You have called me with joy, confessing you as my Lord and Savior, and being of service to my neighbor.
Grant that your suffering and death, proclaimed for the salvation of mankind, may by the power of the Holy Spirit awaken in many a deeper love to You. O Lord, have mercy upon me and all sinful mankind, and create in me and all that seek you a clean heart, holy desires, and an undying love. Hear my prayer, gracious Redeemer. Amen.
(borrowed and revised from http://scotkinnaman.com)
A Prayer on Holy Tuesday
By Thy long-drawn anguish to atone,
Jesus Christ, show mercy on Thine own:
Jesus Christ, show mercy and atone
Not for other sake except Thine own.
Thou Who thirsting on the Cross didst see
All mankind and all I love and me,
Still from Heaven look down in love and see
All mankind and all I love and me.
(by Christina Rossetti)
Jesus Christ, show mercy on Thine own:
Jesus Christ, show mercy and atone
Not for other sake except Thine own.
Thou Who thirsting on the Cross didst see
All mankind and all I love and me,
Still from Heaven look down in love and see
All mankind and all I love and me.
(by Christina Rossetti)
A Prayer on Holy Monday
God of love, My prayer is simple:
Your son, Jesus, suffered and died for me.
I know only
that I cannot have real strength
unless I rely on you.
I cannot feel protected
from my many weaknesses
until I turn to you
for forgiveness and your unalterable love.
Help me to share this
strength, protection and love with others.
(from One Prayer a Day for Lent)
Hosanna
On this day of great rejoicing,Lord Jesus Christ,
when we welcome You as our King and Savior,
we also walk in the shadow
of Your cross.
Hosanna! we cry.
Blessed are You
who come in God’s name to save us.
Hosanna!
Strengthen our faith
on this Palm Sunday
so that when the time comes
to carry the cross
we might still call out to You
with heartfelt praise.
Give us the grace and the courage
to follow You this Holy Week
from death to resurrection,
from darkness to the fullness of light.
We need You, Lord Jesus Christ, our Savior.
Hosanna!
Amen.
Saturday Psalm #15
I want to stay forever on your holy hill.
I ask you for the blameless walk
and the right actions
and the honesty of heart that will make that happen.
I ask you to keep slander out of my mouth
and evil from my heart
and betrayal far, far from me.
I plead for wisdom to shun the vile,
hobnob with the holy,
and walk uprightly whichever way the wind blows.
Make me a giver instead of a taker
and a defender--not offender--of the innocent,
knowing that the one who does these things shall never be moved.
That They May Love Your Word
(my prayer today for my kids and my grandkids, from the "31 Ways to Pray for Your Kids" app for iPhone and iPad).
For Me
there is grace my every debt to pay,
blood to wash my every sin away,
and power to keep me spotless day by day,
for me, for me.
(from a hymn by Herbert H. Booth)
On My Birthday
But not nearly as much
As your great love deserves.
Each day I have left
Let me love and serve you
With more passion and zeal
Than the 21,000-plus
that have gone before.
Amen.
For Baseball
for outfields of green
and the crack of the ball on a wooden bat.
For pitchers with eccentric windups,
for stolen bases
and diving catches.
For double plays
and double steals,
bunts and brushbacks,
squeeze plays and home runs.
For "cold beer here!" and ballpark franks.
For the seventh inning stretch.
For day games and night games.
For OBPs and ERAs,
pickoff plays and headfirst slides,
for opening days and hope springing eternal.
Amen.
For Their Growth in Grace
My prayer today for my kids and my grandkids, from the "31 Ways to Pray for Your Kids" app for iPhone and iPad:
A Fool's Psalm
let me not be like the fool
whose thoughts are wicked,
who flirts with temptation,
who "goes along to get along."
Make me instead a man
who loves your Word
and dwells in your presence.
Make me like a tree,
planted by a flowing stream,
bearing fruit season after season,
never withering,
always prospering, in Jesus' name, amen.
(based on Psalm 1:1-3)