For the Virtue of Gratitude
Lunch
thanks for having lunch with me.
I'm anxious and waiting
to hear from you.
Something good.
I'm all ears.
Amen.
(photo via everystockphoto.com)
It's Summer
It’s summer, Lord:
the days are warm and the nights, too...
It’s a time to be grateful for the AC
everywhere, cooling to comfort
the places where we live and work
and play and rest and pray…
But some days, some nights,
I run from the heat,
from how the sun soaks in
and seeps its way through my pores,
through muscle to bone,
through bone to the marrow of my soul,
warming me through and through
until, from the inside out,
I’m baked in a light from light years away…
Draw me out from the shade and shadows
and warm me with your love
as with your summer sun...
Blaze a path into my soul:
pass through all that shields me
from the brilliance of your light,
the heat of your presence,
the burn of your desire…
Bake me in your love
until I sweat from every pore
the moist anointing of your presence…
Bathe me in the warmth of your grace
‘til I am burnished within and without
by your light touch…
Warm my heart’s desire for you, Lord,
and let no cool shade keep me from the peace
your heart burns to give…
I offer you my praise for summer days
when all creation warms to know
the light no darkness can extinguish...
And in the heat of the noonday sun
keep me mindful, Lord, of others
whose thirst I might quench,
whose shade I might provide...
So comes my prayer this morning, Lord,
as the sun rises to its noon day height
until it sets at this day's end, until tomorrow
when your sun will rise again,
upon a brand new day...
Amen.
(from A Concord Pastor Comments)
On Father's Day
thank you for being such a good, good father to me:
patient, wise, loving, constant, and strong.
Thank you for my father,
for the many years you gave him on this earth,
for the example he showed me
and the things he taught me.
Thank you for the kind of father
my son and son-in-law are
to my grandchildren:
patient, wise, loving, constant, and strong.
Let this Father's Day be a blessing to you
and to the fathers in my life and family,
in Jesus' name, amen.
Whether Friendly or Adverse
make my eyes keen and watchful,
in order that I may discern your purpose
at every turning of the way.
Help me to hallow all my circumstances
whether they appear friendly or adverse,
and may I subdue them all to my King's will.
Amen.
(from J. H. Jowett, The Whole Armour of God, p. 152; photo via everystockphoto.com).
Generosity
My prayer today for my kids and my grandkids, from the "31 Ways to Pray for Your Kids" app for iPhone and iPad:
Chariots of Salvation
Lord, I praise you
because you struck the rivers
and parted the sea;
you sent your chariots of salvation for your people.
You commanded your weapons of power!
You split open the earth with flowing rivers!
The mighty deep cried out, lifting its hands to you.
You are mighty, and worthy of praise!
(from Habakkuk 3:8-10)
Part of "Always"
Lord Jesus, today is one of those days
you promised to be with me
when you said, "I will be with you always,
even to the end of the age" (Matthew 28:20).
Do, Lord.
Be with me.
Let me feel you near,
and rely on your presence. Amen.
you promised to be with me
when you said, "I will be with you always,
even to the end of the age" (Matthew 28:20).
Do, Lord.
Be with me.
Let me feel you near,
and rely on your presence. Amen.
Respect
My prayer today for my kids and my grandkids, from the "31 Ways to Pray for Your Kids" app for iPhone and iPad:
This Girl
So you know all about Calleigh's need. Please grant that the blood tests performed yesterday will show no sign of the infection that hospitalized her. Let the results show health and victory, in Jesus' name.
And, while you're at it, let her complete and miraculous healing--and her little brother's--from cystic fibrosis soon appear, to the praise of your glorious name, in which I pray, amen.
Heavenly Wisdom
O God of the ages, grant that I, who am the heir of all the ages, may not fail to profit by the heavenly wisdom which in time past Thou didst grant to Thy servants.
A wise man wrote,
The world is too much with us; late and soon,
Getting and spending, we lay waste our powers.
O God, give me grace to profit by this word.
A wise man wrote,
Our wills are ours to make them Thine.
O God, give me grace to profit by this word.
A wise king said,
Nothing for me is too early or too late which is in due time for Thee.
O God, give me grace to profit by this word.
A wise man said,
Expect great things from God, attempt great things for God.
O God, give me grace to profit by this word.
A wise man said,
In His Will is our peace.
O God, give me grace to profit by this word.
A wise woman said,
The divine moment is the present moment.
O God, give me grace to profit by this word.
A wise woman said,
He asks too much to whom God is not sufficient.
O God, give me grace to profit by this word.
A wise man prayed,
Give what Thou commandest, and command what Thou wilt.
O God, give me grace to profit by this word.
A wise man wrote,
My past life hide; my future guide.
(Quod vixi tege, quod vivam rege.)
O God, give me grace to profit by this word.
Grant, O Father, that I may go about this day's business with an ever-present remembrance of the great traditions wherein I stand and the great cloud of witnesses which at all times surround me, that thereby I may be kept from evil ways and inspired to high endeavor. So keep me until evening in the might of Jesus Christ my Lord. Amen.
(a prayer of John Baillie, from the book A Diary of Private Prayer; photo via everystockphoto.com)
The world is too much with us; late and soon,
Getting and spending, we lay waste our powers.
O God, give me grace to profit by this word.
A wise man wrote,
Our wills are ours to make them Thine.
O God, give me grace to profit by this word.
A wise king said,
Nothing for me is too early or too late which is in due time for Thee.
O God, give me grace to profit by this word.
A wise man said,
Expect great things from God, attempt great things for God.
O God, give me grace to profit by this word.
A wise man said,
In His Will is our peace.
O God, give me grace to profit by this word.
A wise woman said,
The divine moment is the present moment.
O God, give me grace to profit by this word.
A wise woman said,
He asks too much to whom God is not sufficient.
O God, give me grace to profit by this word.
A wise man prayed,
Give what Thou commandest, and command what Thou wilt.
O God, give me grace to profit by this word.
A wise man wrote,
My past life hide; my future guide.
(Quod vixi tege, quod vivam rege.)
O God, give me grace to profit by this word.
Grant, O Father, that I may go about this day's business with an ever-present remembrance of the great traditions wherein I stand and the great cloud of witnesses which at all times surround me, that thereby I may be kept from evil ways and inspired to high endeavor. So keep me until evening in the might of Jesus Christ my Lord. Amen.
(a prayer of John Baillie, from the book A Diary of Private Prayer; photo via everystockphoto.com)
From This Misty Lowland
O God, I have tasted Thy goodness and it has both satisfied me and made me thirsty for more. I am painfully conscious of my need of further grace. I am ashamed of my lack of desire. O God, the Triune god, I want to want Thee; I long to be filled with longing; I thirst to be made more thirsty still. Show me Thy glory, I pray Thee, so that I may know Thee indeed. Begin in mercy a new work of love within me. Say to my soul, “Rise up, my love, my fair one, and come away.” Then give me grace to rise and follow Thee up from this misty lowland where I have wandered so long. In Jesus’ name, Amen.(a prayer of A. W. Tozer)
Bread
(a prayer from The Bible 30-Day Experience Guidebook by Bob Hostetler)
40 and Counting
O Lord my God,
how can I possibly thank you
for my bride,
my wife,
and these forty years of marriage,
and forty-three years of love
you have given me
with the lovely Robin?
Thank you for still another year of life together.
Thank you for her faithful,
giving,
loving,
kind,
passionate,
sweet,
constant heart.
Thank you for all
the happiness we have known;
the sorrows we have faced;
the children we have raised
and the grandchildren we have been given.
Thank you for our home,
our health,
our laughter,
our hopes and dreams,
our unfinished plans,
and our small accomplishments.
Thank you that she has stuck with me, never wavering in her support.
Thank you that she still laughs at (some of) my jokes.
Thank you that she grows more beautiful and lovely every day.
Thank you for all her perfections,
and all my improvements.
Spare us another year to walk together,
and grant that for us it may be true
that the best is yet to be,
through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Great Is the Lord Who Delights in the Welfare of His Servants
let my life,
my temperament,
my health,
my writing,
and my speaking,
cause people to say,
"Great is the Lord,
who delights in the welfare
of his servants" (Psalm 35:27),
in Jesus' name, amen.
June 1st Prayer
Thank you, God, that
"There is no price set on the lavish summer,
And June may be had by the poorest comer."
(from "The Vision of Sir Launfal" by James Russell Lowell)