To Be Marked by Prayerfulness
A Prayer of Christina Rossetti
O God the Holy GhostWho art light unto thine elect
Evermore enlighten us.
Thou who art fire of love
Evermore enkindle us.
Thou who art Lord and Giver of Life,
Evermore live in us.
Thou who bestowest sevenfold grace,
Evermore replenish us.
As the wind is thy symbol,
So forward our goings.
As the dove, so launch us heavenwards.
As water, so purify our spirits.
As a cloud, so abate our temptations.
As dew, so revive our languor.
As fire, so purge our dross.
(a prayer of Christina Rossetti)
Saturday Psalm #20
God of Israel, keep me safe from all harm.
Send me help from your sanctuary
and strengthen me from Jerusalem.
Lord, remember all my gifts
and look favorably on the offerings I bring.
Lord, grant your heart's desire for me
and fulfill all your plans for me.
May I scream for joy and shout your praise
when you grant me victory;
let me fly banners to honor you, my God,
for you, LORD, answer all my prayers.
I know, LORD, that you save all who call on you.
You answer from your holy heaven
and rescue by your great power.
Some boast of their own great power and ability,
but I will boast in you, my LORD and my God.
Those who trust in themselves will fall down and collapse,
but I will rise up and stand firm because I trust in you.
Give victory, O LORD!
Respond to my cry for help.
Responsibility
My prayer today for my kids and my grandkids, from the "31 Ways to Pray for Your Kids" app for iPhone and iPad (available exclusively on iTunes):
Come, King of Grace
Enlighten my heart, rule my life, and sanctify my thoughts so that they all may be reverent and pleasing to you. Surround me with your grace, that I may never be removed from it.
Come to me, Holy Trinity! Make me your dwelling and your temple. Spark in me the light of your knowledge, faith, hope, humility, patience, prayer, perseverance, and reverence. Amen.
(from the book Amish Prayers, compiled by Beverly Lewis)
Let Me Learn by Paradox
-that the way down is the way up
-that to be low is to be high
-that the broken heart is the healed heart
-that the contrite spirit is the rejoicing spirit
-that the repenting soul is the victorious soul
-that to have nothing is to possess all
-that to bear the cross is to wear the crown
-that to give is to receive
-that the valley is the place of vision.
(from The Valley of Vision, a collection of Puritan prayers, edited by Arthur Bennett)
In My Behavior
Deliver me from timidity of spirit and from storminess...
from all heedlessness in my behavior, deliver me, Oh Lord.
(a prayer of Gertrude the Great)
Saturday Psalm #19
The dome of heaven declares your glory, God;
the spangled sky displays your handiwork.
Day after day they speak of you,
and nightly they show knowledge of you like a canvas revealing the artist.
Without speech or language,
without an audible voice,
they publish your praise through all the earth,
and silently shout your glory to the end of the world.
You have made the sky to house the sun,
which is like a bridegroom coming out of his chamber,
and daily springs up like an athlete ready to run a race.
You send it forth every morning from the eastern horizon,
until it sinks in the western sky,
giving light and heat to everything in its path.
As the sun, so your law, O Lord: it is perfect,
giving strength to the soul:
the testimony of your Word, Lord, is sure,
making wise the simple.
Your statutes are right,
rejoicing the heart:
your commandments are pure,
enlightening the eyes.
Respect for you, Lord, is pure;
let it last for ever in my heart:
your judgments are true
and righteous altogether.
Your Word is more desirable than gold,
far more valuable than a Ft. Knox of fine gold:
your words are sweeter than honey
and tastier than the drippings from a honeycomb.
They steer me away from danger:
in keeping them there is great reward.
Lord, even your “errors” are too sophisticated for me;
let your Word convict and cleanse me from my most secret faults.
Keep me from presumption;
break the power of pride in my life;
make me upright
and keep me innocent in your sight.
Let the words of my mouth,
and the meditation of my heart,
be acceptable in your sight, O Lord,
my strength, and my redeemer, amen.
(from Psalm 19; photo by foodmenu via everystockphoto.com)
On the Lovely Robin's Birthday
Abba, you have granted me the loveliest bride, the perfect woman for me,and I am grateful.
Thank you for hearing my heart's cry 43 years ago
and thank you for giving her in marriage to me 40 years ago.
And thank you for every day with her since then,
days that could not have been
so wonderful,
so beautiful,
so warm and loving,
without her,
in Jesus' name, amen.
How Wide is My Vista
Lord, how wide is my vista now. I am free to eat of every tree in the garden, so to speak. I am not impeded by dividing lines but can fellowship and worship and learn from and enjoy Thomas Merton (Catholic), A. W. Tozer (CMA), Henri Nouwen (Catholic), John Bevere (charismatic), Andrew Murray (Dutch Reformed), Charles Swindoll (EV Free, nondenominational), Samuel Logan Brengle (Salvation Army), Max Lucado (Church of Christ), and so many others. How blessed I have been through Episcopalian podcasts, and Catholic monasteries, and Methodist chapels, Baptist baptistries, and Church of God in Christ T.V. preachers, and so much more. How beautiful is the whole Body of Christ to me!
A Prayer for Faith
in myself,
in my ideas,
in my ingenuity.
Give me the gift of faith in you,
your ideas,
your ingenuity,
your voice,
your power,
your words, in Jesus' name, amen.
I Should Be Farther Along
(from the Daily Prayer blog)
Saturday Psalm #18
You are my rock, my fortress, my deliverer,
my God, my mountain in whom I take refuge,
my shield, my great salvation,
my stronghold.
I praise you, Lord, how I praise you!
I called on you, and I was saved from my enemies.
I was ensnared in the ropes of death.
Sin surrounded me, enveloped me,
like a yawning grave sucking me in.
The Enemy had me in his clutches.
I called on you in my distress.
I cried to you, God, for help.
You heard my voice from your heavenly sanctuary
and my cry for help reached your ears.
Like a horsed warrior, you came to my rescue,
shaking and quaking the earth
until the very foundations of the mountains trembled,
shaking violently at your approach.
Smoke from your nostrils,
and a raging fire from your mouth,
you have done it again and again:
splitting the heavens,
breaking through the clouds,
riding with angel escorts,
soaring on the wings of the wind.
making the darkness your servant
and the thunderheads your covering.
From the brightness of your presence
rain clouds disperse with hailstones and lightning.
You thunder in the heavens.
You, Most High, make your voice heard with hailstones and lightning.
You shoot your arrows and scattered your enemies
flashing streaks of lightning and throwing them into confusion.
You rolled back the waters until the ocean floor could be seen.
You laid bare the foundations of the earth with a stern word, O Lord,
and a blast of breath from your nostrils.
How can I ever doubt your power?
How is it that I ever become discouraged and feel downtrodden?
You reached down from high above and took hold of me.
You pulled me out of foaming water.
You’ve rescued me from my strong enemy
and from those who hated me,
though they were too strong for me,
they were no match for you!
I faced disaster and humiliation,
but you came to my defense, Lord.
You brought me out to a wide-open place.
You rescued me and smiled on me.
You have rewarded me
because of my righteousness in Christ,
because my hands are clean because of him.
You defend me
because I love you …and you love me.
It is by grace alone that I have not wickedly turned away from you, my God,
it is by grace that I have not turned away from you laws.
I am innocent and blameless in your eyes,
I have kept myself from guilt through your Son, Jesus,
and you reward me
because of my righteousness in Christ,
because my hands are clean because of him.
I am hardly faithful, but you have been faithful to me;
I am hardly blameless, but you have been utterly righteous in your dealings with me
and pure toward me who have been impure,
and thoroughly clever in overcoming my own deviousness.
You save humble people, Lord,
but you bring down the haughty.
O Lord, you light my lamp.
You turn my darkness into light.
With you I can advance against a battalion.
With you as my strength I can leap over a wall.
Your way is perfect!
Your promises have proven to be true.
You are a shield to all who take refuge in you.
Who is God but you, Lord?
Who is a rock except our God?
You arm me with strength
and make my way perfect.
You make my feet like those of a gazelle
and give me sure footing on high places.
You train my hands for battle
so that my arms can bend a bronze bow.
You have given me the shield of your salvation.
Your right hand supports me.
Your gentleness makes me great.
You make a wide path for me to walk on
so that my feet do not slip.
Oh, Lord, help me to chase my enemies and overtake them.
Help me to persevere until I have routed them,
wounded them so badly that they cannot get up.
Help me mow them down.
Arm me with strength for battle.
Make my enemies quail in fear
and turn their backs and run, crying out for help, but finding no one to save them.
Lord, save me from my tendency to shrink from conflict,
but help me to be courageous and compassionate;
rescue me in every conflict.
Make me a better leader.
Give me more true servants,
thick-skinned and selfless.
The Lord lives!
Thanks be to my rock!
May God my Savior be honored.
You vindicate me, Adonai!
Bring good people under my authority.
Save me from my enemies.
Lift me up above my opponents.
Rescue me from violent people.
That I may continue to give thanks to you, O Lord, among the nations
and make music to praise your name.
Give great victories to your church, to your servant,
and show mercy to those who are active in your service,
to all who serve in the spirit of David, in Jesus’ name, amen.
(photo via everystockphoto.com)
My Prickly Soul
Lord, help my little faith (Matthew 14:31).
Lord, help my tunnel vision (Mark 8:18).
Lord, help my stubborn heart (Psalm 81:12).
Lord, help my dull hearing (Hebrews 5:11).
Lord, help my prickly soul,
in Jesus' name, amen.
Self-Control
My prayer today for my kids and my grandkids, from the "31 Ways to Pray for Your Kids" app for iPhone and iPad:
On This Independence Day
I worship you today,
on this 241st birthday of this nation,
these wonderful United States of America
in which I live.
I thank you for the freedom
to worship you publicly...
even as I ask you
to show kindness and mercy
to those who lack that freedom
because they live elsewhere.
Thank you for all those
who have sacrificed for my freedom,
for those who risked
(and some who gave) their lives
to make this a free and independent nation,
for those in my nation's armed services, past and present,
and for all who have served the cause of liberty in other ways...
even as I pray for those who even now
are in harm's way,
far from home,
in this nation's service.
Please meet their needs,
watch over them and their loved ones,
and grant them your favor in every way.
And, Father, on this Independence Day 2017,
I pray for the people in this land
and every land
who have not yet discovered the freedom
that is offered to them in your Son, Jesus Christ.
Draw them to you,
set them free
from sin and sadness and strife,
and grant them the eternal freedom
that is found only in trusting you,
in Jesus' name, amen.
(photo art by Beverly Pack, courtesy of everystockphoto.com)
Amanuensis
Your scribe. Your secretary.
Think aloud to me,
slowly and simply enough
that I can transcribe
the things you want to say
to me,
through me.
Tune the ears of my heart,
train my fingers to flow,
my muscles to move,
at the slightest inflection of your voice,
the tiniest trace of meaning
from your mind.
Amen.