Closer

Come, King of Grace

Come, King of Grace, and fill me with your grace in this life, just as you will fill me in heaven with your eternal glory. Reign over me in the gracious kingdom of your Holy Spirit; yes, prepare your kingdom in me, which is justice, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit.

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)

Can It Be

Saturday Psalm #61

Hear my cry, O Lord my God;
listen to my prayer.
I call to you
from this dark little corner;
I call out from a weak and wounded heart:
lead me to the rock that is higher than I,
my towering rock of safety,
my sheltering overhang,
a commanding overlook,
a new and inspiring peak.

For you have always been my refuge,
my sanctuary from the storm
and shelter against the foe.
I want nothing more
than to dwell in your tent forever
and nestle safely in the shadow of your wings.
For you have heard my vows, O God;
you have given me the heritage of those who fear your name.
Give me more days of life as long as I can serve you,
extend my years until my mission is accomplished.
Then take me.
Take me into your presence just as soon as you please
where your love and faithfulness will triumph,
where I will sing unfiltered ecstatic praise to your name
and find absolute fulfillment at last.

The Chaste Path We Follow

Holy Father, may we shine as a light in the world so that when others see the chaste path we follow in Christ, they may be won over and edified through our example, even without instruction. May this serve to praise and honor your holy name, and to bring comfort and salvation and eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

O Lord, almighty God and heavenly Father! For the love and faithfulness that you demonstrate to us at all hours of every day, we faithfully praise and thank you. May you be praised forever and ever, O Lord, now and always. Amen.

(from the book Amish Prayers, compiled by Beverly Lewis)

Set Our Feet

Holy Father, always be our path and guide,
our protection and shield,
our consolation and strength.

Set our feet, minds, and hearts onto your path of divine peace. Make your holy and divine Word, which you allow us to hear, vibrant and active in our hearts so we might please and serve you until the end of our lives. Amen.

(from the book Amish Prayers, compiled by Beverly Lewis)

Translate

He whom I bow to only knows to whom I bow
When I attempt the ineffable Name, murmuring Thou,
And dream of Pheidian fancies and embrace in heart
Symbols (I know) which cannot be the thing thou art.
Thus always, taken at their word, all prayers blaspheme
Worshiping with frail images a folk-lore dream,
And all men in their praying, self-deceived, address
The coinage of their own unquiet thoughts, unless
Thou in magnetic mercy to thyself divert
Our arrows aimed unskillfully, beyond desert;
And all men are idolaters, crying unheard
To a deaf idol, if thou take them at their word.

Take not, O Lord, our literal sense. Lord, in thy great,
Unbroken speech our limping metaphor translate.

(a prayer by C.S. Lewis; photo by zsbenko via everystockphoto.com)

Fountain of All Wisdom

Almighty God, the fountain of all wisdom,
you know my necessities before I ask
and my ignorance in asking:
Have compassion on my weakness,
and mercifully give me those things which
for my unworthiness I dare not,
and for my blindness I cannot ask;
through the worthiness of your Son,
Jesus Christ my Lord,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and forever. Amen. 

(photo via pixabay.com)

Guard

After All You've Done

Saturday Psalm #60

You have humbled me, O God,
and you have broken me;
you have let me suffer,
now please restore me!
I’ve felt the ground quake beneath me
and open up as if to swallow me;
now please close its fissures and end its shaking.
You have shown your people desperate times,
confusing times like a drunken jag.
But sober us, Lord;
raise a banner
of victory to be displayed for your glory.
Save us and help us with your right hand,
that those you love may be delivered.

You have spoken from your sanctuary:
you have granted a good land to your people,
and a gracious plenty.
You have marshaled a wonderful company,
and brought us together for your purposes.
Now bring us into your land,
lead us to possess the promise.
Refine us completely as you wish,
give us aid against the enemy,
for the help of man is worthless.
With you and you alone we will gain the victory,
and you will trample down our enemies.

Debt

And deliver us from debt, that we may owe no one anything but love, in Jesus' name, amen.

(photo via pixabay.com)

For a Sense of Your Timing

Oh God, grant us a sense of your timing.
In this season of short days and long nights,
of grey and white and cold,
teach us the lessons of beginnings;
that such waitings and endings may be the starting place,
a planting of seeds which bring to birth
what is ready to be born--
something right and just and different,
a new song,
a deeper relationship,
a fuller love--in the fullness of your time.

O God, grant us the sense of your timing.

(by Ted Loder, from his book Guerrillas of Grace. Used with permission)

Known

Into the Light

God, thank you

for calling me out of darkness

and into the light.

Again.

Today.

(based on 1 Peter 2:9; photo via pixabay.com)

How Great

O Lord, how great are thy works! and thy thoughts are very deep (Psalm 92:5, KJV).

Psalm 91

On 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 44 years ago
and thank you for giving her in marriage to me 41 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.

Empty Cup

I come to this day, Lord,
and lift my empty cup
to the overflowing fountain
of your strength
and sufficiency.

You are more than enough
for all I need this day.

Lend

Instead

Lord God, please make me

grateful instead of grabbing,

giving instead of greedy,

and gracious instead of so awfully critical,

in Jesus' name, amen.

(photo via pixabay.com)

For Everything

Hold Us In Quiet

‪

Hold us in quiet through the age-long minute,
while Thou art silent, and the wind is shrill;
can the boat sink while Thou, dear Lord, are in it?
Can the heart faint that waiteth on Thy will?

(a prayer by Amy Carmichael)

Hear My Prayer, O Lord

Saturday Psalm #59

Deliver me from my Enemy, O God;
protect me from his stratagems.
Deliver me from his pawns.
Save me from betrayal and spitefulness.
I’ve been set up, Lord;
I’ve been railroaded and rolled.
People have strategized against me,
and lied to my face.

I confess my sin, O LORD.
I am a sinner, that’s for sure,
and you know that’s just scratching the surface.
But arise, LORD, to help me; look on my plight!

O LORD God Almighty, the God of Israel,
rouse yourself to purge me of sin,
and replace my confusion with clarity.
I don’t know who to trust anymore.
I can’t sleep,
the hurt keeps rolling in like the tide.

O my Strength, I watch for you;
you, O God, are my fortress,
my loving God,
my hope,
my help,
my everything,
my Strong Captain,
my Dread Warrior,
my Faithful Defender.

Go before me
and protect me from new attacks.
You are my shield;
you can deflect every attack
and vindicate me
without me having to say a word
or hatch a plan
or map out a response.
Let sin be found out,
let deceit be uncovered,
in me no less than in others.
Let it be known to the ends of the earth
that God rules over me and mine.

But I will sing of your strength,
in the morning I will sing of your love;
for you are my castle,
my stronghold,
my refuge in times of trouble.
O my Strength, I sing praise to you;
you, O God, are my fortress, my loving God.

(paraphrased from Psalm 59; photo via pixabay.com)

Tell My Soul

Lord, my God, you gave me life and restored it when I lost it. Tell my soul that so longs for you what else you are besides what it has already understood, so that it may see you clearly. It stands on tiptoe to see more, but apart from what it has seen already, it sees nothing but darkness. Of course it does not really see darkness, because there is no darkness in you, but it sees that it can see no further because of the darkness in itself.

Surely, Lord, inaccessible light is your dwelling place, for no one apart from yourself can enter into it and fully comprehend you. If I fail to see this light, it is simply because it is too bright for me. Still, it by this light that I do see all that I can, even as weak ees, unable to look straight at the sun, see all they can by the sun’s light.

The light in which you dwell, Lord, is beyond my understanding. It is so brilliant that I cannot bear it, I cannot turn my mind’s eye toward it for any length of time. I am dazzled by its brightness, amazed by its grandeur, overwhelmed by its immensity, bewildered by its abundance.

(a prayer of Anselm)

Shepherd, Hear My Prayer

Unto thee will I cry,
Shepherd, hear my prayer!
Poor and needy am I,
Shepherd, hear my prayer!
Deep is calling unto deep,
Rugged are the heights, and steep:
Guide my steps and keep;
Hear, O hear my prayer!
Hear, O hear my prayer!

Where the tempest is loud,
Shepherd, hear my prayer!
'Mid the darkness and cloud,
Shepherd, hear my prayer!
Let me hear thy voice afar,
Coming with the morning star,
Hear, O hear my prayer!
Hear, O hear my prayer!

Let the foe not prevail,
Shepherd, hear my prayer!
My resources would fail,
Shepherd, hear my prayer!
Order all my steps aright,
Carry me from height to height;
Yonder shines the light!
Shepherd, lead me there!
Lead me safely there!

(a prayer by General Albert Orsborn of The Salvation Army)

On Independence Day

Lord my God,
I worship you today,
on this 242nd 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 2018,
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)

Consolation

Grant to all who mourn a sure confidence in your fatherly care, that, casting all their grief on you, they may fully know the consolation of your love.

Amen.

(revised slightly from the 1979 Book of Common Prayer)

The Pleiades and Orion