Today's Prayer from the "31 Ways to Pray for Your Kids" App

Today's prayer from the "31 Ways to Pray for Your Kids" app for iPhone and iPad...and my prayer today for my kids and my grandkids.

Draw Me Completely Into Yourself

Draw me completely into yourself,

So that I might completely melt in your love.

Lay upon me, stamp upon me,

So that my stubborn pride might be destroyed.

Embrace me, kiss me,

So that my spiritual ugliness may turn to beauty.

Lock me into your chamber,

So that I might never stray 

from your presence.

(a prayer by Johann Freylinghausen; photo by truk via pixabay.com)

O Come, O Come

Fill the Spaces

 

Your Goodness

 

And Ever Thanks

Every good gift comes from your hand, Lord!

Help me to count my blessings this day
and to be grateful to you from whom they flow...

I thank you for the blessing of family and friends,
those with me still and those gone home to you...

I thank you for my eyes and ears,
for finding the beauty of your presence all around me...

I thank you for nature's seasons and all I learn
in their coming and going, year in and year out...

I thank you for the blessing of a sunrise
and the blessing of the same sun's setting...

I thank you for the company of others
and good times shared with them...

I thank you for silence, for solitude
and for times of peace and quiet with you...

I thank you for your mercy and forgiveness,
for your pardon of my faults and sins...

I thank you for correction that helps me grow
and for reprimands that keep me honest...

I thank you for the healing grace of forgiving others
and of others forgiving me...

I thank you for anticipation's joy
and for disappointment's healing...

I thank you for a good night's sleep
and the blessing of sweet dreams...

I thank you for the gift of each new day,
one day at a time...

I thank you for steady work, for satisfying work,
for work that serves the needs of others...

I thank you for the gift of those who help me
and for the opportunity to be of help to others...

I thank you for the works of grace and faith
that shape us as your people...

I thank you for a child's birth,
the promise new life brings...

I thank you for the gift a peaceful death can be
for those who've lost a loved one...

I thank you for the life that's mine
and your promise of a life that never ends...

I thank you for the ordinary, the routine
the unexpected, the surprise...
I thank you for cleansing tears
and for healing laughter...

I thank you for my faith when I'm confused;
for the gift of hope when trust's in short supply;
for the blessing of your love when I'm alone...
In the quiet of my prayer, Lord,
help me count my blessings before I list my problems,
before I whine and whimper,
before I turn to pity for myself...

Every good gift comes from your hand, Lord,
and you're more generous than I'm sometimes willing to notice,
to see, to acknowledge, to remember
and to hold in my heart as gift and grace...

In the quiet of my prayer, Lord,
show me the peace, the grace, the healing
of your blessings in my life:
the ones I often miss, the ones that I've forgotten,
and the blessings will come my way today...

Amen.

(graphic and prayer from A Concord Pastor Comments)

Calleigh Day

Good and gracious Lord, 

this Thanksgiving Day is extra special this year, 

as it's also Calleigh's twelfth birthday. 

Thank you for giving to our family 

the gift of Calleigh,

this precious young woman, 

this beautiful granddaughter, 

this wonder, this joy. 

Thank you for preserving her 

through every trial and challenge.

Thank you for her health, 

wholeness, 

charm, 

beauty, 

innocence, 

and intricacy. 

Thank you for entrusting her to the care of such wonderful parents. 

Now, gentle Shepherd, 

on her twelfth birthday I pray, 

continue as you've begun, 

adding more health, 

strength, 

happiness, 

brilliance, 

love, 

character, 

and delight

to her life and to our lives through hers, 

in Jesus' name, amen. 

Fervent Thanks

Our Father in Heaven, 

If ever we had a cause to offer unto Thee our fervent thanks, surely it is now, on the Eve of our Thanksgiving Day, when we, the people of this Nation, are comfortable, well fed, well clad, and blessed with good things beyond our deserving. May gratitude, the rarest of all virtues, be the spirit of our observance. 

Let not feasting, football, and festivity end in forgetfulness of God. May the desperate need of the rest of the world, and our own glorious heritage, remind us of the God who led our Fathers every step of the way by which they advanced to the character of an independent nation.

May the faith and conviction of George Washington be renewed in us as we remember his words:

...there is no truth more thoroughly established than that there exits in the economy and course of nature an indissoluble union between virtue and happiness; between duty and advantage; between the genuine maxims of an honest and magnanimous policy and the solid rewards of public prosperity and felicity; since we ought to be no less persuaded that the propitious smiles of Heaven can never be expected on a nation that disregards the eternal rules of order and right which Heaven itself has ordained...

For if we do not have the grace to thank Thee for all that we have and enjoy, how can we have the effrontery to seek Thy further blessings? God, give us grateful hearts. 

For Jesus' sake.

Amen.

(a prayer from the Senate of the United States, November 26, 1947, by Rev. Dr. Peter Marshall, Chaplain)

May We So Break Our Bread

For you, who fed the hungry,
May we so break our bread
In constant, costly giving
That others may be fed. Amen.

(by Lillian Cox; photo via freeimages.com)

Hope in Your Word

 

The Goodness of God

To Be Mindful

 

Close Beside Me

 

Dawn

The Lord lives! Blessed is the rock, 

exalted is the horn of my salvation! 

You, Lord, have done great things for me. 

You have given triumph over the Enemy. 

You have granted strength to your people. 

You have helped me this far; 

now, again today, dawn on me and mine like the morning light, 

like the sun shining forth on a cloudless morning, 

like rain that makes grass to sprout from the earth (2 Samuel 23:4), 

in Jesus' name, amen.

(photo by JillWellington via pixabay.com)

My Cup of Blessing

 

Measuring Sticks

 

Make Them Generous

My prayer today for my kids and my grandkids, from the "31 Ways to Pray for Your Kids" app for iPhone and iPad:

Great is Your Mercy

Illuminate

 

In Silence

 

A Veteran's Day Prayer

God of peace,

we pray for those

who have served our nation

and who laid down their lives

to protect and defend our freedom.

We pray for those who have fought, 

whose spirits and bodies 

are scarred by war, 

whose nights are haunted by memories  

too painful for the light of day. 

We pray for those who serve us now,

especially for those in harm's way:

shield them from danger

and bring them home.

Turn the hearts and minds

of our leaders and our enemies

to the work of justice and a harvest of peace.

Spare the poor, Lord, spare the poor!

May the peace you left us,

the peace you gave us,

be the peace that sustains,

the peace that saves us.

Christ Jesus, hear us!

Lord Jesus, hear our prayer!

Amen.

(from A Concord Pastor Comments blog; photo by KaraSuva via pixabay.com)

My Heart Exults

 

Another Pentecost

We need another Pentecost, 

Send the fire!

(from a song written by William Booth, founder (with his wife) of The Salvation Army; photo by music4life via pixabay.com)

Grace Abounding

Let grace abound 

to me

and through me. 

Amen. 

(photo by 6689062 via pixabay.com)

When Everything Else is Gone

Sweep Away My Soul's Clutter

Most glorious God, God of compassion, God of forgiveness, 

I need your presence. 

Great Physician, I need healing. 

I am spiritually lukewarm 

and unbelief mars my confidence in trusting you--

brokenness and repeated failures occupy my attention. 

It astounds me that I continually try to battle life's issues on my own.

Sin makes me forget you. 

Too long I have neglected the closet of prayer...

Too long I have forsaken the refreshment of your Word...

The cobwebs of indifference and the dust of life's cares choke my soul. 

Broken relationships and shattered trust have prevented the health and healing of your Word. 

But now--this moment, 

I turn from absenteeism to the mercy seat. 

I praise you for permission to approach the throne of grace. 

Here, I pour out my confession of sin: 

neglect, 

pride, 

willfulness, 

arrogance, 

self-sufficiency, 

foolishly questioning your providence. 

Divinely sweep away my soul's clutter. 

Pour down upon me streams of needful grace. 

Engage my heart to live more faithfully for you. 

Your presence alone can make me holy, 

devout, 

strong, 

happy. 

I praise you for forgiveness--

real, 

comprehensive, 

enabling. 

Accomplish in me your eternal purposes, through Jesus Christ, my only hope, my only Savior.

("Prayer Number Thirty-Seven" from A Pastor Prays for His People (A Collection of Wise and Loving Prayers to Help You through Life's Journey) by pastor Dr. Wendell C. Hawley; photo by MabelAmber via pixabay.com)

A Prayer of Clement XI

Lord, I believe in you: increase my faith. 

I trust in you: strengthen my trust. 

I love you: let me love Thee more and more. 

I am sorry for my sins: deepen my sorrow. 

I worship you as my first beginning, 

I long for you as my last end, 

I praise you as my constant helper, 

and call on you as my loving protector. 

Guide me by your wisdom, 

correct me with your justice, 

comfort me with your mercy, 

protect me with your power. 

I offer you, Lord, my thoughts: to be fixed on you; 

my words: to have you for their theme; 

my actions: to reflect my love for you; 

my sufferings: to be endured for your greater glory. 

When My Heart is Overwhelmed

 

Your Consolations

 

Stronghold

 

The Hearts of the Saints

Father, All-Powerful and ever-living God, 
you have knit together your elect 
in one communion and fellowship 
in the mystical body 
of Your Son, Christ our Lord, 
and kindled the flame of your love 
in the hearts of the saints. 
I praise you for the holy men and women 
you have raised up 
in every time and place. 
Give me grace so to follow their example
in devotion and godliness 
that I may come
to those ineffable joys
that you have prepared for those
who unfeignedly love you, 
through the same Jesus Christ our Lord, 
who with you and the Holy Spirit lives and reigns, 
one God, in glory everlasting. Amen. 

(updated and modernized from the Catholic Liturgy of the Hours, the Gothic Missal, and The Book of Common Prayer, 1979)