One Prayer a Day: April 2022

The Trees, the Trees

Oh, Lord, how we are all for invention and

advancement!

But I think

it would do us good if we would think about

these brothers and sisters, quietly and deeply. The trees, the trees, just holding on

to the old, holy ways.

(excerpted from Mary Oliver's poem, "The Trees," found in her book Evidence)

For My Kids and Grandkids Today

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

So Much In You

Jesus, thank you that in you
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)

Lord God Adonai, there is so much I don’t know.
I know nothing next to what you know.
I don’t know what my future holds.
I don’t even know what tomorrow—
or the next five minutes—holds.
But I know that you love me.
I know that you love the church.
I know that you love the world.
I know your plans for me are good.
I know your power is unlimited
and your love is unconditional.
And so, step by step, and moment by moment,
help me to trust you,
to be courageous and full of faith,
to boldly embrace uncertainty,
and to rely on you for whatever results,
in Jesus’ name. Amen.

(from the book, Quit Going to Church, pp. 212-213)

Overflow

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

Hold Me Together

Search

For My Unsettled Soul

Jesus, Shepherd of the sheep,
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)

Among the Nations

Listening Heart

Rouse Us

(from the book David's Crown: Sounding the Psalms by Malcolm Guite)

Nowness

Lord Jesus, here on Easter Monday, let me not succumb to the lazy thought that Easter and your resurrection are in my rear-view mirror, for you are alive evermore, and you are in me and with me today and tomorrow and forevermore. Let me live and walk, sleep and wake, eat and drink in the awareness of your constant nowness. Amen.

By Your Magnificent and Radiant Resurrection

It is only right,
with all the powers of our heart and mind,
to praise You Father
and Your Only-begotten Son,
Our Lord Jesus Christ:
Dear Father, by Your wondrous
condescension of loving-kindness toward us,
Your servants, You gave up Your Son.
Dear Jesus You paid the debt of Adam
for us to the Eternal Father by
Your Blood poured forth in loving-kindness.
You cleared away the darkness of sin
By Your magnificent and radiant Resurrection.
You broke the bonds of death
and rose from the grave as a Conqueror.
You reconciled heaven and earth.
Our life had no hope of eternal happiness
before You redeemed us.
Your Resurrection has washed away our sins,
restored our innocence and brought us joy.
How inestimable is the tenderness
of Your love!

(Saint Gregory the Great's Easter Prayer)

Rest You Well

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)

Beneath Thy Cross

Am I a stone, and not a sheep,
That I can stand, O Christ, beneath Thy cross,
To number drop by drop Thy blood's slow loss,
And yet not weep?

Not so those women loved
Who with exceeding grief lamented Thee;
Not so fallen Peter weeping bitterly;
Not so the thief was moved;

Not so the Sun and Moon
Which hid their faces in a starless sky,
A horror of great darkness at broad noon--
I, only I.

Yet give not o'er,
But seek Thy sheep, true Shepherd of the flock;
Greater than Moses, turn and look once more
And smite a rock.

(by Christina Rossetti)

Not Only My Feet

Lord,
wash,
not only my feet,
but also
my hands
and
my head.
And
my heart.
And
my mind.
And
my life.
Amen.

(based on John 13:9).

In This Sacred Week

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)

It Was on a Tuesday

Lord Jesus,
it was on a Tuesday that you
spoke out against
abuse of power, collaboration with oppressors,
misuse of authority.
So today we pray,
Comforter of the abused,
strengthen those burdened by corrupted rule
or injustice;
rescue the overwhelmed;
be present to those who call on your name,
to those we name on our lips,
and in the silence of our hearts,
those whose concerns are known only to you,
amen.

(illustration: Woe to you hypocrites by James Tissot).

Simple Prayer

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)

On This Day of Great Rejoicing

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.

Lent is Spring

Lent is sacrifice, but Lent is spring.

So we do thank thee, Father in heaven, for reining the sun up this way again; for making these warming days as long as the starry nights with the growing moon.

Would our Lord have need of our colt today?

Before the very stones cry out, we wave branches and shout, "Hosanna; Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord."

But must our righteous King be crucified?

Must our viable seed be buried in the dark earth?

Thy will be done.

Amen.

(excerpt from the book, The Farmer Gives Thanks; photo by Katzenfee50 via pixabay.com)

To Your Holy Mountain

Lord, bring me today to your holy mountain,
to Mount Zion, to the city of the living God,
the heavenly Jerusalem,
to God himself, to Jesus, the one who mediates the new covenant between God and people, and to the sprinkled blood, which graciously forgives.

(based on Isaiah 66:20, Hebrews 12:22-24; painting: Jerusalem from the Mount of Olives, by David Roberts in 1842, Library of Congress)

Caverns of My Soul

Sometimes, O God, my thirst for you is pushed aside, ignored, or simply quenched by something other—something reasonable, something more popular—than you. But you never go away, never stop, never leave the depths of me. Like an underground spring, you are fresh and free, breaking through. Help me prepare a place for you in the caverns of my soul. Amen.

When My Time Comes

Lord I want to die
in my sleep
I want to go to bed
and be awakened
by you
saying
Get up son
it's the first day of school
the beginning of your new job
the dawn of eternity.
Here are your clothes.
Your older brother
wore them first
now they're yours
forever
white and fresh and clean
smelling of heaven.

(from Joseph Bayly's Psalms of My Life, p. 32)

Be Gracious

A Birthday Prayer

Long have I loved you,
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 23,376 (or so)
that have gone before.
Amen.

If Ever

I'll Follow Thee, of Life the Giver

Be Merciful to Me, a Fool

O Lord,
Be merciful to me, a fool!

No pity, Lord,
could change the heart
From red with wrong
to white as wool;
The rod must heal
the sin: but Lord,
Be merciful to me, a fool!

'Tis not by guilt the onward sweep
Of truth and right, O Lord, we stay;
‘Tis by our follies that so long
We hold the earth from heaven away.

These clumsy feet, still in the mire,
Go crushing blossoms without end;
These hard, well-meaning hands we thrust
Among the heart-strings of a friend.

The ill-timed truth we might have kept–
Who knows how sharp it pierced and stung?
The word we had not sense to say–
Who knows how grandly it had rung!

Our faults no tenderness should ask.
The chastening stripes must cleanse them all;
But for our blunders — oh, in shame
Before the eyes of heaven we fall.

Earth bears no balsam for mistakes;
Men crown the knave, and scourge the tool
That did his will; but Thou, O Lord,
Be merciful to me, a fool!

(from a poem by Edward Rowland Sill)

One Prayer a Day