On the Scale
Lord, give me grace to accept the first reading on the bathroom scale each morning...
amen.
The Willingness and Ability to Work Hard
This prayer, abundantly answered for my children, I now pray once a month for my grandchildren (from the iPhone/iPad app, "31 Ways to Pray for Your Kids," available in the iTunes app store, here):
Hör Mein Bitten
Thyself from my petition do not hide.
Take heed to me! Hear how in prayer I mourn to Thee,
Without Thee all is dark, I have no guide.
The enemy shouteth, The godless come fast!
Iniquity, hatred, up on me they cast!
The wicked oppress me, Ah where shall I fly?
Perplexed and bewildered, O God, hear my cry!
My heart is sorely pained, within my breast,
my soul with deathly terror is oppressed,
trembling and fearfulness up on me fall,
with horror overwhelmed, Lord, hear me call.
O for the wings, for the wings of a dove!
Far away, far away would I rove!
In the wilderness build me a nest,
and remain there forever at rest."
(anthem for soprano solo, chorus and organ or orchestra written by Felix Mendelssohn in Germany in 1844. The text, originally in English, written by William Bartholomew, is derived from Psalm 55' image via pixabay.com)
Summer with Me
I offer you these months, Lord, my heart's July and August days...
Come summer with me, Lord;
summer deep down in my soul;
restore my faith in summer’s time,
in rest, in joy, in play, in you...
Summer in my heart, Lord,
and dwell there
as if time would never end,
as if all time were children's time, eternal time
when school is always out and joy is ever in…
And let others summer in my shade, Lord,
and share whatever summer’s peace is mine to give,
whatever summer’s light is mine to shed,
whatever summer's warmth is mine to share...
Good God of every season and every day this week,
come summer with me, Lord, and let the child in my heart
spend this summer in your love...
Amen.
(excerpted from a prayer on the Concord Pastor Comments blog)
Summer
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; photo by ralppie via unsplash.com)
Too Beautiful
God, I fear
You’ve made the World too beautiful this year.
(a prayer by Edna St. Vincent Millay; photo by Lynn McCane)
My New Book
Lord, it's release day for my new book! Look how beautiful it is!
Please shower your favor on it.
Let it be a blessing to many.
Use it to make children smile
and feel secure in the knowledge of your love
and the love of their families.
Use it to draw families closer
and help adults express their hopes and dreams for the children they love, and turn those hopes and dreams into focused, purposeful prayers.
Thank you for granting me the honor of writing it
and seeing it published...and, I hope, purchased,
in Jesus' name, amen.
O God, My Help
O God, my help in ages past,
My hope for years to come,
My shelter from the stormy blast,
And my eternal home.
Under the shadow of Thy throne
Thy saints have dwelt secure;
Sufficient is Thine arm alone,
And my defense is sure.
Before the hills in order stood,
Or earth received her frame,
From everlasting Thou art God,
To endless years the same.
A thousand ages in Thy sight
Are like an evening gone;
Short as the watch that ends the night
Before the rising sun.
O God, my help in ages past,
My hope for years to come,
My shelter from the stormy blast,
And my eternal home.
Clasp
Lord, I would clasp your hand in mine,
And never murmur or repine,
Content, whatever lot I see,
Since it is your hand leading me.
(from the hymn, He Leadeth Me, by Joseph Henry Gilmore, slightly updated)
True Humanness
that we have imagined true humanness,
after the Enlightenment model,
to mean being successful,
having it all together,
knowing all the answers,
never making mistakes,
striding through the world as though we owned it
(a prayer of N. T. Wright, from The Challenge of Jesus, p. 193; photo by Amazos7 via pixabay.com).
Fearless as the Sun
that I would be
"like the sun when it rises
in its strength" (Judges 5:31b).
May I bring light in a dark world;
may I show people the way.
Help me to bring warmth and energy,
and to be strong, bold and fearless as the sun.
(a prayer of @nickygumbel; photo via everystockphoto.com)
Apples of Gold
Father, let my speaking today
be like apples of gold
in settings of silver,
in Jesus' name,
amen.
(based on Proverbs 25:11)
(based on Proverbs 25:11)
Desires
Sometimes my desires are so strong that they keep me from thinking straight. Like Samson in the Bible, I can become so obsessed with what I want that I forget to ask for your guidance and wisdom. Help me to know whether the objects of my desire are consistent with your will.
(an excerpt from the book, 365 Pocket Prayers, by Ron Beers)
On Miles's Birthday
The heart swells.
How is it even possible that my first grandchild, my oldest grandson, this young man after my own heart, Miles Jacob Hostetler, turns seventeen today?
Thank you for all you have made him to be:
healthy, strong, charming, sweet, sensitive, smart, wonderful.
Thank you for all you have given him:
caring, wise, attentive, loving parents,
a sister who loves him and even says so,
a family that loves to be around him and spend time with him,
an active and brilliant mind,
a fascination with bugs and beasts and birds,
and a warm home, good school, and lovely church.
Thank you that he's so great as to make missing him so hard.
Thank you that he's growing so fast and learning so much
as to make me insanely jealous of those who get to watch it happen day by day and week by week.
Thank you that for the earliest years of his life I got to see him so often, almost daily at times.
And thank you that even with the physical distance between us, we still enjoy a closeness that brings tears to my eyes.
Please bless him mightily on his birthday, and on every day that follows it.
Please shine on him, smile on him, and slather him with your favor.
Please preserve his sweetness even as he grows up.
Please give him a great summer this year, and a blessed rest-of-the-year.
Please grant that he may grow in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and man.
Give him backbone, confidence, solidity, centeredness, and a feeling of comfort in his own skin.
Please draw him and keep him close to you,
grant his every need
and make even his biggest, boldest dreams come true,
in Jesus' name, amen.
Day of Travel
Father God,
please grant me and the lovely Robin
safe and successful travel today.
Make smooth paths
(and flight schedules) for our feet.
Grant safe and timely travel to the airport.
Help us to make our flights
and safely reach our destination.
Protect us from coach cabin and airport terminal infections.
Guide our steps,
guard our thoughts,
and give us sweet communion with you and
pleasant interactions with others.
Make us alert to any opportunity to be the means of blessing
to our fellow travelers,
or those who serve them,
in Jesus' name, amen.
Prayer for My Kids and Grandkids
I Come Quietly to Your Door
Gracious One, I come quietly to your door needing to receive from your hands the nourishment that gives life.
Amen and Amen.
(a prayer of Bernard of Clairvaux)
Good Morning, Lord
The sun is risen;
Me too. Birds are on the wing.
My spirit takes flight.
(photo by Danish Upadhyay via unsplash.com)
Anniversary Prayer
with each passing year it becomes more amazing to me
how long--
and how high and wide and deep--
you have blessed me with my bride,
my wife, the lovely Robin:
through forty-seven years of marriage,
and fifty--FIFTY!--years as a couple.
Thank you for yet another year of life together.
Thank you, thank you for her faithful,
giving,
loving,
kind,
passionate,
sweet,
constant heart.
Thank you for all
the happiness we've known together;
the sorrows we've faced,
the struggles we've survived,
the children we raised,
and the grandchildren we've been so wonderfully given.
Thank you for our home,
health,
laughter,
hopes and dreams,
our yet-unfinished plans,
and our small accomplishments.
Thank you that she has stuck with me, never wavering in her support.
Thank you that I can still make her laugh, usually.
Thank you that she grows more beautiful every day.
Thank you for all of her perfections,
and all of 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.
Las Vegas
Lord,
isn't it strange that I live in Las Vegas?
I would never have guessed.
And yet here I am, and the lovely Robin.
I love our comfy home here,
our neighbors,
our church family,
the hikes,
and the trips to see our kids and grandkids.
Thank you for where we live,
how we live,
that we live,
in Jesus' name, amen.
(photo by julianpaefgen via unsplash.com)
June
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)