Lord God, I awoke this morning in a downcast mood. But you have the power to lift me up and to restore me to life. Please do so today. As I spend myself for the people you love, please restore me, encourage me, show me the signs of your blessing and your promise to your people Cobblestone, in Jesus' name, amen.
Downcast
Lord God, I awoke this morning in a downcast mood. But you have the power to lift me up and to restore me to life. Please do so today. As I spend myself for the people you love, please restore me, encourage me, show me the signs of your blessing and your promise to your people Cobblestone, in Jesus' name, amen.
A Prayer of Edward Shillito
The other gods were strong, but Thou wast weak; They rode, but Thou didst stumble to a throne;
But to our wounds only God's wounds can speak,
And not a god has wounds but Thou alone.
(Edward Shillito, from "Jesus of the Scars")
My Psalm 100
I shout for joy to you, LORD; I'm so happy to be your son.
I'm so happy to worship you;
I'm delighted to sing songs to you.
I'm thrilled to know and say that you are God,
you are my Creator, and I am yours.
I'm happy to be your child, the sheep of your pasture.
I'm grateful to enter your gates,
it is my privilege to come into your courts with praise;
I am honored to give thanks to you and praise your name.
For you, LORD, are good,
and your love endures forever;
your faithfulness never ends.
Amen.
A Prayer of Brian McLaren
God, our Creator, thank you for the gift of Jesus. He walked among us embodying your creative and life-giving Word in his body, his life, his words, his deeds, his sufferings, his death, and his resurrection. When we see him loving the outcast, forgiving the sinner, confronting the hypocrite, and teaching the crowds a new way of life, we see your heart, your compassion, your mercy, your character. To know Jesus is to love him, and to love him is to know him, and to know and love him is to know and love you.So help me, Lord, to be among your disciples who come to you to be taught.
Help me, Lord, to be among the poor in spirit, to see and know that your kingdom is my homeland even now ...
Help me, Lord, to be among those who mourn, to join you in your sadness for all that's wrong and broken in this world, and in joining you, to find true comfort.
Help me, Lord, to be among the meek, those who find strength in weakness and power in vulnerability, to never fear lack or want, because when I have your love, I have all the world.
Help me, Lord, to desire justice, rightness, goodness, fairness, cleanness, clearness, and integrity more than I hunger for food or thirst for water ... and so let me find the truest fulfillment and satisfaction.
Help me, Lord, to be among the merciful. Help me to be a true friend to those who are hated, misunderstood, rejected, excluded, disregarded ... just as you, God of Mercy, are. When others fail - when they fail me - help me show the same mercy you show to those who fail you ... including me.
Help me, Lord, to be among the pure in heart. May your pure light shine in my heart and dispel every shadow, every layer and fold that conceals or pretends. Since it is only the heart that sees you, remove from my heart everything that keeps me from seeing you.
Help me, Lord, to be among the makers of peace. Many build walls. Many sow fear and distrust. Many spread rumors. Many inflame conflict and profit from it. Help me to be even among them an agent and messenger of your peace and reconciliation, and so bear your family likeness, God of peace.
Help me, Lord, not to fear being among the persecuted, but rather, to rejoice in having the honor of standing for your restorative justice and rightness, so I will see that your kingdom is my homeland, even now.
Help me, Lord, to be among those who suffer wrong well and with grace. Help me not to resent it, not to fear it, not to seek to escape it. Instead, help me to find joy in it ... when others insult me, make my life more difficult, or falsely malign me because of you. Help me to see through the momentary, light trouble to the lasting and weighty reward, even now, for your kingdom comes by suffering rather than by making others suffer.
So help me, Lord, to be among your disciples who come to you to be taught. I am a limping, broken sinner and beginner, far from these realities, but this is where I want to go. In your mercy, lead me in this path. Amen.
(a meditation on Matthew 5:1-12 by Brian McLaren)
The Economics of Enough
Teach me God the economics of enough.
If in greed I ask too much of you.
If in fear I ask too little.
Measure daily my bread.
Amen.
(from http://twitter.com/twitturgies)
If in greed I ask too much of you.
If in fear I ask too little.
Measure daily my bread.
Amen.
(from http://twitter.com/twitturgies)
Philippians 2 Prayer
Lord God, I have encouragement from being united with Christ,
I have comfort from his love,
I have fellowship with the Spirit,
I have tenderness and compassion,
by his grace;
give me to be like-minded with my brothers and sisters,
having the same love,
being one in spirit and purpose.
Help me to do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit,
but in humility consider others better than myself.
Help me to look not only to my own interests, but also to the interests of others.
Make my attitude the same as that of Christ Jesus:
Who, being in very nature God,
did not cling to his position, to his status, or rights,
but made himself nothing,
taking the very nature of a servant,
being made in human likeness.
And being found in appearance as a man,
he humbled himself
and became obedient to death—
even death on a cross!
Therefore God exalted him to the highest place
and gave him the name that is above every name,
that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,
in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord,
to the glory of God the Father.
In light of that,
in awareness of that,
help me to live out that very Christ life in me,
help me to work out my salvation with fear and trembling,
and fully cooperate with you, God, who works in me
to bring about Christlikeness and completeness according to your good purpose.
Help me to do everything without complaining or arguing,
so that I may become blameless and pure,
a child of God without fault in a crooked and depraved generation,
in which I shine like a star in the universe
as I hold out the word of life,
that distant shores and the islands may see your light
as it rises on me.
For that, Lord, I will be poured out like a drink offering
until I am empty, too,
and I will be grateful and glad to do so.
Amen.
Have Pity
God, have pity upon us. We want peace without pain
and security without sacrifice.
We want peace
but not the perils of peacemaking.
O God, may we learn what love is.
Amen.
(A prayer of Peter Marshall)
Sensory Prayer
Thank you, Lord,
that I can walk without pain,
see without impediment,
hear without assistance,
sleep without fear,
chew without discomfort,
swallow without effort,
work without end!
Amen.
(Painting is the Allegory of the Five Senses, by Gérard de Lairesse, seventeenth century)
Pancreas Prayer
God, thank you
that all these years,
fifty-one plus,
my pancreas has functioned fully
and without me giving it a thought,
or you a word of thanks!
But I thank you now.
Thank you.
that all these years,
fifty-one plus,
my pancreas has functioned fully
and without me giving it a thought,
or you a word of thanks!
But I thank you now.
Thank you.
Make Me
Abba, make me
grateful instead of self-pitying,
optimistic instead of merely diligent,
energetic instead of so dreadfully weary,
in Jesus' name, amen.
grateful instead of self-pitying,
optimistic instead of merely diligent,
energetic instead of so dreadfully weary,
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!
My Psalm 99
You reign, LORD!Reign!
Exert your power and influence;
let the nations sit up and take notice.
You are enthroned between the cherubim;
shake the earth with your mighty moving.
You are great, LORD,
exalted over everything and everyone everywhere.
Let all people everywhere
come to praise your great and awesome name—
for you are holy.
You are King,
you are mighty,
you are just.
You always do what is right.
I exalt you, LORD God,
I bow before your throne
and make my back,
my heart,
my life your footstool.
You heard Moses and Aaron;
you chose them to be your servants,
and Samuel and David.
They called on you, LORD,
and you answered them.
You forgave them,
and showed them mercy,
though you punished their misdeeds.
Do so for me, too, Abba, Father,
do so for my family,
for my church,
for my friends and my flock.
I exalt you, LORD God,
I bow before your throne
and make my back,
my heart,
my life your footstool.
Amen.
A Prayer of A. B. Simpson
Oh, for the baptism of fire! Oh, for the living coal upon the burning lips of love! 0h, for men and women God-possessed and self-surrendered, grasping God's great idea and pressing forward toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. Amen.
A Prayer of Guerric of Igny
I love you, O Lord, my strength; through you every hostile power yields to me, worm that I am, and the guile of the ancient serpent is laughed to scorn by the angels you send to minister to us, so that his desire to hurt is turned to our advantage instead.I love you, Lord, my powerful defender, wise guide, gentle consoler, generous rewarder. Confident, I cast all my care on him whose strength cannot be overthrown, whose wisdom cannot be led astray, whose loving kindness cannot be exhausted in fulfilling my every need. How much better, how much safer it is to have him caring for me than to be looking after myself. How much better it is to take refuge in the Lord than to put confidence in man. How justly cursed is the man who, trusting in man, makes flesh his arm, whose heart turns away from the Lord. Indeed I am poor and needy but if the Lord takes thought for me I am rich and blessed; no mistake, everything works for good in me.
Therefore let those who know your name put their trust in you, for you, O Lord, do not forsake those who put their trust in you.
Amen.
Show Me Your Will
Abba, Father, show me your will. I want to pray as Watchman Nee urges in Let Us Pray. I want to learn to pray according to your will--to first discern your will and then pray for it, fervently and faithfully.
Let it be so. Amen.
Let it be so. Amen.
From Kirk Whalum, Slightly Revised
Falling in love with you, Jesus, Was the best thing I've ever
Ever done.
In your arms, I feel protected,
In your arms, never disconnected,
In your arms, I feel protected,
There's no place I'd rather, rather be.
Falling in love with you, Jesus,
Was the best thing I've ever
Ever done.
(From the song by Kirk Whalum)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)