Come to Your Beloved Ones

 

My Refuge, My Shield

 

Even Though

 

Lord of Hosts

Portion and Cup

 

Clinging

 

The Joy of Your Presence

 

Need of the Day

 

By the Other Light Supreme

Lord, loosen in me the hold of visible things;

   Help me to walk by faith and not by sight;

I would, through thickest veils and coverings,

   See into the chambers of the living light.

Lord, in the land of things that swell and seem,

   Help me to walk by the other light supreme,

Which shows Thy facts behind man's vaguely hinting dream.

(a prayer by George MacDonald, from The Diary of an Old Soul; photo by Arcaion via pixabay.com)

Thank You for Summer

Father, Creator of all,

thank You for summer! 

Thank You for the warmth of the sun and the increased daylight. 

Thank You for the beauty I see all around me and for the opportunity to be outside and enjoy Your creation. 

Thank You for the increased time I have to be with my friends and family, and for the more casual pace 
of the summer season. 

Draw me closer to You this summer.

Teach me how I can pray no matter
where I am or what I am doing.

Warm my soul with the awareness of
Your presence and light my path with
Your Word and Counsel.

As I enjoy Your creation, create in
me a pure heart and a hunger
and a thirst for You.
Amen.

(author unknown; image by jonathansautter via pixabay.com)

Good Good Father

Further Grace

O God, I have tasted your goodness and it has both satisfied me and made me thirsty for more. I am painfully conscious of my need of further grace. I am ashamed of my lack of desire. O God, the Triune god, I want to want you; I long to be filled with longing; I thirst to be made more thirsty still. Show me your glory, I pray, so that I may know you indeed. Begin in mercy a new work of love within me. Say to my soul, “Rise up, my love, my fair one, and come away.” Then give me grace to rise and follow you up from this misty lowland where I have wandered so long. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

(a prayer of A. W. Tozer, revised slightly; photo by Free-Photos via pixabay.com)

Preserve

 

For A/C

Lord, for the minds that created air conditioning 

and the difference it makes in my life, 

I give you thanks. 

Amen. 

(photo illustration by santiagotorrescl95 via pixabay.com)

Inheritance

 

Actiones Nostras

We beg You, O Lord, to initiate and anticipate our actions, 

and help us in them and follow up on them, 

so that our every service always flows from You, 

and all we begin is brought to conclusion through You. 

Amen.

(from the Gregorian Sacramentary; photo by cocoparisienne via pixabay.com)

Thin Place

O God,

make of my heart,

my marriage,

my family,

my home, 

and my church,

a thin place.

Amen.

(based on an incident related to Evelyn Underhill by a friend who had been to the Isle of Iona and there heard a local gardener say, “Iona is a very thin place.” She asked, “What do you mean?” The gardener, a Scotsman, said, “It's a thin place, because there is not much between Iona and the Lord”; photo by mcbeaner via pixabay.com)

The Blessing

Lord of My Life, Whose Tender Care

Lord of my life, whose tender care

Has led me on till now,

Here lowly at the hour of prayer

Before your throne I bow;

I bless your gracious hand, and pray

Forgiveness for another day.

Oh, may I daily, hourly, strive

In heavenly grace to grow;

To you and to your glory live,

Dead to all else below;

Tread in the path my Savior trod,

Though thorny, yet the path to God.

With prayer my humble praise I bring

For mercies day by day;

Lord! teach my heart your love to sing,

Lord! teach me how to pray;

And all I am, and all I own,

Entrust to you alone.

(a prayer by an anonymous hymnwriter, slightly updated and revised; photo by josemdelaa via pixabay.com)

My Lamp and Light