Abba,
please make me
grateful instead of self-pitying,
optimistic instead of merely diligent,
energetic instead of so dreadfully weary,
in Jesus' name, amen.
Measure
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; photo by Mae Mu via unsplash.com)
Father Zosima's Prayer
Lord, save those whom there is no one to pray for,
save also those who do not want to pray to You.
It is not in my pride that I pray for this, Lord,
for I myself am the greatest of sinners.
(from The Brothers Karamazov, by Fyodor Dostoevsky; photo by tedkerwin via everystockphoto.com)
Avery
this fierce, funny, friend-making, firecracker, force of nature--
turns ten today. TEN!
"Though she be but little, she is fierce."
And though she be but ten, it feels like she has held my heart for much longer.
And though she be the youngest in the family, you have done great things in her, and I know you have great plans for her.
Oh, Lord, thank you for her health, vivacity, personality, perspicacity, and all the sugar and vinegar with which you've filled her. Please make this coming year the best yet for her. Give her a wonderful birthday, a blessed school year, and every joy in the days, weeks, months, and years to come, in Jesus' name, amen.
And though she be the youngest in the family, you have done great things in her, and I know you have great plans for her.
Oh, Lord, thank you for her health, vivacity, personality, perspicacity, and all the sugar and vinegar with which you've filled her. Please make this coming year the best yet for her. Give her a wonderful birthday, a blessed school year, and every joy in the days, weeks, months, and years to come, in Jesus' name, amen.
Spiritual Feast
Lord, how wide is my vista now. What a rich and varied spiritual feast is mine. 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!
For a Strong Self-Esteem
My prayer today for my kids and my grandkids, from the "31 Ways to Pray for Your Kids" app for iPhone and iPad:
Like a Bird Before a Man
O Lord,I have a wild heart
And cannot stand before thee;
I am like a bird before a man.
How little I love thy truth and ways!
I neglect prayer,
By thinking I have prayed enough and earnestly,
By knowing thou hast saved my soul.
Of all hypocrites,
grant that I may not be an evangelical hypocrite,
Who sins more safely because grace abounds,
Who tells his lusts that Christ’s blood cleanseth them,
Who reasons that God cannot cast him into hell, for his is saved,
Who loves evangelical preaching, churches, Christians, but lives unholily.
My mind is a bucket without a bottom,
With no spiritual understanding,
No desire for the Lord’s Day,
Ever learning but never reaching the truth,
Always at the gospel well but never holding water.
My conscience is without conviction or contrition,
With nothing to repent of.
My will is without power of decision or resolution.
My heart is without affection, and full of leaks.
My memory has no retention,
So I forget so easily the lessons learned,
And thy truths seep away.
Give me a broken heart that yet carries home the water of grace.
(from The Valley of Vision, a collection of Puritan prayers, edited by Arthur Bennett)
Let Me Not Forget
When Israel came out of Egypt,
the house of Jacob from a people of foreign tongue,
Judah became your sanctuary,
Israel your dominion.
The sea looked and fled,
the Jordan turned back;
the mountains skipped like rams,
the hills like lambs.
How often have you provided me
with such deliverance,
and established me
with such kindness,
and I have quickly moved on
to my next need,
my next request,
my next demand,
and have not trembled at the presence of the Lord,
nor given appropriate thanks
to the One who turned the rock
into a pool,
the hard rock
into springs of water? (based on Psalm 114)
the house of Jacob from a people of foreign tongue,
Judah became your sanctuary,
Israel your dominion.
The sea looked and fled,
the Jordan turned back;
the mountains skipped like rams,
the hills like lambs.
How often have you provided me
with such deliverance,
and established me
with such kindness,
and I have quickly moved on
to my next need, my next request,
my next demand,
and have not trembled at the presence of the Lord,
nor given appropriate thanks
to the One who turned the rock
into a pool,
the hard rock
into springs of water? (based on Psalm 114)
Symphony of Seasons
Abba, Father, Mighty God,
Adonai,
I praise you:
for the grace
to praise you.
I praise you:
for the symphony of seasons,
four movements,
winterspringsummerfall.
I praise you:
for the marvelous variety of tastes
you've placed in this world,
grapes, apples,
bread, potato,
cheese, milk,
asparagus, peas,
egg yolk and white,
chocolate, coffee,
salt and pepper,
beef and chicken, pork and fish,
cinnamon,
sugar,
and so much more.
I praise you:
for your endless creativity,
your awesome majesty,
your thundering power,
your gentle caresses,
your incredible patience,
your immeasurable condescension
to listen to me
praise you.
Little Things
The song of birds, the rapture of the rose;
Cloud-dappled skies, the laugh of limpid springs,
Drowned sunbeams and the perfume April blows;
Bronze wheat a-shimmer, purple shade of trees -
Let us be thankful, Lord of Life, for these!
Let us be praiseful, Sire, for simple sights; -
The blue smoke curling from a fire of peat;
Keen stars a-frolicking on frosty nights,
Prismatic pigeons strutting in a street;
Daisies dew-diamonded in smiling sward -
For simple sights let us be praiseful, Lord!
Let us be grateful, God, for health serene,
The hope to do a kindly deed each day;
The faith of fellowship, a conscience clean,
The will to worship and the gift to pray;
For all of worth in us, of You a part,
Let us be grateful, God, with humble heart.
(a prayer by Robert William Service; photo courtesy of http://www.everystockphoto.com/)
Open-Handed Giver
(a prayer of Archbishop Helder Camara; photo by kirttu via pixabay.com)
When Shall I Come
When shall I come unto the healing waters?
Lifting my heart, I cry to Thee my prayer.
Spirit of peace, my Comforter and Healer,
In whom my springs are found, let my soul meet Thee there.
From a hill I know,
Healing waters flow;
O rise, Emmanuel's tide,
And my soul overflow.
Wash from my hands the dust of earthly striving,
Take from my mind the stress of secret fear;
Cleanse Thou the wounds from all but Thee far hidden,
And when the waters flow let my healing appear.
Light, life and love are in that healing fountain;
All I require to cleanse me and restore;
Flow through my soul, redeem its desert places,
And make a garden there for the Lord I adore.
(a hymn of General Albert Orsborn of The Salvation Army)
All Our Work and Toil
of sun and moon and stars,
you chose to fashion us, your own,
your handiwork of love.
Indeed, we are your hands’ own work
and yet into our hands
you give the care
of every living thing.
In more ways than we can count
our work builds up
or tears apart what came
from your own hand.
Keep us faithful in preserving
all you’ve given
lest we harm the smallest part
of all you’ve made.
Give us good and honest work to do
and rest at each day’s end.
Give a fair and good day’s wage
for a good day’s work well done.
Give us work that nurtures and sustains
the ones who serve and those they serve.
Let those who labor work in peace,
in freedom without fear.
Give those in need a job to do
and to the tired well earned rest.
Let all our work and toil, Lord,
give glory to your name.
Amen.
(From A Concord Pastor Comments blog; photo by skeeze via pixabay.com)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)