My Heart is Yours
My heart is yours, Lord; my heart is yours.
My life is yours.
My wife is yours.
My children.
My grandchildren.
All yours.
My worship.
My allegiance.
My devotion
and attention belong to you.
My work,
my writing,
my speaking. .
My mind and soul and strength,
my hurts and sorrows,
my hopes and dreams,
my past, present, and future--
all yours.
My talents,
my strengths,
my weaknesses,
my hands and eyes and ears and voice,
my moments and my days,
my joys and laughter,
pleasures and pains.
All I am and all I have are yours.
Do what you will.
You have my heart,
you have my trust,
you have my all,
in Jesus' name, amen.
My life is yours.
My wife is yours.
My children.
My grandchildren.
All yours.
My worship.
My allegiance.
My devotion
and attention belong to you.
My work,
my writing,
my speaking. .
My mind and soul and strength,
my hurts and sorrows,
my hopes and dreams,
my past, present, and future--
all yours.
My talents,
my strengths,
my weaknesses,
my hands and eyes and ears and voice,
my moments and my days,
my joys and laughter,
pleasures and pains.
All I am and all I have are yours.
Do what you will.
You have my heart,
you have my trust,
you have my all,
in Jesus' name, amen.
A Prayer for My Readers
What a privilege is mine
to write
and to publish.
What an honor
that people around the world
and down through the years
may be able to read these words
I write today.
I pray for every one of my readers, Lord:
Those who will seek out my words,
those who will receive them from a friend,
those who will stumble upon them,
those who will read them only because
there's nothing else at hand.
Let each of them find you in what I write.
Let every one be drawn closer to you by these words.
Let the clarity and quality of my work today
pay eternal dividends
and glorify you
exceeding abundantly above I can imagine or dream,
in Jesus' name, amen.
A Morning Prayer
O, good God, good morning!
You've given me another day to live, Lord:
a day to shape into something beautiful,
a day to serve others, a day to give you thanks,
a day in the life of you and me, Lord.
How would you have me spend this day?
With whom would you have me share it?
Along what path will your Spirit draw me?
Close to whose heart will your heart lead me?
What word would you have me speak today?
What quiet time together have you planned for us to share?
What tears might I cry today
And with what joy will you touch my soul?
When I'm tired today give me strength, Lord.
When I'm moving too fast, slow me down.
When I'm saying too much, let me know.
When I need to speak, give me words to say.
Give me patience with this day's routine, Lord,
and open my eyes to see what is fresh and new.
Because this day comes from your hand, it's blessed
and because I can offer it back to you, it's a gift.
O, good God, good morning!
Keep me safe until I say good night...
(from A Concord Pastor Comments)
On My Daughter's Thirtieth Birthday
Thank you for this, Lord:
for her,
my daughter,
my Blossom,
the apple of my eye,
my pride,
my joy,
who turns thirty today.
Oh my.
I can't believe it.
How fast the years have flown by.
How unimaginably wonderful you made her
and grew her
and refined her
all along the way.
In her, you have made my dreams
come true,
so I pray for her,
please make all her dreams come true--
and in her
fulfill all your dreams for her
in Jesus' name, amen.
Refrigerator Thanks
Lord, thank you for a refrigerator. Thank you for ice when I want,
cold water when I want,
fresh fruit
and vegetables when I want,
cold juice
and sweet tea when I want.
Thank you for the ability to preserve
fresh milk,
cheese,
meat,
yogurt,
and leftovers.
Thank you for a level
of comfort and convenience
that could only have been imagined
just a few generations ago.
Amen.
Then/Now
Almighty God, thank you that you not only loved me,
but you love me right now.
Thank you that you saved me
and are saving me.
Thank you that you spoke,
and that you speak.
Thank you that you gave yourself for me
and that you give yourself to me.
Thank you that you thought of me eons ago
and think of me still,
that you made a way for me
and make a way for me still,
that you answered my prayers
and answer them still.
Thank you, God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob,
that you are the God of the living THEN
and of my life NOW,
in Jesus' name, amen.
For the Gift that Unlocks Treasures
G-d, we give thanks for the gift of scholarship,
For wisdom,
insight and understanding,
For the gift that unlocks treasures hidden in Your Holy Word.
You gave us Torah at Sinai
And righteous men and women
to be Your messengers,
Revealing divine secrets
stage-by-stage.
Hear this prayer for those who study Talmud and Torah,
Mishna and Gemara,
Zohar, Musar and Tanya,
The words by G-d to Israel,
The lessons of scholars of every generation.
Make their thoughts Your vessel.
Let heaven pour Your voice into them
So that they overflow with sacred fire
Drawing others to Your word.
So that when we hear Your mysteries,
Our souls turn back to You in joyous reunion.
Together, we offer the light back to heaven,
And rejoice.
© 2010 Alden Solovy and www.tobendlight.com. All rights reserved.
Fragrance
Dear Jesus, help us to spread your fragrance everywhere we go.Flood our souls with your spirit and life. Penetrate and possess our whole being so utterly that our lives may only be a radiance of yours. Shine through us, and be so in us, that every soul we come in contact with may feel your presence in our soul. Let them look up and see no longer us but only Jesus! Stay with us, and then we shall begin to shine as you shine; so to shine as to be a light to others; the light, O Jesus, will be all from you, none of it will be ours; it will be you, shining on others through us. Let us thus praise you in the way you love best by shining on those around us. Let us preach you without preaching, not by words but by our example, by the catching force, the sympathetic influence of what we do. The evident fullness of the love our hearts bear to you. Amen.
(from CommonPrayer.net)
Abel Prayer
God, let me always offer a better sacrifice than Cain.
May I give you reason to speak well of my offerings.
And may I, by faith, like Abel, still speak, even beyond this life.
Amen.
(based on Hebrews 11:4)
After a Week of Speaking
Thank you, Lord, for your kindness and presence this week as I've been traveling and speaking. Thank you for the fine fellowship I've enjoyed. For attentive listeners. For gracious hosts. For responsive hearts. Comfortable accommodations. Nourishing meals. New friendships. Renewed relationships. Thoughtful compliments. Restful nights. Productive days. Rich worship. Good reading. Fond reminiscences. Ample blessings. Plentiful laughs. And the prospect of a joyful, timely, and safe return home, in Jesus' name, amen.
I May Try to Be Clever
Lord Jesus, as Peter said,
you alone have the words that give life.
Your words are living and mighty,
and more precise than a scalpel,
slicing to the heart.
Let me speak your words this week, Lord,
not mine.
Flow through me,
speak through me.
I may try to be clever.
I will no doubt lapse into self and flesh.
You will see it coming,
and I ask you to please
save me from stupidity,
insensitivity,
and everything that does not come
from you.
Please speak.
Speak to me.
Speak through me.
Speak so clearly and so forcefully,
encouraging,
blessing,
reviving,
renewing,
and restoring all those who have ears to hear,
in Jesus' name, amen.
you alone have the words that give life.
Your words are living and mighty,
and more precise than a scalpel,
slicing to the heart.
Let me speak your words this week, Lord,
not mine.
Flow through me,
speak through me.
I may try to be clever.
I will no doubt lapse into self and flesh.
You will see it coming,
and I ask you to please
save me from stupidity,
insensitivity,
and everything that does not come
from you.
Please speak.
Speak to me.
Speak through me.
Speak so clearly and so forcefully,
encouraging,
blessing,
reviving,
renewing,
and restoring all those who have ears to hear,
in Jesus' name, amen.
Bless My Enemies (A Prayer by St. Nikolai of Ochrid)
Bless my enemies, O Lord. Even I bless them and do not curse them.Enemies have driven me into Thy embrace more than friends have.
Friends have bound me to earth, enemies have loosed me from earth and have demolished all my aspirations in the world.
Enemies have made me a stranger in worldly realms and an extraneous inhabitant of the world.
Just as a hunted animal finds safer shelter than an unhunted animal does, so have I, persecuted by enemies, found the safest sanctuary, having ensconced myself beneath Thy tabernacle, where neither friends nor enemies can slay my soul.
Bless my enemies, O Lord. Even I bless them and do not curse them.
They, rather than I, have confessed my sins before the world.
They have punished me, whenever I have hesitated to punish myself.
They have tormented me, whenever I have tried to flee torments.
They have scolded me, whenever I have flattered myself.
They have spat upon me, whenever I have filled myself with arrogance.
Bless my enemies, O Lord. Even I bless them and do not curse them.
Whenever I have made myself wise, they have called me foolish.
Whenever I have made myself mighty, they have mocked me as though I were a dwarf.
Whenever I have wanted to lead people, they have shoved me into the background.
Whenever I have rushed to enrich myself, they have prevented me with an iron hand.
Whenever I thought that I would sleep peacefully, they have wakened me from sleep.
Whenever I have tried to build a home for a long and tranquil life, they have demolished it and driven me out.
Truly, enemies have cut me loose from the world and have stretched out my hands to the hem of Thy garment.
Bless my enemies, O Lord. Even I bless them and do not curse them.
Bless them and multiply them; multiply them and make them even more bitterly against me:
so that my fleeing to Thee may have no return;
so that all hope in men may be scattered like cobwebs;
so that absolute serenity may begin to reign in my soul;
so that my heart may become the grave of my two evil twins: arrogance and anger;
so that I might amass all my treasure in heaven;
ah, so that I may for once be freed from self deception, which has entangled me in the dreadful web of illusory life.
Enemies have taught me to know what hardly anyone knows, that a person has no enemies in the world except himself.
One hates his enemies only when he fails to realize that they are not enemies, but cruel friends.
It is truly difficult for me to say who has done me more good and who has done me more evil in the world: friends or enemies.
Therefore bless, O Lord, both my friends and my enemies.
A slave curses enemies, for he does not understand.
But a son blesses them, for he understands. For a son knows that his enemies cannot touch his life. Therefore he freely steps among them and prays to God for them.
Bless my enemies, O Lord. Even I bless them and do not curse them.
Amen.
Bless Him Today, Lord
Bless him today, Lord. Send your Spirit,
send the fire,
send every possible blessing
and empowerment
on him and on his worship leading this morning.
Give my son, the worship leader,
clarity and conviction,
boldness and sensitivity,
mercy and grace
in all he does.
Let him sing and play,
let him speak and lead,
let the whole band
flow in the fulness of your presence and power.
Let your people be lifted to new heights in worship,
let your house be filled with praise,
let your heart be blessed by the hearts of your children,
in Jesus' name, amen.
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