Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.

A New Year

Father, as we say goodbye to 2012 and move in to 2013, help us to leave the past behind us, only taking the lessons we have learned. Help us to trust you in the coming year, focusing on what you have for us each day and not getting wrapped up in the future. We pray for your grace and favor for ourselves and our family and friends. Next December, let us look back and say that we followed Jesus more closely through the year. Amen

Please visit The Prayer List and pray with us.

A PRAYER TO START THE YEAR




"A new year is unfolding—like a blossom with petals curled tightly concealing the beauty within.

Lord, let this year be filled with the things that are truly good—with the comfort of warmth in our relationships, with the strength to help those who need our help and the humility and openness to accept help from others.

As we make our resolutions for the year ahead, let us go forward with great hope that all things can be possible—with Your help and guidance."






Amen

Please visit The Prayer List and pray with us.

A Prayer for Safety

Dear Lord God,

I come at the risk of being redundant and bring before you once again the friends and family of the two firefighters killed and other two injured in this week's West Webster shootings. We are still a community in shock and sorrow. Our hotels will be filled with out of town firemen this weekend, come to honor their fallen brothers. Thank you, Father, for the generosity of those in this community and beyond who have given monetarily to pay for rooms and food.

I pray comfort for hurting families; mothers and fathers, brothers and sisters, a wife and her children. The pain cuts deep, especially when death comes suddenly, violently, and senselessly. There are no answers as to why, not really, only the painful awareness evil has reared it's ugly head once again.

I ask your protection on roads that are wet, icy, or snow covered, and a reprieve for our tired and grieving first responders. I pray that those who lost homes and possessions int he fire will have their needs met in miraculous ways, and that You would guide Your people to step in where You lead. I pray that You would bring beauty out of ashes and work salvation in hearts and lives.

And, Lord, this incident has brought into the news once again  another Webster tragedy; last year's fatal fire. I pray Your peace and comfort for that family who will face scrutinizing news coverage as the arsonist goes to trial in January. Their pain is mine as I hurt for my friends. Please be near, dear Lord.

Amen

Please visit The Prayer List and pray with us.

believing...

"And all things, whatsoever ye shall ask
in prayer, believing, ye shall receive"
(Matthew 21:22)

Amen

Please visit The Prayer List and pray with us.

HIS GREATEST GIFT





Colossians 3:17 ~ " And whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by him."

Dear Lord, I pray that this Christmas I will see opportunities to give a gift in "Jesus Name".  Thanks you so much for your wonderful gift of Jesus.  A baby born to save a world.  Lord open the eyes of the spiritual blind, that they can receive your gift today.  I love you.  Amen.

Seize the divine moment and look for someone to bless in Jesus Name today and every day.  Isn't that the way our dear Savior would want us to live.

**The picture is a Christmas card I received this year.


Amen

Please visit The Prayer List and pray with us.

A Christmas Prayer

The day of joy returns, Father in Heaven,
and crowns another year with peace and good will.

Help us rightly to remember the birth of Jesus,
that we may share in the song of the angels,
the gladness of the shepherds, and the worship of the wise men.

Close the doors of hate and open the doors of love all over the world.

Let kindness come with every gift and good desires with every greeting.

Deliver us from evil, by the blessing that Christ brings,
and teach us to be merry with clean hearts.

May the Christmas morning make us happy to be thy children,

And the Christmas evening bring us to our bed with grateful
thoughts, forgiving and forgiven, for Jesus' sake.

Amen
... a prayer of Robert Louis Stevenson

Please visit The Prayer List and pray with us.

faith

"So then faith cometh by hearing
and hearing by the Word of God"
(Romans 10:17)

~~~~

If we desire to build our faith, we must be reading the Word of God. A strong faith goes hand in hand with the mighty power of prayer. The Word tells us many times that the faith of those in need of healing is what made them well and whole. If we are to obtain this kind of strong faith, it is imperative that we devour the holy scriptures so we can know the power of the One who breathed them out. 

Ask the Holy Spirit today to teach you the Word, show you His will and help you live out the Word of God.

Faith is the key.



Amen

Please visit The Prayer List and pray with us.

Advent: Third Week

Jesus, as Israel waited in anticipation for you to come, so we wait. We anticipate your return to completely set all things right and restore your creation. As we wait, help us to be active as we pray for your kingdom to come on earth as it is in heaven. Let that kingdom come in our day-to-day as we follow you, until that day it comes fully. Amen

Please visit The Prayer List and pray with us.

A PRAYER FOR THE GRIEVING


.

With the tragedy of the killing of all those darling little children in Sandy Hook Elementary I wanted to share this picture and prayer.


Dear Jesus, you loved and blessed the small children when you were on this earth, and said they were the picture of the kingdom of heaven.  Now you are holding many of them in your arms.  Please let those parents know their little children are safe in your arms and happy in Your presence.  Father comfort all those who grieve so deeply tonight.  Only you can heal the broken hearted, and get those parents and loved ones through this.  We love and trust You.  Amen


 My watercolor of the little girl praying is from a photograph I saw in a Samaritan's Purse Brochure for Operation Shoe Box...sending shoe boxes to Children around the World and at home to show God love and mercy and make a child happy at Christmas







Amen

Please visit The Prayer List and pray with us.

Prayer for the Families of Newtown

Lord, we come to You as a nation in shock and mourning for those who were killed yesterday in Newtown, Connecticut. Words escape us and we have no context to understand the pain of the families that are suffering and in need of comfort. Please visit them with gentleness and compassion as they mourn this great loss.

Give these strength and courage to live life vigorously again and to not be afraid of stranger or friend. Turn their despair into hope, hate into love and anger into joy.

Lord we pray for Your mercy and compassion on our nation. We live in troubled times, and the answers to our problems are not simple or easy. Send Your Spirit upon us to strengthen our resolve to root out the violence, hate, and fear in our country. Create in us hearts of courage, grace us with the ability to stand against the violence of our day: the violence in ourselves, our homes, streets and communities. In your name we pray. Amen


Please visit The Prayer List and pray with us.

Two Steps Back

Oh Lord, I am at a loss. Is there no way to mend this relationship with our son that does not include groveling at his feet and cow-towing to his demands? Will he never return to the man he was just three years ago when he appeared to be following You? Will he always be angry and accusing? Must we walk away? Oh, Lord God! Please help me know what to do, and please protect my little grandchildren and sweet daughter in law in all of this. And somehow, Father, work something to the good as we trust You to use this sad situation to love and encourage someone else.
Amen

Please visit The Prayer List and pray with us.

prayer is essential


Prayer is essential in the lives of Christians. It is our lifeline. It is personal and intimate conversation with our Lord and Savior. It is the way we build a close relationship with God. 

Prayer is about worship. It is about thanksgiving. It is about praising our God and Father for who He is. Prayer is communion with the One who is all power and all strength. 

Prayer is more than asking for things. Prayer is about pouring ourselves to our Master and giving Him the honor and glory that He deserves. When we focus on His glory and His righteousness and His worthiness, our prayers become a form of worship and we receive much more than any tangible reward. We receive His presence in our lives. And that is more than enough.

"But we will give ourselves continually to prayer,
and to the ministry of the Word"
(Acts 6:4)


Amen

Please visit The Prayer List and pray with us.

Advent: Second Week

Almighty God,
give us such a vision of your purpose
and such an assurance of  your love and power,
that we may ever hold fast the hope
which is in Jesus Christ our Lord
who is alive with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God now and for ever.
Amen

Bosco Peters

Please visit The Prayer List and pray with us.




While they were there, the days were completed for her to give birth.  And she gave birth to her firstborn son; and she wrapped Him in cloths, and laid Him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.  (Luke 2:6-7)

"I am always struck by the simplicity of that description.  This remarkable event is so understated, so matter-of-fact, that you could almost miss it if you blinked.  So much is left unsaid that you are compelled to read it again ...and again.

A veil of silence is pulled over the young woman as she agonizes through childbirth.  The shouts of joy are left unrecorded as Joseph, apparently serving as Mary's midwife, delivers the baby and hands Him to His mother."

(Above excerpt taken from Windows on Christmas by Bill Crowder)

Dear Lord, we will never be able to fully understand the miracle that happened that night...we don't need to know the details in that stable...what is so remarkable, is your gift of salvation on the cross is given numerous details, and that detail of Your cry IT IS FINISHED accomplished the purpose of the night in the stable. Thanks you Jesus...for Your Birth, for Your Life, for Your Death, for Your Resurrection....for MY salvation. I love you. Amen




Amen

Please visit The Prayer List and pray with us.

The Grail Prayer

Lord Jesus,
I give you my hands to do your work
I give you my feet to go your way
I give you my eyes to see as you do
I give you my tongue to speak your words
I give you my mind that you may think in me
I give you my spirit that you may pray in me

Above all,
I give you my heart that you may love in me your Father and all mankind
I give you my whole self that you may grow in me

So that it is you Lord Jesus who live and work and pray in me

Amen

Please visit The Prayer List and pray with us.

Advent: First Week

Everlasting God,
in whom we live and move and have our being:
You have made us for yourself,
so that our hearts are restless
Until they rest in you.

Augustine of Hippo

Please visit The Prayer List and pray with us.

SOME CHRISTMAS THOUGHTS AND BLESSING




A Christmas Blessing
 
May God grant you the light of Christmas, which is faith,
The warmth of Christmas, which is love,
The radiance of Christmas, which is purity,
The righteousness of Christmas, which is truth,
The ALL of Christmas, which is
CHRIST!       ~Wilda English
 
"Fill me with joy in your presence"  Psalm 16:11
 
The holiest of all holidays are those
kept by ourselves in silence and apart,
the secret anniversaries of the heart,
when the full tide of feeling overflows.
                                                         ~Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
 
After all, Christmas-living is the best kind of Christmas-giving.
~Henry Van Dyke





Amen

Please visit The Prayer List and pray with us.