Daily Prayer: May 2011

A beautiful prayer...

... found in the book Saintly Solutions to Life's Common Problems, by Fr. Joseph Esper.

God of mercy and truth,
You gave us the ability to speak
so that we might glorify You and
encourage our brothers and sisters.
Help me to overcome my tendency to
speak unkindly about others
and to criticize those around me.
Teach me instead to praise, to encourage, to defend,
and to say only those things I myself would
want to hear from someone else.
Form within me the habit of praying for help
in overcoming those faults I observe and of
speaking respectfully to those with whom I disagree.
Please give me also the courage to accept criticism
from others by responding calmly,
while honestly considering whether their remarks
contain wisdom and truth.
May all my words be pleasing to You
and beneficial to those who hear them. Amen.

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A prayer from Austin Fleming, a pastor in Concord, Maine..

In the quiet sanctuaries of our own hearts,
let each of us name and call on the One whose power over us
is great and gentle, firm and forgiving, holy and healing…

You who created us,
who sustain us,
who call us to live in peace,
hear our prayer this day.

Hear our prayer for all who have died,
whose hearts and hopes are known to you alone…

Hear our prayer for those who put the welfare of others
ahead of their own and give us hearts as generous as theirs…

Hear our prayer for those who gave their lives
in the service of others, and accept the gift of their sacrifice…

Help us to shape and make a world
where we will lay down the arms of war
and turn our swords into ploughshares
for a harvest of justice and peace…

Comfort those who grieve the loss of their loved ones
and let your healing be the hope in our hearts...

Hear our prayer this day
and in your mercy answer us
in the name of all that is holy.

Amen

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A Prayer For Joplin

Dear Lord, I lift up our fellow citizens in Joplin, Missouri. I pray that You will comfort the ones who have lost friends and family when the killer tornado's hit. I also pray that You will cause many people to offer help and support as they start the long difficult rebuilding process.

I ask this in Jesus' name amen.

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prayer of restoration

"He restoreth my soul.... " (Psalm 23:3)

Precious Father, thank you for the act of restoration. It is so amazing to know that when we are broken and wounded, you can put us back together. You can restore that which was lost and we can be found. You can restore our hurts and and we can be whole. You are the one who can enable us to forgive. To show mercy. To bestow grace. You are the restorer of all things and for that we give you praise.

For anyone that is hurting at this time, I ask that you reach out your restorative Hands and pour out a healing balm to their souls. Soothe their spirits. Calm their nerves. Bind up the weary and broken pieces and grant them renewal in a mighty way. Revive them. Restore them. Do a powerful work in their lives that only you can do. We give you all glory and honor and praise that is so due your name. In the mighty, powerful, saving name of Jesus Christ,

Amen

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A prayer for a prisoner and those his actions have harmed.

For more than a decade, I have tried to carry faith behind prison doors by corresponding with some men on death row. One of them, Donald, is to be executed tomorrow. The chances of a stay are, at best, remote.

I ask you to pray for him, that he might be truly repentant and thus receive the forgiveness of our all-compassionate God. I pray for him to know the peace that passes understanding as he makes this final journey. I pray for Donald's family, and I pray especially for the soul of his victim and for those who mourn the loss of lives taken through violence and vengeance.

This is a prayer written by Sr. Helen Prejean:

God of Compassion,
You let your rain fall on the just and the unjust.
Expand and deepen our hearts
so that we may love as You love,
even those among us
who have caused the greatest pain by taking life.
For there is in our land a great cry for vengeance
as we fill up death rows and kill the killers
in the name of justice, in the name of peace.
Jesus, our brother,
you suffered execution at the hands of the state
but you did not let hatred overcome you.
Help us to reach out to victims of violence
so that our enduing love may help them heal.
Holy Spirit of God,
You strengthen us in the struggle for justice.
Help us to work tirelessly
for the abolition of state-sanctioned death
and to renew our society in its very heart
so that violence will be no more. Amen.

Amen

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PRASING GOD IN PRAYER

How different our lives would be if we were to begin each day by saying: I exist for the primary purpose of praising God. That's why I'm alive today!

Ephesians is the book of praise ~ and prayers ~

"Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight." (Eph. 1:3,4)

Dear Lord, we praise you, we love you and we desire to live holy and blameless in your sight. Thank you for choosing us, and blessing us with every spiritual blessing in Christ. May this be our prayer each day! Amen.

Amen

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A Prescription for Loneliness

You may be a Christian and yet feel incredibly lonely. Let me give you a practical pointer for overcoming your loneliness. Quit dwelling on it. Reach out and try to help someone who is lonely.

Why don't you keep a stack of cards and a pen handy to write a little note of encouragement to a shut-in? Get a prayer list and intercede for others. Travel around the world by means of prayer. Pastor Jack Hyles said, "There is no life so empty as a self-centered life, and there is no life so centered as a self-emptied life." As you pour out yourself to others, the Holy Spirit will continually pour Himself into you. ~Adrian Rogers

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such a privilege

Prayer is an amazing privilege. Our God lovingly gives us direct access to His throne 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. We can lift our voices to Him anytime and anyplace.

Psalm 120:1 tells us, "In my distress, I cried unto the Lord,

and He heard me"

We can rest in the blessed assurance of God's promises. When we cry out to Him, He always hears our cry. And He always answers us according to His will.

When we neglect our prayer life, we are guilty of sin and disobedience. We limit our intimacy with Christ and reduce His power in our lives. Prayerlessness hinders the ability for us to know His will. It can leave us weak, defenseless and ineffective.

When we begin our day on our faces before our Lord, we draw close to Him, prepare our hearts to walk in His ways and His will and we experience sweet unparalleled intimacy with the King of kings and Lord of lords. Let us never take this powerful and precious privilege of prayer for granted.

Amen

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Prayer for Flood-filled Days

An excerpt from a prayer by Rabbi Paul J. Kipnes..

Our God and God of our fathers and mothers,
The flood waters came, wreaking havoc upon our cities, our homes,
our rescue workers, our sense of security,
And we turn to You for comfort and support.
Help us to differentiate between floods of destruction
and down-pouring of Your love and comfort.

We know that waters can destroy.
In a world decimated many times before,
having been submerged in waters from the Florida hurricanes,
the Asian tsunami, and each of Biblical proportions,
we remember the destructive abilities of these flood waters.

Recalling now that the world, though filled with Your Glory,
is not equal to Your flawlessness,
we strive desperately, sometimes without success,
to move beyond the impulse to blame You.
Keep us far from apocalyptic thoughts, for we know that You ask us to care for each other, an awesome responsibility.

We also know that we can seek You in the waters.

Amen

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A PRAYER OF CONTENTMENT

"Though earth and man were gone,

And suns and universes cease to be,

And Thou wert left along,

Every existence would exist in Thee.

I am content, O Father, to leave my life in Thy hands,

believing that the very hairs upon my head are numbered by Thee.

I am content to give over my will to Thy control,

believing that I can find in Thee a righteousness that

I could never have won for myself.

I am content to leave all my dear ones to Thy care,

believing that Thy love for them is greater than my own.

I am content to leave in Thy hands the causes of truth and justice,

and the coming of Thy Kingdom in the hearts of men,

believing that my ardour for them is but a feeble shadow of Thy purpose.

To Thee, O God, be glory forever, Amen.

Prayer from A Diary of Private Prayer ~ John Baillie

Amen

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Grown Up Kids

Dear Lord,
It's hard being a mom of grown up kids. I can't keep my eye on them all the time, I can't tell them what to do or who to hang out with, and I don't even get to see them every day. I have to let them go and totally entrust them to Your care. Please help me remember that You love them even more than I ever could and that You are watching them all the time, just as you watched over me when I ventured out on my own so many years ago. Thank you, Lord, for being there, and thank you for that pizza delivery guy who loves his mom enough to beep whenever he drives past my house on his way to drop off an order.
Amen

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Dependence on God

2 Corinthians 4:7 - “But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us.”

If you’re like most people, you don’t realize your dependency on God until you’re burned out from stress — either self-induced or caused by circumstances beyond your control. Why is that? Paul says it’s because we are fragile, but he doesn’t stop there. He says that God made us this way so that His power may be known through us! Maybe someone told you, “Oh, just tie a knot and hang on!” Sometimes God wants us to let go of the rope because it is keeping us tied down to our destructive habits. We are totally dependent on God so that the love of His Son may be made known to the world.

Get a piece of rope and tie a knot in it. Let it sit on your desk this week as a reminder that God is more than just a knot at the end of the rope; He is the Savior of the World! ~Adrian Rogers

Amen.

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send the rain

"... He will come to us as the showers, as the spring rains that water the earth"

(Hosea 6:3b)

Precious Father, we come before you with hearts and spirits in need of a downpour. Come to us like the cleansing and refreshing rain. Saturate our spirits with the overflow of your goodness and your mercy. Fill our parched and dry souls with an abundance of living water that will forever quench our thirst. Draw us near. Continue to beckon us to seek you in all that we do. Renew our awe and wonder of who You are. As we lift our faces toward heaven, open the floodgates and drench us in your love. May we glory in the rain the brings restoration to our hearts and souls.

Amen

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Battle Prayer

Grant that I may pray like I am going into battle, for I am. Amen

This short prayer from Bob Hostetler so reminds me of how our battle is not physical but spiritual; not temporal but eternal; not won by the flesh but by the Spirit; not fought standing but on our knees.

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A PRAYER FOR MOTHERS

Gracious God,

We thank you for adopting us into your family through the miracle of your grace, and for calling us to be brothers and sisters to each other.

Today, loving God, we pray for our mothers:

• who cared for us when we were helpless

who comforted us when we were hurt
whose love and care we often took for granted.

Today we pray for:

• those who are grieving the loss of their mother,
• those who never knew their biological mother, and now yearn for her
• those who have experienced the wonder of an adopted mother's love
• the families separated by war or conflict.
• Lord, give them special blessings.

Keep us united with you and with each other, so that we can be and become all that we are meant to be. Amen.

picture and prayer from google.com
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The Purpose of Prayer

One of the chief purposes of prayer is its impact on our own hearts and lives as God uses it to conform us to His will and transform us into His character. It’s a place of fellowship and intimacy, of growth and transformation, of learning His will as one asks, seeks, and knocks at the door of God’s heart, etc.

Dear Lord, I pray that You will transform my life and make me more like your Son.

In His Name I pray amen.

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national day of prayer

I will say of the Lord, He is my refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust.

A mighty fortress is our God.

On Thursday, May 5, millions of Americans will come together, in towns and cities. Neighbors will come together to pray. To the Lord our God.

If you would like to spend an hour with people in your community, you can find out where at http://nationaldayofprayer.org/

Amen

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to bow down and worship

"O come let us worship and bow down; let us

kneel before the LORD our maker"

Psalm 95:6

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Prayer is:

Praising and petitioning to our God

Repenting of our sins

Asking for His sweet mercy and grace to cover us

Yearning for a deeper, more intimate relationship with Him

Expecting a mighty move of the Holy Spirit in our lives

Rejoicing with a thankful heart for His abundant goodness

Amen

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A prayer of Saint Francis de Sales

My God, I give you this day.

I offer You, now, all of the good

that I shall do, and I promise to accept,

for love of You,

all of the difficulty that I shall meet.

Help me to conduct myself during this day

in a manner pleasing to you.

Amen

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Royal Prayer

A prayer written by Prince William and Catherine Middleton and shared at their wedding:

God our Father, we thank you for our families; for the love that we share and for the joy of our marriage. In the busyness of each day keep our eyes fixed on what is real and important in life and help us to be generous with our time and love and energy. Strengthened by our union help us to serve and comfort those who suffer. We ask this in the Spirit of Jesus Christ. Amen.

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You Are Worth Every Drop....

John 12:3 "Then Mary took about a pint of pure nard, an expensive perfume; she poured it on Jesus' feet and wiped his feet with her hair. And the house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume."

Oh Lord, what extravagance ~ a perfume so expensive it took a year of labor to purchase one small pint. A luxury such as this not delicately daubed upon You, but lavishly poured out, dripping onto the floor, filling the house with its precious fragrance. Oh, that my worship would be so unreserved! Oh, that I would offer to You my very best without limit or hesitation! You are worth it. Lord, You are worth every drop. I love you ~ Amen.

Picture from googleimages.com

Amen

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