Daily Prayer: January 2014

Words and Thoughts

Psalm 19:14 (NLT)
May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing to you, O LORD, my rock and my redeemer.

Ephesians 4:29 (NLT)
……. Let everything you say be good and helpful, so that your words will be an encouragement to those who hear them.

Philippians 4:8 (NLT)
…. Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise.

Father, though these Scriptures on words and thoughts from Psalms 19:20 and Eph. 4:29 & Phil. 4:8 were written centuries apart yet, they are near neighbors in the community of truth. They are a complement, and commentary on each other and a consistency of balance between external expression and internal contemplation. They are a corollary of values that demonstrate spiritual health that pleases You and benefits others.

Father I know that such words from our mouths and thoughts in our hearts will bring pleasure to You and be a source of encouragement and help to those we encounter. What pleases You and helps others should certainly motivate us in word and thought. So, may these verses be true of us today.

Amen

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Lift Me Up

Why is it, Lord, that I so quickly
see the problem,
call to mind the hurt,
rehearse the pain,
dwell on my mistakes,
fret and stew in worry
and feed upon my fear?

Why is it, Lord, that I'm so slow
to see your grace,
treasure peaceful moments,
hold on to every healing,
listen for your whispered word,
lean upon your strength,
and place my troubled heart
in your open, loving hands?

Lift me up, O Lord,
out of all that keeps me down...

Open wide my eyes to see
the beauty of your face...

Lift my hands and heart
to you in prayer...

Open up my ears
to your Spirit's voice within me...

Touch my mind and heart
where I'm most in need of healing...

Remind me every day of my blessings,
old and new...

Give me strength to live
one day,
one hour,
one minute at a time...

Lift me up, O Lord,
out of all that keeps me down
and let my spirit find its joy
in you and in your love...

Amen

... from A Concord Pastor Comments

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Father, we pray for the grace to love our neighbor as Jesus has loved us. We pray for strength to love those that are unlovely, those that do not love us back, our enemies. Let the love that took our Savior to the cross flow out of us so that the world will see your truth, beauty, and goodness. Amen

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Praying Scripture is good. First, it expresses the desire of my heart, and second, if it's God's Word I know my prayer will be heard. These verses in Psalms express my heart today.

Psalm 119:57-59 "You are my portion, O Lord; I have promised to obey your words. I have sought your face with all my heart; be gracious to me according to your promise. I have considered my ways and have turned my steps to your statues." I love You. Amen"

Amen

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Words of Life

Romans 7:22 (NLT)
I love God’s law with all my heart.

Father, how I love your Law: the principles, the promises and the practical truths that are so effective for daily living. They nourish my soul, enlighten my mind and stimulate my spirit to embrace and practice the values that make life both meaningful and fulfilling.

Thank you that each day I have the privilege of pursuing the treasures of wisdom and grace in Your Word. Thank You for the joy, peace, conviction and counsel that come from such search and discovery. Father, I so agree with the observation of the Psalmist who wrote:

Psalm 19:7-8 (NLT)

⁷The instructions of the LORD are perfect, reviving the soul. The decrees of the LORD are trustworthy, making wise the simple. ⁸The commandments of the LORD are right, bringing joy to the heart. The commands of the LORD are clear, giving insight for living.

Thank you Father for your Law, words of life.

Amen

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Grace for the Answer

Dear Lord,
You are answering prayers in ways that are hard. I pray, dear Father, for grace to face the days ahead when the future appears dismal and discouraging. Help us to remember that there is always hope in Christ and that You are always near, especially when the storm is raging. I ask strength and tenderness for my son. I pray his broken heart leads him to true repentance. I pray for my "favorite" daughter in law (aren't they all?), that you would draw her close to You and change the desires of her heart. I pray healing for the wounds of her soul, for forgiveness in her heart, and courage to face the future. And I pray for my little grandchildren as they witness the crumbling of their home. I pray You would protect them from the wiles of the devil, that You would put peace into their little hearts, and that they would come to know You in an intimate way. And lastly, I pray that You would guard the words on our tongues and in our hearts that those who surround this hurting family would speak restoration to this family.
Amen

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Stir the Embers of my Heart

As I stir the embers of my daily fire, I ask you, living God, to stir the embers of my heart into a flame of love for you, my family, my neighbor, and my enemy. Amen.

...an ancient Celtic prayer, used each morning as the embers in the household hearth were stirred (with a tip of the hat to Bob Hostetler)

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Open thy mouth wide!

"I am the LORD thy God,

which brought thee out of the land of Egypt;

open thy mouth wide,

and I will fill it'

(Psalm 81:10)

I absolutely love this verse! Even though God was talking to the Israelites in this passage of scripture, this promise holds true of all believers today! God is reminding them that He is the One who brought them out of bondage. He is the One who delivered them time and time again. And He is telling them that He is the One that can fill them to the full with good things!

Oh, friends, may this be our prayer today! If we would only look up and realize that the only good thing in our lives is of God! He is the One who fulfills us and completes us. If we desire any good thing in this life, our God is the One who will deliver it to us! If we would only open our mouths wide and seek Him with all that we have and all that we are, He will fill them to overflowing!

Get on your face before Him and cry out to Him. Tell Him the deepest feelings in your heart. Confess. Repent. Lay it all out before Him and begin seeking a deeper relationship with the One who Created you and the One who made a way of Salvation for you. Open your mouth wide and He WILL fill it!

Amen

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Teach my heart this day ...

"O Lord my God, teach my heart this day
where and how to see you,
where and how to find you.
You have made me and remade me,
and you have bestowed on me all the good things I possess,
and still I do not know you.
I have not yet done that for which I was made.
Teach me to seek you,
for I cannot seek you unless you teach me,
or find you unless you show yourself to me.
Let me seek you in my desire, let me desire you in my seeking.
Let me find you by loving you, let me love you when I find you."
Amen

... a prayer of Anselm, Italian monk (1034-1109)

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2 Corinthians 4:16-18 "Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal."

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 . . .

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 our catching force,

the sympathetic influence of what we do,

the evident fullness of the love our hearts bear to You.

Amen

~~Mother Teresa of Calcutta (1910-1997)

Amen

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Unsearchable

Genesis 42:36 (NIV)
Their father Jacob said to them, "You have deprived me of my children. Joseph is no more and Simeon is no more, and now you want to take Benjamin. Everything is against me!"

Father I can hardly imagine a more depressing, debilitating, and discouraging statement than that uttered by Jacob in this agonizing and hopeless response to his sons: “Everything is against me!"

And yet Father, nothing could be further from the truth, which goes to show that our perceptions of reality though convincing to us are not conclusive to you. Father you remind us: “My thoughts are nothing like your thoughts,” says the LORD. “And my ways are far beyond anything you could imagine.

Isaiah 55:8 (NLT)

So Father what Jacob saw as opposition You saw as opportunity. What he felt was hopeless You knew was hopeful. What he determined to be hindrance You determined to be help. What he considered as the potential end of his family

You planned for the nurture of a nation.

Father we marvel at the mystery and majesty of Your ways and we join in praise of You with the Apostle Paul: “Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable his judgments, and his paths beyond tracing out! Romans 11:33 (NIV)

Amen

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Father, be with those who are hurting. Bind up their wounds and bring healing. Hold them in your arms and show them your great love. Be all that they need and let them know that you are their life. Encourage them and give them grace. Amen.

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My Prayer Closet

Isaiah 12:4-6 "Give thanks to the Lord, call on his name,
make known among the nations what he has done,
and proclaim that his name is exalted.
Sing to the Lord, for he has done glorious things;
let this be known to all the world.
Shout aloud and sing for joy, people of Zion,
for great is the Holy One of Israel among you"

Let us pray : My glorious God and King!
Today I will lay down my pride and inhibitions.
I will shout aloud and sing for joy.
My prayer closet will become a noisy
Holy place of rejoicing. Never mind what
the neighbors think, I will let the nations
hear what great things You have done.
I love You, Amen.

Amen

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Good

Micah 6:8 (ESV)
He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the LORD require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?

Father you have clearly told us how to experience a good life and how that life is to be lived. You give us three action steps: do justice, love kindness and walk humbly.

Father, help us to do justice by doing what is right in your eyes. To love kindness by engaging in kind deeds for the benefit of others in our daily living. To walk humbly with You, not with inflated self-value or demeaning self-criticism, but with gratitude for all You created us to be and enable us to do.

Father help us to remember “….we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.” Ephesians 2:10 (NLT)

Amen

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Amen

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Prayer for a New Year

Father, as we enter into a new year, we pray that your blessing would be on us and those we love. We pray that you would make us more aware of your grace and love to us. Please provide what we need and may your kingdom come and your will be done in and through us as it is in heaven. Let your living water fill us and flow out of us, and let others see Jesus when they see us. Amen

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Friday began a 24 hour prayer vigil at our Church. They had one hour time slots for the congregation to fill in for prayer around the clock. I had from 2 to 4 pm and it was such a blessing. I was alone in the Sanctuary, with my prayer books and journals. This stained glass window at the front of the room gave a beautiful but "hush" to the our House of Worship.

Dear Lord, thank you for the opportunity to spend some time today in the quiet of your house, just You and me and the prayers coming from my heart and off my lips. Praying for each family in the church. Praying for all my family members. Praying for the requests of some dear friends. Jesus, I know you heard each word, and when I didn't know what to pray you filled in the words and you will accomplish Your will in each of those requests. Thanks you for a Day of Prayer. It was good to be in the House of the Lord today. I love you Jesus. Amen.

Amen

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WIN

1 Corinthians 9:24 (NLT)
Don’t you realize that in a race everyone runs, but only one person gets the prize? So run to win!

Father, I love that word, win, it never gives in to frustrating weariness, aimless hopelessness or helpless self-pity. It is refreshing, motivating, and stimulates the mind, body and soul. It is the goal of effort, the culmination of achievement and the crown of victory. It is the sweet fragrance of success and the joy of a purpose fulfilled. It is the goal, the sum and the apex of living.

Father, you define the meaning and the measurement of win. When it happens, how it happens and why it happens. And Father the focus of what it means to win is found in loving you and being faithful to your will. Nothing pleases you more or elicits greater praise than loving faithfulness. “Well done!’ the king exclaimed. ‘You are a good servant. You have been faithful………..” Luke 19:17 (NLT)

And you remind us Father how this is done in Proverbs 3:3-4 (NIV) “Let love and faithfulness never leave you; bind them around your neck, write them on the tablet of your heart.Then you will win………….”

Father I long for all of us to be able to say with the Apostle Paul: “….. I have finished the race, and I have remained faithful.”

2 Timothy 4:7 (NLT)

That means we WIN!!!

Amen

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God's Work

Dear Father,
Please forgive my unbelieving heart. When will I learn that nothing is impossible for You? You are working, You are answering prayers, You are beginning the healing process. It will be long and painful, I know this, but things didn't get this way overnight either. I thank You, Lord, for my son's broken heart. I thank You for the pain and sorrow that are leading him back to You. I am his mom and this is a hard thing to watch. I so want to take his pain away and make everything right again, but doing that (although I know it is impossible) would not cause him to learn the hard lessons of life. Instead of asking for the pain to go away, I ask for true repentance, for the slow and gradual forgiveness of those he has wounded deeply, and for more and more wisdom for his father and I as we seek to be a place of refuge and source of unconditional love for him.
Thank you, Lord, for the hugs these past few days, the kind I've missed from him these past two years. I don't know how You are going to work things out, and I don't need to know, so please help me to trust that though the carpet has been ripped out from under him, You have a plan.
Amen

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For the Year Ahead

Thank you Lord for giving me
The brand new year ahead
Help me live the way I should
As each new day I tread.

Give me gentle wisdom
That I might help a friend
Give me strength and courage
So a shoulder I might lend.

The year ahead is empty
Help me fill it with good things
Each new day filled with joy
And the happiness it brings.

Please give the leaders of our world
A courage born of peace
That they might lead us gently
And all the fighting cease.

Please give to all upon this earth
A heart that's filled with love
A gentle happy way to live
With Your blessings from above.

Amen

... a prayer by Charlotte Anselmo

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Do a new thing!

"Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is

a new creation; old things have passed

away, and look, new things have come."

(2 Corinthians 5:17)

New things are in store for 2014! Allow Christ to change your mind set. To change your attitude. To change the direction of your life. Let Him do a new thing deep inside your being that will revive the JOY of your salvation! Strive for Holiness in all things. Strive for a deeper walk with the LORD. Strive for the courage to share the gospel of Jesus Christ everywhere you go with everyone you come in contact with!

He is worthy!!

Happy New Year!

Amen

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