Daily Prayer: April 2015

A Prayer for Victims of the Earthquake in Nepal

We mourn the death and destruction in Nepal, O Lord,
And we pray for those who died in this recent disaster.
May their souls rest in peace.
May their families be comforted.

We pray for the living survivors.
Be with them, Lord, in this traumatic time.
May they experience Your healing,
In their spirits as well as their bodies.

We pray for the communities affected.
May they come together in solidarity
To rebuild and to affirm new life
Amid the ancient stones.

Amen

-adapted from a prayer by Jane Deren [educationforjustice.org]

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When Life Is Dreary

There are sometimes when life just seems dreary. Even for the Christian. Sometimes this is almost worse than a crisis. When the crisis comes we rush around trying to fix it and often do not have time to think too much. But when things are dreary, we can sit around and mope and allow ourselves to be pulled down into a funk.

Father,

Be there for us when the world seems dreary. Help us to look to You and trust in You in those times and all times. Help us to remember the good things you have done for us and your promises. Pull us out of our dreary mood. And strengthen us to cling to You through it.

In Jesus' Name,
Amen

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Prayer for Nepal

Father, we lift up the people in Nepal and surrounding areas. Comfort those who have lost loved ones. Bring healing to those who are injured. Provide food and shelter for those in need. Help those who are serving in your name, and reveal yourself through them. Amen

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SERVING AND BEING SERVED

Dear Lord, You have called us both to serve and be served. So let us serve with humility and joy, and allow ourselves to be served with a spirit of gentleness and gratitude.

Bring wholeness and dignity to all who live in our society. When we are called on to serve, give us a vision that it is You we serve; and when we are called on to receive, grant us an awareness that through Your servants, You, Lord Jesus Christ, are serving us.
I love You. Amen

Image from googleimages.com
Amen

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PERSECUTED

Father, as I pray for those believers who share a common faith in Christ but not a common freedom in the world I ask for your grace, mercy and love to comfort them and sustain them through the agonizing ordeal of persecution and death for your Name. I ask Father that you will remind them that: “….it is no shame to suffer for being a Christian. Praise God for the privilege of being called by his name!” 1 Peter 4:16 (NLT)

And I pray Father that they will remember the glorious future that awaits them and the gratitude and praise you will bestow on them for their faithful endurance in the hour of trial. May they recall the encouraging words of the Apostle Peter: “So be truly glad. There is wonderful joy ahead, even though you have to endure many trials for a little while. ⁷ These trials will show that your faith is genuine. It is being tested as fire tests and purifies gold—though your faith is far more precious than mere gold. So when your faith remains strong through many trials, it will bring you much praise and glory and honor on the day when Jesus Christ is revealed to the whole world.” 1 Peter 1:6-7 (NLT)

So Father I pray you will strengthen their soul, sustain their faith and encourage their hearts as they go through the fiery trials of being faithful followers of Christ, even unto death.

Amen

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Nothing that I asked for but everything I hoped for.

I asked God for strength that I might achieve.
I was made weak that I might learn humbly to obey.

I asked for health that I might do greater things.
I was given infirmity that I might do better things.

I asked for riches that I might be happy.
I was given poverty that I might be wise.

I asked for power that I might have the praise of men.
I was given weakness that I might feel the need of God.

I asked for all things that I might enjoy life.
I was given life that I might enjoy all things.

I got nothing that I asked for, but everything I hoped for.
Almost despite myself, my unspoken prayers were answered.

I am, among all men, most richly blessed.

Amen

... Admiral Chester Nimitz

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babbling or prayer

"My soul thirsts for God, for the living God"

Psalm 42:2

~~~~~~~~~

Prayer gets its intensity by the depth and strength of our spiritual desire. Prayer is not a performance. Prayer is not vain babbling.

E.M. Bounds says, "The urgency of our desire holds us to the thing desired with sustained courage."

Prayer stays. Prayer pleads. Prayer persists. It refuses to let go until the blessing has come...

Father God, give us intense longing to approach your Throne of Grace. Fill us with a strong desire to whisper sweet petitions from the depth of our hearts to your Holy ears. Guide us in our prayers that they be more than vain babbling but that they be earnest, heartfelt and born out of a deep hunger for your touch. We give you praise and honor and all glory.

Amen

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For Those Who Suffer for the Cause of Christ

Father,

I pray for those around the world who suffer for the name of Christ. I pray that You might be near them. Give them peace and strengthen them to stand firm in their faith. Give strength and comfort to their families. I pray that persecution may cease. I pray that through it many may come to embrace the truth of Christ. And I pray that we who live in safer places not become complacent or forgetful, but hold up those who are suffering in our prayers.

In Jesus' Name,
Amen

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Prayer for the Persecuted Church

Father, bless those who are being persecuted throughout the world. Strengthen their faith and give them the grace to show your love to their enemies. May their witness bring many to faith. Amen

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THE ROSE OF SHARON

"I am a rose of Sharon, a lily of the valleys." Song of Songs 2:1

Oh Lord, my strength amounts to nothing. I am like a tiny flower planted on the side of a mountain, facing into treacherous winds. But Your love fills me with the power to live as You did: to bloom like a rose among the thorns of human callousness, to shed petals of compassion though they may be crushed beneath the sole of human betrayal. Your love draws my roots down deep into the soil of Who You are so that I can blossom with new life that is not my own but Yours. I love You. Amen.

Photo from our complex Villa Ramona
Prayer from Maranatha Worship Bible

Amen

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BEAUTIFUL FEET

Isaiah 52:7 "How beautiful on the mountains are the feet of those
who bring good news; who proclaim peace, who bring good tidings, who proclaim salvation."

Dear Lord, tive me feet that run swiftly and steadily with the Good News of the Gospel. May Your message of salvation be the central focus of my life. May it's peace and goodness accompany me as naturally as my soul accompanies my body. Father, I want to be a courier of Your grace and a fountain of Your salvation. I love You. Amen.

image if Mt. Shasta taken on our trip to Oregon
Maranatha Worship Bible Prayer.

Amen

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HELP

Psalm 121:2 (NLT)
My help comes from the LORD, who made heaven and earth!

Father, this verse tells me that the extent of help is determined by the source of the help. This enables me to realize that infinite resources are available through the LORD with whom all things are possible. Consequently Father there is no problem to complicated, no need to great and no question to difficult but that you have the ability and resources to handle each one. What a comfort this is when life’s road seems to take the wrong direction.

Father, thank you for your help that intervenes on a daily basis and we can say with the Psalmist: ”God is our refuge and strength, always ready to help in times of trouble.” Psalm 46:1 (NLT)

Amen

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Difficult things...

Oswald Chambers says,

"Thank God He gives us difficult things to do!"

Our prayer should be for God to give us those things to do that are hard. Those things that are difficult in our eyes. It is during those times that we will experience spiritual growth. It is during those times that God will stretch us and use us. It is during those times our walk becomes perfected to match our talk. So, ask God to give you more than you think you are capable of because He is able. Especially during the difficult things!

"If God is for us, who can be against us?"

(Romans 8:31) KJV

Amen

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Our Father

Father, thank you that you are a loving Father whose heart is always good toward us. Thank you that we can have confidence that you know the end from the beginning and you are in control of all things. We know that you are working everything for our good and will bring our redemption to its final fulfillment. Amen

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DAILY IS THE KEY

Jesus did not say, "Come to me and get it over with." He said, "If any man would come after me, let him take up his cross daily and follow me." Daily is the key word. Our commitment to Christ, however genuine and whole-hearted it may be today, must be renewed tomorrow ... and the day after that ...and the day after that ... until the path comes at last to the river. ~Louis Cassels 1922-1974)

Dear Lord, daily living for you is sometimes difficult with so many things in life trying to crowd you out. I pray that I might remember the key to walking with You is DAILY. Lord, help me to carve out time every day to fellowship with you, read your word and share my deepest secrets. Give me the daily strength to bear my cross and follow in Your footsteps. I love You. Amen.
Amen

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WATER

Psalm 42:1-2 (NLT)
¹ As the deer longs for streams of water, so I long for you, O God. ²I thirst for God, the living God.

Father, we in California are in dire and desperate need of water! Four years of drought have brought devastating conditions which only water can reverse. Yet, as much as we need water for the soil, we have a much greater need of water for the soul. I pray that our physical needs for water will turn our hearts to You to seek the only water that can and will satisfy our souls. May we seriously consider what Jesus said to the woman at the well: “If you only knew the gift God has for you and who you are speaking to, you would ask me, and I would give you living water.” John 4:10 (NLT)

Father may we pray with the Psalmist who cried out: ”O God, you are my God; I earnestly search for you. My soul thirsts for you; my whole body longs for you in this parched and weary land where there is no water.” Psalm 63:1 (NLT)

Amen

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Light on the Path

Dear Lord,
I am in the valley of decision. I need your strength and wisdom to make the right choice. I pray for Your light to shine on the right path, for the way to be clear so that I would know which direction to travel. I thank you for Your leading up to this point and trust that You will help me to know without a doubt what is Your will.
Thank you, Jesus for your leading.
Amen

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Christ is Risen Indeed

Christ is Risen: The world below lies desolate

Christ is Risen: The spirits of evil are fallen

Christ is Risen: The angels of God are rejoicing

Christ is Risen: The tombs of the dead are empty

Christ is Risen indeed from the dead, the first of the sleepers,

Glory and power are his forever and ever

Amen.

St. Hippolytus of Rome (AD 190-236)

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What does prayer do?

"I sought the LORD, and He heard me, and delivered me from all my fears." (Psalm 34:4)

What does prayer do?

It brings our spirit into perfect submission to the will of God.
It delivers us from rebellious hearts or critical spirits.
It prepares our hearts to be teachable under God's Authority.
It allows God to freely work with us and in us.
It lifts our burdens.
It calms our souls.

Prayer sanctifies us. It carries us closer to the throne of God. It draws us near to His heart in relationship.

Prayer is our lifeline. We will never cry out that our God doesn't hear us and respond.

Thank you, LORD, for hearing our cries. Thank you for caring about even the smallest detail about us. Thank you for loving us and responding to our petition. Help us to see the importance of prayer in our lives and never take for granted our ability to commune with you at any time, day or night.

Amen

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Resurrection Life

Do you look like someone who has been raised up with Christ? Do I? We are told that those who put their faith in Christ are raised up to newness of life. The one thing that is clear to me is that this is not something we work up. This is something we get from God. So in the wake of Easter and the resurrection, I would like to ask for more of the manifestation of that life in us.

Father,

Give us that power of resurrected life. Work in us to change us. Help us to rely on You and Your power, rather than our feeble abilities. Help us to remember that all power to follow You comes from Your Son.

In Jesus' Name,
Amen

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Easter Monday

Father, we thank you for the Resurrection. Because Christ is raised we know that new creation has begun and that we also will be raised. Help us to walk through our days as Easter people who are living in the power of your Spirit. Amen

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I AM THE RESURRECTION AND THE LIFE

My risen King ~ Resurrection!! The other side of the cross. The most astounding event in the history of the universe. It changed everything forever. It became the crossroads of life and death for us all, our place of eternal decision. Because You rose from the dead, Jesus, and because You live now, I know that the promise of redemption and of eternal life is true, You are the Son of God. You are Messiah, Redeemer, King ~~and my Lord forever. I love You. Amen.

Lord , I lift Your name on high;

Lord, I love to sing Your praises.

I'm so glad You're in my life;

I'm so glad You came to save us.

You came from heaven to earth

To show the way,

From the earth to the cross

My debt to pay;

From the cross to the grave,

From the grave to the sky:

Lord I lift Your name on high.

Image from googleimages.com
Amen

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It Was A Silent Sabbath

Father as I ponder the Sabbath Day between Good Friday and Resurrection Sunday here’s what comes to my mind.

The mob clambering for Jesus death had dispersed to their homes and were now silent. The Roman Soldiers who had taunted and tortured Jesus had returned to their barracks and were now silent. The Sanhedrin Court where Jesus was given a mock trial was now silent. Pilate the Roman Governor who had futilely attempted to release Jesus was now in deep silent thought as he considered the uncertainty of his own future. The Apostles scattered by the fear and possibility of their own death were now silent behind closed doors. Joseph and Nicodemus having buried Jesus body now in silent grief considered their great loss. Heaven itself was silent on that sacred Sabbath, a silence like no other.

But soon this foreboding silence was to be shattered: “After the Sabbath, at dawn on the first day of the week, ²There was a violent earthquake, for an angel of the Lord came down from heaven and, going to the tomb, rolled back the stone….. Matthew 28:1-2 (NIV)

Father, the sound of the rolling, rumbling earthquake shattered the silence of that Sabbath, shook the universe and the Angel gave a message that will never be silenced: “He is risen from the dead!” Luke 24:6 (NLT)

Yes, Father, it was a silent Sabbath, but not for long!

Amen

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Prayer is a longing

"Prayer is not asking.

It is a longing of the soul.

It is daily admission of one's

weakness. It is better in prayer to

have a heart without words

than words without a heart."

(Mahatma Gandhi)

Amen

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