Daily Prayer: April 2017

MANY ARE THE PLANS

Proverbs 19:21 "Many are the plans in a mans heart, but it is the Lord's purpose that prevails."

Sovereign Lord, as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are Your ways higher than our ways and Your thoughts than our thoughts. So I surrender my will to Your will and I pray that only Your purposes will be accomplished in my life." ~~~Not my will but yours be done.

Amen

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EMERGENCY

Father, there are those moments in life when we cry out to You…… “EMERGENCY”. In those horrible moments when fear grips our frail hearts, tears blind our eyes and shock numbs our minds. It is that dreaded moment when the outcome is uncertain and waiting for an answer seems to linger in one eternal breath.

Father it is in this moment we cry out “EMERGENCY”. And with the Psalmist we implore: “Listen to my prayer, O God. Do not ignore my cry for help! ² Please listen and answer me, for I am overwhelmed by my troubles.” Psalm 55:1-2 (NLT)

Being an ever faithful Father you hear, answer and provide the grace, courage and strength to sustain us in and through the crisis. Our emergency never takes You by surprise, our weakness never inhibits Your power and our uncertainty never diminishes Your faithfulness.

Thank You Father that our times are in Your hands and that You are more than adequate for and in every emergency. In the name of Jesus who is our comfort.

Amen

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Faithful and True

May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. He will bring to pass all that He has promised, for He is faithful. Has He not said and will He not perform? We live in hope of eternal life, which God, who cannot lie, promised before the world began; and Jesus Himself said, "Heaven and earth shall pass away: but my words shall not pass away."

"Know therefore that the LORD your God is God; he is the faithful God, keeping his covenant of love to a thousand generations of those who love him and keep his commandments ... The LORD, the LORD, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness ... He is the Maker of heaven and earth, the sea, and everything in them--he remains faithful forever. ... His mercies are new every morning; great is His faithfulness. ... God is faithful, who has called you into fellowship with His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. ... The one who calls you is faithful, and He will do it ... the Lord is faithful, and he will strengthen you and protect you from the evil one. ... if we are faithless, he remains faithful, for he cannot disown himself. ... Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful."

Jesus is the only constant. He never changes and is the same yesterday, today and forever. We can rely on Him to take care of us until the day of His return. Over and over we are reminded of our God's faithfulness. You are the One who is FAITHFUL AND TRUE! May the knowledge and remembrance of that bring us Your peace today.

My heart rejoices when I read the promise

'There is a place I am preparing for you.'

I know someday I'll see my Lord face to face,

'Cause my Redeemer is faithful and true.

My Redeemer is faithful and true.

Everything He has said He will do,

And every morning His mercies are new.

My Redeemer is faithful and true. ~Steven Curtis Chapman

Prayers for Comfort and Protection

Comforter and Advocate, we mourn the many injustices that we see in the world today. We know these grieve your heart, and we wonder how long it will be before your justice and your reign is established on earth.

Give us grace to persevere, patience to trust, and courage to keep working with you to see your kingdom come.

We lift up our migrant brothers and sisters, Lord, asking that you would protect them and watch over them, wherever they may be.

We pray that they may be welcomed into loving communities, and find homes and families in the places where you have led them. Where we are able, may we also extend a welcome, just as you extended your welcome to us.

We pray for those who are homeless and hungry this season.

We pray that we would have eyes to see and ears to hear where our neighbors are are in need; and that we would be bold and generous in meeting those needs

God, may we be bearers and sharers of your joy in the world, today and this season.

In Jesus name, amen.

... from the Sojourner's blog

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A refuge

Amen

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A SERVANT'S HEART

I John 4:19-21 "We love because he first loved us. If anyone says, "I love God" yet hates his brother, he is a liar. For anyone who does not love his brother, whom he has seen, cannot love God, whom he has not seen. And he has given us this command: Whoever loves God, must also love his brother."

Lord, so many times it's so easy to love You. You are holy. You are loving. You are just. But loving others can be hard, especially when they are unloving or unkind. But your command is straight forward...If we say we love YOU, then it has to be demonstrated to those around us. Only YOU working through us can accomplish that task. I pray today, that you will so fill my life, that the overflow will touch anyone who comes in my path. I love you Father, and want to be Your faithful servant. Amen.

Once you say the yes of faith to Jesus

and accept his blueprint for the fullness of life,

the whole world can no longer revolve around you,

your needs, your gratifications:

you will have to revolve around the world,

seeking to bandage its wounds,

loving dead men into life,

finding the lost,

wanting the unwanted,

and leaving far behind all the selfish,

parasitical concerns which drain

our time and energies.

~~John Powell (1927-)

Amen

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Prayer written by Dietrich Bonhoeffer while in prison in 1943

Hebrews 13:3 (NLT) Remember those in prison, as if you were there yourself. Remember also those being mistreated, as if you felt their pain in your own bodies.

“O God
Early in the morning do I cry unto thee
Help me to pray
And to think only of thee
I cannot pray alone
In me there is darkness
But with thee there is light
I am lonely, but thou leavest not
I am feeble in heart, but thou leavest me not
I am restless, but with thee there is peace
In me there is bitterness, but with thee there is patience
Thy ways are past understanding,
But thou knowest the way for me.”

Father, as we come before the Throne of Grace, we thank you that in our darkness you give light. In our despair you give hope. In our loneliness you give comfort. In our fear you give assurance. In all the aspects of life you give us Yourself.

Thank you Father, in Jesus name.

Amen

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Setting our Sights

"To pray is to set your compass on heaven and stay on track through the trackless wastes of the world." ~unknown

“Since you have been raised to new life with Christ, set your sights on the realities of heaven, where Christ sits in the place of honor at God’s right hand. Think about the things of heaven, not the things of earth.” Colossians‬ ‭3:1-2‬ ‭NLT‬‬

Father,

As we ponder the great story of Your grace and love which has been revealed to us through Your Son, our hearts are filled with thanksgiving. Thank You that the veil which separated us from You has been torn and we can approach the throne of mercy in our time of need. We draw near to You and thank You for hearing our prayers confident that You will supply the needs lifted up to You in accordance with Your will. You are our hope and it is You who is working in each of us, giving us the desire to obey and the power to do what pleases You. And You haven't finished Your good work in us! You are the one who began this work and You are the one who will complete it until the day that Jesus returns. Until then, we want to keep on growing in knowledge and understanding. We set our sights on You for guidance asking You to strengthen our hearts with Your grace to walk with You and stay on track.

Amen

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Prayer In Times of Uncertainty

Dear Lord,

You are my Shepherd, you watch over me and tend to the needs of my heart.

Help me to trust your guidance in this time of uncertainty.

It is so hard to look ahead and not see a clear vision for my future.

Please help my heart to trust in your timing.

Let my mind seek your will.

Fill my soul with peace knowing that you are the one true God.

You are,“…my refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust” (Psalm 91:2, NIV).

Thank you for watching over me and all my loved ones. In your name I pray, Amen.

... a prayer from my niece Maria

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He intercedes

"In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express." (Romans 8:26)

Our requests flow from our lips to the mighty ears of God who hears and cares and responds to our cries.

But what about those times when we just don't know how to pray? What about those times when we don't even know what to pray for? Those times when things are so rough and we are so defeated in our spiritual lives that we just can't even begin to voice our petition to God.

This Scripture gives us a sweet assurance that He knows. Even when we don't have a clue, the precious Sprit of God intercedes for us. He becomes our voice. He utters what we can't.

What an amazing picture of the unbounding love that our God has for us. That even in our weakness, He is strong. Even in our inabilities, He is able. Even when we can't, He can....

Amen

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Death of death

Father,

I thank You for this time of year, in which we celebrate the death of death. I thank You even more that You accomplished this. I thank You that sin and death and hell are conquered foes. Help us to always remember that this is not our work, but Your work, and we simply enter in on the benefits. Help us, who are Your people, to live as those who are forgiven, as those who have hope, as those who are victors, not just at one time of year, but all year round.

In Jesus' Name,
Amen

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Easter Prayer

O God, who made this most holy night to shine with the glory of the Lord’s resurrection: Stir up in your Church that Spirit of adoption which is given to us in Baptism, that we, being renewed both in body and mind, may worship you in sincerity and truth; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.
From Scot McKnight
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HE IS NOT HERE !

Luke 24:5-8 "In their fright the women bowed down with their faces to the ground, but the men said to them, "Why do you look for the living among the dead? HE IS NOT HERE; HE HAS RISEN! Remember how he told you when he was still with you in Galilee. "The Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, be crucified and on the third day be raised again" ~~~Then they remembered his words."

All praise to You, Jesus Christ, risen Savior. You triumphed over death and hell. You are the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords. Forgiveness and salvation are Yours. You have redeemed us and made us holy in the sight of God. Grace and peace flow from You. In You and through You we find strength and blessing and abundant life. Let all of heaven and earth declare Your praise as the RISEN SON OF GOD, THE SAVIOR OF THE WORLD! We love you, Amen.

Amen

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Twilight Zone

1 Corinthians 15:19 (NLT)
And if our hope in Christ is only for this life, we are more to be pitied than anyone in the world.

Father, on Saturday, the disciples lingered between the gloom of Friday’s hopeless anguish and Sunday’s glorious resurrection joy. For them it must have been an ambiguous twilight zone. Jesus had suffered the cruel death of crucifixion. His body lay in a tomb sealed by the power of Rome. The guards had been stationed at the tomb to prevent any fabrication of a resurrection story. Man had done his worst, sin had taken its toll, and the disciples were in total despair. Indeed they were …”more to be pitied than anyone in the world.”

However, Father, as Peter so powerfully preached at Pentecost: “…God raised him from the dead, freeing him from the agony of death, because it was impossible for death to keep its hold on him.” Acts 2:24 (NIV) Then, on behalf of all the believers, Peter emphatically proclaimed: “God has raised this Jesus to life, and we are all witnesses of the fact. Acts 2:32 (NIV)

Thank you Father for this glorious fact, this endearing reality and this eternal truth: “…Christ has indeed been raised from the dead…” 1 Corinthians 15:20 (NIV)

He is risen!!!

Amen

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Good Friday

Thank You, Jesus, You demonstrated Your love for us at the cross. You became poor that we might be rich. You became sin for us - You were stripped of Your glory willingly and humbled Yourself by becoming obedient to death - even death on a cross, and being made perfect, You became the author and finisher of eternal salvation to all who believe and obey.

How great are You, Lord, that Your love and for the joy set before You that You would endure the cross, despise the shame and bear our sins in Your own body on the tree so that we being dead in our sins should live to righteousness and be healed by Your stripes.

Thank You Jesus for giving Yourself for us, to redeem us from all iniquity and purify for Yourself a people that are Your very own. How precious indeed is that crimson flow that makes us white as snow.

Thank You that You declared it finished. The debt we owed was paid in full by the sinless Lamb of God. Amen

O perfect Lamb of Passover,
Let me not quickly run.
Recount to me the blessed plot,
Tell how the plan was spun
That I, a slave of Egypt’s lusts,
A prisoner of dark dread,
Could be condemned unto a cross
And find You nailed instead. ~ Beth Moore

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The Last Supper Prayer

After sharing a last meal with his disciples, Jesus looked up to heaven and said ...

Father, the hour has come. Glorify your Son so he can give glory back to you. ...

My prayer is not for the world, but for those you have given me, because they belong to you. ... I’m not asking you to take them out of the world, but to keep them safe from the evil one. ... Make them holy by your truth; teach them your word, which is truth. ...

I am praying not only for these disciples but also for all who will ever believe in me through their message. I pray that they will all be one, just as you and I are one—as you are in me, Father, and I am in you. And may they be in us so that the world will believe you sent me. I have given them the glory you gave me, so they may be one as we are one. I am in them and you are in me. May they experience such perfect unity that the world will know that you sent me and that you love them as much as you love me.

Amen

...selected verses from John 17 NLT

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Holy Week

Jesus, as we go through this week and remember your suffering and sacrifice for us, help us to see that we too are called to take up our own cross to follow you. Help us to live lives of sacrificial love that show the world that there is a better way to live and a true King to follow. May others see our lives and have reason to ask about the hope that is in us so we can give them the answer. Amen
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TRUE LOVE

YOU are a God of great compassion and mercy. YOU love us with a love that is not rude, not self-seeking, not easily angered ~~ a love that keeps no record of wrongs. This is the love of Christ. And it is to this kind of love that YOU call us, because it is with this kind of love that YOU love us. Lord, help me to love others the way YOU love me. I love YOU. Amen. (I Cor. 13)

Amen

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Triumph in Tragedy

For dear friends who are going through a severe time of suffering and grief.

Jeremiah 29:11 (ESV)
For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.

Father there are days in life that seem senseless, futile and useless. Logic is no help, reason is no comfort and counsel is no hope. It is a pit with no bottom, a room with no door, and a life with no meaning. Such are some of the desperate days in which people struggle to survive.

Yet it is into this gloom of existence that You demonstrate the greatness of Your glorious wisdom and power. It is the wonder of Your grace achieving Your purpose, which so often exceeds mere human understanding. We exclaim with the Apostle Paul: “Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways!“

And Father it is the assuring certainty of our faith in You that enables us to do more than just survive. It is because of Your promise in Romans 8:28 “And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.”

We praise You Father for triumph in tragedy, through the name of Jesus, who is the very expression of Your wisdom, power and love. Amen.

Amen

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messy and scary....

In the midst of all that is messy, scary, difficult or unknown - cry out to Him. Trust in Him. He knows.....

Lift your voice to the One who can heal our wounds, soothe the ache in our souls and bind up that which is broken within us - Christ Jesus our LORD and Savior.

Amen

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Each Day Is a Gift

One of the things that having cancer has taught me is that each day is a gift. I knew this before, but cancer has pressed it home to me in a new way. As far as I can tell, my cancer is growing very slowly (it can take its time, as far as I am concerned), but it is nonetheless advancing. However, sooner or later it will either be healed by God or kill me. But all of us will die, if the Lord does not come first. And I could be hit by a car tomorrow and be gone. But each day for all of us is a gift.

Father,

I thank you that our times are in Your hand. Help us to remember that. Help us to receive each day as a gift. Help to live each one as if it might be our last. Help to trust You for all the times and directions of our life.

In Jesus Name,
Amen

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Spring

Father, thank you for the rebirth of nature we see around us this time of year and the reminder it gives that we have been raised to new life. Let creation tell us of the truth, goodness, and beauty of our Savior. Amen
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PRAYING FOR A MIRACLE

Dear Prayer Warriors ~ Please join me in a prayer for a miracle for a dear friend of our, Bret, whose life is hanging in the balance between earth and heaven. He has been in ICU for over a week with open heart surgery...they cannot stop the bleeding after several more surgeries. Only God can make the difference. We are praying for a miracle, but also praying that God's will can be accomplished in Bret's life. They are a strong family of faith and we join them in prayer.

Dear Lord, we have been in prayer constantly and know You are the great physician. We totally trust your and your plan for Bret, but we do pray for a miracle if that is in Your plan. Your will be done. We love you. Amen.

Amen

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Contentment

Philippians 4:10-13 (ESV)
”I rejoiced in the Lord greatly that now at length you have revived your concern for me. You were indeed concerned for me, but you had no opportunity. ¹¹ Not that I am speaking of being in need, for I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content. ¹²I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need. ¹³ I can do all things through him who strengthens me.”

Father, thank you that contentment does not come from what I have in life but what I have in Christ. Thank you Father that He is our peace in every circumstance, our sufficiency in every need, and our strength in every trial.

Thank you Father for the truth of 2 Corinthians 9:8 (ESV) “….God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that having all sufficiency (or all contentment) in all things at all times, you may abound in every good work.”

Thank you Father for Steven J. Cole’s reminder that: “The secret for contentment in every situation is to focus on the Lord--as our Sovereign, our Savior, and our Sufficient One.”

In the name of Jesus who truly is our all in all.

Amen

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