Daily Prayer: January 2023

for grace to stand

Father,

We ask You to reveal your truth to us.
Let it be as a strong belt carrying the tools of your kingdom.

Grant us a loving zeal as we witness to your presence in our lives.
May our shoes help us to walk in the ways of peace and love.

Guard our hearts with your righteousness, as a strong breastplate.
And let the hope of salvation be as a helmet for our head.

Teach us to take up faith, as a shield, that we might resist temptation.
And let your words be a spiritual sword to defeat the enemies of our soul.

Help us to be zealous for the things of your Spirit.
And grant us grace, that we might stand against evil.

Amen.

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to be bound together with love

O God, we are one with you. You have made us one with you. You have taught us that if we are open to one another, you dwell in us. Help us to preserve this openness and to fight for it with all our hearts. Help us to realize that there can be no understanding where there is mutual rejection.

O God, in accepting one another wholeheartedly, fully, completely, we accept you, and we thank you, and we adore you, and we love you with our whole being, because our being is your being, our spirit is rooted in your spirit.

Fill us then with love, and let us be bound together with love as we go our diverse ways, united in this one spirit which makes you present in the world, and which makes you witness to the ultimate reality that is love. Love has overcome. Love is victorious. Amen.

- Thomas Merton

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give us your peace

God, who is more than we can ever comprehend,
help us to seek you, and you alone.

Help us to stand before all that we could do
and seek what you would do, and do that.

Lift from us our need to achieve all that we can be
and instead, surrender to what you can be in us.

Give us ways to refrain from the busyness
that will put us on edge and off center.

Give us your peace. Amen.

- Author Unknown

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when we are worried

Lord, please put Your peace in my heart.

I'm worried and anxious.

My mind races and obsesses.

I can't help thinking about my problems.

And the more I think about them, the more depressed I become.

I feel like I'm sinking down in quicksand and can't get out.

Calm me, Lord.

Slow me down, put Your peace in my heart.

Amen.

-Author Unknown

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a prayer of repentance

Father, I have sinned against you
and am not worthy to be called your child.
Be merciful to me, a sinner.

Father of mercy, like the prodigal son I return to you and say:
"I have sinned against you
and am no longer worthy to be called your son."

Christ Jesus, savior of the world,
I pray with the repentant thief to whom you promised paradise:
"Lord, remember me in your kingdom."

Holy Spirit, fountain of love,
I call on you with trust:
"Purify my heart, and help me to walk as a child of the light."

Amen

- from the Book of Luke

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I come to you as Your righteous child knowing that You are my only hope for living life. You promised You would never leave me nor forsake me. Some days are difficult to navigate with all the thoughts racing through my mind. But I know you are there to release me from this bondage as I surrender them to You. You said to cast all my cares upon You so I choose to do that knowing You will give me peace as I walk through to victory. Help me to keep my eyes on you moment by moment.

Father God, my Creator, my Redeemer, my Guide, and my Friend. You are my compass during the storms of life. In You I have hope and an anchor for my soul. Hope to give me the strength, courage, and faith that with and through You, I can weather any storm. You know everything about me. You know my hopes and desires, my fears and my doubts.

You even know every single hair on my head. How can I doubt your care for me, Father God?

Lord, I pray for peace in my soul. Let me feel your loving arms around me. You are the God of hope and in Thee, I rest. In Jesus’s holy and righteous Name, Amen.

Amen

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a prayer for character

Father, help us to live in a way that feeds our inner self.

Bring light into our hearts as we read and study the scriptures.

May we be filled with love, joy, peace, patience, and all manner of grace.

Give us mercy that we might be inwardly strong and outwardly humble.

We pray to be transformed into the image of your Son.

In his name we pray and say amen

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a blessing for peace

May today there be peace within.

May you trust your highest power that you are exactly where you are meant to be.

May you not forget the infinite possibilities that are born of faith.

May you use those gifts that you have received, and pass on the love that has been given to you.

May you be content knowing you are a child of God.

Let this presence settle into your bones, and allow your soul the freedom to sing, dance.

It is there for each and every one of you.

Amen.

— Teresa of Ávila

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a prayer of thanks for our friends

Dear Lord,

I give thanks for my friends ...
for connection and laughter,
for comfort and strength,
for encouragement and unity,
for forgiveness and grace,
for celebration and joy.
They are so many beautiful things to me.

A rich tapestry of blessings, woven through my life.

Thank you.

Amen.

— Author Unknown

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to trust more and worry less

Dear Father,

I admit that I often forget that you are with me.
I often forget what you’re like.
Would you please forgive me for that?

I need to get to know you better.
I need to get to know your Word and your promises better.
Help me to put you first in every area of my life.

Help me to live one day at a time.
Help me to not worry about tomorrow but instead focus on what you’re doing in my life right now.

I want to trust in your promise to take care of every one of my needs — financial, relational, physical, social, spiritual, and emotional.

Help me to trust you more and worry less.

I pray in Jesus’ name, Amen.

— Rick Warren

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when our heart is breaking

Lord, please heal my broken heart.

Fill me with the peace and joy I know can only come from You.

Help me during this hard time.

Walk closely beside me during my journey to healing and recovery.

I know that it is possible through Your power and grace.

In Jesus' Name, Amen.

— Author Unknown

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He is God!

LORD GOD,

Today, give us a new understanding and a new vision of just how mighty and powerful and big You are!!

Help us to see that You are bigger than all our trials and tribulations. Bigger than all our difficult situations and hard circumstances.

Help us to see that nothing is impossible for You.

Help us to see You in all Your Glory and Power and Might.

Open our eyes to the truth of who You are.

Amen

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a prayer of lament

From Psalm 8

By day the Lord directs his love,

at night his song is with me—

a prayer to the God of my life.

I say to God my Rock,

“Why have you forgotten me?

Why must I go about mourning,

oppressed by the enemy?”

My bones suffer mortal agony

as my foes taunt me, saying to me all day long,

“Where is your God?”

Why, my soul, are you downcast?

Why so disturbed within me?

Put your hope in God,

for I will yet praise him,

my Savior and my God.

Amen

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standing in the need of prayer

Prayer was a wellspring of strength and inspiration during the Civil Rights Movement. Throughout the movement, we prayed for greater human understanding. We prayed for the safety of our compatriots in the freedom struggle. We prayed for victory in our nonviolent protests, for brotherhood and sisterhood among people of all races, for reconciliation and the fulfillment of the Beloved Community.

For my husband, Martin Luther King, Jr. prayer was a daily source of courage and strength that gave him the ability to carry on in even the darkest hours of our struggle.

I remember one very difficult day when he came home bone-weary from the stress that came with his leadership of the Montgomery Bus Boycott. In the middle of that night, he was awakened by a threatening and abusive phone call, one of many we received throughout the movement. On this particular occasion, however, Martin had had enough.

After the call, he got up from bed and made himself some coffee. He began to worry about his family, and all of the burdens that came with our movement weighed heavily on his soul. With his head in his hands, Martin bowed over the kitchen table and prayed aloud to God:

"Lord, I am taking a stand for what I believe is right. The people are looking to me for leadership, and if I stand before them without strength and courage, they will falter. I am at the end of my powers. I have nothing left. I have nothing left. I have come to the point where I can't face it alone."

Later he told me, "At that moment, I experienced the presence of the Divine as I had never experienced Him before. It seemed as though I could hear a voice saying: 'Stand up for righteousness; stand up for truth; and God will be at our side forever.'" When Martin stood up from the table, he was imbued with a new sense of confidence, and he was ready to face anything.

--Coretta Scott King from "Standing in the Need of Prayer"

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a prayer for revelation

Come Holy Spirit.

Open the eyes and ears of our inner being to see and hear what you are doing.

Give us willing hearts and minds that we might trust in your love for us.

Grace us that we might humble ourselves and serve each other.

We pray for divine illumination and courage to act as you lead us.

And ask that you might be lifted up and glorified in our lives.

Amen

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prayer for enlightenment

O Holy Spirit,

Descend plentifully into my heart.

Enlighten the dark corners of this neglected dwelling.

And scatter your cheerful beams.

Amen.

-Augustine of Hippo

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a blessing for worshipers

Dear God,

Bless all who worship you,
from the rising of the sun,
unto the going down of the same.

Of your goodness, give us;
with your love, inspire us;
by your spirit, guide us;
by your power, protect us;
in your mercy, receive us,
now and always.

Amen

... adaptation of a 5th-century prayer

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He is our EVERYTHING

No matter has happened in our lives…

No matter the trial.

No matter the tribulation.

No matter the HURT. The PAIN. The ACHE. The DISAPPOINTMENT…

We can take our BROKENNESS and humbly fall at His Feet.

And He will minister deeply to our spirits.

Every time.

Allow God to be your everything….

“Those who drink the water I give will never be thirsty again…” (John 4:14)

Amen

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for perseverance and strength

Father,

This life will be full of opportunities for us to fail, fall down, and or be knocked down. Those times make it so easy to feel defeated instead of encouraged. Our flesh is weak, and yet Christ gives us the strength to overcome the defeat. Lord, I ask You to keep us strong. Help us to persevere and finish the race. When things are hard, empower us not to grow weary. We praise You in all circumstances, and Father we humbly ask for your help to keep our eyes fixed on You.

In Christ’s Name,

Amen

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learning to find joy

Dear God,

Life can be so hard and overwhelming.

Help us to find joy even when things are difficult.

Bless us with the strength to let go of the life we have to find life in you.

Teach us and show us how to live a life filled with joy.

Guide us that we might live in the moment that we call today.

All the while, open our eyes to the joy that is found in you.

Amen

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as we balance our hopes and dreams

God of all Joy and Hope,

We approach you in this new year with dreams, aspirations and expectations.

To our dreams, add a measure of pragmatism that they might come to pass.

To our aspirations, help us to blend in hard work and diligence.

To our expectations, open our eyes that we might see them in your light.

Help us to balance our hopes and dreams with your will for our lives.

Amen

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a prayer for the new year

O Immortal Lord God,

Who inhabits eternity, and have brought us to the beginning of another year.

Pardon, we humbly beseech you, our transgressions in the past.

Give us new hearts filled with the hope of a new beginning.

Fill us with faith and courage to press forward in the days ahead.

Bless to us this New Year, and graciously indwell us all the days of our life.

Through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

– adapted from The Book of Common Prayer

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a prayer for difficult times

Dear Father,

I pray that you will turn our weeping into dancing.

That you will give us a reason to not just smile but to laugh again.

That you will see us through difficult seasons this year.

And that you will comfort us in all ways and at all times.

I ask for your blessings for all who are suffering.

We bless you and give you thanks.

Amen.

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the hope of a new year

Our Father and our God, as we stand at the beginning of this new year we confess our need of Your presence and Your guidance as we face the future.

We each have our hopes and expectations for the year that is ahead of us—but You alone know what it holds for us, and only You can give us the strength and the wisdom we will need to meet its challenges. So help us to humbly put our hands into Your hand, and to trust You and to seek Your will for our lives during this coming year.

In the midst of life’s uncertainties in the days ahead, assure us of the certainty of Your unchanging love.

In the midst of life’s inevitable disappointments and heartaches, help us to turn to You for the stability and comfort we will need.

In the midst of life’s temptations and the pull of our stubborn self-will, help us not to lose our way but to have the courage to do what is right in Your sight, regardless of the cost.

And in the midst of our daily preoccupations and pursuits, open our eyes to the sorrows and injustices of our hurting world, and help us to respond with compassion and sacrifice to those who are friendless and in need. May our constant prayer be that of the ancient Psalmist: “Teach me, O Lord, to follow your decrees; then I will keep them to the end” (Psalm 119:33).

We pray for our nation and its leaders during these difficult times, and for all those who are seeking to bring peace and justice to our dangerous and troubled world. We pray especially for Your protection on all those who serve in our armed forces, and we thank You for their commitment to defend our freedoms, even at the cost of their own lives. Be with their families also, and assure them of Your love and concern for them.

Bring our divided nation together, and give us a greater vision of what You would have us to be. Your Word reminds us that “Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord” (Psalm 33:12).

As we look back over this past year we thank You for Your goodness to us—far beyond what we have deserved. May we never presume on Your past goodness or forget all Your mercies to us, but may they instead lead us to repentance, and to a new commitment to make You the foundation and center of our lives this year.

And so, our Father, we thank You for the promise and hope of this new year, and we look forward to it with expectancy and faith. This I ask in the name of our Lord and Savior, who by His death and resurrection has given us hope both for this world and the world to come.

Amen

-Billy Graham

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