Daily Prayer: August 2024

a prayer to be patient with myself

Dear Lord,

Help me to be patient with myself.

Teach me to be kind and generous with my failings.

Cause me to accept imperfections and mistakes.

Lead me in paths of forgiveness as I reconcile with my past.

Guide me as I deal with my frustrations and self doubt.

Bless me with love for myself.

I confess that you are Lord.

In your name I pray.

Amen

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Teach me to focus on the spirit of prayer

Lord, help me not just to cultivate a habit of praying regularly, but in my time of prayer make communion with you the aim. I ask that my prayers not only become a time of asking things from You, but also one of worshipping You, thanking You, seeking to know You deeper, and allowing Your Holy Spirit to transform me into the person You want me to be.

In Jesus' Name, I pray.

Amen.

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Grace

Oh LORD, we are so thankful for Your GRACE upon our souls. We are overwhelmed at the beautiful dispensing of GRACE to our undeserving souls.

May we truly experience hearts filled with GRATITUDE at the bestowal of GRACE upon us that only You can give…

Thank you Jesus… for the SACRIFICE You gave that enables us to receive the gift of GRACE and ETERNAL life…

“For by GRACE are you saved, through FAITH…” (Ephesians 2:8)

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a prayer for when we are overwhelmed

Dear God,

Our struggles are hard and our faith is weak.
Teach us to trust you and give our cares to you.
Help us to remember that you are near and that you hear our cries.

Bless us to turn to you when we are overwhelmed.
Give us grace that we might exercise faith in those terms.
We confess that we love you with all of our hearts.

In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

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A prayer when made redundant

Lord, I can’t believe this has happened.

We kind of knew the company

was in financial difficulties but never

thought it would come to this.

Lord, please help us. We’re going to need wisdom,

your practical guidance on what to do …

how to make ends meet, how to manage,

to see if we need to move to find another job,

all sorts of things.

May we not be too proud to ask others to help.

Please may we know your peace and

your presence at this difficult time.

Amen.

Source: Manser, Martin. 2018. A Book of Prayers. First edition. Vereeniging: Christian Art Publishers.

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The GREATER work

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a prayer to find rest

Dearest Father,

We come to you to find rest.

Take our weariness and bring us a spiritual refreshing.

Transform our worry and anxiety into peace.

Teach us to release control and trust your presence in us.

Help us to find strength in our weaknesses and failures.

Bless us with trust and faith that leads us to rest.

To you we give praise and worship.

Amen.

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a prayer for strong faith

Strengthen my faith, Lord.

Help me to humbly yield to your Spirit.

Open my eyes, even in hard times, to see you working in my life.

Teach me the ways of love as I journey through my life.

Bless me that I might trust you with all of my heart.

Show me how to plant seeds of love that strengthen my faith.

Inspire me to seek you in each season of my life.

May faith lead me to love. To forgive. To serve. To pray.

That you might be glorified in all that I do.

Amen.

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Praying in Jesus' Name

Question 180: What is it to pray in the name of Christ?

To pray in the name of Christ is, in obedience to his command, and in confidence on his promises, to ask mercy for his sake; (John 14:13–14, John 16:24, Dan. 9:17) not by bare mentioning of his name, (Matt. 7:21) but by drawing our encouragement to pray, and our boldness, strength, and hope of acceptance in prayer, from Christ and his mediation. (Heb. 4:14–16, 1 John 5:13–15)

Source: The Westminster Larger Catechism: With Scripture Proofs. 1996. Oak Harbor, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc.

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Lord, teach me to pray in Jesus' Name by teaching me obedience to your commands and trust in your mercy, grace, and promises. Lord, encourage me to pray in boldness, strength, and hope, believing that when I have such an attitude and live in obedience, You not only accept my prayers but joyfully wish to grant them because they are indeed asked in Your Name,

Amen

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a back to school prayer

Dear Lord,

We pray for our school age kids and grandkids.

Grant them peace and a peaceful learning environment.

Protect them from temptations that lead to bad behavior.

Help them to have friends that build them up and not tear them down.

Open their minds to wisdom that they might discern truth.

Encourage them with the caring of teachers and friends.

Bring to their mind daily how much they are loved by you.

And in all this bless them to enjoy learning new things.

Amen

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prayer for changes

God of Yesterday,

we knew you then: your promises; your words; your walking among us.

But yesterday is gone.

And so, today, we are in need of change.

Help us see life now

not through yesterday's stories but through today's.

God of Endings,

What we thought would not end has ended.

And we find ourselves here wondering where we are and how we got here and where to go from here.

Be with us, here, at the end.

Help us place our feet on this ground help us lick our wounds, help us look up and around.

Help us believe the story of today.

Because you know all

about the endings of today.

And you are not afraid.

Amen.

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a prayer for conviction of sin

Lord, when we are wrong, make us willing to change.

And when we are right, make us easy to live with.

Peter Marshall

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Scriptures to seek God with

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a prayer for being seen

Jesus of Nazareth

Strangers came to you

because, with you,

they hoped that they'd be seen

for who they were

nt for who the seers saw.

May we who are strangers see each others,

because we, like you, need to be seen to be believed.

Amen

Then he turned toward the woman and said to Simon, “Do you see this woman? I came into your house. You did not give me any water for my feet, but she wet my feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair. (Luke 7:44)

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a prayer to have childlike faith

Abba Father,

Please help me to have childlike faith.

Conquer my cynicism and skepticism.

Teach me to come to you with an innocent belief.

I am prone to lean into my own understanding.

Bless me to trust with my heart.

I accept your love anew.

I pledge myself to you again.

I love you Lord.

Amen.

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the journey of renewal and transformation

That first tent symbolizes the present time, when gifts and sacrifices can be offered; but it can’t change the heart and conscience of the worshiper. [Hebrews 9:9 VOICE]

This verse paints a picture of two forms of religion. The former, one of external adherence to rules. The latter, an inner transformation. Sadly, the former is much more prevalent than the latter. I know. At age 26 I had an inner change yet chose a life lived adhering to rules and principles.

I sometimes think of my life as the inward journey from Javert to Valjean. In Les Misérables, we learn of Javert, the policeman who loved the law, and of Valjean, the broken man who found extravagant grace from a bishop. One lived a life of obedience to the law. The other a life of love.

In the end, Javert finds no life in the law. He kills himself instead of changing. Valjean's life ends being surrounded by loved ones. His life was marked by an inner transformation of heart and conscience. The story reminds me that serving God is all about serving with love, mercy and compassion.

Renew me again dear Lord that I might serve you with all of my heart.

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God Invites Us Into Unceasing Conversation

God Invites Us Into Unceasing Conversation

Prayer is not introspection. It is not a scrupulous, inward-looking analysis of our own thoughts and feelings but it is a careful attentiveness to the Presence of Love personified inviting us to an encounter. Prayer is the presentation of our thoughts— reflective thoughts, as well as daydreams, and night dreams—to the One who receives them, sees them in the light of unconditional love, and responds to them with divine compassion. This context of thinking in the Presence, of conversation and dialogue with Love, is the joyful affirmation of our gentle Companion on the journey with God who knows our minds and hearts, our goodness and our beauty, our darkness and our light. The Psalmist prays the prayer for us (Psalms 139:1–3; 23–24):

O Lord, you search me and you know me, you know my resting and my rising,

you discern my purpose from afar.

You mark when I walk or lie down,

all my ways lie open to you. . . .

O search me, God, and know my heart. O test me and know my thoughts.

See that I follow not the wrong path and lead me in the path of life eternal.

Source: "You are the Beloved" by Henri J.M. Nouwen

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