Daily Prayer

a prayer for guidance as we vote

Father,

You know every challenge we face, every opposition in front of us. You know every desire of our heart, and you know the sins with which we struggle. We have decisions before us, today, O God, and we need help.

Forgive us for all the times we've gone our own ways, and for the ways we've chosen to figure this out on our own, rather than looking to you.

As we go to the polls, we ask for your guidance. Help us to listen to your voice, to ask ourselves hard questions, to be informed as we cast our votes. Our country is divided and wounded, O God. We hurt each other, and we hurt ourselves. We need your deep, abiding presence. We need your powerful healing.

We need your direction, because we are wayward. We need your strength, because we are weak. We often vote with our emotions or our mind, rather than seek your will and turn to your word for help.

Holy Spirit, come, settle here and teach us in the moment. Guide us as we vote, so that we may honor you and you alone.

Amen

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PREMEDITATED KINDNESS

One good deed is worth more than a thousand brilliant theories. Don't wait for greater opportunities or for a different kind of work. Just do the things you find to do day by day ..... Do it promptly. Do not waste your life thinking about what you intend to do tomorrow. No one ever served God by doing things tomorrow. If we honor Christ and are blessed. It is with the things we do today.
~~Charles Haddon Spurgeon (1834-1892)

Dear Lord, we know evil is premeditated. Carefully planed and thought out. Lord I pray you will let me premeditate Kindness. To store of kindness in my heart, so when something happens that would cause me to say, or act unbecoming, I will have a storehouse of premeditated kindness to respond with on a daily basis. Thank you that your loving kindness is everlasting, and always available. I love You. Amen.

Amen

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Happy Hearts

Psalm 43:4 (NLT)
“….I will go to the altar of God, to God—the source of all my joy…….”

Father you are the source, the center, the circumference, the core, the substance and the essence of our joy. Your joy is infinite in that it is eternal and finite in that it is personal. Your joy gives us strength in our trials and hope in our despair. Your joy heals broken hearts and restores shattered dreams. Your joy brings meaning to life and expectation to the future.

How beautiful and with what amazing insight did Habakkuk write: “Even though the fig trees have no blossoms, and there are no grapes on the vines; even though the olive crop fails, and the fields lie empty and barren; even though the flocks die in the fields, and the cattle barns are empty, ¹⁸ yet I will rejoice in the LORD! I will be joyful in the God of my salvation!” Habakkuk 3:17-18 (NLT)

Father such is the nature of your joy given to us through trusting you. It is your very presence with us and in us that Jesus speaks of in John 15:11 (NLT) “I have told you these things so that you will be filled with my joy. Yes, your joy will overflow!”

Thank you Father for the joy that is ours in Christ as the Apostle Peter spoke of: “You love him even though you have never seen him. Though you do not see him now, you trust him; and you rejoice with a glorious, inexpressible joy.” 1 Peter 1:8- (NLT)

With Happy Hearts, Amen!

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I commit my actions to You, Lord and my plans will succeed… I will overcome evil with good… I can do everything through him who gives me strength… I am content with what I have because You have said, “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.”… I say with confidence, “The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?”… I humble myself before You Lord, and You will lift me up… My God is able to do immeasurably more than all we can ask or imagine, according to His power that is at work within us. To Him be the glory forever…

Dear Heavenly Father, I thank You for Your Word that encourages my spirit. Your Word has the power to bring me peace when I am feeling stressed out and confused. Thank You for guiding and protecting me. Thank You for never allowing me to fall too far away from You. Thank You for being my strength and my shield. By my own power I get lost, but when I meditate upon the knowledge that Your Holy Spirit is within me, I realize that nothing is impossible for You and I can rest upon Your strength to pull me through. Amen

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A Franciscan Benediction

May God bless us with discomfort at easy answers, half-truths, and superficial relationships, so that we may live deep within our hearts.

May God bless us with anger at injustice, oppression, and exploitation of people, so that we may work for justice, freedom and peace.

May God bless us with tears to shed for those who suffer from pain, rejection, starvation and war, so that we may reach out our hands to comfort them and turn their pain into joy.

And may God bless us with enough foolishness to believe that we can make a difference in this world, so that we can do what others claim cannot be done.

Amen.

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a prayer of mourning

Father,

You are the God of all comfort, the God who brings peace to hearts, the God who has compassion on us. You are a great and powerful God, who knows every hair on our head and every thought in our minds. You know us intimately, O God. For you love us that much.

Today we lift up those who've lost their loved ones in the tragic shooting at the Tree of Life Synagogue. Hold them close, Father. Help them grieve, wipe their tears, and give them strength.

Death was never part of Your plan, and persecution of others because of their race is not Your will, either. We acknowledge that all people are made in your image, O Lord, and worthy of our respect and love. We pray for all those who harbor hatred in their heart. May they soften towards all that they hate; transforms their lives and hearts to be more like You.

For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother's womb. I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well. My frame was not hidden from you, when I was being made in secret, intricately woven in the depths of the earth. Your eyes saw my unformed substance; in your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there was none of them. (Psalm 139:1-6)

In Jesus' Name,

Amen

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All Souls

Father, we thank you for the saints down through the ages that have faithfully served you and have set us an example by their walk. Thank you for those who sacrificed homes, possessions, and their very lives for your Kingdom. Your word tells us that we are surrounded by a great cloud of witnesses. Let the memory of their service cause us to follow Jesus more closely. Amen.

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Hurrican Faith

As I was reading my Bible this morning, I notice a note I had put on the margin from 9/4/2005 from a message my dearest had preached when he got back from helping after Hurricane Katrina. The title of the message was called "Herricane Faith".

Hurricans are so devastating, people in the midst of them need something to hang on too. This message gives 5 things you can bank on from God's Word.

1. Focus on God's eternal presence. ~ Duet. 31:8, I John 14;16
2. Focus on God's eternal promises. ~ II Sam. 22:31
3. Focus on God's eternal power.      ~ Isa.26:4, Psm. 89:8
4   Focus on God's eternal purpose    ~ Jer.29:11, Rom 8:28
5   Focus on God's eternal hope        ~   Psm. 62:5

Dear Father, as we think of all the folks that have loss so much in the recent Hurricans, we pray that their hearts can focus on God's Eternal, Presence, Promises, Power, Purposes and HOPE. Bring peace and a sense of comfort and healing to all those who have suffered so much and lost their earthly possessions. How thankful you have promised to be with us and never leave us. I love You. Amen.

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Amen

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The Witness

Psalm 19:1-4 (NLT)
The heavens proclaim the glory of God. The skies display his craftsmanship. ²Day after day they continue to speak; night after night they make him known. ³They speak without a sound or word; their voice is never heard. ⁴Yet their message has gone throughout the earth, and their words to all the world.

Father, what a great witness the silent night sky’s reveal. In the heavens we behold your glory, craftsmanship, knowledge, power and wisdom. And though the stars of innumerable galaxies are so distant from us You are not. Your presence is with us and through faith in Your Son You live in us.

Father, we behold Your witness, not only in the heavens but also in the Scripture where You tell us: Don’t be afraid, for I am with you. Don’t be discouraged, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you. I will hold you up with my victorious right hand. Isaiah 41:10 (NLT)

Father, thank you, not only for the wonder of your creation, but especially the wonder of Your presence with and in us. You are truly our Immanuel.

We pray this in the Name of Your beloved Son and our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.

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For Transformation

Our Father, how great is Your love and mercy to us. You have taken us under Your wing and there we find refuge. Thank You that You cover us with the righteousness of Jesus Christ when we respond to His invitation to come to Him for salvation and lay our burdens down. We worship You and love Your Word which has the power to transform us as we renew our minds with Your Word. Strengthen our hearts as we grow in Your grace and knowledge. May we always respond with faith and trust during the difficult times and circumstances we face as we journey through this world. Amen

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a prayer for our country

Almighty God, who hast given us this good land for our heritage:

We humbly beseech thee that we may always prove ourselves a people mindful of thy favor and glad to do thy will.

Bless our land with honorable industry, sound learning, and pure manners. Save us from violence, discord, and confusion; from pride and arrogance, and from every evil way.

Defend our liberties, and fashion into one united people the multitudes brought hither out of many kindreds and tongues.

Endue with the spirit of wisdom those to whom in thy Name we entrust the authority of government, that there may be justice and peace at home, and that, through obedience to thy law, we may show forth thy praise among the nations of the earth.

In the time of prosperity, fill our hearts with thankfulness, and in the day of trouble, suffer not our trust in thee to fail.

All which we ask through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

-taken from the Book of Common Prayer

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refuge

Dear Lord,

We take refuge in You, O God, this day. Cover and protect us from all harm. You are the rock of refuge, in whom we can trust. You are faithful and loving, and watch over us everywhere we go.

Be our hope, Sovereign Lord. We praise You for Your power, and it's in this power that helps us stand firm in hope. A hope that points us to Your son, Jesus, and reminds us of all You have done for us.

And You continue to work in us, too, which gives us more hope. Hope for change in us and in the world. So as we ask for you to be our refuge, help us to remember to go out and point others to Jesus, knowing we in Your safe hands.

Amen

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TRUTH

Isaiah 59:15-16 "Truth is nowhere to be found, and whoever shuns evil becomes prey. The Lord looked and was displeased that there was no justice. He saw that there was not one, he was appalled that there was no one to intervene; so his own arm worked salvation for him, and his own righteousness sustained him."

O Jesus, our Savior, teach us to be like You. Give us courage to speak up and step out on behalf of justice. Help us to speak the truth in love, to right wrongs, heal wounds, and champion the cause of the dispossessed. May we stand in Your righteousness to intervene and intercede for our own stumbling nation and a world in turmoil. I love You. Amen.

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Maranatha Worship Bible

Amen

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The God of All Comfort

Hebrews 2:18 (HCSB)
For since He Himself was tested and has suffered, He is able to help those who are tested.

Hebrews 4:15 (HCSB)
¹⁵ For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who has been tested in every way as we are, yet without sin.

Matthew 8:16-17 (HCSB)
¹⁶When evening came, they brought to Him many who were demon-possessed. He drove out the spirits with a word and healed all who were sick, ¹⁷so that what was spoken through the prophet Isaiah might be fulfilled: He Himself took our weaknesses and carried our diseases.

Father, the comfort and encouragement we have through Jesus identifying with our weaknesses, suffering, sorrows and sickness is truly not only healing but also enabling. You give us the strength and hope to carry on, living in faith, trusting your presence with us every day.

2 Corinthians 1:3 (HCSB)
Praise the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and the God of all comfort.

We can truly affirm the confidence of the Psalmist. “God is my helper; the Lord is the sustainer of my life.” Psalm 54:4 (HCSB)

We praise You Father in the name of Jesus our beloved Savior and friend. Amen.

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