Daily Prayer

CHRISTIAN LOVE

Watercolor by Wanda, "Sharing God's Love"

Oh Lover of my Soul, Order all my ways by thy holy Word and make thy commanments the joy of my heart, that by them I may have happy converse with thee.

May I grow in thy love and manifest it to mankind.

Spirit of love, make me like the loving Jesus; give me his benevolent temper, his beneficent actions, that I may shine before men to thy glory.

The more thou doest in love in me and by me, humble me the more; keep me meek, lowly, and always read to give you honor.

Prayer taken from "The Valley of Vision" (Prayers of the Puritans)

Open Yourself to God (Be Still)

To pray means to open your hands before God. It means slowly relaxing the tension that squeezes your hands together and accepting your existence with an increasing readiness, not as a possession to defend, but as a gift to receive. Above all, prayer is a way of life that allows you to find stillness in the midst of the world where you open your hands to God’s promises and find hope for yourself, your neighbor, and your world. In prayer, you encounter God not only in the small voice and the soft breeze, but also in the midst of the turmoil of the world, in the distress and joy of your neighbor, and in the loneliness of your own heart.

Prayer leads you to see new paths and to hear new melodies in the air. Prayer is the breath of your life that gives you freedom to go and to stay where you wish, to find the many signs that point out the way to a new land. Praying is not simply some necessary compartment in the daily schedule of a Christian or a source of support in a time of need, nor is it restricted to Sunday mornings or mealtimes. Praying is living. It is eating and drinking, acting and resting, teaching and learning, playing and working. Praying pervades every aspect of our lives. It is the unceasing recognition that God is wherever we are, always inviting us to come closer and to celebrate the divine gift of being alive.

In the end, a life of prayer is a life with open hands—a life where we need not be ashamed of our weaknesses but realize that it is more perfect for us to be led by the Other than to try to hold everything in our own hands.

 Henri J. M. Nouwen

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Lord, I have been going through a difficult time, as have so many people I know.
Help me see that You are with me in the midst of my difficulties.
Help me to be still and sense Your presence.
Help me to sense afresh Your unfailing love for me
Help me to trust You that Your strength is made perfect in my weakness
Help me to know that You are always in control
Help me to be always open to what You are doing in my life
Help me to reach out to You, knowing that my life is in Your hands, and You will never let me go.
Help me move beyond the bondage of my circumstances and return to the place of joy and worship

in Jesus' name

AMEN

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when we are overwhelmed

Dear God,

I am overwhelmed. Help me to release my cares.

I am worried and afraid. Help me to trust in you.

I am grieving. Help me to sense your touch in my life.

I am hurting. Help me to heal and get better.

I am your child. Help me to not forget that I am.

I am loved. Help me to love in return.

Amen.

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a prayer for moms

Dear Father,

I am so thankful for the gift of my mom.

For all of the ways that she blessed me, I give thanks.

I ask you to bless all of the moms in my life.

And pray that you will give them strength and power for the day.

I intercede for moms who are lonely and feeling alone.

Knowing that some still grieve great losses, I lift them to you.

I pray that this might be a day of encouragement for all moms.

That you might receive glory in and through their lives.

In the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

Amen.

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a prayer of contrition

Lord, I want to lay before you all that weighs heavy on my heart.

Reveal even the sin I am not aware of, Lord.

I lay these at your feet and pray for your forgiveness on me.

I believe you when you say that you wash us whiter than snow.

Thank you, Lord, for your unending love for me!

Help me start fresh right now to make choices that honor you.

In Jesus' name, Amen.

- Rick Warren

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THE RICHES OF YOUR MERCY

"Correct me Lord, but only with justice -- not your anger, lest you reduce me to nothing."

Jeremiah 10:24

Thank You Lord for the riches of Your mercy. Thank you for your patience with my weaknesses. Thank You for choosing to use justice rather than anger to correct me. Thank You for choosing to build me up through Your discipline rather to crush me in Your rage. Thank you for Your love and kindness that leads me to repentance. (Romans 2:4)

We live in an angry world. How easy it is for us to respond in anger. I pray we take heart, and know that God is just to show His wrath in discipline, but choses to show us justice and mercy. I pray I can follow His example with my family and friends and those that oppose me by showing justice, mercy and loving kindness.

googleimages.com

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Come, thou font of every blessing

Personal note: Come, thou font of every blessing is a hymn BUT it is also a wonderful prayer. Sometimes when it is hard to pray, I find singing (or even listening) a hymn that is a prayer addressed to God very invigorating.

During his early teen years, Robert Robinson lived in London, where he mixed with a notorious gang of hoodlums and led a life of debauchery. At the age of 17 he attended a meeting where the noted evangelist George Whitefield was preaching. Robinson went for the purpose of “scoffing at those poor, deluded Methodists” and ended up professing faith in Christ as his Savior. Soon he felt called to preach the gospel and subsequently became the pastor of a rather large Baptist church in Cambridge, England. Despite his young age, Robinson became known as an able minister and scholar, writing various theological books as well as several hymns, including these words written when he was just 23 years of age:

COME, thou Fount of ev’ry blessing,

Tune my heart to sing Thy grace;

Streams of mercy, never ceasing,

Call for songs of loudest praise:

Teach me some melodious measure,

Sung by flaming tongues above;

Fill my soul with sacred pleasure,

While I sing redeeming love.

2 Here I raise mine Ebenezer,

Hither by Thy help I’ ve come,

And I hope, by Thy good pleasure,

Safely to arrive at home.

Jesus sought me when a stranger,

Wand’ring from the fold of God;

He, to save my soul from danger,

Interposed His precious blood.

3 Oh! to grace how great a debtor

Daily I ’m constrain’d to be!

Let that grace, Lord, like a fetter,

Bind my wand’ring heart to Thee!

Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it;

Prone to leave the God I love—

Here’s my heart, Lord, take and seal it

Seal it for Thy courts above.

The above story is taken from: Osbeck, K. W. (1996). Amazing grace: 366 inspiring hymn stories for daily devotions (Kregel Publications).

Below is a link to a Celtic rendition of the hymn
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XKOoeTbjSeI

The mercy of God

“Oh Father of the prodigal, how I embrace the infinite mercy that flows from Thy loving heart. No matter how far down I go, Thy mercy is more than sufficient, and for this, I thank Thee.” (A.W. Tozer)

What a beautiful thing the mercy of God is to us.

His love is infinite. His mercy is infinite. His grace is infinite. There is not one of the attributes of God that is greater than any one of the others.

But the amazing thing is that each attribute can be disbursed generously to his children at the exact time that they need it. God bestows upon us, the most needed attribute of the moment.

What a wonderful God we serve.

“LORD, you alone are my inheritance, my cup of blessing. You guard all that is mine.” (Psalm16:5)

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for guidance and inspiration

O Lord,

You are the light that guides my feet.

You are the map that gives me direction.

You are the peace that makes me strong.

You are the leader whom I faithfully follow.

May your light illuminate my life and your guidance bring direction.

May I find inspiration in your word and peace in my heart as I follow you.

Amen.

— Author Unknown

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a burden bearers prayer

Dear God,

There is so much pain and suffering in the world.

Bless us, that we might be a people who alleviate such things.

We often feel overwhelmed when we think about hurting people.

Help us to be those who advocate for justice and fairness.

Poverty, homelessness and crime seem to be at all time highs.

Grace us, that we might be among those who advocate for such.

In all our lives, create in us a desire to bear the burdens of others.

Amen.

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a prayer for contentment

Lord,

Help me be grateful for what I have,

Remember that I don't need most of what I want,

And that joy is found in simplicity and generosity,

Through Christ our Lord.

Amen.

-Adam Hamilton

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GOD'S MERCY

There is a Wideness in God's Mercy

Like the wideness of the sea;

There's a kindness in His justice

Which is more than liberty.

For the love of God is broader

Than the measure of man's mind;

And the heart of the Eternal

Is most wonderfully kind.

Jeremiah 9:23,24

Thus says the Lord;

Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom,

And let not the mighty man

Boast in his might.

Let not the rich man boast in his riches;

But let him who boasts, boast in this;

That he KNOWS and UNDERSTANDS ME,

That I am the Lord who exercises

Loving kindness, justice and righteousness

on the earth.

I delight in these things declares the Lord!

Photo by Wanda

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A prayer of response to a calling God

A hard, deep call to obedience

You are the God who makes extravagant promises.

We relish your great promises

of fidelity

and presence

and solidarity,

and we exude in them.

Only to find out, always too late,

that your promise always comes

in the midst of a hard, deep call to obedience.

You are the God who calls people like us,

and the long list of mothers and fathers before us,

who trusted the promise enough to keep the call.

So we give you thanks that you are a calling God,

who calls always to dangerous new places.

We pray enough of your grace and mercy among us

that we may be among those

who believe your promises enough

to respond to your call.

We pray in the one who embodied your promise

and enacted your call, even Jesus. Amen.

In anticipation of reading Jeremiah 1–2 / 2000

Walter Brueggemann, (2003). Awed to Heaven, Rooted in Earth: Prayers of Walter Brueggemann

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stepping into grace

Dear Father,

Thank you for the grace that I sense every day.

Grant me the wisdom and boldness to step into that grace.

Open my ears and my eyes that I might discern your leading.

Cause me to speak and act in such a way that grace is manifested.

Help me Lord to be an instrument of your grace.

Amen.

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