Great is the Lord

Father,

Your faithfulness is great, O Lord. Your love and care for us is immeasurable. 

As for you, O Lord, you will not restrain
    your mercy from me;
your steadfast love and your faithfulness will
    ever preserve me!

Our enemies may be many, but you are greater and bigger and more powerful than our enemies. You are for us when others are against us. You watch over us when other dismiss. You straighten our path when sin overwhelms.

12 For evils have encompassed me
    beyond number;
my iniquities have overtaken me,
    and I cannot see;
they are more than the hairs of my head;
    my heart fails me. 

Yet we can come boldly to your throne, knowing your love and forgiveness awaits. That you are longing to wash us with your compassion, to direct our paths. May we learn to rejoice in this and cry out with a heart filled with gladness.

But may all who seek you
    rejoice and be glad in you;
may those who love your salvation
    say continually, “Great is the Lord!”

In Jesus' Name,

Amen

(verses taken from Psalm 40)

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The Incarnation

O God, who wonderfully created, and yet more wonderfully restored, the dignity of human nature: Grant that we may share the divine life of him who humbled himself to share our humanity, your Son Jesus Christ; who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.
Amen

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IN HIS TIME

 "In His time, in His time.

He makes all things beautiful

In His time.

Lord, please show me every day

As You're teaching me Your way

That You do just what You say

In Your time."

Dear Lord, sometimes life seems unfair.  Bad things happen to good people while good things happen to bad people.  Sometimes it's hard to remember You are always in control.  Help my faith to believe and know that You work on Your timetable, not mine.  In Your time, you will turn my disappointments into joys, my failures into success. Help me be content with Your plan for me.  Help me to trust you even though Your deliverance has not yet come and seems so far away.  Gracious God, surprise me once again with another breathtaking demonstration of your goodness and faithfulness.  I love You.  Amen.

One need not cry out very loudly; He is nearer to us than we think.

~~Brother Lawrence of the Resurrection (1605-1691)

Amen

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The Key to Life

Deuteronomy 30:19-20 (NLT)

     ¹⁹ “Today I have given you the choice between life and death, between blessings and curses. Now I call on heaven and earth to witness the choice you make. Oh, that you would choose life, so that you and your descendants might live! ²⁰ You can make this choice by loving the LORD your God, obeying him, and committing yourself firmly to him. This is the key to your life……”

Father you have given people the choice of life and death. It is an astonishing choice with black and white contrasts of clear consequences. The obvious implication is that you long to bless people with grace, mercy, peace and all of the fruits of spiritual and physical life. But this is radically impossible for those who refuse to love, obey and be whole heartedly committed to you.

Father so much hangs in the balance, not only for us but especially for our children and generations to come. I hear and feel the plea that comes from your heart: “Oh, that you would choose life.” Father, may we please have the faith, wisdom and passionate desire to choose life, the life you have provided for us in your Son. The equation clear: “Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have God’s Son does not have life.” 1 John 5:12 (NLT)

In his Name we pray. Amen.

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Prayer for Love and Insight

“This is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ—to the glory and praise of God.” ... “Now may the God of peace, who through the blood of the eternal covenant brought back from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great Shepherd of the sheep, equip you with everything good for doing his will, and may he work in us what is pleasing to him, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.”

‭‭
‭‭Philippians‬ ‭1:9-11‬ ‭NIV‬‬; Hebrews‬ ‭13:20-21‬ ‭NIV‬‬

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for racial harmony

God and Father of all,

in your love you made all the nations of the world
to be a family, and your Son taught us to love one another.

Yet our world is riven apart with prejudice, arrogance, and pride.

Help the different races to love and understand one another better.

Increase among us sympathy, tolerance, and goodwill,

that we may learn to appreciate the gifts that other races bring to us,
and to see in all people our brothers and sisters for whom Christ died.

Save us from jealousy, hatred, and fear, and help us to live together

as members of one family at home in the world,
sons and daughters of one Father
who live in the liberty of the children of God;

through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

-from the Book of Common Order of the Church of Scotland

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something powerful

Never, ever, underestimate the power of prayer. Too often, we equate the effectiveness of our prayers with the strength of our walk and our faith. Truly, the effectiveness of our prayers lies solely in the power of the One who hears and answers those prayers. Our whispers for intervention are heard by the Master. The Creator. The One who King of kings and the LORD of lords. 

“I am the LORD, your Holy One, the Creator of Israel, your King.” Thus says the LORD, Who makes a way through the sea and a path through the mighty waters....”

Our faith certainly propels us to His Feet in desperation, but never be mistaken, it is His Power that prevails......

Amen

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A Lament

Father,

I feel broken today. I am wrecked by the ravages of the Fall. Sin is breaking my heart - the sins of my own and the sins of others against me and the sins of others against others.

This just isn't how it's supposed to be.

But You know that, I suppose. For You are the Creator of the universe and it was never designed for this sin. That's on me. On us. We've broken shalom with You and these are the consequences: Hurt and pain.

O Lord, how long shall I cry for help, 
and you will not hear? 
Or cry to you “Violence!” 
and you will not save? (Habakkuk 1:2)

How am I to press on, Father? How am I to understand what faithfulness means in the midst of this brokenness? Teach me, Lord, to not despair. Teach me, Lord, to find hope.

But the Lord is in his holy temple; 
let all the earth keep silence before him. (Habakkuk 2:20)

With gratitude, O Lord, help me to find Your peace. Help me to see all the ways in which You are redeeming and rescuing this world. All the ways You are working in the hearts of Your people. Help me to find hope in You.

God, the Lord, is my strength; 
he makes my feet like the deer's; 
he makes me tread on my high places.(Habakkuk 3:19)


Amen

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REVEALED BY THE SPIRIT

 "No eye has seen
No ear has heard
No mind has imagined
What God has prepared 
For those who love him"  ~~~
But God has revealed it to us
By his Spirit.  I Corinthians 2:9-10

O magnificent  Holy Spirit, God's heart in flight.  You are Grace and Truth racing through a soul's dark house, plugging in the lights, turning on the heat, opening doors long locked.  And when those doors are thrown open the stale, unlit spaces freshly fill with Your sweet breath and radiant light.  Only You can answer faith's faintest whisper with such swift understanding!  You alone bring wisdom, the Spirit's housewarming gift.  How we love You.  Amen.

This is the scripture I taught Wednesday night to the children at Kid's Time.  The Holy Spirit spoke to my own heart in preparation for the lesson.

The prayer which fits so well with the scripture is from my Maranatha Worship Bible.  I trust it will speak to you as deeply as it did me.  Thank you Father for giving us the Holy Spirit to bring light and understanding to your Word.

 

Amen

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The Gift of Life

Psalm 139:16 (NLT)

      You saw me before I was born. Every day of my life was recorded in your book. Every moment was laid out before a single day had passed.

Psalm 39:4 (NLT)

     LORD, remind me how brief my time on earth will be. Remind me that my days are numbered— how fleeting my life is.

Father, so far in book of life that you have given me, there are 29,265 days. Wow!!! How many more days are in the book, I don’t know. I do know that: “Man's days are determined; you have decreed the number of his months and have set limits he cannot exceed. Job 14:5 (NIV)

I also know Father how grateful I am for the gift of life you have given me, yes for each day. I can hardly imagine they would extend so far in what now seems to be such a brief period of time. But, you have given me today. Thank you for this precious gift, and not only the gift of this day but especially the gift of life in which to live and love it. As the Psalmist declared: “This is the day the LORD has made. Let's rejoice and be glad today!” Psalm 118:24 (GW)

Thank You Father, in Jesus Name, Amen.

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Pursuit of Good

God of Glory, our Father, bring purity and peace to Your Church. Speak to us through the ministry of Your Word, that we might live by Your power. May Christ live in us, for He is our hope. Help us to pursue that which is true and good. Build us up in our holy faith. May we live in peace with one another, as we together receive Your grace day by day. Help us to be joyful and grow to maturity as we encourage one another and build each other up. Amen

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our one desire

My God,

I pretend to nothing upon this earth,
except to be so firmly united to you by prayer
that to be separated from you may be impossible;
let others desire riches and glory;
for my part,

I desire but one thing,
and that is to be inseparably united to you,
and to place in you alone
all my hopes
of happiness
and repose.

Amen

- a prayer of St. John Scholasticus

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To See More Clearly

Great and Mighty God,

We praise you for  your provision and care for us today. Thank you for your love and compassion towards us. We acknowledge your great power and might,  also your gentle and merciful spirit.

Father, help us to see more clearly those around us in need. Help us to lean into what makes us uncomfortable. Guide us into a place obedient to your will. Help us to care for the widows and orphans, the refugees you welcome in. Help us to see your image in each one you've created. Help us to see their worth.

Praise and glory be, to You who sits on the throne. May the glory and majesty and blessing be to you now and forever.

Amen

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STOP ~~~~AND PRAISE HIM

Recently we were listening to Steve Lawson giving a message on Psalm 135.  In praying so many times our burdens are so heavy, our hearts so torn and our bodies worn out, that we just cry out for mercy and deliverance.  Those are good and needful reasons to pray, and we are encouraged to in God Word.   But, how often do I just STOP and praise Him like the little boy above?

Dear Lord I would ask that you give me a heart of praise.  No matter what the difficulties of my life or the circumstances I find myself in, I need to STOP and praise You.  Praise your Holy Name, which is so lovely.  I need to praise You for Your Goodness that never fails,  Lord you do what ever pleases You in heaven, on the earth and in the seas and all their depths.  You make the clouds rise from the ends of the earth,  You send lightening with the rain and bring the wind out of Your storehouses.  You are a great God.

Oh Father, there is no one like You.  And to think a God in command of the universe, thinks about me.  Loves me.  That love brought You to earth with a plan to restore a fallen world and a sinner like me.  Thank you.  May I always remember to Praise, Praise, Praise, and then make all my request and needs to You at the foot of the throne.  I love You Father.  Amen. 


 image from googleimages.com


Amen

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