Daily Prayer

A Year Ends

Father, as we say goodbye to another year, we may have regrets for things we have done or said or for those we have neglected. Help us to repent where it is needed and to trust that you are always ready to forgive. May we go into the new year in the confidence that you hold us in your loving hands. Amen

Please visit The Prayer List and pray with us.

at the turning of the year

Remember us, O God;
from age to age be our comforter.
You have given us the wonder of time,
blessings in days and nights, seasons and years.

Bless your children at the turning of the year
and fill the months ahead with the bright hope
that is ours in the coming of Christ.
You are our God, living and reigning, forever and ever.

Amen

... a prayer from US Conference of Catholic Bishops

Please visit The Prayer List and pray with us.

Time

Ecclesiastes 3:1 (KJV)

To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven.

Father we want to be able to recall the past that we may learn from it. We also want to prioritize the future that we may take advantage of the opportunities that will come and make our living in the present time as meaningful as possible.

Father, we join the Psalmist praying: “ …teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom.” Psalm 90:12 (KJV)

And Father help us to apply the admonition of Scripture: “Pay careful attention, then, to how you walk —not as unwise people but as wise— 16 making the most of the time,” Ephesians 5:15-16 (HCSB)

Then Father, as we bid the old year farewell and greet the new year with hopeful expectation, we will move forward realizing that time is on our side because you are with us and have given us your promise: “Do not fear, for I am with you; do not be afraid, for I am your God. I will strengthen you; I will help you; I will hold on to you with My righteous right hand.” Isaiah 41:10 (HCSB)

In the name of Jesus our Savior in time and eternity. Amen

Please visit The Prayer List and pray with us.

Faithfulness

Father, I praise You because You have been faithful and I can rest assured that You will continue to be faithful in the coming year! I do not have to be anxious about the future because my times are in Your hand. I know that You are trustworthy and Your promises to me are true. I will not give up believing in Your promises, and I wait in anticipation for the day I see them fulfilled. I know Your timing is perfect. I will remain faithful to You as I wait, and I praise You in advance for the fulfillment of Your promises! Amen.

Please visit The Prayer List and pray with us.

a new year blessing

God, bless to me this new day and coming year.
Open my eyes to the wonder of your presence in my life.
Help me to understand my purpose as I walk in your very presence.
You have given me this time and this season, O God.

Cause me to bring blessing to everything that my eyes behold.
May your blessing in my life cause blessing to flow from me.
I commit to love and to bless my friend and my neighbors.
In truth, I need the blessings of my friends and neighbors.

God, help me to live from the good heart that you have given me.
Give me wisdom to know your will and trust with all of my heart.
Bring blessings into me family and help us all to trust in you.
In all things, I offer myself and my possessions to your service.

Amen

-adapted from a traditional Celtic prayer

Please visit The Prayer List and pray with us.

A Savior is Born

Father,

We are filled with gratitude this day as we celebrate the birth of Your son Jesus Christ. The promised Messiah had finally come, in the most unusual way. As angels proclaimed the good news, and shepherds came to see this child, the world changed. For Your son came to redeem. To remove the veil between us and you. To be our Advocate, our Rescuer, our Redeemer. Our King. We would never again be the same.

May we be mindful of all the ways You are continuing to do Your work on this earth. All the ways You continue to restore, to bring shalom once again. And may we be mindful of how we are part of Your great work to further Your Kingdom this day.

Amen

Please visit The Prayer List and pray with us.

Let us Adore Him

This morning, just two days before Christmas, a chorus is echoing in my mind.

O come, let us adore Him, Christ the Lord.

Here are a few verses from that Christmas carol.

Come and behold Him,
Born the King of Angels!
Glory to God in the highest glory!
Word of the Father, now in the flesh appearing!
O come, let us adore Him.

Our hearts are filled with the joy of your coming Lord.
Our mouths are filled with your praise.
With the angels we declare your glory.
With the shepherds we bow in awe.

We come in adoration, thanking you for coming to us.

Amen

Please visit The Prayer List and pray with us.

Indecribable

“Thanks be to God for His indescribable gift.”

2 Corinthians 9:15 (NKJV)

Father, as I think about the gift of your Son to and for us it is truly overwhelming. That God who is greater than creation took to himself our likeness in flesh and blood. That he who was the glory of heaven in human infancy was laid in a feeding trough of wood and straw. That his life was one of sorrow and suffering. Rejected by his own people, ridiculed by gentiles, and crucified by a foreign hostile government. Literally dying alone on the cross for the sins of the world. “He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all--” Romans 8:32 (NIV) Such is this indescribable gift of God’s mercy and grace. Simply astounding!

It was the ultimate gift of infinite priority. So great is this gift that only God could give it. “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son….” John 3:16 NKJV)

It was the measureless gift of eternal dimension. “Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and His ways past finding out!” Romans 11:33 (NKJV)

It is the incomprehensible gift of knowledge beyond our full understanding.“…to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge.... Ephesians 3:19 (NKJV)

How can we not all say: ”Thank God for this gift too wonderful for words!” 2 Corinthians 9:15 (NLT)

Our God and Father we bow in humble gratitude and love at the matchless gift of your Son who is our salvation. Amen.

Please visit The Prayer List and pray with us.

Emmanuel

Dear God, We thank You today and every day for the gift of Jesus who has restored our relationship with You and made a way for us to daily approach Your throne with boldness.

We can take comfort in knowing that You are Emmanuel, God with us. You hear our prayers, and You are for us. We can take confidence in the fact that You have mended our broken relationship with You, and we are overwhelmed by what You can and will do in our lives and on our behalf as we trust in You!

We bless and praise Your great Name today for who You are and the salvation we have in You. Amen

Please visit The Prayer List and pray with us.

Prayers on the Longest Night

As we prepare for Christmas it is always good to remember that this is a very difficult time for many among us. People are, for the first time, celebrating Christmas without their loved ones. So on this day when the night is the longest, I find myself thinking about this meditation (posted below), written in 2001 by Rev. Diane Hendricks. As you read it please think about and pray for those who are hurting so much this season.

Longest Night Meditation

It's the most wonderful time of the year!

Only it's not.

Not for everyone.

Not when there is an empty chair at the table.

Not when your body is ravaged with illness.

Not when the depression is too much to bear.

Not without her voice joining yours on the Christmas carols.

Not when you feel all alone even in a crowd.

Not when you are not sure you can even afford the rent or mortgage,
let alone the presents.

Not when they are trying their best to the best of you.

Not when another Christmas party means he will come home drunk again.

It's the most wonderful time of the year?

No, it's not.

And trying to smile and say Merry Christmas is more than difficult.

It's pretty near impossible.

C.S. Lewis once wrote:

"No one ever told me that grief felt so much like fear. I am not afraid, but the sensation is like being afraid. The same fluttering in the stomach, the same restlessness, the yawning..."

It's the most wonderful time of the year.

Only it's not.

Not after he has died.

Not after the doctor gave you the news.

Not after they told you they would be downsizing.

Not after... you fill in the blank.

Not after September 11.

Not when there is so much violence and destruction in the world.

In truth, it has never been the most wonderful time of the year. Certainly not in the days surrounding that first Christmas so long ago. The story of the birth of Jesus is not to be told with a jolly voice and a merry ho-ho-ho.

It is the story of a teenage girl, pregnant with a child that is not her husband's.

It is the story of a child born in a dirty animal stall.
It is the story of a family of refugees who had to flee their homeland so that their child would not be killed.
It is the story of one sent into the world in peace who was condemned to death.
It is the story of a light sent to shine in the darkness, which the world snuffed out.
It is the story of God's never-ending, self-giving mercy which was rejected and condemned.
In the great work the Messiah, Handel quotes the prophet Isaiah, proclaiming that Jesus was "despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief." One great theologian reminds us that we cannot come to the manger without acknowledging that it lays in the shadow of the cross.

It is not the most wonderful time of the year.

Only it is! It is:

If we forget about the tinsel and the trees.

If we forget about the holly jolly tidings.

If we forget about the presents and the ornaments and the trappings.

And remember. Remember the story.

Mary was alone and afraid.
But God was with her and exalted her among women.

Joseph was disgraced.
But God revealed in Joseph's cause for disgrace God's plan to save the world.

The world was in darkness.
But God sent the light of life to shine.

The lowly were imprisoned.
But Jesus set them free.

The blind wandered aimlessly.
But Christ gave them eyes to see.

The lame were rejected.
But through the Holy One they were made to leap and dance.

The deaf were confined to the silence.
But the song of life unstopped their ears.

The sorrowful grieved.
But God wipes away our tears.

We were alone.
But in Jesus Christ, Emmanuel, God is with us.

The people rejected God.
But God embraces us.

The world crucified Christ.
But God would not allow that to be the last word, and gave us the sure hope of the resurrection.

It is the most wonderful time of the year, not because you have to be cheery and happy and merry.

But because you don't.

You can have heavy spirits and shattered dreams. Broken hearts and deep wounds.

And still God comes to be with you.

To comfort you.

To redeem you.

To save you.

To restore you.

To empower you.

To strengthen you.

To grant you peace.

To be raised for you.

To hold you in the communion of saints with those whom you have loved and lost.

To store your tears in his bottle.

To offer you eternal life.

It is the most wonderful time of the year.
For Christ is born.
Love has come.
God is with us!
Thanks be to the Lord our God.

Amen

Please visit The Prayer List and pray with us.

Hope

This blessed time of year should bring abundant joy to all of our hearts. And yet, for some, it brings heartache and sorrow.

There are people mourning the loss of loved ones and dreading the first Christmas without them. Some are grieving over loss of relationship, loss of a job, loss of direction, a grim diagnosis.

There may be some that wonder if they will ever feel joy again.

Truth is, as long as we are living on this earth, we can be certain: joys and sorrows will come, often simultaneously. But in Christ, we have hope.

Hope that our hearts will heal. Our losses will be temporary. Our sorrow will turn to joy.

While we may grieve, praise God we do not grieve as those with no hope. We rejoice at the miracle that Christ came to earth to save His children. Calling to mind His perfect life, willing sacrifice, and the salvation secured by His resurrection is the only thing that can bring rejoicing during difficult times.

We have the confidence that God will wipe away every tear and bring a ray of hope into places of pain and darkness.

We can mourn, knowing we are blessed, because there is coming a time of eternal comfort.

“Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.” (Matthew 5:4)

Amen

Please visit The Prayer List and pray with us.

Christ with me

Christ with me,
Christ before me,
Christ behind me,
Christ in me,
Christ beneath me,
Christ on my right,
Christ on my left,
Christ when I lie down,
Christ when I sit down,
Christ when I arise,
Christ in the heart of every person who thinks of me,
Christ in the mouth of everyone who speaks of me,
Christ in every eye that sees me,
Christ in every ear that hears me,

I arise today
Through a mighty strength, the invocation of the trinity,
Through belief in the Threeness
Through confession of the Oneness
of the Creator of the creation.

Amen.

-Prayer of Saint Patrick

Please visit The Prayer List and pray with us.

A Promise Fulfilled

"Simeon took him in his arms and praised God, saying 'Sovereign Lord, as you have promised, you now dismiss your servant in peace, for my eyes have seen your salvation, which you have prepared in the sight of all people, a light for revelation to the Gentiles and for glory to your people Israel'. -Luke 2:28-32

Thank you for fulfilling the desire of Simeon's heart ~ not only did he see You, but he held You in his arms. And I thank You, Lord, that what Simeon waited a lifetime to see has been revealed for all who will open their eyes. You are the light of the world. You are the hope of salvation for all who believe. I love You. Amen.

image from googleimages.com prayer from Maranatha Worship Bible

Please visit The Prayer List and pray with us.

Timming

”But when the fullness of the time had come,

God sent forth His Son…..”

Galatians 4:4

Father we rejoice in the majesty and precision for your timing. Your time is always the right time, the appropriate time and the perfect time. We may wonder at what appears to be delays and yet at just the right moment, according to your plan, you took action and intervened in human affairs in the most dynamic way imaginable.

The greatest evidence of this is the birth of your Son and our Savior. We celebrate that unique and special day with great joy and public declaration as the Angel said: “¹⁰But the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. ¹¹Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord.” Luke 2:10-11 (NIV)

Father, what could possibly be better news than the Savior has come and through faith in Him our sins will be forgiven, our hope of heaven will be secure, and our life from day today will be more meaningful with purpose and peace. It was the day of days and one that will be looked on as a plan completed and a promise fulfilled.

Thank you Father that: “Christmas Time is Here”. Through Jesus our Lord, Amen.

Please visit The Prayer List and pray with us.