Daily Prayer

for grace to stand

Father,

We ask You to reveal your truth to us.
Let it be as a strong belt carrying the tools of your kingdom.

Grant us a loving zeal as we witness to your presence in our lives.
May our shoes help us to walk in the ways of peace and love.

Guard our hearts with your righteousness, as a strong breastplate.
And let the hope of salvation be as a helmet for our head.

Teach us to take up faith, as a shield, that we might resist temptation.
And let your words be a spiritual sword to defeat the enemies of our soul.

Help us to be zealous for the things of your Spirit.
And grant us grace, that we might stand against evil.

Amen.

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to be bound together with love

O God, we are one with you. You have made us one with you. You have taught us that if we are open to one another, you dwell in us. Help us to preserve this openness and to fight for it with all our hearts. Help us to realize that there can be no understanding where there is mutual rejection.

O God, in accepting one another wholeheartedly, fully, completely, we accept you, and we thank you, and we adore you, and we love you with our whole being, because our being is your being, our spirit is rooted in your spirit.

Fill us then with love, and let us be bound together with love as we go our diverse ways, united in this one spirit which makes you present in the world, and which makes you witness to the ultimate reality that is love. Love has overcome. Love is victorious. Amen.

- Thomas Merton

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give us your peace

God, who is more than we can ever comprehend,
help us to seek you, and you alone.

Help us to stand before all that we could do
and seek what you would do, and do that.

Lift from us our need to achieve all that we can be
and instead, surrender to what you can be in us.

Give us ways to refrain from the busyness
that will put us on edge and off center.

Give us your peace. Amen.

- Author Unknown

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when we are worried

Lord, please put Your peace in my heart.

I'm worried and anxious.

My mind races and obsesses.

I can't help thinking about my problems.

And the more I think about them, the more depressed I become.

I feel like I'm sinking down in quicksand and can't get out.

Calm me, Lord.

Slow me down, put Your peace in my heart.

Amen.

-Author Unknown

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a prayer of repentance

Father, I have sinned against you
and am not worthy to be called your child.
Be merciful to me, a sinner.

Father of mercy, like the prodigal son I return to you and say:
"I have sinned against you
and am no longer worthy to be called your son."

Christ Jesus, savior of the world,
I pray with the repentant thief to whom you promised paradise:
"Lord, remember me in your kingdom."

Holy Spirit, fountain of love,
I call on you with trust:
"Purify my heart, and help me to walk as a child of the light."

Amen

- from the Book of Luke

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I come to you as Your righteous child knowing that You are my only hope for living life. You promised You would never leave me nor forsake me. Some days are difficult to navigate with all the thoughts racing through my mind. But I know you are there to release me from this bondage as I surrender them to You. You said to cast all my cares upon You so I choose to do that knowing You will give me peace as I walk through to victory. Help me to keep my eyes on you moment by moment.

Father God, my Creator, my Redeemer, my Guide, and my Friend. You are my compass during the storms of life. In You I have hope and an anchor for my soul. Hope to give me the strength, courage, and faith that with and through You, I can weather any storm. You know everything about me. You know my hopes and desires, my fears and my doubts.

You even know every single hair on my head. How can I doubt your care for me, Father God?

Lord, I pray for peace in my soul. Let me feel your loving arms around me. You are the God of hope and in Thee, I rest. In Jesus’s holy and righteous Name, Amen.

Amen

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a prayer for character

Father, help us to live in a way that feeds our inner self.

Bring light into our hearts as we read and study the scriptures.

May we be filled with love, joy, peace, patience, and all manner of grace.

Give us mercy that we might be inwardly strong and outwardly humble.

We pray to be transformed into the image of your Son.

In his name we pray and say amen

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a blessing for peace

May today there be peace within.

May you trust your highest power that you are exactly where you are meant to be.

May you not forget the infinite possibilities that are born of faith.

May you use those gifts that you have received, and pass on the love that has been given to you.

May you be content knowing you are a child of God.

Let this presence settle into your bones, and allow your soul the freedom to sing, dance.

It is there for each and every one of you.

Amen.

— Teresa of Ávila

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a prayer of thanks for our friends

Dear Lord,

I give thanks for my friends ...
for connection and laughter,
for comfort and strength,
for encouragement and unity,
for forgiveness and grace,
for celebration and joy.
They are so many beautiful things to me.

A rich tapestry of blessings, woven through my life.

Thank you.

Amen.

— Author Unknown

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to trust more and worry less

Dear Father,

I admit that I often forget that you are with me.
I often forget what you’re like.
Would you please forgive me for that?

I need to get to know you better.
I need to get to know your Word and your promises better.
Help me to put you first in every area of my life.

Help me to live one day at a time.
Help me to not worry about tomorrow but instead focus on what you’re doing in my life right now.

I want to trust in your promise to take care of every one of my needs — financial, relational, physical, social, spiritual, and emotional.

Help me to trust you more and worry less.

I pray in Jesus’ name, Amen.

— Rick Warren

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when our heart is breaking

Lord, please heal my broken heart.

Fill me with the peace and joy I know can only come from You.

Help me during this hard time.

Walk closely beside me during my journey to healing and recovery.

I know that it is possible through Your power and grace.

In Jesus' Name, Amen.

— Author Unknown

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He is God!

LORD GOD,

Today, give us a new understanding and a new vision of just how mighty and powerful and big You are!!

Help us to see that You are bigger than all our trials and tribulations. Bigger than all our difficult situations and hard circumstances.

Help us to see that nothing is impossible for You.

Help us to see You in all Your Glory and Power and Might.

Open our eyes to the truth of who You are.

Amen

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a prayer of lament

From Psalm 8

By day the Lord directs his love,

at night his song is with me—

a prayer to the God of my life.

I say to God my Rock,

“Why have you forgotten me?

Why must I go about mourning,

oppressed by the enemy?”

My bones suffer mortal agony

as my foes taunt me, saying to me all day long,

“Where is your God?”

Why, my soul, are you downcast?

Why so disturbed within me?

Put your hope in God,

for I will yet praise him,

my Savior and my God.

Amen

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standing in the need of prayer

Prayer was a wellspring of strength and inspiration during the Civil Rights Movement. Throughout the movement, we prayed for greater human understanding. We prayed for the safety of our compatriots in the freedom struggle. We prayed for victory in our nonviolent protests, for brotherhood and sisterhood among people of all races, for reconciliation and the fulfillment of the Beloved Community.

For my husband, Martin Luther King, Jr. prayer was a daily source of courage and strength that gave him the ability to carry on in even the darkest hours of our struggle.

I remember one very difficult day when he came home bone-weary from the stress that came with his leadership of the Montgomery Bus Boycott. In the middle of that night, he was awakened by a threatening and abusive phone call, one of many we received throughout the movement. On this particular occasion, however, Martin had had enough.

After the call, he got up from bed and made himself some coffee. He began to worry about his family, and all of the burdens that came with our movement weighed heavily on his soul. With his head in his hands, Martin bowed over the kitchen table and prayed aloud to God:

"Lord, I am taking a stand for what I believe is right. The people are looking to me for leadership, and if I stand before them without strength and courage, they will falter. I am at the end of my powers. I have nothing left. I have nothing left. I have come to the point where I can't face it alone."

Later he told me, "At that moment, I experienced the presence of the Divine as I had never experienced Him before. It seemed as though I could hear a voice saying: 'Stand up for righteousness; stand up for truth; and God will be at our side forever.'" When Martin stood up from the table, he was imbued with a new sense of confidence, and he was ready to face anything.

--Coretta Scott King from "Standing in the Need of Prayer"

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