God, Thou Art Love

 

GOD THOU ART LOVE

If I forget,
Yet God remembers! If these hands of mine
Cease from their clinging, yet the hands divine
Hold me so firmly that I cannot fall;
And if sometimes I am too tired to call
For Him to help me, then He reads the prayer
Unspoken in my heart, and lifts my care.

I dare not fear, since certainly I know
That I am in God’s keeping, shielded so
From all that else would harm, and in the hour
Of stern temptation strengthened by His power;
I tread no path in life to Him unknown;
I lift no burden, bear no pain, alone:
My soul a calm, sure hiding-place has found:
The everlasting arms my life surround.

God, Thou art love! I build my faith on that.
I know Thee who has kept my path, and made
Light for me in the darkness, tempering sorrow
So that it reached me like a solemn joy;
It were too strange that I should doubt Thy love.
by Robert Browning

Dear Lord

 

Dear Lord, I thank you for this day. 

I thank You for my being able to see and to hear this morning. I'm blessed because You are a forgiving God and an understanding God. You have done so much for me and You keep on blessing me. Forgive me this day for everything I have done, said or thought that was not pleasing to you. I ask now for Your forgiveness.

Please keep me safe from all danger and harm. Help me to start this day with a new attitude and plenty of gratitude. Let me make the best of each and every day to clear my mind so that I can hear from You.

Please broaden my mind that I can accept all things.

Let me not whine and whimper over things I have no control over. Let me continue to see sin through God's eyes and acknowledge it as evil. And when I sin, let me repent, and confess with my mouth my wrongdoing, and receive the forgiveness of God.

And when this world closes in on me, let me remember Jesus' example -- to slip away and find a quiet place to pray. It's the best response when I'm pushed beyond my limits. I know that when I can't pray, You listen to my heart. Continue to use me to do Your will.

Continue to bless me that I may be a blessing to others. Keep me strong that I may help the weak. Keep me uplifted that I may have words of encouragement for others. I pray for those who are lost and can't find their way. I pray for those who are misjudged and misunderstood. I pray for those who don't know You intimately. I pray for those who are afraid to share their faith and love of you with others. I pray for those who don't believe. But I thank you that I believe.

I believe that God changes people and God changes things. I pray for all my sisters and brothers. For each and every family member in their households. I pray for peace, love and joy in their homes. I pray that they are out of debt, both materially and spiritually, and all their needs are met through you.

I pray that every eye that reads this knows there is no problem, circumstance, or situation greater than God. Every battle is in Your hands for You to fight. I pray that these words be received into the hearts of every eye that sees them and every mouth that confesses them willingly.

This is my prayer.

In Jesus' Name, Amen.

A Prayer For My Children

A Wedding Prayer- Marisa & Ben- 10-16-2017

 

Heavenly Father and Great God,

We thank you that your hand and your will has guided and led us to this day. We gather to celebrate the love and commitment of Marisa and Ben, as they share their first meal together as husband and wife.

We pray that you will give Your Holy blessing today upon their marriage, and ask that You continue to bless them with Your love and mercy throughout their lives together.

We ask that you bless this food, and pray it be the  first of many loving meals they share together with their family and friends, and we ask that Marisa and Ben will always be blessed by Your amazing grace.

We thank you that we may come before you to pray and ask these things  in the sweet name of your son Jesus through whom we are granted our salvation. Amen

For Aunt Angie

Jesus, The Great Physician

A physician will ask you how you feel and what your symptoms are;
The Great Physician knows how you feel
           and understands what you are going through.

A physician will have you come to the office;
The Great Physician will stay with you and never leave your side.

A physician will show professional concern for you.
The Great Physician will show you true compassion.

A physician will treat you with the best medicine available;
The Great Physician will treat you with the riches of His grace.

A physician will follow your progress with periodic visits;
The Great Physician will keep you in His constant care.

A physician will send you a bill for services rendered;
The Great Physician does His work without charge.

A physician tries his very best to help you;
The Great Physician assures you that your life couldn't be in better hands!

Prayer For Today

God, please give me a heart that can hold all of the good things in life:

a heart with compassion and kindness, with gentleness and patience,

and a heart that is open to spontaneity and joy.

Please form in me a heart that listens to all of your messages of love;

one that trusts, always looking for the goodness hidden in others;

one that will readily share the gifts you have given,

and one that can hope beyond difficulties.

Grant me a peaceful heart that will hold on to the real values in life

so that I can respond with assurance to what is important;

give me a heart that is grounded in love rather than fear;

one that is open to the needs of others

and will reach out with sincerity.

Please God, give me a heart filled with your Spirit. Amen.

I Pray You Enough

To my children, I pray you enough! Love, Mom

  I pray you enough sun to keep your attitude bright no matter how gray the day may appear.

  I pray you enough rain to appreciate the sun even more. 

I pray you enough happiness to keep your spirit alive and everlasting. 

 I pray you enough pain so that even the smallest of joys in life may appear bigger.

 I pray you enough gain to satisfy your wanting. 

I pray you enough loss to appreciate all that you possess.

 I pray you enough hellos to get you through the final good-bye.

Kansas House Prayer- The House of Representatives that is...

House Prayer

This event actually happened in the Kansas Legislative House of Representatives in Topeka on January 23, 1996.    Rev. Joe Wright is the pastor of Central Christian Church in Wichita and was guest chaplain that day.  He prayed a prayer of repentance that was written by Bob Russell, pastor of  Southeast Christian Church in Louisville, Kentucky. According to an article in the Kansas City Star from January 24, 1996, as he was asked to open the new session of the Kansas Senate, everyone was expecting the usual generalities, but this is what they heard instead. His prayer stirred controversy and one member of the legislative body actually walked out.  Others criticized the prayer.  The controversy didn't end there.  Later that year in the Colorado House, Republican representative Mark Paschall angered lawmakers by using Joe Wright's prayer as the invocation.  Some members there also walked out in protest.  

With the Lord's help, may this prayer sweep over our nation and wholeheartedly become our desire so that we again can be called one nation under God.

 “Heavenly Father, we come before you today to ask Your forgiveness and to seek Your direction and guidance.

We know Your Word says, “Woe to those who call evil good” but that is exactly what we have done.
We have lost our spiritual equilibrium and reversed our values.
We confess that.
We have ridiculed the absolute truth of Your Word and called it Pluralism;
We have worshiped other gods and called it multiculturalism;
We have endorsed perversion and called it alternative lifestyle;
We have exploited the poor and called it the lottery;
We have rewarded laziness and called it welfare;
We have killed our unborn and called it choice;
We have shot abortionists and called it justifiable;
We have neglected to discipline our children and called it building self-esteem;
We have abused power and called it politics;
We have coveted our neighbor's possessions and called it ambition;
We have polluted the air with profanity and pornography and called it freedom of expression;
We have ridiculed the time-honored values of our forefathers and called it enlightenment.
Search us, Oh, God, and know our hearts today; cleanse us from every sin and set us free.
Guide and bless these men and women who have been sent to direct us to the center of Your will, to openly ask it in the name of Your Son, the living Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen”.

Prayer...God Has Perfect Timing

God has perfect timing.Never early, never late.

It takes alittle patience and faith, but it's worth the wait.

Serenity Prayer- Have you ever read the rest of it?

   This is one of my favorite prayers from one of my favorite movies, Billy Jack which starred Tom Laughlin back in 1971.  In the movie, it's recited by the lead female character, Jean Roberts as Martin mistakenly credits the Serenity Prayer to St. Francis of Assisi. However, St. Francis did not write it. It is frequently quoted but rarely credited or cited in it’s entirety. 
   
    According to Wikipedia it is most well known today as the serenity prayer, used by Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) since 1941 and common to many other 12 step programs. The prayer was also printed on small cards and circulated to soldiers in the Armed Forces.

   Here is the complete prayer by Reinhold Niebuhr wrote the prayer for use in a sermon, perhaps as early as 1934.

Serenity Prayer by Reinhold Niebuhr (1892-1971) 

God, give us grace to accept with serenity

the things that cannot be changed,

Courage to change the things

which should be changed,

and the Wisdom to distinguish

the one from the other.

Living one day at a time,

Enjoying one moment at a time,

Accepting hardship as a pathway to peace,

Taking, as Jesus did,

This sinful world as it is,

Not as I would have it,

Trusting that You will make all things right

If I surrender to Your will,

So that I may be reasonably happy in this life,

And supremely happy with You forever in the next.

Amen.

As I was researching this prayer I came upon the following:
God grant me the serenity to accept the people I cannot change, the courage to change the only person I can, and the wisdom to know that person is me." - Author Unknown.  
I like it.