If you can’t or don’t go to church, sit back, relax and enjoy this beautiful musical journey with Celine Dion and Andrea Bocelli. This is my prayer for you. Happy Sunday.
Tag Archives: prayer
A Saturday Prayer
Some of us don’t always have the energy we need to fulfill the tasks set before us, and some of us become spiritually depleted. Even a weekend doesn’t seem to energize us. Here is a prayer from Norman Vincent Peale which I may have posted before but is always helpful. Happy Saturday.
A Prayer for Energy
Dear Lord, I need more energy and strength. I seem drained and tired and do not seem to possess what it takes to do all that I must do. I know that the wrong kind of thoughts can make one tired. Change my thoughts that they may be in harmony with your power.
To Sing or Not to Sing
We may have a scratchy voice or sing off key, but through song and prayer we can express our adoration to almighty God. (Our Daily Bread, October 2001). Here is a song by Boney M about Psalm 137:1. Happy Sunday.
God’s Prayer to Us
Have you ever thought of a prayer roll reversal? What if God sent a prayer to us? Yesterday, I wondered what God would say to us in a prayer. Here’s what I came up with:
My Earthly People
I have been watching your troubled world for quite some time now and pray that you would take these few suggestions as to how you might turn things around.
Your environment is in big trouble. It is going to take more than demonstrations to set it right. It is going to take all world leaders, not just a few, to acknowledge the problem and make intelligent decisions. It is also going to take the world population as a whole to do their part. I pray that all of you will take the necessary steps to save your planet.
Your love for one another is sadly lacking. This is obvious from the wars, terrorism, senseless killings, starvation and disease that plague your world. People who love each other do not tolerate this behavior, and, once again, would make intelligent decisions to rectify these situations. I pray that you would do all in your power (and mine) to recognize and eradicate such behavior.
Your daily lives are sadly lacking in love and respect, not only for each other, but for yourselves. You have been taught love from the moment of birth and somewhere along life’s path have either abandoned, forgotten, or ignored this love…not in all cases, but in many. Husbands and wives break their vows, parents pit children against one another, children come to believe that life is all about them, governments forget that they are elected for the betterment of the people, not the detriment.
You are my people and I want only the very best for you. I gave you free will, hoping you would use it wisely. Some of you have willingly and lovingly accepted me; others have deliberately denied my very existence.
It is my prayer that you will open your minds and hearts, and use your intelligence as intended.
You are my children and I love you dearly. Please hear my prayer.
Your Heavenly Father.
Living With Pain
Pain, whether physical, emotional or psychological, can be debilitating to those who suffer it constantly. Life is full of pain but there are ways of tolerating it or overcoming it, if not eliminating it completely. Below are a couple of prayers, quotes, scriptures, that I have found helpful over the years; especially The Great I Am prayer. Along with good medical treatment and continuous searching for cures, may the following be helpful to those who are in the grip of pain on a daily basis.
Prayer for pain to vanish
Dear God
I know only you can help this pain vanish away. I plead for peace and serenity as I fight off the pain I am feeling. Send your hand down to me and fill me with your strength. I cannot take this pain any longer without your help! Release me from this hold and restore me. I trust in You to give me the strength to get through this. I pray that the pain will be gone! It will not hold me down because I have the Lord on my side.
Amen
Jesus Christ, the Great I Am, have mercy on me. I have found this one-line prayer to be hugely beneficial when repeated several times in succession.
“It has been said, ‘time heals all wounds.’ I do not agree. The wounds remain. In time, the mind, protecting its sanity, covers them with scar tissue and the pain lessens. But it is never gone.” ― Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy
Is anyone among you sick? Let them call the elders of the church to pray over them and anoint them with oil in the name of the Lord. James 5:14 (NIV)…(I would add to the opening sentence, “or in pain?”)
There are many ways to deal with the pain in our lives and sometimes we just need to be made aware of the spiritual help that is available. Pills are good…Power is better. Be healed.
A Family Day Prayer
Sometimes certain prayers will resonate with us more than others. Our associate pastor, Monica McClure, gave such a prayer yesterday and I’d like to share it with you, with her permission. It not only touches on Family Day but our world issues which certainly need much prayer.
Prayers of the People
Abba Father, As a people who dwell in the shelter of the Most high, we praise you for being our refuge. Lord, there is safety for us in the shelter of your wings. We thank you for our mountain top experiences of your grace which have strengthened our faith and given us hope for the future.
As we continue to walk with you on life’s journeys…through the valleys as well as on the mountain tops…draw near to us so that that we might dwell forever in your presence.
Generous God, you have blessed us with life. You have placed us in families giving us a place to call home.
On this family day weekend we think about our own families. We thank you for our parents who gave us life, our family members who have shared and enriched our lives and with whom we share many memories…
We thank you Heavenly Father for setting the solitary in families. But, we are also mindful that for some of us the word “Family” brings mixed emotions or heartache…some of us have experienced much pain within our family relationships…People who should have loved us and cared for us have failed us…Some of us feel the pain of abandonment, of abuse, of neglect…of heartbreaking loss, the pain of disappointed hopes and missed expectations, the pain of alienation from loved ones. Have mercy on us Lord, and minister to us your healing grace even in the messiness of our family relationships.
Father, today we pray for those who long to be married and have their own children…for childless couples who long to be parents…hear and answer the desires and prayers of their hearts. We pray for those that are in the midst of parenting infants, children, and young people. Give them wisdom, courage and stamina in raising their children to be well-adjusted citizens of the world, with a real desire to love and serve you.
We thank you for our St. Andrew’s church family today…another family to which we belong…one branch of the body of Christ…with almost 200 years of family history! Remind us of our commitment as a church to provide for and participate in the spiritual nurture of our children and young people. Continue to bless us, encourage us and keep us faithful to your call to share the good news of Jesus with everyone.
Prince of Peace, we continue to lift up the needs of our own broken world in the turmoil that surrounds us…We ask you to give wisdom, discernment and courage to elected representatives in government. We pray for people who are very anxious about what the future holds for them. For those who feel powerless to effect decisions that will have a direct impact on their lives. Remind us, that although we do not know what the future holds we know that you hold the future…and give us your peace. In Jesus’ name we pray. AMEN
Pastor Monica McClure
St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church Scarborough
February 19th, 2017
A Wednesday Prayer
For those caught up in the last days of Christmas shopping and preparations…and those whose Christmas will be tinged with sadness…and those facing difficult decisions…
Cardinal Cottage photo
On Being Aware
One day I said to God,
“Please make me more aware.”
And in that instant,
watched a sparrow eat an insect
in mid-air.
The Time Had Come
It was 11:56 a.m. on October 26th, 1996 that I stubbed out a stinking cigarette and told myself once again how much I hated this abominable habit. I walked out to the deck to get a breath of fresh air before making lunch.
The stairs collapsed and took me with them. My cries for help brought my neighbor, Sheila, running to my rescue. After one look at my ashen face and peculiarly angled left arm and leg, she called an ambulance.
The heel bone was broken away from the Achilles tendon in my left foot and my left wrist was fractured.
“Nasty break,” said the orthopedic surgeon. “It will be a long time before you’ll walk again.” “We’ll have you in surgery as soon as possible.”
“Can I have a cigarette?” I asked longingly.
“NO!” he yelled at me, glaring over his shoulder as he left the room.
“No smoking!”
Surgery left me bed-ridden, fitted with casts and slings in a non-smoking hospital for five days.
“Mom, you look so miserable,” said my son, Kelly, on one of his frequent visits.
“I need a smoke,” I moaned.
“I’ll take you outside for a puff”.
He had always detested my smoking.
“Do I look like I can walk outside?” I grumped.
“Mom, I’ll get a wheel chair.” He was so patient.
“I don’t have any cigarettes,” I whined.
“I’ll go across to the store and get you some.”
I stared at this handsome young man who had pleaded with me to quit smoking for at least 22 of his 29 years, always gently reminding me, “Mom, it’s not good for you.”
And here he was offering to buy me cigarettes, take me out in a wheelchair to smoke them and stand by in the cold night air watching me indulge my wretched habit.
As I looked at the love and empathy on his face I felt deep down in my soul that now was my time to quit.
I often wonder how many angels it took to knock those stairs out from under me when God took me up on my prayer to suffer anything to quit smoking. The time had come.
(This is an excerpt from my book My Precious Life; it seemed a perfect fit for day fourteen of the #everydayinspiration assignment on WordPress, to write about an hour or day event in my life.)
Man in Church Haiku
Prayer was answered
when he took time to listen
in stony silence
My Precious Life 