May 31 Prayer
God with us God upon us Holy Spirit comes like fire resting, as a dove descending Passion and compassion Fire to burn within Fire to burn outwards Oh Lord, Help me to find your presence in my life today, In the hidden unseen places of my soul. May I look for your coming, Your rushing wind around me and your peace within me. So I may be a resting place, So that I may I have your love to pour out with compassion upon the weak and strength in hard places. Help me to be a merciful companion to ones I serve. Christ be with us, Christ be upon us, Peace of Christ go before us all this day I pray, Amen Luke 1:39-56, Acts 2:1-4 DB May 29 Prayer
Saturday Slowdown Softly lay down your head upon the pillow Listen to the earth's sounds, the stillness in the aire. Sip, slowly another cup Letting grace rise up from the week behind To restore your soul before the week ahead. Take a pregnant pause to be. ‘Lord, may I love being where I am today and love another where they are, and see them for who they are.’ Amen DB May 28 Prayer
Lord, make my heart a house of prayer. When I exclude others in thought or actions, Lord, have mercy. When I withhold acceptance and love, Lord, have mercy. When I make others live up to my standards, Lord, have mercy. Bring your reign over my words, And make my heart a sacred space for You to dwell. Fill me with words of blessing to give Let me always remember that from the heart is the wellspring of life when I let you take over and reign there. Lord, may I be merciful today. In Jesus name! Amen Mark 11:15-18 DB May 27 Prayer
Look, and see, cry out for mercy. God longs for us to be eager enough to respond to what we hear. To do what the word says, to follow Jesus' voice to come. But we are blind in our memory, like James tells us we are when we look in the mirror and then immediately forget our own image. How can we dismiss our own image? If we have really seen, truly beheld ourselves there by the beloved who sees us as we really are, then we would never forget. When we do not take the time with the spirit of truth we easily miss the truth of who we are and are meant to be. He that knows us inside and out, He reveals the deepest secrets, No understanding does he lack, nothing escapes him, nothing is made in vain. Let us be like blind beggars eager enough to see and respond to follow Jesus. ‘Lord we cry out have mercy, we really do want to see again. We want to see where you are moving in our lives, where we need healing and let you touch us there. Lord we want to remember who we are and the word you have spoken to us. May we respond and act justly with others, speak out for what is true, to be loving and kind and always remember who we are in You. Keep us true to your word. ‘May we catch a glimpse of the revealed counsel of God, the free life, and stick to it!’ James 1:22-25, Mark 10:46-52, Sirach 42:15-25 DB May 26 Prayer
Exalt the Lord your God Remember his goodness Humbly accept the word planted in you, It will save you. Save you from yourself and cause you to find The goodness deep within you. Remember the hope that is there all along He planted it when things were hard When the ground became broken Enough for seeds to take root. Exalt the Lord your God For all goodness comes from him Learn to desire what He desires and lean into deeper listening From the heart and not from the flesh Pause and remember all the goodness in your life and pray; ‘Lord,You are worthy, You are holy, You are mighty! Save us from ourselves when we react in anger and let your word of goodness grow there. May we be firmly planted in you And pass on your goodness to the generations to come. We exalt you!’ May we look for His goodness and find it here. Let it blossom forth this day in us! Amen Ps.78, James 1:19-21 DB May 25 Prayer
Everything we have has been given to us by God. He is creating within us the attributes to be like Jesus. What pulls on your heartstrings? What is it that draws you in and stirs you to pray? Jesus is justice and we are his people that do not turn away from what is right but seek to do what is good. He hears the anguish of our souls and all that troubles us as we pray. We lift our eyes as we cry out on the behalf of others that have no voice. ‘Lord we do not give up on our prayers as wasted time for we know that the only way your kingdom will come to earth is if we Continue to pray. ‘Make justice your aim and learn to do good.’ Oh Lord, may we seek you with all our hearts and let you pull on them toward what is good and right and just. Deliver us from evil, For yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Come Holy Spirit, come, ignite within us the living flame of Your love. May it burn away all which does not reflect you. For you have given everything to us that we need to live like you. May we be one voice, one cry to love mercy, act justly and walk humbly as you heal us and make us your body here on earth. Pull on our heartstrings, Unravel us by what stirs in our hearts, By what we see and hear As we pray, Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done. Amen DB Is.1:16-17, Ps. 31:7, May 24 Prayer
“Behold your mother, Mother , behold your son.” There before the cross of suffering A mother, a son, a brother, a sister. A Spoken word of love To care for one another We can only love the world as we love the one before us, the one in our family, the one we so want to change. Mary responds freely to love in the midst of her suffering, To share in her suffering is to be able to enter another’s pain. Mary gave birth to Christ, the mother of the church. The church which is his body, ‘the fullness of the One who fills all things in every way.’ Pause here to wait and gaze upon the cross with John and Mary. Hear Jesus’s last words, his last gaze to his mother and his friends. “Behold your mother, behold your son.” ‘You, O Lord, are gracious and merciful to us. May we trust as Mary trusted you with her care and receive your peace. May our hearts be widened to hold the love and suffering of others. To be able to look upon their pain as our own and take it to your cross. May we be gracious and merciful to those closest to us. The ones we live with, our extended family we tend to judge. May we love and care for the ones most difficult to work with and find your cross there. Fill us with your fullness, the One who fills all things, fill us with your love. Enlighten our eyes and our hearts to behold one another. For it is in loving freely here that we will ever be able to love the world. Amen John 19:25-30,Eph.1:23 DB May 22 Prayer
Saturday slow down Sleep in a little longer until as you awaken there is a stirring And the wind, gentle or strong is beginning to come. In the silent waiting Anticipating a promise long ago To see it come Let it rise within you A hope once again A pronounced yes! The Holy Spirit , His spirit to anoints you giving you the security and ate a seal upon you for what is more to come. Yes! His yes in you is the promise. So stop comparing yourself to others and let his power fill you to choose the yes to the kingdom in you. Surrender to love and find God in everything. Give thanks for who you are right now and know your worth is in Christ alone and so is your fate. Return to rest in the silent waiting for the promise and see that It is already here. ‘Thank you, dear Jesus for your precious Spirit given to us. May we take flight with you having a hope in heaven with unfailing strength to wait.’ Amen 2Cor. 1:18-22, Acts 1:5 DB May 21 Prayer
“Lord, you know everything!” You know how much I love you…. Jesus asked Peter again and again if he loved him even though he knows everything. He needs us to tell to name what we feel Name what we believe until it becomes real Until what we believe becomes how we live. And how we love. Do we love him? Are we nurturing and caring for the ones he gives us? Pause here to pray; Oh Lord, you know that I love you Help me to know it too In how I speak and how I think toward the ones in my care. My family and my friends, My neighbor, and The one that goes unnoticed. Oh Lord, may I love thee With my whole being, With my whole heart and within my daily encounters. May this prayer become more than words, more than desire but as you desire to love in your name. May we receive your blessing from your hands that reached out in love to us as you were lifted high up into the heavens. May your hands become our hands today. Hands to heal and hands to forgive, Hands to nurture, to serve and offer peace. By the power of the resurrection we pray in Christ’s lovely name. Amen Jn.21:15-19, Deut.6:4-9, Lk.24:50-53 DB May 20 Prayer
“Show me the right path, O Lord; point out the road for me to follow. Lead me by your truth and teach me, for you are the God who saves me. All day long I put my hope in you….and you will show me the path to choose.” Psalms 25:4-5,12 …”the last of a human's freedoms is the ability to choose one's attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one’s own way, we can always choose how we respond.” * Viktor Frankl Pause and ponder what it means for you to choose… Prayer; ‘Lord, you have given us the greatest freedom in the ability to choose. It can feel overwhelming at times, the power to choose. But we are not alone in our choice for your Holy Spirit is with us to guide and direct our path. Today I choose to rest in knowing you are my friend. I take your hand in mine to guide me in the tasks that are before me today. I rest in knowing your grace and strength is enough to fill my mouth with words of hope and my hands to give generously to others. Today, I choose to stop living in the past and old ways of thinking and I chose to live in the right now. I will choose how I will respond today as your friend, reflecting your love and mercy to those I meet. Thank you dear gracious Lord, for you have saved me and have redeemed the world. I lift my eyes in wonder to the risen Christ that is risen in me. All glory be! Amen Psalm 25, Acts 1:10 DB |