“It is time to seek the Lord”
Hosea 10:12, Proverbs 3:1-10 When is it time to seek the Lord? When things are right or have gone wrong ? Settle your spirit to be fully present to God this day to seek him right where you are with what is in your heart. Here is my prayer as I seek him. May this be a blessing over you as you pray. Pause a moment to be still as you seek him. “I seek you Lord Where I am In my understanding And in my questioning I seek you Lord In my heart break And in my longing I seek you in my waking And in my dreaming I seek you Lord To remain with you In your love That is loyal, faithful and true I seek you Where there is plenty May I give thanks Where there is lack and confusion May I trust in your words To straighten my path May I ever be mindful of your working in me With every increase you give May I honor you with my very best being And in every dimension of my life May I overflow with the blessings of uncontainable joy For everything comes from your gracious hands The fountain of life that never runs dry! I seek you Lord~” All glory be to the Father , the Son and the Holy Spirit! Amen May you each receive his blessing through this prayer over you today. “I will be like a shepherd looking for his scattered flock. I will find my sheep and rescue them from all the places where they were scattered on that dark and cloudy day.”
Ezekiel 34:12 NLT Lord we come to you in a scattered place and ask for you to calm us now. Let every weight and worry be cast far away from our souls . We breathe in your loving care for us and feel your healing hand placed upon our heads. We receive your anointing to walk the road of peace today. To believe that what we ask we shall receive To be able to take one step at a time. Knowing that your spirit goes ahead of us and follows behind us. There is no place that we can go that you are not there. No place that we can fall that you will not pick us up and rescue us from the day of dark clouds. We place ourselves in your vast pastures where we can rest a while. Let you bind up the injured and heal the sick. Shepherding God you are our safety and refuge In trust we pray Lead us along your everlasting way Of love and grace Enfold and warmly embrace all those who are grieving and struggling today and give peace to their hearts. In the name of our beautiful lord Jesus we pray, Amen As I settle into a quiet place of prayer I stop and think of all the ways God has been faithful to me.
How everyday I wake up to the constancy of the sun rising and the sun going down . The seas waves and the ebb and flow of the tides The sureness of the solid ground to walk on And the multitude of faithful friends and family that are there for me There is a place of rest when you know you are loved, When you know that there is a God that calls you beloved not a slave bound in captivity. He calls you beloved, His very own people. Let this thought roll over you afresh today, sit awaiting this knowing inside of you. God is offering us a way to live in freedom. He frees us from our captivity . What thoughts and restrictions holds you captive today ? Sadness , disappointments, future dreads,.....? We hold all these thoughts up to our beloved who is constant and faithful in every way. When the ground is dry and the earth cries out in thirst he is there to water it with rain. He is the one who plants . Let him plant hope in you today to live out your faith with the faithful one . The beloved who call you his own. Pause here to allow and accept all the grace and freedom he longs to give you . God, our beloved faithful friend and lover, We accept this gift of love from you and give you our hearts to mold and shape into new living plants that will grow and bear the fruit of love . Here we are, your church . Make us a great body of people that know you and know who we are, the beloved ones. We are so grateful for all you have given us. Now make your name known to all of those who wander in the wilderness of fear and captivity . May we be the ones to offer your hand of freedom. May we walk freely in the knowledge of being loved so we may love more freely. We cry out together for our earth to be restored and healed by your faithful hand. As the waters cover the earth let everything give you praise and answer your creative call. Amen John 20:24-29
“My Lord and my God” Enter prayer now with taking a breath as if this is the breath of God breathing peace and hope into you. Let it bubble up inside you, this hope of Christ’s resurrected life in you. This world is not our home , we are only passing through. What are you so attached to that you can not let it go long enough to loosen the tight hold on your life here? Thomas was not convinced that his beloved Christ could be alive until he saw him with his own eyes. Jesus in his understanding and compassion allows Thomas to actually put his finger and hands into Christ’s open wounds. That’s vulnerability and power for both of them. Sit with this image for a little while in your imagination and be with Jesus there. What hopes deferred do you need to release to him now? What are you holding unto that is too tight? Release them into his open wounds and let the spark of new life come in. As you breathe in again this time feel a new life and hope begin to grow inside of you. As if the resurrected Christ lives in you As if you believe As if this is your last breath As if the miracle of the resurrection is real and you believe life can come from death As if.. As if.. Something new is emerging from the old dark world of suffering, poverty, hunger and loss His wounds open up to bring a hope that is heavenly, other worldly and is yours. Hope As is Faith Here, now in you, in me, in this world We are only passing through. We cry out together , “My Lord, and My God.” “May the grace of our lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all.” 2 Cor.13:14 God is our refuge and strength, an ever present help in time of distress. Psalm 46:2
All day long I put my hope in You . Ps.25 Pause and put all the troubles of the world and all of your distresses into the hands of God . “Peace, peace to the far and near , says the Lord and I will heal them.” Is.57:19 God of peace, in Jesus you free us of fear, sin, and death. In faith and hope we pray Liberating God, who hears our prayer. Inspire our leaders and all peoples to a greater vision for justice the bears the fruit of love and peace. Protect all those who safeguard our freedoms. We ask that your peace would heal our land. Instruct and guide us by the light of your Holy Spirit to be makers of peace through Jesus our peace. May the river of life flow out from us into the world trusting in you, our God to be our help and hope in times of trouble. Thank you for your ever present peace available to us this day. Amen Come to Jesus with whatever burden you are carrying and lay it down before him.
Sit and be still enough to hear his voice speaking to you right where you are. “Take courage, Son/Daughter, your sins are forgiven. Stand up, take your mat and go back home.” Matt.9 This story of the paralytic being carried by his friends to Jesus always astounds me. First the very words of Jesus are directed to the man being carried. He saw and recognized the faith of the friends carrying the man. It was their courage that brought him there to receive a touch from Jesus. Imagine you being the one that is carried and what thoughts and feelings might be coming up in you? How long have you been stuck in this bed, discouraged without seeing any change or hope for healing in your body. Being a burden to your friends. It must have been so humbling to have to depend on others to carry you, and help you. Jesus calls him son, and then exhorts him to take a hold of courage and receive forgiveness. What did he need courage for? To believe he was forgiven for all that is past, his faults and failings being carried to the cross, the one who bears all burdens. Then he is healed and told to stand up, take the very mat he was stuck on all these years and walk on home. Take a pause here and sense what that may have been like to act in faith upon the very words of a man you really didn’t know yet. And he did it! He stood up, took the mat and walked back home. What do you need courage for today? What is Jesus asking you to take up , stand in faith for and walk back home? Pause here to listen then pray, “Jesus, healer of all our past, present and future failings, we choose to trust in the love and compassion you have for us right where we are today. You see where we need to take courage and believe that there's a new path ahead for us to walk on. In so doing we walk into new freedoms of belonging, knowing and being who we were called to be. Help us and guide us this day to stand up in faith and believe what you say. Let us follow the way you have made for us to come home. Our true place of being which we call home. As we are forgiven and free, may we act willingly to forgive the ones who will wrong us on the way and offer them the same grace and freedom you give to us. May we have the strength to carry the burden of a brother or sister and bring them to Jesus. Let us take courage and believe in you today. All glory be to your name, Jesus! We pray.” Amen “ Let justice roll down like waters, and righteousness like an everflowing stream.” Amos 5
Bless the Lord of righteousness and exalt the kings of ages! The psalmist prays. Who is this king of glory, the Lord strong and mighty? Take a breath, a deep breath and feel all the judgments and wrongs flow far from you as you exhale. Breathe in The God of love, rightness and mercy like an ever flowing stream. Stay here a while.... We pray , “”Lord, we sometimes are confused about your righteousness and justice in the world. We long for everything to be put right and pray for peace and harmony in our world but see so very little of it around us. You tell us that you are the lord of righteousness and mercy and you will turn toward those whose hearts and souls are right with you. So here we are asking you to examine our hearts. This is a vulnerable place to be standing, yet we know that your love and mercy is waiting for us, for all who turn back to you. We confess our judgments towards others close to us and those we do not even know. Give us merciful hearts and the ability to discern what we allow to come into the gates of our souls. What is right and just and true we receive from you. Thank you, O wonderful and faithful Father , Holy Spirit who leads us into the waterfall of your grace. May we be filled today with your everflowing stream of righteousness towards all. In the beautiful name of Jesus we proclaim your goodness.” Amen |