July 8 Prayer
There is a kindness from our savior Who calls us all by name His water falls on every seed To blossom forth once again Everything we receive Even given at birth is a seed freely received and a blossom freely given My life is as an unfinished painting Waiting to begin again So as I arrive this day In wonder My heart flows from his My hand will hold the paint brush His love will guide each stroke Oh may I be so willing To let his heart come forth In every mistake And retake Let his water of kindness and forgiveness Cover every sin I know I have not finished much Yet there’s power in surrender and his love will lead the way for my story has not ended Oh heaven is so near May I hold it ever dear This day a new beginning This day is freely mine to give May I use it wisely and kindly every gift given To freely give away Thanks be to God Amen DB Matt 10:8 July 7 Prayer
Matt.10:1-7 Jesus calls us out, calls our name, knows our name and everything about us. He knows where we are from and where we are going. He knows what we are made for and thus sends us out, to share his mission, to heal and proclaim the kingdom is near. Can you hear him call your name? Where are you looking for the kingdom to come? May we stop and notice where He is moving to pray; ‘Lord, we are listening, Whatever gets in the way of our hearing you call our name would you remove it? Clear the way of the debris of doubt and shame, all the excuses and blame. Let the seeds of your kingdom begin to germinate within us as the hindrances are removed. There is a place where you want to meet us today. May we have the attentiveness to see that place. May we listen well to your voice everywhere, in the whisper and in the shout. The kingdom is near! May we draw near to God in everything for this is what we are made for. Amen DB . July 6 Prayer
Gen.32:23-33 ‘Surely God is in this place.’ In the middle of a battle When I am left alone with questions unsolved with terrors in the night God becomes a man A power to reckon with Until a touch, and a wound transforms into a blessing. All those hard and difficult places Unfulfilled dreams Healings yet completed Struggles persist Do we persist in our wrestling, in our showing up? To find God face to face as the very one wrestling with us? Pause to ponder and pray; Lord, I want to know you and see you in this place Where I am right now To be able to show up,fully in how I am. In my weakness and my fears You work it out in me, this struggle to become a blessing. Show us your wondrous mercies. Your face of compassion and not judgment Only justice to love us beyond measure and let our wounds heal us. Help us to see ourselves as we see you In the fight. Face to face with our pain and our blame Let us see you In us. Let us see us as you see us through and through. No more hiding Let us rise up this morning to access your presence with a God encounter of grace. Face to face Surely God is in this place. Amen July 5 Prayer
Gen.28:10-17, 1Kings 19:12-15 Where is God? Is he here in this place and we do not even know it ? What are the obstacles that keep us from seeing him and hearing him? For Jacob it was his own self preoccupation and idols that kept him asleep. For Elijah it was his own burnout and self reliance that kept him back from recognizing God in the silence, and in the dark cave of waiting. “Surely the Lord is in this place.” There is a place that God desires to speak. He is the gift and promise of presence to be with us wherever we go. ‘He will not leave us until he does what he has promised.’ Pause and pray, breathing in the stillness and sacredness of the space you are in now. Lord, open our eyes and our hearts to look deeper into our inner knowing that you are here with us now. Remove the obstacles that keep us from hearing and from seeing you. May the silence be a quickening of a new awareness of your presence where we have not noticed you before even in our pain and our busyness. May we receive confirmation with every breath we breathe. May we know your voice and your plan will come forth and this place will become sacred as we walk in it. Knowing your goodness leads and your mercy follows wherever we go. Step into it now… His compassion and his way that leads to sacred spaces and sacred places so we may say, ‘Surely God is in this place.’ And we didn’t miss it. May He guide your feet into the path of peace this day! Amen DB July 2 Prayer
“Learn what this means, ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice.’ I have come to call sinners not the righteous.” Matt.9:9-13 These words from Jesus roll over and over in my mind. I know mercy is the better way but I find myself striving to be right, working to earn favor and looking to others for my affirmation. Mercy not sacrifice, Sinners not the righteous Master healer, a teacher to students A doctor to the sick Mercy, .. ‘so ready to forgive, so full of unfailing love for all who ask for your help.’ Ps.86:5 Pause here to pray; ‘Jesus, I am in need of you, I do not have it all figured out Heal me, disturb my present to better the future. Disturb me where I am self sufficient When I am not seeking truth and settle for things as they are Disturb me where I am too comfortable that I miss the needs of others May I see the state of my own heart when I come to you and ask for mercy So I may bear the image of your mercy to the world. May we know our belovedness as being chosen to belong as our flawed selves not by our own merits. When we see the flaws of others and are disturbed may we see with eyes of mercy how we can be a part of the change You, God, are desiring to bring. Show me where I am in need of your mercy today. Amen DB “To better the future , we must disturb the present.” Catherine Booth July 1 Prayer
‘Always, we begin again…’ A new month begins, a new season, an new beginning to pause and ponder and hear the Lord say, ‘Take heart, your sins are forgiven.’ Have courage, be brave, stand up and walk, Jesus tells the paralyzed one. What holds us back from walking this walk boldly? What keeps us frozen in our own shame, our own covertness? The healing comes through his forgiveness. The healing we walk out is through owning and naming our own failings and needs. For it is in our longings that we turn to hide where we fail. Let’s have the courage to name them and take the heart of Jesus, the heart of forgiveness. Praying, ‘Lord, show me my own hiding from you and help me to hear and know the words that set me free. Let us all know that in receiving mercy we are able to show mercy. Let us be children of light. May we not be wrapped in the darkness of blame and error but stand in the bright light of your truth. Wake up our hearts to forgiveness! Thank you for the freedom that you offer to us that we may proclaim your goodness to all, being confident to stand up and walk. ‘Always, we begin again.’ Amen DB Matt. 9:1-3, Ps.57 |