Sept 7 Prayer
“Satisfy us in the morning with your steadfast love; so that we may rejoice and be glad all our days.’ Ps.90:14 O’ People, bless our God. Let our voice of praise resound to the God who gave life to our souls and kept our feet from stumbling. You put a leader over our heads and we went through fire and floods, but then you brought us to a place of plenty. To the lord I cried out and God truly listened. He has heeded the voice of my prayer. He did not withhold his unfailing love from me.’ Ps.66 Today I awake in the midst of fires and floods, smokey skies and talking seas. All over the world there are people crying out to God in prayer. Although so many of our churches are unable to meet in buildings we can still become a house of prayer. God always hears our cries when we are humble and needy. We remember all the times that God has provided all that we needed. We wait and we extend our hands outwards toward the compassion of God. ‘ Lord we cry out to you today and know that you will not ignore our prayers. May your kingdom come to bring life and hope where there is despair. May we slow down to listen to your calling to us, go here, go there, heal the sick and care for the forgotten. We thank you that it is in your grace we live and move and breathe. May we be encouragers today and live in a place of plenty that you provide for us. We yield to your Spirit’s movement within us this day. “May your soul and body be turned into a stable, becoming a temple where God will find his delight, dwelling within you by grace.” Catherine of Siena Amen DB September 4 Prayer
‘ Do not judge anything prematurely, before the Lord comes, who will bring to light what is hidden and reveal the intentions of the hearts.’1Cor.4 ‘Blessed are the peacemakers for they shall be called children of God.’Matt.5:9 As you come into the presence of God now reflect upon any judgments that you may be holding to for yourself or others. Is there a fear connected to that judgment? To live in peace and harmony we must face our fears and let go of our judgments. By God’s Spirit alone we are set free to believe the truth the way God sees it,for only He knows the motives of one’s heart. Pause to pray; Lord, we confess our judgments are based on our own fears of what we do not understand. Forgive us and keep us from judgment. Give us new eyes like new wineskins to hold your mercy within us. Awaken our hearts from our fears, O Beloved, give us strength to face them as they rise up within us. Give us courage to let go of our fears one by one. And as we become free of them, let us live in harmony so that your love will shine through and people will know that you live within our hearts. Let us grow in wisdom and understanding and lead us on a peaceful path. Psalm 59 Let us be Your instruments of Peace. May we each sing a prayer of peace…. ‘Lord make me an instrument of peace An instrument of peace, Where there is hatred, let me sow love Where there is darkness, let me sow light For in the giving we shall receive And in the dying were given life Lord make me an instrument of peace Where there is sorrow let me sow hope Where there is doubt , let me sow faith Where there is injury your pardon give Your consolation to those in pain. Lord make me an instrument of peace, an instrument of peace- Amen - The Porter’s Gate May you go out with joy and be led forth with peace! September 3 Prayer
“So don’t be proud of your allegiance to any human leader. For actually, you already have everything! It has all been given for your benefit,” 1 Corinthians 3:21 TPT Our own certainties and clever reasonings are meaningless, empty and futile. Ps.94:11 So why do we hang onto our own reasoning , why not lean into the great mystery of God which is foolishness to the world? For everything belongs to us, our present and our future, everything belongs to Christ and Christ belongs to God. I would rather look foolish to the world than wise in my own eyes. ‘For the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom and understanding marks all who live by it.’ Ps.111:10 God’s beauty is shown in our weakness, for it is here that we can open up to the bigger, the wider, the stronger, power of His story in us. To be a servant that serves others and not to be a leader that demands allegiance. When we are weak and vulnerable true wisdom is found. So here we come today, in our own reasoning and cleverness and we lay it down to pray. ‘All we want is more of you God, for there we will find your true wisdom . So we surrender what others may see as foolish and find our joy in loving and following You. May we find our completeness in belonging to You. ‘ O Beloved, come and renew me! Let me face my weaknesses and all that confuses me, that keeps me from joy! I seek forgiveness for my wrong doings, I desire only You! May all who seek you Rejoice and be glad! May all who surrender to You Say evermore, My joy is in the Beloved! Yet I am lowly and fear-filled; Hasten to me, Beloved! You are my strength and my joy; O Beloved, come and renew me!’ Psalm 70 Amen September 2 Prayer
‘We are co-workers with God’ ‘Ask yourselves: Is there jealousy among you? Do you compare yourselves with others? Do you quarrel like children and end up taking sides? If so, this proves that you are living your lives centered on yourselves, dominated by the mind-set of the flesh, and behaving like unbelievers.” 1 Corinthians 3:3 TPT Ouch, these are harsh words to hear from Paul to the people of Corinth. Do we relate or are we in denial that we too may live with inclinations of our fallen humanity to rule us in our thoughts and actions. Our egos and hurts get in the way of true growth in becoming spiritually mature believers. We are called into spiritual maturity by recognizing our own failings and poverty of spirit. ‘Blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the kingdom of God.’ We are the fieldworkers as well as the field, coworkers along with God to build his kingdom of love. This is our common purpose, to work together as one. It takes humility to be a field worker when you really want to be the field. Pause here to reflect on what gets in the way or trips you up. ‘Lord, Jesus Christ , Son of God, have mercy on us, your church for we have not put you first in our thoughts and deeds. Thank you for your mercy! Thank you for today that we get to begin again. Give us the eyes to see the field that you have prepared for us to work in and those we are to work with. May we have joy in serving others and putting them first before ourselves. You delight in nurturing us where we need to be fed, you give us the spiritual food to eat. Where we need to be affirmed you see us and say ‘well done, the kingdom of heaven is yours’. We lay down all that gets in the way of seeing your grace and favor for others, our egos, our hurts, our need to be recognized. Take all of our hearts and make us one in your spirit, one in your love. ‘We are one in the spirit, we are one in the Lord. And we pray that our unity may this day be restored. They’ll know we are Christians by our love, by our love, and they’ll know we are Christians by our love.’ May it be so, Lord. Amen DB September 1st Prayer
“In the morning When I began to wake, It happened again, that feeling, That you, Beloved, Had stood over me All night long..keeping watch ...that feeling That as soon as I began to wake You put your lips upon my forehead and lit a holy lamp Inside my heart” -hafiz ‘Now God has revealed these things to us by the Spirit, for the Spirit searches everything, even the depths of God.’ 1Cor.2:10-13 ‘Search me, God, with your loving gaze and know my heart; find out everything that may be hidden within me. Test me and sift through all my anxious cares. Lead me on the path that brings me back to you.’ Psalms 139:23-24 What beauty there is when we look up into a dark starry lit sky. It is immense and with all of our searching we cannot behold all of it’s mysteries and vastness. We look upon our humanness with a human mind. The creation speaks beyond our humanity and into the spiritual. For God is spiritual and he is the original author of all created things. The depths of God, these profound realities, the spiritual things are revealed to us by the willingness of the Holy Spirit. Spirit who can really see and explore all things. He sees into our hearts and knows all of our hidden impulses and secrets. The Spirit is the one who will search us and lead us back to himself. Allow the Holy Spirit now to come and illuminate your heart. There is no fear here, only the gaze of love and understanding. He will light a holy lamp inside your heart and lead you on an everlasting path. Pause and receive this blessing now of presence. May the gaze of love draw you to a place of peace To let go of all that causes you to become anxious. May the light of the Holy Spirit draw you on a the path that leads to life. May you offer this life, this hope, in the night to others that have no hope. Receive the Spirit that reveals the depths of God, so you may open them up to others that are seeking. We pray as one: God’s Holy Spirit is love. We allow your presence to illuminate us in the cave of our hearts. O beautiful night, enfold us, hold us, transform us, surround us, and hold our light like Sky to star.- Amen |