December 5 Prayer
Isaiah 30:18-21 ‘Come to Him so He can show you His love and compassion. Blessed are those who wait for His help.’ When Jesus walked amongst the sick and hurting crowds of people He healed all the sickness and disease. His heart was broken and was moved with compassion as he saw the troubled, weary and worn out sheep wandering confused and aimless without a shepherd. Matt.9:35 The Lord binds up the wounds of the broken hearted to heal them. Great is our God, mighty in power. His wisdom knows no limits.’ Ps.147:3-5 Wherever you are and whatever you are feeling come to Him and let him show you His love and compassion. Right now,where you are today. There is no need to change. Change will happen when you come to Him. He longs to meet you here. You need only to be present, vulnerable and willing to receive. Whatever keeps you from coming, that is what you need to let go of, lay it down to receive grace upon grace for you to live again. See the loving gaze of Jesus with mercy to bind up your wounds and heal your heart. Pause to pray, ‘May we become like sheep with You as our true shepherd to guide us. Wisdom to lead us and power to heal us. May we lay down our pride, our own self wills, our own power to control. Everything is yours God, take it so we may be free and be full of your love. Take our memory and restore your story in us. We want to see like you see the world. To be your heart of love to the broken and worn out. So come, Lord Jesus. Renew us once again with your hope and light. We thank you now with full and healed hearts. Come, Lord Jesus! Amen December 4 Prayer
Isaiah 29:17-24, Matt.9:27-31 ‘..and out of the gloom and darkness the eyes of the blind shall see.’ ‘The blind cry out for mercy and they see according to their faith, their eyes are opened.’ The light has come! Where there is darkness and gloom our eyes are closed in the night blinded even to the possibility of ever seeing the light. Where all of our doubts, and fear of the tyrants in our lives deride our faith. May we stand in awe of the God we believe in and see his hand working among us bringing us out of the gloom and shame. May we lift our eyes to see through the crack in the window letting the light come in. May this light break forth into our hearts to hope again and have understanding to follow Your instruction to live as children of the light. Oh light come! Send your Spirit to lift off this gloom. Let your Spirit come and fill us with fresh joy as we prepare Him room. Open our eyes of faith and let Your light shine even brighter through us this day!’ Come, Lord Jesus, come. Amen December 3 Prayer
John 1:1-14 Settle yourself to be present to God's presence with you. Word-Life-Light ‘In the beginning was the Word. The Word was with God,and the Word was God. Everything came into being by him. All things...The whole world came into being through him..’ We came into being through Him, the light, the life, the living expression of the trinity. And we are still being created, becoming into being in Him. His presence is always a gift for us to embrace or reject. The light that comes into our own darkness is truth and grace to shine upon us. The word, God, became like us, human so he knows what darkness is. Through his creative power we are becoming children of God as we receive his light. Christ is the living expression of God and now dwells in us to be light in the world. Thanks be to God that this is the work of grace and not of our own making. Pause to pray and ponder what it is that you need to be this gift of presence in the world… ‘Lord, we are all coming into being through You, the light, life and word of truth and grace. We ask for what we need now to be present to your presence in us. To be grounded in your unfailing love and faithfulness. To know that your light is in us to carry out into the world. We confess that our own darkness at times can seem to overshadow your light. We thank you that no matter how dark these days become that your light can never be extinguished. For true light enlightens everyone! May it be so, Lord Jesus Come. Shine your light in us and through us today!’ Amen December 2 Prayer
‘Even though I walk in the dark valley, I fear no evil.’ Ps.23:4 The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of deep darkness a light has dawned.’ Is.9:2 There are some things we can only know by walking through dark valleys. There are some things we learn to see in the dark that we would never see in the light of day. There are the dark valleys where only the moon and stars will lead the way. And some dark nights when the sky is clouded without any light at all. Here is where we are to walk and fear no evil, for the Shepherd is by our side, his rod and staff will give us courage. His strong arm to lean on and walking stick to guide us along the way. This is a time of waiting for the light to come as we are walking. The light may suddenly appear as from a train's headlamp plowing through a dark tunnel. Or it may be so subtle as the turning from dusk to dawn. But there is a light coming and the light is here, right by our side. Wherever you find yourself walking today be assured that no evil may harm you. For the good shepherd is walking by your side. As you close your eyes begin to sense his light with you and upon you. Pause to pray; ‘In the darkness we come to You, the Light of the world. We lean on your strong arm to guide us and your rod to give us courage to fight off the enemies of our souls. Though we cannot see everything around us we ask for you to heighten our senses to feel you here, right by our side. We trust in your light to illumine what is hidden so we may walk in the dark without fear. May we arise today with your light and glory upon us knowing that you are true to your name. Come, Lord Jesus, Come.’ Amen December 1 Prayer
John 17:11-21 Jesus shares his glory with us. His name protects us, guards us and saves us. His very prayer to the Father is for us to live in them. So our joy is found in their joy. So the world He has placed us in will see who God is. His name wraps around us with truth, the truth of belonging to something, someone beyond ourselves. The trust Jesus had for the Father and in the power of his name is the desire he has for us to have. Where do you need to feel safe right now? What truth is awaiting your agreement for this day? Breathe deeply the sanctifying grace offered through Jesus just for you. ‘Beautiful name of Jesus, we proclaim your goodness and grace for us to live in this day. May we grow in the same trust you have. May we see ourselves with you as you are with us. Give us eyes to see each other in this same way. Safe, guarded, protected and sanctified in your truth. Show us how to live this out. Slow us down enough to notice and listen to your voice. Open our hands to let go and give out freely what you have given to us. Keep us from judging. May we live in the power of your name, which is Love. ‘In You do our hearts find joy, We trust in your holy name. May your faithful love be upon us As we hope in You.’ Ps.33:22 Amen |