March 8 Prayer

Receive these words over you;

“But Take heart, for I have over come the world.”

Words from Jesus, the man God
who was sent from heaven before the foundations
of the world began, He was there,
Here with us, desiring us,
longing for us to be in relationship with love.
Love of the Father, love of the Son, love of the Holy Spirit .

Yes in this world we will have trouble,
that is why he gave us his peace and
asks us to take his heart.

Hear his words over you today;

“Rise up, O fair one
Take my heart now
And let me fill your cup
My peace I give to you.”

Pause here to receive and respond to His voice;

‘Awak my soul, make my heart ready,
My heart cries out to the living God
Make me confident in Your love.
Make my heart ready,
Ready to give thanks,
Ready to receive the washing of your word,
The peace you give to me.

Ready to stand up and walk upon the high road
To be governed by your grace
In the union of the Holy Spirit.

My heart is ready,
for my heart is your heart
Love through me today,
Make me an instrument of your peace~
Amen

John 16:33, Ps.57:7-11
DB

March 6 Prayer

Looking over this past week
I stop to see where God has met me.

Where my thoughts and concerns have been,
where my heart strings were pulled
and where I struggled to stay connected

In hope we pray bring us back to You, O God,
Abounding in mercy, Our Lord is good to all his creatures.
He does not deal with us according to our sins
but casts them far into the deep blue sea.

I thank You for filling my empty cup,
for satisfying my thirsty soul and
for nourishing my hungry heart.

I thank You for showing the obstacles
between me and you and for removing them.

I thank You for your love and your grace
that appears when I shed my worry
and let my life
become like a seed
falling into the ground with You.

I thank you that today is just the beginning.
This moment now is the mother of all moments to come.

Bringing new life, new choices to love,
choices to give, to be truly honest,
to become whole and
to choose to really live.

‘Glory be to You, Father of all things,
to You, Christ our King,
to You, Holy Spirit breath of our being.’

Amen
Psalm 103, 145:8-9
DB

March 5 Prayer

….until the time came to fulfill his dreams...

“He is the Lord our God. His justice is seen throughout the land.
He always stands by his covenant— the commitment he made to a thousand generations.”
‭‭Ps. ‭105:7-8‬,

This story, lived centuries ago,about Joseph, his
dysfunctional family and the undue suffering he endured.
Envy, resentment, favoritism, betrayal, deceit,
jealousy, rejection, anger, innocence, injustice,
just about every human condition,
one can imagine is displayed there.

We are human, and though we are made in
God’s image we cannot attain
To his glory through our own will and emotions.
We fall short, every time.
And even though
we may not commit such crimes as Joseph’s brothers did,
we may feel those same emotions.
Sometimes, in some places and in some situations.

And when we notice and sink deeply there,
a road will rise up
to walk on, one step at a time, to confess, and to forgive,
to honor this passageway to freedom.
That we may be made whole, beautiful containers for God.

God will turn things around,
He will keep his promise
To fulfill your dreams that
He gave you long ago.

Pause here to ponder your dreams and confess your shortcomings,

Lord, we believe that you keep your promises to us
For you are our only help when we feel helpless
When we are betrayed and harbor resentment,
You are the only way to forgiveness.

When we suffer undue hardships,
You rescue us and bring justice.

When we are fearful
You are our safe place.

May we not give up hope in the dreams
that you have given us long ago
May we rise up and take the next step to follow you
out from under our doubts and fears.
Lead us on Lord, take our hands and let us proclaim
your goodness everywhere we go.

For you are the God who turns things around
You are the One who gives us a reason
to get up again, everyday,
and be a place for glory to shine through.

Alleluia!
Amen
DB
Gen.37, Acts.7:9-15, Ps.105:19

​March 4Prayer
‘A stark dry landscape
A barren hot wilderness
An unknown heart and twisted mind’
These are the descriptions of someone in pain.
Someone walking through a difficult time here on earth
Our Lord Jesus is well acquainted with sorrow
and enters our pain through his very own journey to the cross
Who knows their own heart ?
When doubts and questions plague us.
When people let you down
When your trust even in yourself has waned?
Blessed is the person who completely trusts and
relies upon the goodness of God
In every season,Jeremiah says, will not cease to bear fruit.
Jer.17:5-10
Fresh leaves continue to unfurl before
a blazing sun beating down upon it
In the desert and yet flourishing,
greening down to its roots and drinking up
from the life stream of love.
With everything you have let go of it now
and trust completely in God,
See and know that he holds this situation you are in.
Look at where you have been putting your trust and
turn towards the nourishing of your soul.
‘May we see the truth of the matter and
understand better our own hearts.
We give to You our own desires to
let you search our hearts
and stop pretending things are not as they really are.
We pray Father, You, are our only source of strength
during dark times.
We ask for your spirit to flow through us now
Letting your strength flow out of us
to those who need your comfort today.
We receive your strength, your peace, and
your wisdom from above
To be with those who are in such a place
and offer hope there.
By your grace, we will be well watered trees
bearing fruit in every season.
‘For every good thing that I have comes from you.’ Ps.16:1-2
Amen
DB

March 3 Prayer

To follow Jesus on the journey to the cross.
That’s what lent is all about.
We take our time and reflect upon the areas of growth
Our souls are in need of.
Today’s reading is about following Jesus’ way
not the way of the world’s kingdom

Jesus offers us a cup to drink
And it isn't a cup of power and esteem
But of humility as He leads

The way of leadership through servanthood
Surrender rather than control
A faith lived through self dying
Into a new identity with Christ

A union so deeply rooted in love
that no ego can drive a wedge between
No need to impress
Nor appease
For God the Father sees us
Through the eyes of the beloved Son
He sees through us
Into our very depths of desire,
The very core of who we are and who we are becoming.

In our grief and in our shortcomings
In our striving we come
Lay down our cups before him to fill
As He chooses
What we are to drink
It’s a different cup for each of us

Wherever you are today will you offer him your empty cup?
In your weakness
Let him fill you with strength
In our fears
Let him fill you with courage
In your grief
Let him fill you with comfort
In your sorrow
Let him fill you with a joy that runs a river deep

Stretch out your hands to hold out your cup to pray;

‘Not my will but yours dear Lord,
I surrender to your love, your way of living out my faith
Knowing in my heart that you see
who I am and who I am becoming
Completely yours.
May we be poured out to serve others this day
And live out our faith with Christ.’
Amen
DB

Matt.20:17-28, Gal.2:19-20

March 2 Prayer

“Lose your life to find it.”
“Humble yourself and you He will exalt you,”
Do not call anyone else teacher, or Father or
any other high title for there is only one we serve.
The greatest among you must be a servant.”

What heavy burden of a title am I trying to live up to, I ask?
What expectations from others weigh me down?
What do I place on leaders, teachers, pastors
those that hold positions that they are not able to bear?

There is only One.
One we are to be attached to.
All created things we are
to have a holy indifference.
The only way our hearts can truly be free is to
let go of these things that hold us earthbound.

I ask God what strings and ropes
tug my heart away from holy living?
What am I tethered to that keeps me from
being lifted higher in the spirit with him?

...My need to be seen,
esteemed by what others think of me?
Where my work is noticed and publicly honored,
given credit for what I’ve done?

Oh, Lord, I am just as guilty as
the religious leaders you called out
for their unhealthy attachments.

Forgive me,
I let go of these weights now.

May my heart be only tethered to yours.
May everything else fade away before You.
So I may only see You,
Your beauty here in the face of the other.

May I let go of the expectations that weigh me down
So I may take flight upon your wings of grace.

‘We exalt the Lord our God
And bow low before his feet,
For He is great and holy.’

We worship before your glory!
Give us the wings to fly in holy detachment

Amen

Jn.12:23-26, Mt.23:1-12,Ps.99:5

March 1 Prayer

‘God is for us and not against us.’
We hear those words
God did not withhold his beloved son
Gave himself, his whole self for us
God speaks from the mountain top
‘Listen to my Son’

He gives
So we may give

What can we give back to such a benevolent Creator
Who does not withhold from us?
Shall we take this cup of salvation,
The cup of grace and raise it up to the one
Who was raised up for us?
How shall we give him an offering?

Stop here to ask how you are to give back..

What are you to pour out before him now…

‘Jesus, we are listening to your words,
“Do not condemn, do not judge,
forgive so we may be forgiven,
give and it will be given back to you.”

This is hard we confess because our hearts
want everything to be fair and just
We want to see results right away
We confess our need to see things change
the need to be heard and understood.

We ask for the grace to trust
and the grace to give,
for giving is the way to forgiveness
Forgiveness is the way of abundance,
a full cup easily overflows when it is raised up
So raise your cup up, let your father fill you with everything
You need, let it overflow, be poured out and

‘What shall I give back to the Lord for all his goodness to me?
I will lift up the cup of salvation
and call upon the name of the Lord
And will fulfill my vows to you before all people.’

Ps.116:16-19,Lk.6:36-38,Rom.8:31-34

February 27 Prayer

The mountains bring forth peace and
the hills righteousness
You have to look up higher to see this
Lift your head up from looking down
From looking at the other
With envy, comparison even admiration

God is our only hope and help when
we are troubled
His very words bring life,
They are full of the Spirit and life and
this is where Jesus tells us to love,
Love our enemies, those that hurt us
Be made perfect as He is
Be made whole
The only way we can actually do this is
to live out of our God created identity
Live generously toward others, like God
The way He lives toward you

God gives us His best, the sun to warm and
the rain to nourish the ground
For all
Let difficult people bring out the best in you ,
not the worst
Pray blessings on others when you want to curse
Have mercy on others when you want to bring judgment

For all these perils we face we conquer
overwhelmingly through Him who loved us.
Nothing will ever separate us from
this love of God in Christ.
Rom.8:35-39
Matt.5:48, John 6:63

We pray now to look up higher
than our circumstances
Open the eyes of our hearts to see
your great all encompassing love
That covers all and is for all

Help us to receive it,
this love and believe in your words,
Jesus, that bring life

Let us bless others when it is hard
And live generously full of your spirit
and full of your love

May we be deeply rooted in who you are
and who you have created us to be
Let the rain of your spirit nourish us
And the sun warm us

This day
In Jesus name
We pray
Amen
DB

February 25 Prayer

A good Father loves
A good Father sees
knows what is needed.
Cares and smiles over you

A child wonders
Unabashedly asks
sometimes begs relentlessly for what they want.
All we want is already there
All we are waiting for
In the silence and unknowns and unmet needs
It’s there along, the answer is in the presence
of seeking, asking and finding.


May we never lose the wonder
To simply seek, to simply ask,
to simply wait for the opening
In the dark and let the light come in.

Like Queen Esther,
Young and emboldened from stories on her youth
She Remembers Father God,
the one who brought her out of troubles,
slavery and fear.
She lays down her life into the
hands of A good Father
To trust in him even if
she loses her life for her people
She is willing to surrender all
For a call to prayer
A time set apart
For courage to lead

‘May our prayers be simple and true
Like Esther's honest cry,
“Help me God for I am alone
and have no one but you.”

May our hearts take courage and
rest in the wonder to be a trusting child
We ask Lord, we receive, we seek You and find

The doors opened before us today.
Lead us as we trust in You.
Let us find You in the faces we see,
the unmet needs and desires
Help us in this hour,
we simply pray and simply trust.
Thank you Papa for your hands of love
and gifts from above.
Thank you for the wholeness and peace you bring.

We love You.
Amen’
DB
Matt.7:7-12, Esther