Loving God, I sense that all is your creation and everything, and all of us, are being drawn back toward your loving heart. Help me to be a person of peace, to speak about it in an uneasy world, and to live it among the people you have put into my life every day. Light in me a desire to prepare for your coming to stand in the darkness, waiting, eager and filled with joy. A...
Keep ReadingLord God, only you can see into my heart and know that under all the busy-ness of my life, there is a deep longing to make this Advent one that welcomes you more deeply into my own life. My heart desires the warmth of your love and my mind searches for your Light in the midst of the darkness. Help me to be a peacemaker this Advent and to give special love to those who disa...
Keep ReadingGod unto whom all hearts are open and unto whom every will speaks, and from whom no secret thing is hidden, I pray You cleanse the intent of my heart with the ineffable gift of Your grace, that I may perfectly love You, and worthily praise You. Amen. - "The Cloud of the Unknowing"...
Keep ReadingI ask you, Lord Jesus, to develop in me, your lover an immeasurable urge towards you, an affection that is unbounded, longing that is unrestrained, fervor that throws discretion to the winds! The more worthwhile our love for you, all the more pressing does it become. Reason cannot hold it in check, fear does not make it tremble, wise judgment does not temper it. ("The Fire...
Keep ReadingWe thank you, most Loving God, that you have chosen us to be your very own. We thank you for your presence and your promises and your provision that you pour out upon us each and every day. We are so grateful, O God, for your good gifts and your abundant grace, which we do not deserve. And most of all we thank you, Lord God, for Jesus, your Son and our Savior. Amen....
Keep ReadingO Jesus, who has taught us that not all those who say Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven, but only such as do the will of you Father, whose lives correspond with their belief, grant us a truly Christian spirit, a Christina heart, and guide us in the paths of a Christian life. Grant that I may become detached from all things and in all things seek you alone....
Keep ReadingLord, I am yours; I do yield myself up entirely to you, and I believe that you do take me. I leave myself with you. Work in me all the good pleasure of your will, and I will only lie still in your hands and trust you. Amen. ("The Christian's Secret of a Happy Life" by Hannah Whitall Smith)...
Keep ReadingWrite your blessed name, O Lord, upon my heart, there to remain so engraven that no prosperity, no adversity, shall ever move me from Your love. Amen. ("Little Book of Prayers" by Thomas A Kempis)...
Keep ReadingLord Jesus, Prince of Peace, help me this day to experience the peace that only you can give, so that I may help spread that peace, and pass that peace, and make that peace wherever I may go. For when peacemaking becomes my vocation, then I can rest in your presence and your peace as your son. Amen....
Keep ReadingI beg of You, my Lord, to remove anything which separates me from You, and You from me. Remove anything that makes me unworthy of Your sight, Your control, Your reprehension; of Your speech and conversation, of Your benevolence and love. Cast from me every evil that stands in the way of my seeing You, hearing, tasting, savoring, and touching You; fearing and being mindful ...
Keep ReadingLord Jesus, full of mercy and grace, thank you that you are our merciful and faithful high priest (Hebrews 2:17). Thank you that you do not treat us as our sins deserve, but pour out your divine mercy upon us instead. Therefore, may we always do the same. May we be merciful as you are merciful, because when we are being merciful, we are being like you. Amen....
Keep ReadingYou called, You cried, you shattered my deafness. You sparkled, you blazed, You drove away my blindness. You shed your fragrance, and I drew in my breath, and I pant for You. I tasted and now I hunger and thirst. You touched me, and now I burn with longing for your peace. ("Confessions" by St. Augustine)...
Keep ReadingLord Jesus, help us to mourn over the things that break your heart, that one day we might be comforted by your Spirit and your Presence in our lives for all eternity. Amen....
Keep ReadingWhat does it mean to you to be poor in spirit? What does that look like? How might we pursue a life of being poor in spirit? What did Jesus means when he said theirs is the kingdom of heaven?...
Keep ReadingDear Lord Jesus, I am still so divided. I truly want to follow you, but I also want to follow my own desires and lend an ear to the voices that speak about prestige, success, popularity, pleasure, power, and influence. Help me to become deaf to those voices and more attentive to your voice, which calls me to choose the narrow road to life. I know this will be a very hard r...
Keep ReadingLord, you are able. Help me to truly believe it. Amen....
Keep ReadingO Thou who ordered this wondrous world, and who knowest all things in earth and heaven: So fill our hearts with trust in thee that by night and day, at all times and in all seasons, we may without fear commit all that we have and hope to be to thy never-failing love, for this life and the life to come; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. - "The Book of Worship"...
Keep ReadingLord Jesus, thank you for showing us how much we are loved. Help us to actually believe that it's true. Amen....
Keep ReadingLord, I am yours; I do yield myself up entirely to you, and I believe that you do take me. I leave myself with you. Work in me all the good pleasure of your will, and I will only lie still in your hands and trust you. Amen. ("The Christian's Secret of a Happy Life" by Hannah Whitall Smith)...
Keep ReadingI ask you, Lord Jesus, to develop in me, your lover an immeasurable urge towards you, an affection that is unbounded, longing that is unrestrained, fervor that throws discretion to the winds! The more worthwhile our love for you, all the more pressing does it become. Reason cannot hold it in check, fear does not make it tremble, wise judgment does not temper it. ("The Fire...
Keep ReadingOpening Prayer: Lord God, we confess: our lifestyles are too busy, our focus self-centered, and our world is consumed with fear, greed, and pride. Sometimes, Lord, we react to the pains of others with a flippant "who cares?" Yet, in our more receptive times, when Your Voice calls to our innermost beings, we know with absolute certainty two things we desperately need: To be...
Keep ReadingO God, who hast been the Refuge of my fathers through many generations, be my Refuge today in every time and circumstance of need. Be my Guide through all that is dark and doubtful. Be my Strength in time of testing. Gladden my heart with Thy peace, through Jesus Christ my Lord. Amen. ("A Diary of Private Prayer" by John Baillie)...
Keep ReadingLord Jesus, every single day the choice is before us to either believe that you are who you say you are and to follow you, or to be filled with doubt and despair and follow our own plans, schemes, and devices. Lord Jesus, give us the grace, the strength, and the wisdom to choose you, this day and every day. Amen....
Keep ReadingFather, you alone know what lies before me this day, grant that in every hour of it I may stay close to you. Let me today embark on no undertaking that is not in line with your will for my life, nor shrink from any sacrifice which your will may demand. Suggest, direct, control every movement of my mind; for my Lord Christ's sake. Amen. ("A Diary of Private Prayer" by John ...
Keep ReadingAlmighty God, Lord of the storm and of the calm, of day and night, of life and death; grant to me so to have my heart stayed upon your faithfulness, your unchangingness and love, that whatsoever betides me, I may look upon you with untroubled eye. I ask it for thy mercy's sake. Amen. ("Little Book of Prayers" by George Dawson)...
Keep ReadingLord, I believe; help my unbelief! Amen....
Keep ReadingFather and God, you know the work, the worry, and the weariness which day by day, even week after week, weigh so heavily upon my life. So often I grow faint and fearful, disturbed and doubtful. I long for rest and peace and full assurance of faith. May I so wait upon you in daily prayer and be renewed with spiritual might that I shall fight the good fight and keep the fait...
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