Prayer & Praise
O God, early in the morning I cry to you.
Help me to pray and gather my thoughts to you, I cannot do it alone.
In me it is dark, but with you there is light;
I am lonely, but you do not desert me;
My courage fails me, but with you there is help;
I am restless, but with you there is peace;
in me there is bitterness, but with you there is patience;
I do not understand your ways, but you know the way for me.
Father in Heaven praise and thanks be to you for the night.
Dietrich Bonhoeffer
“A Christian community either lives by the intercessory prayers of its members for one another, or the community will be destroyed. I can no longer condemn or hate other Christians for whom I pray, no matter how much trouble they cause me. In intercessory prayer the face that may have been strange and intolerable to me is transformed into the face of one for whom Christ died, the face of a pardoned sinner. That is a blessed discovery for the Christian who is beginning to offer intercessory prayer for others. As far as we are concerned, there is no dislike, no personal tension, no disunity or strife that cannot be overcome by intercessory prayer. Intercessory prayer is the purifying bath into which the individual and the community must enter every day.”
D.B.
“How should one become arrogant over successes or shaken by one’s failures when one shares in God’s suffering in the life of this world? You understand what I mean even when I put it so briefly. I am grateful that I have been allowed this insight, and I know that it is only on the path that I have finally taken that I was able to learn this. So I am thinking gratefully and with peace of mind about past as well as present things. …
May God lead us kindly through these times, but above all, may God lead us to himself.”
Bonhoeffer, the day before his death…
another honest and good prayer to meditate on, Michael…
“May God lead us kindly through these times, but above all, may God lead us to himself.” amen
Thanks guys for the beautiful prayers
I just received a call from my husband- his younger brother was just found at home unconscious and transported to the hospital. He is only 50 years old. Please pray for John and his precious family.
Linnea…praying now.
Lord, have mercy…
Linnea…just happened by the blog today and saw your post. Praying now for John.
Thank you Michael and Sarah. He’s had a stroke and he’s so young!
Lord, have mercy.
Linnea, praying for John and his family
came to this thread to praise God for a miracle of sorts and saw Linnea’s post – praying with all the pray-ers here… with Xenia as she cries to the Lord, Lord, have mercy indeed
my silly miracle (for me it was huge)… my daughter is fostering a large pitbull rescue dog and it is a wild handful – never comes when its called, of course – as the neighbor put it, “that dog looks at you, gives you the proverbial salute and takes off in the other direction” … the dog broke its collar while i was digging dandelions – i was already tired and at my age, not about to chase a dog over hill and dale… “Charly, you get over here now!” i tried to sound like i would kill her and could do so – that dog came to me and followed me into the house! ! !
i don’t think it is wrong to feel blessed and looked after by God, even when it’s just the miracle of thwarting a dog’s stupid silliness that’s complicating life… BTW – i have had so many little miracles of late… somebody, somewhere is praying – i’m sure of that – may the prayers redound with blessings to the pray-ers
Em, I’m so glad you have been having little,big, miracles lately! Hope they continue
God of mercy and grace, will You meet us in this place? Make Your face shine upon us? We adore You
Linnea-
Joining in prayer in agreement with the dear saints here…May God grant His extraordinary grace , mercy and love to John and the entire family
Heavenly Father,
Guide us by your Spirit in greater measure to love…true, authentic, genuine love…
That the world may know we are truly your disciples…
Motivate and inspire us unto good works
In order that You would be glorified
Teach us how to encourage others in extraordinary ways for the sake of your kingdom
Help us to forgive others as you have most graciously forgiven us
Bless those who read and post and pray in this tiny facet of your vastly immense universe …
In order that they may experience to the fullest measure your love, grace and mercy.
Along with that life abundant which you have promised in Christ…
And in turn because of your work in our lives
May we truly Love you with all our hearts minds soul and strength…inspiring other to the same
Thank you so much, prayer warriors! John is conscious, can answer basic questions, and is coherent some of the time. This is a tremendous answer to prayer.
We’ve found a church and the sermon this weekend had to do with praising God in all things- no matter the circumstance, because He is in control.
I’m so grateful for your prayers, Michael, Sarah, Xenia, Dusty, and Sister Christian. You are indeed warriors in the faith. Much love to you–
You are never alone!
Linnea ♡
Remember in prayer
JTK – banned from local collage , review is pending
Michael- recovering from colonoscopy. waiting results
Scooter Jones- son is suicidal , not doing well
Lurkie Loo -I have a dear friend who was just diagnosed on Valentine’s day with inoperable Stage 4 glioblastoma (brain cancer). She is 44.
Captain Kevin – a childhood friend who unfriended me on FB for my conservative views. This was after referring to me and some of my friends as scum of the earth along with other names I wouldn’t repeat here. I appealed on the basis of an almost lifelong friendship and that I not only respected him for holding well-reasoned views but that we had much more in common than not. He would have none of it. I grieve over a lost friendship as well as my part in the destruction.
Captain Kevin – Strep, sinus infection, inflamed ear canal, and the pain that comes when the fibromyalgia flares up in response.
surfer51 (david) “stage four” prostate cancer.
John 20:29 – cousin Jerry has prostate cancer
Erunner- mom has blocked arteries and COPD
Michael- upcoming surgery, tumor on his thyroid and spot on his lung, very ill,
Lennea- sister salvation and cancer My sister has asked me to not contact her anymore as I brought her information about a pending lawsuit against her (from the school district she teaches in). I pray that she would draw near to the Lord and confess her own sins.
filbertz – nephew’s 16-year-old son who evidently accidentally shot himself new year’s eve, still in pain over drew’s death.
JD – young step nephew shot himself in the head the day after Christmas 2016.
Linnea – Dannie is out of her back brace and is starting to move normally. I know as she ages, all these broken bones could cause her trouble. Thank you for your prayers for her recovery. Would you pray that the Lord would minimize the lifelong affects of this skiing accident to her 16 year old body?
Erunner- wife RA
Paige- 4 boys to be pleasing to God
Captain kevin – new direction for he and his wife, work load, health
Dan -new direction for he and wife, looking for a new church
E munro- sadness,concern and confusion over major changes at cccm and seemingly lack of concern on pastors part
UnCCed- still hurting over treatment from her church
Luisa- hurt by church
the least of these-hurt by church
Disillusioned-hurt by church
Bart- hurt by church
————
need a safe place to worship, dealing with pain and PTSD
Anon
Disillusioned
Descended
Dan from Georgia
Randall slack
Mariner
Rick
Surfer51
One of the little ones
Deb
Contention
Jd
UnCCed
Mk
Tim
Jm
So sorry the list is so late!
Hi sister Christian , so good to see you here. Amen to your prayer
Hi Dusty!!!
Its so encouraging to see you posting and praying!
May the Lord Himself continue to bless,strengthen,heal and encourage you
Thinking of you often
Much love and prayers…
SisC
Remembering the days in years gone by
Of prayer and praise and prose…
God of wonders and faithfullness
Answering, ministering, building
Longing for that touch again
May he stir the hearts of His people
to shine brightly for him
Ministering tangibly
And blessing this place
With His presence and grace
In ways that would leave us in awe
Of His Majesty
#23 – wonderful prayer, amen
Yes, beautiful prayer, SisterChristian @23.
Em–As I was driving to work this morning, it occurred to me that I had not thanked you for prayer, too. Thank you so much, dear lady.
John is doing better today and we’ll know more after assessments from the different types of therapists. His wife is encouraged with this progress. Thank you so much for your prayers.
Linnea, you always take time to update the pray-ers here – i think we all appreciate that so much…
Hi Linnea
Wonderful to hear of Johns progress
Praying you are bountifully blessed today!
Em and dusty, michael sarah xenia and all
Sisterchristian, i always loved your posts here over the years (can’t believe that i’ve hung around here so long – i think i like the atmosphere 🙂 )
Thought I’d let you know about Dannie, who dusty has faithfully kept on the prayer list. Her back brace is off, she’s completed most of her physical therapy, is in a little pain, but the last time we saw her, she was riding a bike! For such traumatic injuries, she is healing beautifully! Thank you for your prayers for her.
Praying for blessings to you, Sisterchristian, too, and for the wonderful prayer warriors here 🙂