Prayer & Praise
Since our mothers and fathers cried out,
since you heard their cries and noticed,
since we left the brick production of Egypt,
since you foiled the production schedules of Pharaoh,
we have known your name,
we have sensed your passion,
we have treasured your vision of justice.
And now we turn to you again,
whose precious name we know.
We turn to you because there are
still impossible production schedules,
still exploitative systems,
still cries of pain at injustice,
still cheap labor that yields misery.
We turn to you in impatience and exasperation,
wondering, “How long?” before you answer
our pleading question,
hear our petition,
since you are not a labor boss and do not set wages.
We bid you, stir up those who can change things;
do your stirring in the jaded halls of government;
do your stirring in the cynical offices of the corporations;
do your stirring amid the voting public too anxious to care;
do your stirring in the church that thinks too much about purity and not enough about wages.
Move, as you moved in ancient Egyptian days.
Move the waters and the flocks and the herds
toward new statutes and regulations,
new equity and good health care,
new dignity that cannot be given on the cheap.
We have known now long since,
that you reject cheap grace;
even as we now know that you reject cheap labor.
You, God of justice and dignity and equity,
keep the promises you bodied in Jesus,
that the poor may be first-class members of society,
that the needy may have good care and respect,
that the poor earth may rejoice in well-being,
that we may all come to Sabbath rest together,
the owner and the worker,
the leisure class and the labor class,
all at peace in dignity and justice,
not on the cheap, but good measure,
pressed down,
running over… forgiven.
Walter Brueggemann
Amen
My husband is in Ca. for the next few weeks and will doing a lot of travelling. Today he is driving from the LA area, up north. (10-11 hour drive) Please pray he stays alert and has a safe trip.
Praying for Nonnie’s husband’s safe travels…and enjoyable ones, too!
Nonnie, praying.
Praying Nonnie.
Praying, Nonnie.
Thank you all for praying . He arrived safely.
We have this 35 foot tall Ash tree in our back yard. My wife watched two crows build a nest at the top of it. A few months later we hear the baby crows squawking from the nest.
Then one day one of the babies falls from the nest and breaks a leg. The vet said it was a bad break and had to put it down.
Then a week later two more babies are down. My wife saves them from the chicken in the back yard and brings them into the den. They live there destroying the leather couch and the carpet while she hand feeds them.
So I build an 8×8 chicken wire enclosure in the backyard. My wife continues to feed them every two hours. We watch them grow up.
Today we let one of them free who showed that it could fly. It went up to the neighbors tree and sat there for an hour. Then it landed in their yard and the pitbull killed it. We are numb…
That same dog killed one of our cats a few months back and now it has killed a bird we tried hard to save.
Sigh.
My wife is numb and I Am numb. We are not mad at the dog, just numb.
the death of birds makes you numb?
today, like every other day in America, 4000 innocent pre-birth children were slaughtered for the simple reason that their mother’s-to-be were allowed the legal right to make the immoral choice of ending their lives.
according Planned Parenthood’s own stats, only 2% of the abortions performed in the US each year are for Rape, Incest or the Life of the Mother.
Please remember to pray for our country and our children and mothers-to-be after you have finished grieving for baby birds.
-mike (MIC)
Mike,
You know what, I grieve for those children, but your remark was totally uncalled for. I believe you were told that some things were inappropriate for the prayer thread. Well, I believe this is one of those things.
Christians can really be silly sometimes. Praying for baby birds… As for ‘uncalled for’?… I’m sorry you feel that way. I guess I have a different point of view. I’ll leave you to yours if you leave me to mine.
mic
Let me tell you a little story.
Yesterday on FB, I had a friend of the family that had a dog of 13 yrs. die. I have two dogs of my own right now, that are 4 yrs old. I looked at them and from experience with past pets, realized that maybe 10 yrs from now they would be dead. It made me tear up to think of that. Our animals become part of the family and ultimately we are responsible for the fact that they live short lives. The curse of Adam doesn’t just affect us. We are responsible for many ills of the world and the death of an animal is a small reminder of that. So yes, David can pray for a baby bird and I can pray for his comfort from seeing the fallen state of the world in it.
You are a harsh man Mike.
David,
God bless you and your wifes heart.
I promise that you will never be subjected to scorn again here.
My sincere apologies for allowing that person to post here.
Thank you, Derek…you are correct in what you said.
David, so sorry you and your wife had to go through that. As humans we care for the creation around us, it is a reflection of God’s love, His creativity, His compassion, His goodness.
Mike will no longer be posting here.
Thank you to all who come and offer prayers for those who post…thank you jlo and Derek for being here today.
I was in the middle of typing a long diatribe for Mike when Michael posted he would no longer be posting, thank you Michael. Since Mike can no longer post, I will not post to him directly.
But I do want to say, I am very protective of the prayer thread, I believe prayer is holy ground. You just don’t negate another’s prayer request, God guides our prayers, and He leads our hearts to care and pray as His will dictates. Each and every prayer request, speaks to the heart of God.
One last thought; what does it say about a man when he lacks compassion.
Amen, jlo…and thank you, again.
David,
The heart of compassion you and your wife demonstrated is part of the daily love you practice. You both did good. Thank you for caring for the least of Gods least.
I can only hope that “Brandy” brings some balance to the “Mike & Brandy” household.
I’m a recovering “Mike” and it took my wife and daughters to confront me about how insufferable I could be, being so hyper-spiritual.
I know I can swing the opposite way as well.
All I can say is I admire you both for caring about God’s creatures.
Animals…. Years ago my youngest son and I were riding our bikes along the riverbed. We saw a dog laying where water will flow during rain and took our kikes down there. From a distance I thought the dog was dead. As we got to the dog we could see it was very ill but alive. My son insisted we go get food and water for the dog but when we returned it was gone. That was the first I saw of my son’s heart for animals.
When he was maybe ten I took him to the little league field where I’d pitch to him and then retrieve the balls. When we got there we saw a dog carrying something to its owner. He left it there and we took the field to play some ball. We went to center field and what we found was a bloodied quail. The guy was using it in some way to teach his dog to hunt. It was left for dead. We took it home and called a bird sanctuary and they came and took the bird so it could heal and then provide a place for it to live. It was difficult explaining to our son why a person would do that to a bird.
Maybe a year ago his pet hamster died and he (now 27) was to upset to bury it so I did it for him. I believe God gives some people enormous hearts for animals.
In doing my blog I have run many articles on how dogs play crucial roles for returning vets with PTSD. It’s absolutely amazing what these dogs are capable of. They are a blessing to many seniors who find themselves alone and do so many other amazing things.
So although I don’t have the heart for animals so many others do it’s easy for me to understand how David and his wife can be grieved by the loss of the crow in such a distressing manner. All that to say I don’t understand how under any circumstance someone could speak negatively to what David shared.
David,
I’m sorry about the bird. 🙁
I actually came over to this thread to ask for prayer for a work situation this week.
I’m feel a little peckish which doesn’t help.
We are at a very busy part of our project and are weeks delayed. All the stuff I was meant to do over the last six weeks is now finally able to start but unfortunately they think it can be done in one week.
I have straightened them out on that 🙂
However, there’s a new woman on the team with very little if any experience at all who through her lack of knowledge is causing additional rework and confusion.
She keeps saying that she can not do her part because I’ve either done my part wrong (nope) or there’s something wrong with my application.
She has gotten everyone stirred up with all kinda of nonissues. She doesn’t seem to “get” what is happening or how to proceed.
She is literally just making stuff up and has no clue what she is doing.
I tend to quickly loose patience with this type person and can get a little “snippy” in my responses to them because they baffle and annoy me as well as make me have to redo work I’ve already done or explain stuff I don’t have time to explain.
The whole being professional even when i really just want to just say “you have no wth you are doing!!” Is something in working on and could use support this week.
Praying, London!
Good people take good care of their animals, but the wicked know only how to be cruel.
Proverbs 12:10
David, thank you for sharing your story. God bless you.
London, praying for you and your work team. May the new day bring a new and productive beginning.
London, praying.
Mike and Brady @ 9 “the death of birds makes you numb?”
I know you can no longer post, but please consider that some people love many of God’s creatures, including humans.
Grieving an animal does not necessitate that you do not grieve lost children. Your thought processes are both illogical and immoral.
Not only have you insulted a fellow sibling in Christ, you hid behind murdered children directly after insulting them. Coward.
Sorry everyone, I do not normally ‘rant’, but this post created a new level of P.O. for me this morning.
May I have some prayer for my anger levels? God bless you all.
Crowned1,
You certainly are not the only one to have your anger spike after reading that posting. Hopefully the nonsense will stay off the Prayer & Praise threads moving forward. This community has usually done a pretty good job in respecting these threads.
Crowned, JLo and others. I love how you stand up for the weak and sincere folks who come here to pray and be prayed for. If Jesus takes note of a sparrow that falls, then we have an example to follow. He hears He cares and so should we. Thank you for caring.
Praying for London and Crowned1.
My wife and I started the search for jobs today. Prayers would be appreciated.
Derek, praying for all your needs to be met as you begin this new adventure.
I am in desperate need of employment.
Now.
That’s as eloquent as I can get at the moment…
Praying. Lord, we know You hear the cry of a desperate heart and we know You promise to meet our needs. We ask for your provision in Christ’ name. Amen
praying, Michael.
Thank you, jlo…you as well, Nonnie.
Praying, London– for wisdom and endurance and for your team member, the same.
For Michael- Lord, you say if we seek first Your kingdom and Your righteousness, that You will provide food, shelter and clothing. Please help Michael to receive that provision today. Thank you for Your faithfulness and love. We’re standing on Your promise and look to your provision. Amen.
Now, Lord now. Praying for this communities needs this evening. Praying for the requests that have been expressed and the needs that have not. The Lord knows, and he guides our prayers.
Come Holy Spirit come.
I want to thank anyone that has been praying for me about the job. I have an interview Monday at a large company that is only 15 minutes away from my house (The short commute would be a real blessing). It is in quality, where the bulk of my non-military work experience lies. Sounded really promising and they said I would start work Tuesday if they liked me. I usually do well with interviews, but prayer would again be appreciated.
Still praying over your situation, Michael.
Derek,
That is great news!
Keep us posted…I’d love to see some answered prayers here.
My week went well, thanks for the prayers about navigating the waters with my co-worker.
Thank you, for letting us know London…and thank all of you who come by and pray for the needs given.