Prayer Prompt: To God Be the Glory!

I glorified you on earth, having accomplished the work you gave me to do.—John 17:4

I’m not a celebrity watcher or tracker but I do find it fascinating when they take to the red carpet or stand in front of that screen, striking poses for photographers. It seems they can’t resist the click of the cameras. People who want to be famous go to all kinds of lengths to establish themselves. And who wouldn’t want to live their life, enjoying fame and all the perks, right? I wonder, in some way if we are not all infected—at least a little bit—with the fame bug—or, should I say disease! Jesus was not interested in fame. He was not seeking notoriety or status among people. Everything He did brought glory to His heavenly Father. Look at how He lived His life on earth:
 He did not seek glory for himself, but God
 He was very quick to say he had no interest in building or establishing an earthly kingdom among people
 He did not deny who He was (even though it caused chaos, made enemies and made many irate)
 He did not try to establish His own agenda apart from God’s
 He was obedient to the Father (though obedience came at a great cost, even death on a cross)
As natural glory seekers, glorifying God may come at a cost and bruise our egos a bit! It may mean:
 We don’t get to take credit for some clever saying…
 Or take credit for a prayer that has been answered in a big way…
 Or getting our foot in the door somewhere…
 Or completing our degree…
 Or meeting our financial obligations when we have no money in the bank…
 Or, you fill in the blank !
It may mean we are no longer the voice of authority, or the one who has all the answers, or be the person who has all the power, or receive those accolades and looks of admiration! Can you imagine what it would look like if we gave God His rightful praise at every turn? If we responded; “To God be the glory!” instead of taking credit for some feat or accomplishment? The humility it will take to live such a life will not come from within us; our nature is to seek glory and take credit, to build kingdoms and gather followers: that kind of living will only come as a result of asking Jesus to establish His ways in us. Maybe today’s prayer is going to take on the form of four questions:
 Lord do I…?
 Lord am I…?
 Lord why do, or don’t I…?
 Lord why am I…?
Consider your life, your actions, your attitude, your history, your responses, your instinct, and shape your prayer from there!

We pray,
Lord Jesus may that same Spirit of humility live within every one of us; and me especially! Help me to pattern my life, my responses, my heart after Yours and proclaim at every turn; “To God be the glory!” Amen

https://www.dropbox.com/s/e7b38m9lbnpwib3/Fasting%20Prayer.txt

Prayer Prompt #2: Commanding Calm in the Midst of Storm

And leaving the crowd they took him with them in the boat. Just as he was. ..and a great windstorm arose, and the waves were breaking into the boat, so that the boat was already filling. But he was in the stern, asleep on the cushion. And they woke him and said to him, “Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?” and he awoke and rebuked the wind and said to the sea, “Peace! Be still!” and the wind ceased, and there was a great calm. He said to them, “Why are you so afraid? Have you still no faith?”—Mark 4:35-40 (ESV)

 

Something to Think and Pray About…

Storms can occur within or without. Concerning this account the footnotes say;

• Jesus did not chide, admonish the disciples for waking (calling upon) him but for their small faith in the midst of a storm.
• Jesus spoke to the elements (storm) as if it were a person. He mastered the winds and waves as easily as he does illness and demons.
• When Jesus spoke, the change was immediate.

Whether our storm has suddenly come or been brewing for some time. Whether our storm is outside (us) or within (us) the moment we call upon Jesus, who commands the winds and waves as if it were a person, there will be immediate calm; whether without or within! When we call on Jesus in the midst of our storms he does not chide or admonish us, saying we should know how to solve it ourselves; but for shaking and being frantic when clearly He is in the boat/storm with us!

 

Try shaping the following passages into a prayer today for yourself and or others:

• Psalm 46:1-3, 8-9, 10-11
• Psalm 107:28-29
• Isaiah 38:13

 

A Closing Prayer

Jesus, thank you for not abandoning me in time of storm; regardless of the kind of storm it is! But for standing at the helm and commanding a peace and calm I don’t have the wherewithal or power to do. You are truly our storm-ceaser and in your presence there is a peace that passes all human understanding! Amen

 

graphic: http://www.whatsinthebible.com

 

Confessing Heavy Loads

Come to me all of you who are tired and heavy loads, and I will give you rest. Accept my teachings and learn from me, because I am gentle and humble in spirit, and you will find rest for your lives. The teaching that I ask you to accept is easy; the load I give you to carry is light (Matthew 11:28-30)

 

God, I can always tell when I am carrying too much stuff; taking on too much! That feeling of being overwhelmed and overburdened, overworked, stressed and distressed starts to creep in. Some days I just want to run away from it all! I know exactly what David felt like when he said; “If only I had the wings of a dove I would fly away and be at rest”! Lord, I shouldn’t have to run away to feel at peace. I should not have to consider having an emotional, psychological or even spiritual breakdown in order to shake these heavy burdens of life and people. It’s a mixed bag, God; partly my fault and partly the fault of others and their expectations of me, and partly the stuff that just comes from living in this world. So I confess my sin of trying to be God—in my own life and to everyone else! I confess my sin of overloading and overburdening myself, needlessly. I confess my sin of self everything: self-reliance, self-determining, self-aggrandizement!  You have not given us this life to take on everything. With as much power and authority and ability as You have created us with, You have also given us limitations expressly for the purpose of relying on You and not ourselves or others! I pray today for this gift of ease You promise; I want to trade my burden for Your yoke, my worry for Your peace, my limitation for Your power and ability. Then I will be at rest and I can handle everything that comes my way. show me today the things that are on my plate needlessly and help me remove all that does not need to be there, without guilt or shame. In Jesus’ name. Amen

Lenten Prayer: Regret and Repentance

 

For godly grief produces a repentance that lead to salvation without regret, whereas worldly grief produces death—2 Corinthians 7:10

Lord,

I realize that repentance and regret are not the same things. One simply means I am sorry my actions, decisions, mistakes, and sin have come back on me in such a terrible way: I am regretful of the outcome and perhaps the consequence my decision and action have resulted in! The other means I am truly heartbroken over my actions. Truly sorry that I have offended my God and others with my sin or selfishness:  that I want to do the best I can to live closer to You and in accordance with the principles and commands You have put in place for my (eternal) and temporal good.  Worldy grief may produce destructive guilt and despair but godly grief and repentance lead to transformation and change that lasts. As I spend these days in self-examination and walk with me and guide me! Do not abandon me to myself; but draw me even closer to You and Your will and plans for my life and character.

Thank You for helping me understand the difference!  I do not want to live a life of regret but a life of repentance. Keep me from willful sin and foolish, frivolous living but help me live wisely and do those things that please You. Since perfection in this life is an impossibility help me to do the best I can and to lean on You for guidance in questionable areas and places. If my faith and hope and trust and peace rest in You, then they rest in a good place that cannot be shaken; not even in the darkest times. In Jesus’ name. Amen

 

Image From: www.salvationist.ca.com

Praying for our Enemies

 

⁴³ “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ ⁴⁴ But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, ⁴⁵ so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven. For he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust. ⁴⁶ For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same?

God, I admit I don’t spend as much time as I should praying for my enemies. God, it’s really hard to pray for our enemies! Really difficult to pray for people we don’t care for! Difficult to pray for people we know are out to get us, speak poorly about us, oppose us, and are deliberately disagreeable toward us! It’s hard to find the right words to pray their good and not their destruction! Praying for our enemy goes against everything in our being, against every (righteous) bone in our body! Maybe that’s why You gave this lesson on prayer to God-fearing and God-loving people. Help me to add my enemies to my prayer list. The ones I have good reason not dislike and the ones I don’t have any reason to dislike! I want to begin my enemy prayers today by praying for the

• Child molester and abuser who does so much damage to beautiful young people
• Drug trafficker who poisons our communities and our children, destroying lives before they can barely begin
• Human trafficker who stalk and steal people for their illicit purposes
• Gang leader and recruiter who preys on the innocent and locks entire communities in fear
• The politician whose politics I don’t understand at all
• The wealthy who have made their riches off the backs of the poor

Help me pray for them with the heart of Christ. Jesus how would You pray? What would You say? What do You want most from and for these broken, wretched people who break and torment the lives of others?

 

 

Prayer of Confession & Self-Examination

Practicing the 1, 2, 3 Prayer…

1.                                2.                  

3.

1). Fists clenched during confession as a reminder of what we hold onto or withhold from God 2). Hands opened, cupped, and uplifted to release to God all we have held and believed and to now receive His unconditional love 3).Hands folded and laid over the heart to claim God’s assured forgiveness and reconciliation

Over the next forty days we will practice confession, self-examination, meditation and listening  in a way that may be new to many. Engaging our whole being: mouth, mind, and body and soul by using a 1,2,3 Prayer. Each day you will have the opportunity to meditate on a passage of Scripture, spend time in self-examination and confession, then experience God’s release and assurance of forgiveness.  A sample prayer of confession and self-examination has been provided, but allow the Holy Spirit to take you where He wants with your confession and examination. When possible, I suggest speaking the steps of Release and Assurance aloud and with conviction.

Note: Some may enjoy the practice of using River Rocks or burlap sachets to hold in each hand instead of making an empty fists during confession (the weight of the rocks and the feel of the scratchy burlap help keep us focused in prayer and remind us how heavy and irritating our sin is to us, to others, and how grievous they are to God!). These should be released when it is time to move into Release where the hands are upraised and then Assurance where the arms are folded over the heart and chest.      

 

 

Although the movements described here are used to accompany prayers of confession and self-examination they can also be used during times of anxiety, fear or distress. Or while praying the promises of God! Do not feel limited to the meditations of prayers here, but allow the Holy Spirit to lead you!

1, 2,3 Prayer:

Today’s Focus for Self-Examination & Confession:

• Do I follow God’s instruction for my life as willingly as exampled in today’s readings?
• What have the consequences be when I haven’t?
• How has my disobedience disappointed God or caused myself or others to be uncovered or vulnerable?

                                                                                                                                    

From Matthew 1:20-21, 24; 2:12-15; 2:19-21; 4:12-13

¹⁹ And her husband Joseph, being a just man and unwilling to put her to shame, resolved to divorce her quietly. ²⁰ But as he considered these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit… ²⁴ When Joseph woke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him: he took his wife,

¹³ Now when they had departed, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, “Rise, take the child and his mother, and flee to Egypt, and remain there until I tell you, for Herod is about to search for the child, to destroy him.” ¹⁴ And he rose and took the child and his mother by night and departed to Egypt ¹⁵ and remained there until the death of Herod. This was to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet, “Out of Egypt I called my son.”

¹⁹ But when Herod died, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt, ²⁰ saying, “Rise, take the child and his mother and go to the land of Israel, for those who sought the child’s life are dead.” ²¹ And he rose and took the child and his mother and went to the land of Israel.

Jesus Begins His Ministry

¹² Now when he heard that John had been arrested, he withdrew into Galilee. ¹³ And leaving Nazareth he went and lived in Capernaum by the sea, in the territory of Zebulun and Naphtali, ¹⁴ so that what was spoken by the prophet Isaiah might be fulfilled:

 

(sample) Prayer of Confession/Self-Examination

Search me, O God, and know me. See if there is any way about me that keeps me back from You, from Your best for me, from Your healing or love. See if I am full of disobedience, complaint, fear, discouragement, timidity, pride, hate, anger, bigotry, anxiety, self-pity, or dependency on anything or anyone except you. See the things I hold onto, the things I withhold from You, the things that keep me separated from You and others, the things I cherish more than You, my secret and hidden sins, and grant me Your healing. Forgive me for my weaknesses and return to my sin so many times, even after I’ve confessed it, accept my intent to do better and walk in a new way before You. In exchange for my                                    (sin condition or weakness, etc). I pray, fill me with Your                                 (love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, contentment, self-control, faithfulness, gentleness, strength, courage, healing, etc)

 

Release:

Bless the LORD, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless his holy name! Bless the LORD, O my soul, and forgot not all his benefits, who forgives all your iniquity, who heals all your diseases, who redeems your life from the pit, who crowns you with steadfast love and mercy, who satisfies you with good so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s…(Psalm 103:1-5, 10)

 

Assurance:

Our God does not deal with us according to our sins, nor repay us according to our iniquities, but reminds us; “For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his steadfast love toward those who fear him; as far as the east is from the west, so far does he remove our transgressions from us (Psalm 103:5, 11-12)…Amen

 

Prayer: The Journey

 

Day #1

Meditation: Read Isaiah 58

Lord Jesus, thank You for a right perspective on fasting and spiritual disciplines. Lent is a time we can help others as well as ourselves move back into a healing relationship with You. Healing that comes through the waters of Holy Baptism, renewed faith, confession and self-examination. Healing that comes from compassion, love, mercy, forgiveness, and acts of kindness. Thank You for Ash Wednesday that begins this journey of Lent. Thank You for a visible reminder such as ashes on our foreheads or palms, that reminds us, not only of our brokenness, emptiness, sin, and need for repentance, but also reminds us of Your faithful love and commitment to us as Your people. The beginning of Your earthly journey started in a manger and ended on a cross, while ours begins at the foot of the cross and ends in the Father’s waiting arms and heaven. Amen

Prayer: Belonging

On the holy mount stands the city he founded; the LORD loves the gates of Zion more than all the dwelling places of Jacob…the LORD records as he registers the peoples, “this one was born there.” –Psalm 87:1, 6

 

Lord Jesus, when we belong to You we belong to something really big! We belong to the Kingdom of God which stretches to the four corners of the earth and everywhere we go we meet others who also belong to this vast kingdom and city; they have come in through the great flood: the waters of Holy Baptism. But we also meet those who do not belong to You or the great City of God; those whose names have not yet been recorded in Your rolls and registered in the heavenly annuals. Make it my joy and chief aim in life to share the saving Gospel with them! O Lord open my lips so my mouth will pour forth praise and tell of Your goodness to others! I realize I could be rejected but I might also be received and another soul could be added to the Kingdom of God. I could be rejected but the seed of God will be planted to take root and grow through constant watering by others! For sure time is running out: there is not much time left, and people are perishing every day. Not much time left to speak Your name or tell of Your goodness or share Jesus with the dying! Although I have been given many good things to do there is no better thing to do; no bigger plan to be a part of, no greater joy or fulfillment to be had in this life than reaching others for Your sake. Amen

Imagee From: www.jorful,wordpress.com

 

Prayer: The Love of God

   

How deep the Father’s love for us,
How vast beyond all measure
That He should give His only Son
To make a wretch His treasure
How great the pain of searing loss,
The Father turns His face away
As wounds which mar the chosen One,
Bring many sons to glory

            (Stuart Townsend: vs. 1, How Deep the Father’s Love For Us)

 

O LORD Almighty, You alone are God, and besides You there is none other. Heaven is Your throne and earth is Your footstool and somehow You indwell the heart of humans even though Your presence filled the temple until no room was left. Yours is the love that formed me in my mother’s womb and guided me safely into the world, grabbed me when I was straying from the course You chose and keeps me even now. Your love is incomparable and unconditional, beyond awesome and awe-inspiring, it sweeps me off my feet and keeps me grounded at the same time, it is more than I deserve and all I ever need, I have no right to possess it, yet You give it to me freely, it is a blessed love that both saves and keeps me and I would trade all the love in heaven and on earth for it. Amen

 

Image From: www.love-wallpapers.com