Daily Prayer - Great sin draws out great grace

Good Wednesday morning, my friends.
 
This is an amazing, beautiful prayer describing God's great grace.  As you lift it to His ears, let it settle in your bones.  If it looks too long and you are too rushed this morning, you need it all the more.  Take the time.
 
Grace and peace be yours in abundance,
Bruce 
 
 
Great God, in public and private, in sanctuary and home,
may my life be steeped in prayer,
filled with the spirit of grace and supplication,
each prayer perfumed with the incense of atoning blood.
Help me, defend me,
until from praying ground I pass to the realm of unceasing praise.
Urged by my need,
invited by Thy promises,
called by Thy Spirit,
I enter Thy presence,
worshipping Thee with godly fear,
awed by Thy majesty, greatness, glory,
but encouraged by Thy love.
 
I am all poverty as well as all guilt,
having nothing of my own with which to repay Thee,
but I bring Jesus to Thee in the arms of faith,
pleading His righteousness to offset my iniquities,
rejoicing that He will weigh down the scales for me,
and satisfy thy justice.
 
I bless Thee that great sin draws out great grace,
that, although the least sin deserves infinite punishment because done against an infinite God,
yet there is mercy for me,
for where guilt is most terrible,
there Thy mercy in Christ is most free and deep.
Bless me by revealing to me more of His saving merits,
by causing Thy goodness to pass before me,
by speaking peace to my contrite heart;
strengthen me to give Thee no rest untiI Christ shall reign supreme within me in every thought, word, and deed,
in a faith that purifies the heart, overcomes the world,
works by love, fastens me to Thee, and ever clings to the cross.
 
(from The Valley of Vision, a collection of Puritan prayers by way of http://bobhostetler.blogspot.ca/2013/10/i-enter-thy-presence.html)

Daily Prayer - Do you have a Timothy?

Good Monday morning, my friends.
 
We have a responsibility to pour into the lives of others.  It could be our own children or grandchildren, or it could be others who are "younger" in the faith.  As I have said before, we all need a Paul, a Barnabas, and a Timothy in our lives:  A Paul to mentor and teach us, a Barnabas to encourage us, and a Timothy to whom we can pass on the wisdom and experience that we have gained in our walk of faith.
 
Is there a Timothy in your life?
 

Grace and peace be yours in abundance,
Bruce
 
 
 
Father, we could be driven to despair in the midst of the evil that surrounds us if we didn't walk in the light of Your truth.
 
We walk in the true wisdom that comes from heaven, not in the flawed wisdom that comes from the world.
 
Help us to make the most of every opportunity to stand up for divine truth in our minds, our speech and in our actions.
 
Help us to be faithful in passing on the faith to the next generation.
 
We want to be the light that shines forth in the creeping darkness of our land so that we can show others the way to eternal life.
 
In the name of Your dear Son, Jesus, we pray.  Amen.
 
(http://adailyprayer.wordpress.com/2013/10/25/a-prayer-for-leaving-a-godly-legacy-2/)

Daily Prayer - Fill 'er up

Good Friday morning, my friends.
 
I love the 23rd Psalm.  It is one of the first (and few!) pieces of scripture I have memorized.  This prayer is a wonderful paraphrase of the psalm.  Allow God to top-up your trust in Him today.
 

Amazing Grace and Eternal Peace be yours,
Bruce
 
 
 
Lord, you are my shepherd;
I lack nothing that I really need.
 
You care for me and lead me.
You restore and revive me.
 
Even in the darkest times,
I don't have to be afraid,
for I know you are there with me,
protecting me and comforting me.
 
You provide my needs,
you pour out on me one blessing after another.
 
Your goodness and love—and constant presence—are all I need,
now and forever.
 
Amen.
 
(a prayer from The Bible 30-Day Experience Guidebook by Bob Hostetler http://bobhostetler.blogspot.ca/2013/10/a-prayer-to-my-shepherd.html)

Daily Prayer - Strength in numbers

Good Wednesday morning, my friends.
 
There is strength in numbers.  This is true in spiritual battle as well as physical battle.  When Paul talks of putting on the "full armor of God" he uses the plural: "our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms" (Ephesians 6:12). So let's help and encourage one  another to don our armor.  Let's stand together against the evil one.  This prayer is our declaration of unity in the battle. 

Grace and peace and victory be ours!
Bruce
 

Father, as we live in the Light of Your Word the devil's venomous plots are exposed. 
 
We are not caught by surprise but rather we are filled with Your Spirit which prepares us to be on the offense rather than defense.

 

We walk in truth and confidence as we stand strong on the day of evil.
 
As we wear the full armor You have provided for our protection we can fight against the devil's evil tricks.
 
Our fight is not against flesh and blood but against the powers of this world's darkness and the spiritual powers of evil in the heavenly world.
 
So we pray in the spirit continuously asking for Your help, strength, and guidance.
 
We also pray for our brothers and sisters that together we will stand firm against the enemy of our souls. 
 
Amen.
 
(http://adailyprayer.wordpress.com/2013/10/18/a-prayer-for-resisting-the-devil/)

Daily Prayer - Turn my eyes away from worthless things

Good Monday morning, my friends.
 
On Friday we prayed part of Psalm 119, a Psalm that speaks of the love of God's word.  Jesus said "Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God" (Matthew 4:4).  Let me share with you today another snippet from Psalm 119.  Ask God to feed you from His word today, and to help you turn away from worthless things.
 

Grace and peace be yours in abundance,
Bruce
 
 
 
Teach me, Lord, the way of your decrees,
    that I may follow it to the end.
 
Give me understanding, so that I may keep your law
    and obey it with all my heart.
 
Direct me in the path of your commands,
    for there I find delight.
 
 Turn my heart toward your statutes
    and not toward selfish gain.
 
 Turn my eyes away from worthless things;
    preserve my life according to your word.
 
 Fulfill your promise to your servant,
    so that you may be feared.
 
 Take away the disgrace I dread,
    for your laws are good.
 
 How I long for your precepts!
    In your righteousness preserve my life.
 
Psalm 119:33-40

Daily Prayer - The unfolding of Your words gives light

Good Friday morning, my friends.
 
This morning I was reading Psalm 119.  This Psalm is a celebration of God's word, His laws, and His commandments.  According to the psalmist he Law is never considered a curse, it is always seen as a gift from God.  He declares "Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path"  (Psalm 119:104).
 
Find time to open your Bible and read a chapter or two today.  Let Him feed your soul.  Let Him give you light.
 

Grace and peace be yours in abundance,
Bruce 
 
 
Your statutes are wonderful;
    therefore I obey them.
 
The unfolding of your words gives light;
    it gives understanding to the simple.
 
I open my mouth and pant,
    longing for your commands.
 
Turn to me and have mercy on me,
    as you always do to those who love your name.
 
Direct my footsteps according to your word;
    let no sin rule over me.
 
Redeem me from human oppression,
    that I may obey your precepts.
 
Make your face shine on your servant
    and teach me your decrees.
 
Streams of tears flow from my eyes,
    for your law is not obeyed.
 
Psalm 119:129-136

Daily Prayer - So easy, it's hard

Good Thursday morning, my friends.

  

Here is another great article by John Fischer.  Enjoy.

  

  

So easy, it's hard 

by John Fischer 

 

Our new relationship with God is so hard for us to accept because we can do nothing to earn it, and nothing to discredit it. We are not used to this. We are used to earning our reputations. We are used to pleasing our superiors. We are used to gaining acceptance and love. We are used to a world where good behavior is rewarded and bad behavior is punished.

 

We are not used to a Father who welcomes us home unequivocally -- no questions asked. We are not used to a Father who doesn't even want to hear our excuses, He just wants to celebrate our homecoming. When this happens to us, we don't know how to accept it, when it happens to someone else, we are upset that they got something for nothing, after we have worked so hard doing the right thing. Where's our party? When this happens to someone else we all suddenly become elder sons.

 

I was reminded of this just a couple days ago when I found out that Brennan Manning had passed away last April. What a gift to the body of Christ this man was. He was a Roman Catholic in the contemplative tradition who had such profound revelation of the God of unconditional love that it became his theme to represent that love to us in whatever way he could. He was a special gift to evangelical Christians steeped in guilt and failed expectations.

 

I had the privilege of hearing him speak a few times and no one could deliver the love of God like this man could. I can still remember walking with him along a California beach and realizing he really believes this. His own story is one of failing so hard at the old way and not feeling worthy of the new. I believe he spoke so forcefully of the love of God because he was always needing to believe it for himself.

 

I was so glad to discover that at the end of a video that was made for his memorial service there is a recording of a two-sentence homily he would usually deliver somewhere in his talks. It became his trademark statement of the love of God that he would deliver with such force it took your breath away. I have it here in caps because that's the only way I can do justice to the power of this quote in print.

 

I will forever hear his voice ringing with this:

 

"DO YOU BELIEVE THAT THE GOD OF JESUS LOVES YOU BEYOND WORTHINESS AND UNWORTHINESS, BEYOND FIDELITY AND INFIDELITY, THAT HE LOVES YOU IN THE MORNING SUN AND THE EVENING RAIN, THAT HE LOVES YOU WHEN YOUR INTELLECT DENIES IT, YOUR EMOTIONS REFUSE IT, YOUR WHOLE BEING REJECTS IT? DO YOU BELIEVE THAT GOD LOVES WITHOUT CONDITION OR RESERVATION, AND LOVES YOU THIS MOMENT AS YOU ARE AND NOT AS YOU SHOULD BE?"

 

That's the new way. It's what we accept for ourselves and offer to others, and is harder to receive than to give. It shatters everything we used to believe about God and us. It decimates what we do for God and places us in God where we await the discovery of what He wants to do through us, in spite of us, and because of Him.

 

Wow.

  

Amazing Grace and Eternal Peace be yours,

Bruce

 

  

Thank You God of Jesus ...

 

that you love me beyond worthiness and unworthiness, beyond fidelity and infidelity,

that you love me in the morning sun and in the evening rain,

that you love me when my intellect denies it, my emotions refuse it, my whole being rejects it.

  

Thank You God for loving me without contition or reservation, and loving me at this moment when I am not as I should be.

Daily Prayer - Can't get no satisfaction?

Good Wednesday morning, my friends.
 
Have you ever noticed that even the greatest joys we experience in this life are tinged with a feeling that there is still something missing, something even greater to be had?
 
That is what Solomon meant when he wrote "He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the human heart; yet no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end" (Ecclesiastes 3:11).
 
Be thankful for that missing piece (peace?), that longing for more.  Be thankful knowing only God can truly satisfy our every want and need.
 

Grace and peace be yours in abundance,
Bruce
 
 
 
I thank Thee, O Lord, that Thou hast so set eternity within my heart that no earthly thing can ever satisfy me wholly. 
 
I thank Thee that every present joy is so mixed with sadness and unrest as to lead my mind upwards to the contemplations of a more perfect blessedness. 
 
And above all I thank Thee for the sure hope and promise of an endless life which Thou hast given me in the glorious gospel of Jesus Christ my Lord. 
 
Amen.
 
John Baillie
 
(http://praying.kansasbob.com/2013/10/eternity-in-my-heart.html)

Daily Prayer - How are you walking?

Good Tuesday morning, my friends.
 
I trust and pray you received peace in your expression of thanksgiving this weekend.  And that you have leftover turkey to last you the week!
 
Is it just me or does life seem to speed up with each passing year?  We visited our daughter this weekend - she is in her second year of university, and our son will start next September.  Where has the time gone?
 
Paul says "Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, making the best use of the time, because the days are evil" (Ephesians 5:15-16).  If the days were evil in his time, how much more in ours?
 
How are you walking?
 

Grace and peace be yours in abundance,
Bruce
 

Father, often the days converge into another and before we know it another year has passed. 
 
Help us to be keenly aware of each new day and the opportunity it holds for us to build character and be engaged in our Father's business.
 
We want to daily turn to Your holy Word for wisdom so that we will present to You a heart full of godly wisdom and a life fully surrendered to You.
 
In the name of Jesus we pray, Amen.
 
(http://adailyprayer.wordpress.com/2013/10/14/a-prayer-for-todays-blessing/)

Daily Prayer - A prayer for you

Good Friday morning, my friends.
 
I have prayed this prayer for each of you this morning.  As you read it allow God to reveal how He is working in your life today to heal and bless.
 
If you are so inclined, pray this prayer for one or more of your family and friends and then send it to them, post it on Facebook, tweet it, share it.  Jesus said "By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another." (John 13:35)
 

Grace and peace and love be yours in abundance,
Bruce
 

Father, I ask you to bless my friends reading this right now.  I am asking You to minister to their spirit at this very moment.
 
Where there is pain, give them Your peace and mercy.
 
Where there is self doubting, release a renewed confidence in Your ability to work through them.
 
Where there is tiredness, or exhaustion, I ask You to give them understanding, patience, and strength as they learn submission to Your leading.
 
Where there is spiritual stagnation, I ask You to renew them by revealing Your nearness, and by drawing them into greater intimacy with You.
 
Where there is fear, reveal Your love, and release to them Your courage.
 
Where there is a sin blocking them, reveal it, and break its hold over my friend's life.
 
Bless their finances, give them greater vision, and raise up leaders, and friends to support, and encourage them.
 
Give each of them discernment to recognize the evil forces around them, and reveal to them the power they have in You to defeat it.
 
Amen
 
(http://members.tripod.com/davidsd_1/uniprayer.html)

Daily Prayer - Make my paths straight

Good Wednesday morning, my friends.

 

This is an amzaing prayer.   The author implores God to "pull me into prayer", to bring himself (and you and I) into a conversation with God about the difficulties that face us. Are you facing a choice in life?  Is worry weighing you down?  Give God your circumstances and see what He does with them. 

Trust in the Lord with all your heart,

    and do not lean on your own understanding.

In all your ways acknowledge him,

    and he will make straight your paths (Proverbs 3:5-6)

 

Amazing Grace and Eternal Peace be yours!

Bruce

 

Gracious God, my world and my circumstances overwhelm me at times. I can see so many sides to my situation, so many ways it could go, so many avenues and choices. But Father, I need to make some decisions. I need to move forward. And I need Your grace and power to sort things out.
 
Lord, when I look at the pictures of Jesus in Scripture, I don't see Him confused or upset. I don't see Him wondering what to do or how to do it. When He faced big decisions and life-changing moments, He always drew apart and spent time with You.
 
Lord, when I'm tempted to worry, please pull me into prayer. When my thoughts swirl about me, remind me that I have Your mind. Help me acknowledge You in every way as I trust You to make my paths straight.
 
Savior, I want to say along with you, "Lord, not my will but Yours be done." Grant my desire to seek You first. Give me grace to seek You always. And help me as I sort things out according to Your Word, your will, and your way. In the holy name of Jesus I pray—AMEN.
 
(from Marti Pieper's blog, http://martipieper.com by way of http://bobhostetler.blogspot.ca/2013/10/a-prayer-for-those-who-are-sorting.html)

Daily Prayer - Calibrate

Good Tuesday morning, my friends.

This simple yet elegant prayer should reset your compass to True North.  Allow God to do the leading through your day.

Grace and peace be yours in abundance,

Bruce

I call upon you, O Lord. 

In the morning you hear me; in the morning I offer you my prayer, watching and waiting.

I lift my heart to you, O Lord, to be strengthened for this day. Be with me in all I do, my God; guide me in all my ways.

I will carry some burdens today; some trials will be mine. So I wait for your help, Lord, lest I stumble and fall.

I will do my work, Father, the work begun by your Son. He lives in me and I in him; may his work today be done.

Amen.

(http://dailyprayer.us/prayers/morning.php)

Daily Prayer - So far so good ...

Good Friday morning, my friends.
 
Here is a prayer I can relate to.  I hope it brings a smile to your (and God's) face.
 
Have a wonderful weekend!
 

Amazing Grace and Eternal Peace be yours,
Bruce
 
 
 
Dear Lord
 
So far today, dear Jesus, I have done all right.
 
I haven't gossiped,
haven't been greedy,
grumpy,
nasty,
selfish
or over-indulgent.
 
I'm very thankful for that…
 
However, in just a few minutes,
I'm going to get out of bed.
 
From then on, I'm going to need a lot more help.
 
Amen.
 
(http://members.tripod.com/davidsd_1/morningpray.html)

Daily Prayer - Let my bones be soaked with Your love

Good Thursday morning, my friends.
 
What is weighing you down today?  This week has certainly had its challenges in our house.  Reading this great prayer by St. Augustine helped give me the "attitude adjustment" I needed.  I pray it does the same for you.  Be careful not to skim over the opening line.  Ask God to help you remember and confess the mercies He has showered on you.

 

God has broken our chains - let our bones be soaked in His love!
 

Grace and peace be yours in abundance!
Bruce
 

O my God,
let me, with thanksgiving,
remember, and confess unto you
your mercies on me.
 
Let my bones be soaked with your love,
and let them say unto you,
Who is like you, O Lord?
 
You have broken my chains in pieces.
I will offer unto you the sacrifice of thanksgiving
And how you have broken them, I will declare;
and all who worship you, when they hear this, will say:
Blessed is the Lord in heaven and in earth!
Great and wonderful is his name!
 
(A prayer of St. Augustine by way of http://bobhostetler.blogspot.ca/2013/10/let-my-bones-be-soaked-with-your-love.html)

Daily Prayer - Be mindful of the gifts ...

Good Wednesday morning, my friends.
 
When God made His covenant with Abraham He told him he would make him a great nation, a blessed nation.  But that blessing was not just for the nation of Israel, rather God said "through your offspring all nations on earth will be blessed" (Genesis 22:18).
 
You and I have also been blessed.  Blessed with gifts and talents.  And, like Israel, these are not simply for our own enjoyment but rather are to be shared with others.
 
Reflect on those gifts as you pray this simple and powerful prayer.
 

Grace and peace and blessings be yours in abundance!
Bruce
 

Good and Gracious God,
turn my mind toward your will,
that I may offer my whole self in service to you.
 
Make me ever mindful of the gifts
you have given me
to do your work in the world.
 
Amen.
 
(http://letspraydaily.blogspot.ca/2009/05/mindful-of-god-prayer.html)