Monday Morning Prayer

Good Monday morning, my friends.

The prayer below is appropriately titled "Monday Morning Prayer".  Pause for a few minutes, lifting it to God, and setting your week off on the right foot.  Allow Him to permeate your soul with His grace and peace this morning.

Amazing Grace and Eternal Peace to you today,

Bruce

Dear Father in heaven,

As we begin another week of hurrying and scurrying about our busy lives, we pause for just a moment to express our sincere praise of your majesty. We are amazed that the Creator of the Cosmos is mindful of each one of us and thankful that you are attentive to our needs.

We confess to you that we are intensely aware of our frailties and failings as humans. We also acknowledge that we are utterly dependent upon you for all that we have and all that we are able to do in this day....in every day. Help us deny ourselves, take up our crosses and simply follow Jesus so that we might live in such a way as to bring you honor and glory.

We humbly ask you to guide our steps throughout this week. We ask you to help us search for and find ways to serve as instruments of your peace in this tumultuous world. Help us to be a blessing to others. Please help our actions to be just and merciful. Fill us with your Holy Spirit that we might be empowered to walk humbly with you each step of the way.

Please bless those whose names flow from our hearts to your throne. Provide for each of these according to their needs.

Accept our thanksgiving for your sustaining grace in our lives. Thank you for being the Giver of every good and perfect gift we have received. Help us to bring you pleasure by enjoying these gifts. Help us, also, to honor you by being good stewards of all you have placed in our care. Above all, thank you for the indescribable gift of your Son to be our Lord and Savior. Please give us the faith, courage, grace and wisdom we need to follow in Him each and every day.

In the precious and powerful name of Jesus we pray.

Amen

(Bill Williams - http://praying.kansasbob.com/2010/09/monday-morning-prayer.html)

Bruce MacPherson macpherson@celtic.ca

Beware how you treat the mockers ...

Good Friday morning, my friends.

I read the following article this morning:

Key Bible Verse:

 Since prayer is at the bottom of all this, what I want mostly is for men to pray—not shaking angry fists at enemies but raising holy hands to God. (1Timothy 2:8, The Message) Dig Deeper: Luke 18:1-8

In May of 1934 in Charlotte, North Carolina, a small group of men met together on a dairy farm to pray. It was the middle of the Great Depression, and the farmer had lost all of his savings in the banking collapse the previous year. But he gave up much-needed time at work to pray with his friends.

Together they asked God to raise up a person from the Charlotte area who would share the Good News of Jesus all over the world. A few months later, the farmer's teenage son (who was mocking his father's faith at the time of the prayer meeting) committed his life to Jesus. His name was Billy Graham.

What would have happened if there hadn't been a prayer meeting on the Graham farm that day? What would we have missed? How many millions of people would never have heard the message of Jesus' love through the sermons of Billy Graham if this group of farmers had not asked God to provide a gospel preacher?

When we pray together, we draw close to God's heart and tap into his infinite power and love. God has chosen to use our prayers—especially our prayers together—as one of the main ways he accomplishes his work in our world.

—James Banks in The Lost Art of Praying Together

I see a couple of messages here.  The first, and most obvious, is that as much as private prayer is important, communal prayer is a very valuable tool in God's toolbox.  Jesus said "For where two or three come together in my name, there am I with them" (Matthew 18:20).  

The second message, and perhaps less obvious, is to be careful of how we treat those who heap scorn on the faith.  I do not compare myself in any way to Billy Graham, but I was once a "mocker".  And how about that guy in the New Testament named Saul (who later became Paul)?  We need to be aware that they are not the enemy, they are simply not privy yet to the Truth, in need of prayer and, when the opportunity presents, guidance.

Amazing Grace and Eternal Peace to you today.

Bruce

O God, the everlasting Creator of all things, remember that the souls of unbelievers were made by Thee and formed in Thine own image and likeness.

Remember that Jesus, Thy Son, endured a most bitter death for their salvation.

Permit not, I beseech Thee, O Lord, that Thy Son should be any longer despised by unbelievers, but do Thou graciously accept the prayers of holy men and of the Church, the Spouse of Thy most holy Son, and be mindful of Thy mercy.

Forget their idolatry and unbelief, and grant that they too may some day know Him whom Thou hast sent, even the Lord Jesus Christ, who is our Salvation, our Life and Resurrection, by whom we have been saved and delivered, to whom be glory

(http://catholicism.about.com/od/prayers/qt/For_Unbelievers.htm)

Bruce MacPherson macpherson@celtic.ca

Answered prayer!

Good Thursday morning, my friends.

So I am curious - how many of you prayed for the salvation of family members after reading yesterday's prayer?  

How many prayed for the brother of the man I spoke of?  

Well, I didn't - I was too caught-up with praying for my own family, and that slipped my mind.  But he was being prayed for.  And God listened to those prayers!  I found this incredible message in my inbox this morning:

I did have opportunity to lead my brother in a prayer of repentance while he was in the hospital. I trust he committed his life to Christ.

A roommate in the hospital told my brother-in-law that Ben sang hymns late at night; songs about going home to heaven.

I just heard today that Ben asked my cousin who is a believer to come and talk to him before he died. 

This gives me joy, peace and hope that my brother in with the Lord.

God is good.  God answers prayers - in His time.  So if you have been praying long and hard for a family member, or only just begun, take heart.  He is faithful.

Amazing Grace and Peace that surpasses all understanding be yours,

Bruce

Thank you Father that Your Son came to die for us so that we might be reconciled with you, that we might have permission to come to Your throne room with our petitions.

Thank you Father that you listen to your children.

Lord we than you today for the work of your Holy Spirit in saving this man, Ben.

And we thank you for giving his family peace.

Please, Lord, as we lift up our own family members who do not know you, be at work in their lives, drawing them close to you, prompting them to seek you.

We ask this in the name of your Son, Jesus.  Amen

Bruce MacPherson macpherson@celtic.ca

Praying for family members

Good Wednesday afternoon, my friends.

Like many of you, I have a few family members who don't have a relationship with Jesus.  Up until two days I did not give this a lot of thought, let alone prayer.  Sure, occasionally it would occur to me and I would offer a short prayer, but beyond that I have done little.  

On Monday, I heard a man speak about his brother who was dying.  A brother that has not accepted Christ as his saviour.  This man who spoke was in so much pain over the possibility of spending eternity separated from his brother that it tore my heart out.  At that point the Holy Spirit reminded me of those in my family who were in the same boat.  It was an eye-opening, somewhat shocking experience for me.  I know this should have been much more of a priority for me, and for this I have asked forgiveness.  But unlike the man I described, I still have time to pray and to act.  And I pray that you will do the same for your family.  And if you feel comfortable, feel free to share their first names with me and I will pray for them too.

But please remember these words from Billy Graham in "Just As I Am":

I am always deeply conscious that I am absolutely helpless and that only the Holy Spirit can penetrate the minds and hearts of those that are without Christ. All I am doing is sowing seed. It is God - and only God - who can make the seed bear fruit.

Amazing Grace and Eternal Peace to you today,

Bruce

open their eyes and turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, so that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are being sanctified by faith in Jesus Christ. — Acts 26:18

Father, I ask that You fill them with the knowledge of Your will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding. 

As we intercede in their behalf, we believe that the power of the Holy Spirit is activated, and from this moment on, we shall praise and thank You for their salvation. 

We are confident that You are alert and active, watching over Your Word to perform it. It will not return to You void. It will accomplish that which You please and prosper in the thing whereto it was sent. (Jeremiah 1:12; Isaiah 55:11)

(excerpted from Prayer for Unsaved Family Members: http://www.victoryint.org/index.php?/Scriptural-Prayers-to-Pray/Prayer-for-Unsaved-Family-Members.html)

Bruce MacPherson macpherson@celtic.ca

Perfect what thou hast begun

Good Tuesday morning, my friends.

As with yesterday's missive, this beautiful prayer was penned by Augustine.  Meditate on these words, read through them a few times.  Perfect us in what thou hast begun,  I love that.

Amazing Grace and Eternal Peace to you.

Bruce

Look upon us, O Lord,

and let all the darkness of our souls

vanish before the beams of thy brightness.

Fill us with holy love,

and open to us the treasures of thy wisdom.

All our desire is known unto thee,

therefore perfect what thou hast begun,

and what thy Spirit has awakened us to ask in prayer.

We seek thy face,

turn thy face unto us and show us thy glory.

Then shall our longing be satisfied,

and our peace shall be perfect.

(http://www.faithandworship.com/early_Christian_prayers.htm)

Bruce MacPherson macpherson@celtic.ca

Are you burning for His peace?

Good Monday morning, my friends.

The prayer below is by St. Augustine of Hippo, from his Confessions. It describes a condition I was in for many years - searching for God in all the wrong places.  My question to you this morning is this: Are you searching on the outside for something that is inside?  Are you deaf and blind?  Or are you burning for His peace?

As I heard someone say yesterday - Give Jesus a try.  If you are not fully satisfied the devil will gladly refund all your misery.

Amazing Grace and Eternal Peace to you today,

Bruce

Late have I loved you, 

O Beauty ever ancient, ever new, 

late have I loved you! 

You were within me, but I was outside, 

and it was there that I searched for you. 

In my unloveliness 

I plunged into the lovely things which you created. 

You were with me, but I was not with you. 

Created things kept me from you; 

yet if they had not been in you they would have not been at all. 

You called, you shouted, and you broke through my deafness. 

You flashed, you shone, and you dispelled my blindness. 

You breathed your fragrance on me; 

I drew in breath and now I pant for you. 

I have tasted you, now I hunger and thirst for more. 

You touched me, and I burned for your peace.

(http://bobhostetler.blogspot.com/2010/09/you-called-you-shouted-you-broke.html)

Bruce MacPherson macpherson@celtic.ca

Lord, teach us to pray

Good Friday morning, my friends.

This morning I am reproducing a blog posting from http://praying.kansasbob.com that I found helpful, and hope you to as well.

Ten Principles for Praying

Posted by: Bill Williams

Most who read these lines are likely to be people of prayer. My guess is that many readers are like me and have also longed for a more effective prayer life. I'd like to offer some suggestions towards that end, but want to state up front that these principles are not my invention. They come directly from Jesus' response to His disciples, when they asked Him to teach them how to pray. I definitely see myself as one of the learners in the crowd, earnestly beseeching the Lord for help when it comes to praying.

From Jesus' teaching in Luke 11:1-13 we glean principles for increasing our power in prayer. Before we look at each of these, let me point out a couple of things:

• There is always plenty of room for humility, when it comes to the topic of prayer. This is demonstrated in the request made by Jesus' disciples in Luke 11:1. Was their desire to learn about prayer an admission to an awareness of deficiency in this area? It seems obvious that Jesus' prayed with such power they wanted Him to teach them how to pray.
• Learning to pray is not an intellectual exercise. Jesus response was not a long discourse on various prayer related topics and concerns. Instead, His response was to say, "Pray like this…"

Just like these disciples, listening to Jesus pray is a lesson within itself with respect to how we should pray. We observe the following principles inherent in the prayer model Jesus presented this day.

1) "Our Father" = Approach God with tenderness.

2) "In heaven" = Approach God with awareness.

3) "Hallowed be Your name" = Approach God with reverence.

4) "Your kingdom come" = Approach God purposefully.

5) "Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven" = Approach God submissively. 


Note that everything up to this point focuses primarily on the ATTITUDE of prayer. That which follows seems to place greater emphasis on the RELATIONSHIPS of the pray-er.

6) "Give us today our daily bread" = Approach God with a sense of humility.

7) "Forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors = Approach God with a sense of personal awareness.

8) "Lead us not into temptation" = Approach God with an awareness of our need for guidance. 

Note: James 1:13, "Let no one say when he is tempted, 'I am tempted by God' for God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does He Himself tempt anyone. God will never lead us into anything that He does not plan to lead you out of."


If we are subjected directly to the source of temptation, usually the allurements are of Satan. We must, then, cling to the truths of God's word found in I Corinthians 10:13. Here we read: "No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it."


9) "Deliver us from the evil one" = Approach God with an awareness of our need for protection.

10) "Yours is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory forever" = Approach God with genuine sense of His majesty and eternal sovereignty.

When it's all said and done, perhaps the most important prayer we will ever pray is this: Lord, teach us to pray!

May God continue to richly bless each and every one who passes this way.

Bill Williams
Spiritual Oasis

Amazing Grace and Eternal Peace to you today,

Bruce

In this manner, therefore, pray: 

      Our Father in heaven, 

      Hallowed be Your name. 

      Your kingdom come. 

      Your will be done 

      On earth as it is in heaven. 

      Give us this day our daily bread. 

      And forgive us our debts, 

      As we forgive our debtors. 

      And do not lead us into temptation, 

      But deliver us from the evil one. 

      For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen

Matthew 6:9-14 (New King James Version)

Bruce MacPherson  macpherson@celtic.ca / Blog: The Celtic Christian / Home: 613.489.4174 Cell: 613.720.0821 You are receiving this email because you have requested it or I felt you would be interested in this material. If you would like to be removed from this email list, please do not hesitate to contact me at the above email address.  Likewise, if you know of someone else who you believe would appreciate receiving these messages, please let me know.

Hypocrite?

Good Thursday morning, my friends.

I don't know about you, but it is not uncommon for me to feel like a hypocrite. I try to walk the walk, and talk the talk, and yet so often I feel like I am just playing at being a Christian.  Perhaps not as often as I used to, but it is still there.

This prayer reminds me that I am not alone.  Many have had, and do have, the same affliction.  The devil loves to pounce on us after a failure and tell us we don't really believe what we profess to believe or else we wouldn't behave that way.  The key is to remember that we cannot get into heaven by virtue of our behavior - we cannot earn our way in.  We cannot earn what has already been purchased and offered to us fee of charge.

Amazing Grace and Eternal Peace to you today,

Bruce

Lord Jesus Christ, You gave your life out of love for all people, and You encouraged your followers to do good to others. 

Over the years many Christians have found this difficult and I am no exception. 

I try, but it is so hard to have a loving attitude toward all---and then I feel hypocritical in claiming to follow You.

Help me, dear Lord, to really believe that Christian love is the greatest energy in the world. 

Let me see that this is not an emotion, but a central attitude of one's being---an attitude of service for others in Your Name. 

It is the result of your grace, and prompts us to will only good things for others as images of God. 

Grant that I may always strive to attain this attitude and so live up to the noble vocation to which I am called. Amen.

(http://www.2heartsnetwork.org/love.htm)

Bruce MacPherson  macpherson@celtic.ca / Blog: The Celtic Christian / Home: 613.489.4174 Cell: 613.720.0821 You are receiving this email because you have requested it or I felt you would be interested in this material. If you would like to be removed from this email list, please do not hesitate to contact me at the above email address.  Likewise, if you know of someone else who you believe would appreciate receiving these messages, please let me know.

Salt and Light

Good Wednesday morning, my friends.

It is a few days after Labour Day, but not too late to pray to be blessed in our work. Being a Christian in "the marketplace" can be one of the most difficult parts of this walk with Christ.  There seems to be so little of Him around us at times that it is easy to be more worldly in those circumstances. This is where it is important to be "salt" and "light".

Amazing Grace and Eternal Peace to you,

Bruce

Father, help us to labor wholeheartedly according to Your command.  

We want to bless You with a grateful attitude and bless our workplace in regard to our productivity and loyalty.  

We thank You for our daily provision and blessing that comes through the work of our hands. 

We also thank You for our employers who provide our paychecks to meet our monetary needs. 

We pray for those seeking employment that You will provide work but until that financial door opens we pray that You will provide through unexpected means and the generosity of others.  

As You bless us through the work of our hands we in turn bless You by faithfully giving back to You a generous portion to finance Your kingdom through the local church, Christian ministries, and other worthy endeavors.  

In the name of Jesus we pray.  Amen.

(http://adailyprayer.wordpress.com/2010/09/07/a-prayer-for-laborers/)

Bruce MacPherson macpherson@celtic.ca

Seeing people with "God-eyes"

Good Tuesday morning, my friends.

On what is for most students the first day of a new school year, I thought it appropriate to include a prayer especially for them:

23rd Psalm for Students 

The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not flunk

He keepeth me from lying down when I should be studying

He leadeth me beside the water cooler for a study break

He restores my faith in study guides

He leads me to better study habits

For my grades' sake.

Yea, though I walk through the valley of borderline grades

I will not have a nervous breakdown

For thou art with me

My prayers and my friends, they comfort me

Thou givest me the answer in moments of blankness

Thou anointest my head with understanding

My test paper runneth over with questions I recognise.

Surely passing grades and flying colours shall follow me

All the days of my examinations

And I shall not have to dwell in this exam hall forever. 

--- Author Unknown (http://www.godweb.org/prayersforchildren.htm)

I may not have known that prayer when I was in school, but I sure lived through a lot of it!

In my house, if my son or I are looking for something and fail to find it, we will inevitable ask my wife for help.  She will ask "are you looking with your boy-eyes or your girl-eyes?"  Apparently males don't look (or clean for that matter) as thoroughly as females.  The prayer below asks for the ability to see people with 'God-eyes' which, I assume, are even better than 'girl eyes'.

Amazing Grace and Eternal Peace to you today,

Bruce

Father in heaven, help me understand the needs of those who struggle every day to stand tall against the world's pain. 

Help me find a way to give hope to those who have turned to alcohol or drugs for survival. 

Help me teach the children the lessons of life that will shape their future, body, mind, and soul. 

Help me to feed the poor and elderly, too proud to say that they have not eaten today. 

Help me to look inside myself and see that all mankind is one. 

And, grant me the strength to understand that I can make a difference. Amen. 

(http://www.2heartsnetwork.org/love.htm)

Bruce MacPherson  macpherson@celtic.ca / Blog: The Celtic Christian / Home: 613.489.4174 Cell: 613.720.0821 You are receiving this email because you have requested it or I felt you would be interested in this material. If you would like to be removed from this email list, please do not hesitate to contact me at the above email address.  Likewise, if you know of someone else who you believe would appreciate receiving these messages, please let me know.

Attitude

Good Friday morning, my friends.

How is your attitude today?  Are you upbeat and hopeful?  Or are you downhearted and fearful?

Charles Swindoll in his "Insight for Today" says:

Thoughts are the thermostat that regulates what we accomplish in life. If I feed my mind upon doubt, disbelief, and discouragement, that is precisely the kind of day my body will experience. If I adjust my thermostat forward to thoughts filled with vision, vitality, and victory, I can count on that kind of day. Thus, you and I become what we think about.

Neither Dale Carnegie nor Norman Vincent Peale originated such a message. God did. "For as [a man] thinks within himself, so he is" (Prov. 23:7). "Therefore, prepare your minds for action" (1 Peter 1:13).

My lovely wife, Rosemary, sent me that this morning.  She did so because she knows that these days I am in danger of sliding back and forth between these two attitudes.  The reason?  I work on a contract basis and we are going through the stress, once again, of a contract ending and not being sure of what's next.  I say "again" because this is certainly not the first time - I have been working this way for over 20 years.  But there is a difference this time - a positive difference.  Whereas in previous times I have been filled with doubt and fear, this time I am surprisingly (mostly) calm and confident.  Sure I have my moments of "what if" - what if I don't find a new contract?  What if I can't provide for my family?  What if I am a failure?  But when that happens I remind myself of how well God provided for me through all the years I didn't even know him.  I remind myself that he has plans to prosper me, not to harm me (Jeremiah 29:11).  Yesterday I was reading 2 Corinthians 4:16-18: 

So we're not giving up. How could we! Even though on the outside it often looks like things are falling apart on us, on the inside, where God is making new life, not a day goes by without his unfolding grace. These hard times are small potatoes compared to the coming good times, the lavish celebration prepared for us. There's far more here than meets the eye. The things we see now are here today, gone tomorrow. But the things we can't see now will last forever.

How could we give up?  We have the "Good News", the Gospel.

So let me ask you - how is your attitude today?

Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, dwell on these things.

(Philippians 4:8)

Amazing Grace and Peace that surpasses ALL understanding be yours,

Bruce

O Lord, 

In this time of need, strengthen me. 

You are my strength and my shield; You are my refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. 

I know, Father, that Your eyes go to and fro throughout the earth to strengthen those whose hearts long for You. 

The body grows weary, but my hope is in You to renew my strength.

I do not fear, for You are with me.

I am not dismayed or overwhelmed, for You are my God. 

I know You will strengthen me and help me; that You will uphold me with Your righteous hand. 

Even as the shadows cover me, I feel the comfort of Your strength, Oh Lord.

Amen.

(Adapted from http://www.baptistonline.org/services/community/pastoral_care/pastcare/special/strength.htm)

Bruce MacPherson macpherson@celtic.ca

Why is it important for me to realize I am a sinner?

Good Thursday morning, my friends.

John Fischer posed an interesting question in his "Daily Catch" email today: "Why is it important for me to realize I am a sinner? Because everyone else is."

He goes on:

Our connection with sinners is our sin, not our righteousness. The good news of our salvation through Jesus Christ came to us while we were still sinners; so how do we plan to take that good news to other sinners? Through our near-perfect sainthood? I think not.

We often think that reflecting our "perfect new life" is what will attract others to come to faith.  In fact, it is the message of the Gospel that is attractive - that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us (Romans 5:8).

Fischer continues:

The degree to which we feel removed from sin and sinners is the degree to which we will render ourselves ineffective for the gospel. We come from a long tradition of thinking that our impeccable lives will be the gospel's most treasured possession, and that by nature of our glowing brilliance we will draw the world to us. As it turns out, we're the ones who treasure those perfect lives. The only treasure of sinners is the gospel. When we see ourselves as saints too soon, we leave the point of the gospel behind, forgetting why it is such good news.

Is it any reason much of the world sees us as being "self-righteous"?  How will you (and I) reflect the Gospel today?

Amazing Grace and Eternal Peace to you,

Bruce

Lord Jesus Christ, I pray that you may fortify me with the grace of your Holy Spirit, and give your peace to my soul, that I may be free from all nedless anxiety and worry.  

Help me to desire always that which is pleasing and acceptable to you, so that your will may be my will. 

Grant that I may be free from unholy desires, and that , for your love, I may remain obscure and unknown in this world, to be known only to you.

Do not permit me to attribute to myself the good that you perform in me and through me, but rather, referring all honor to you, may I admit only to my infirmities, so that renouncing sincerely all vainglory which comes from the world, I may aspire to that true and lasting glory that comes from you.  Amen

St. Frances Cabrini

Bruce MacPherson macpherson@celtic.ca

Doing the right thing

Good Wednesday morning my friends,

When faced with a choice, more often than not we know what the right answer is.  Our innate scene of morality, our understanding of scripture, and of course the promptings of the Holy Spirit combine to tell us the correct course of action.  And many times we follow that course.  Particularly when the consequences are clearly in our favour.  

But what about those times when they are not?  What about the times when doing the right thing brings ridicule or condemnation?  Or costs us something we love dearly -  maybe a position, a possession or a relationship?  Those time, we still know what is right but have a much harder time choosing it.  We rationalize.  We justify.  We testify!  (whatever that means - sorry, it just sounded good ...)

Anyone who has listened to Andy Stanley sermons will probably be familiar with the prayer below.  It has three distinct parts, as you will see, all important, but perhaps the last one is most important of all.  This is a prayer we can say multiple times every day and it will never get old, never get tired, to us or to God.

Amazing Grace and Eternal Peace to you today,

Bruce

LORD, give me the wisdom to know what is right

and the courage to do what is right

no matter what.

Bruce MacPherson macpherson@celtic.ca