Prayer to see others as God sees them

"By the power of the gospel, help us not view our bosses and co-workers only in terms of our advantage or disadvantage; rather, let us see all women and men as fellow image bearers of God—desperate for the same grace you have lavished on us in Jesus."  Scotty Smith

Lord, please restore to us the comfort of merit and demerit. Show us that there is at least something we can do. Tell us that at the end of the day there will at least be one redeeming card of our very own. Lord, if it is not too much to ask, send us to bed with a few shreds of self-respect upon which we can congratulate ourselves. But whatever you do, do not preach grace. Give us something to do, anything; but spare us the indignity of this indiscriminate acceptance.  Robert Farrar Capon (1923-2013)

May it never be so Lord!  Thank You for Your grace, love, mercy, acceptance and forgiveness. And thank You, that it is based on Your character and sacrifice  on the cross, not on my deeds.

Prayer of St. Fursey

A Prayer of St. Fursey 7th Century - died 650AD

“The arms of God be around my shoulders,
The touch of the Holy Spirit upon my head,
The sign of Christ’s cross upon my forehead,
The sound of the Holy Spirit in my ears,
The fragrance of the Holy Spirit in my nostrils,
The vision of heaven’s company in my eyes,
The conversation of heaven’s company on my lips,
The work of God’s church with my hands,
The service of God and my neighbour in my feet,
And a home for God in my heart,
And to God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit my entire being.
Amen.”

Best use of my time

Saw this on a blog today....seemed like some great ideas to focus prayer.
http://yearnforgod.org/2012/04/18/how-i-pray-for-my-sons/

Griping to Gratitude

(picture from Wikipedia)

"My loving God,  You have turned my griping into gratitude, my screams of despair into proclamations of joy.  How can I help but explode with praises and vow to spend eternity in thanksgiving to You? 

 You are my hope and salvation, the morning star and the evening star, my shade in the desert heat, and my warmth in the cold of the night.

You are the Bread of Life, the life-giving springs when my soul is parched and dry.  You are the answer to my agonizing questions, the fulfillment of my deepest longings. 

I am Yours, O God, Yours forever!

Make my life a perpetual offering of praise."

(from Book of Christian Prayer by Leslie F. Brandt)

Grace that is greater than all my sin

Grace Active

Lord Jesus, Great High Priest,
You have opened a new and living way by which a fallen creature can approach you with acceptance. Help me to contemplate the dignity of your Person, the perfectness of your sacrifice, the effectiveness of your intercession.
O what blessedness accompanies devotion, when under all the trials that weary me, the cares that corrode me, the fears that disturb me, the infirmities that oppress me, I can come to you in my need and feel peace beyond understanding!
The grace that restores is necessary to preserve, lead, guard, supply, help me. And here your saints encourage my hope; they were once poor and are now rich, bound and are now free, tried and now are victorious.
Every new duty calls for more grace than I now possess, but not more than is found in you, the divine Treasury in whom all fullness dwells. To you I repair for grace upon grace, until every void made by sin be replenished and I am filled with all your fullness. May my desires be enlarged and my hopes be emboldened, that I may honor you by my entire dependency and the greatness of my expectation.
Be with me, and prepare me for all the smiles of prosperity, the frowns of adversity, the losses of substance, the death of friends, the days of darkness, the changes of life, and the last great change of all.
May I find your grace sufficient for all my needs.

"Grace Active, in The Valley of Vision: A Collection of Puritan Prayers & Devotions, ed. Arthur Bennett (Edingburgh: The Banner of Truth Trust), 214-215.

Prayer for living out the Gospel



Please pray for me,
that I may have both spiritual and physical strength to perform my duties;
that I may not only speak the truth but become the truth;
that I may not only be called a Christian, but also live like a Christian.
Yet I do not want people to look to me as an example,
for at best I can only be a pale reflection of Christ Jesus;
let people look away from the reflection and turn to the reality.
Christianity is not a matter of persuading people of particular ideas,
but of inviting them to share in the greatness of Christ.
So pray that I may never fall into the trap of impressing people with clever speech,
but instead I may learn to speak with humility,
desiring only to impress people with Christ himself.
- Ignatius of Antioch, 35-108 A. D. 

Starting 2012.....

As I prayerfully enter into the New Year I agree:

A New Year's Prayer

To thee, O God, I give up myself, to be used and employed for thee. I desire to live no longer than I may do thee some service. Make what use of me thou pleasest, only let me obtain mercy of the Lord, to be found diligent, humble, and faithful. O that the work of this year may be better done than that of the last, and my time more filled up; and that I may never grow weary of well doing.
To thee, O God, I give up myself, to be disposed of by thee as thou pleasest. I know not what the year may bring forth to me, or to my family. But welcome the holy will of God; and God, by his grace, make me ready for it. If it be the last year of my life, my dying year, may I but finish my course with joy; and farewell this world. Whatever afflictions may this year befall me, I desire none of them may move me from God and my duty, amen.(a prayer by Matthew Henry, January 1, 1707)

From Bob Hostetler's blog: http://bobhostetler.blogspot.com/

Here's another good one:

Lord God Almighty,
I understand that I am unable to do anything without your help,
so I ask you to enable me by your grace to fulfill your will.

Give me grace to do whatever brings most glory and honor to you,
pleasure and profit to me,
and life and love to others.

Help me to number my days,
spending my time wisely,
living my life with all my might while I still have breath.

Humble me in the knowledge that I am chief of sinners;
when I hear of the sins of others,
help me to not look upon them with pride,
but to look upon myself with shame,
confessing my own sins to you.

When I go through difficulties and trials,
remind me of the pains of hell
from which you have already delivered me.

Place people in my path who need my help,
and give me a compassionate and generous spirit.

Fill my heart with such love
that I would never do anything out of a spirit of revenge,
nor lose my temper with those around me.
Hold my tongue when I am tempted to speak evil of others.

Thank you for the gospel and for the hope of glory.
Help me to live in light of these truths every day of my life,
so that when the time of my death arrives,
I will rest assuredly in you,
and you will be most glorified in me.

In Christ’s name…

- Trevin Wax (adapted from the first 21 of Jonathan Edwards’ resolutions), first posted on January 3, 2010

Prayer (1)

Prayer by John Baillie in: A Diary of Private Prayer: Evening, day 17
"I bless Thee , O most holy God, for the unfathomable love whereby Thou has ordained that spirit with spirit can meet and that I, a weak and erring mortal, should have this ready access to the heart of Him who moves the stars..."

Photograph  from National Geographic:  courtesy NASA/ESA/Hubble Heritage Team (STScI/AURA)