Category Archives: Prayer

Thankful Thursday ~ Ephesians 3: 14-20

 I am thankful today for all we have in Christ and for my friends and family.

My gift for you who visit here and all who participate in Thankful Thursday is this prayer from Ephesians. It is so rich and so full. Blessings on all of you at this wonderful Christmas time.

Ephesians 3:14-20 ~

“For this reason I kneel before the Father, from whom his whole family in heaven and on earth derives it name. I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.

Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.”

For more Thankful Thursday visit Lynn.

The Beautiful Garden of Prayer ~ Hymn

 

The Beautiful Garden of Prayer

There’s a garden where Jesus is waiting,
There’s a place that is wondrously fair,
For it glows with the light of His presence.
’Tis the beautiful garden of prayer.

Refrain

Oh, the beautiful garden, the garden of prayer!
Oh, the beautiful garden of prayer!
There my Savior awaits, and He opens the gates
To the beautiful garden of prayer.

There’s a garden where Jesus is waiting,
And I go with my burden and care,
Just to learn from His lips words of comfort
In the beautiful garden of prayer.

Refrain

There’s a garden where Jesus is waiting,
And He bids you to come, meet Him there;
Just to bow and receive a new blessing
In the beautiful garden of prayer.

Refrain

Words: Elea­nor All­en Schroll, in Hymns for To­day (Fill­more Bros. Co., 1920).

Thankful Thursday ~ October 4th

  

I Thessalonians 5:16-18 ~

Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.

Well it’s been quite a week and we’re gearing up for a celebration filled weekend. All of our children are flying into L.A. on Friday evening for my nephew’s wedding on Saturday. They’ll be here a very short time and we’re filling up a lot of that time with family get-togethers besides the wedding on Saturday evening.

I am so thankful to all of you who have been praying for our son Josh after his TIA episode last week. He’s doing well and he’s had 3 procedures/tests inflicted on him this week. He’s done with everything the neurologist ordered now and we’re waiting for the results/findings. Dear and I and Josh and Laura are very grateful to the blog world that is so willing and ready to pray for those in the body they have never met face to face!

Josh at about 14 months old, Easter of 1980

I am so thankful I will see each of my kids this weekend and be able to give them a hug.

I am thankful to Family and Friends who have been upholding us in prayer along with our bloggy friends.

I am thankful to God who upholds us, answers prayers, and gives us peace and joy.

I am thankful to my Savior Jesus Christ whose sacrifice for us on the cross opened up the door for our relationship with the Father and because of that we have the undeserved benefits that come with being a Child of God.

God bless you all with a wonderful Thankful Thursday!

To see more Thankful Thursday posts click on Sting My Heart.

Overwhelmed and Thankful

I’m overwhelmed and thankful to family, face to face friends, and friends I’ve never seen, who have poured out their support, love, and prayers for my son and our family. He’s doing well and is having follow-up tests. God created us to glorify Him in community and it’s in times like these that we see how beautiful community is. Blessings on each and every one of you. I’m praying that God would return the blessing I have received back to you. Have a wonderful weekend.  Ellen b.

2 Thessalonians 3:16 ~ “Now may the Lord of peace himself give you peace at all times in every way. The Lord be with you all.”

Thankful Thursday ~ Prayer Request

Update: Josh was released from the hospital late last night after a CAT Scan and being monitored for a few hours. They believe he had a TIA. He will be having a follow-up and two more tests in the near future. THANK YOU so much for all your prayers. It is so GOOD to be covered. We have no idea what is wrought by our prayers. Things we might not see here or understand. Never believe the lie that your prayers are unimportant! Blessings on all of you.

While I’m writing this post our firstborn Josh is at the ER in Tacoma, Washington because of an episode of aphasia. His wife Laura is there with him. We’re waiting to hear about his examination and if anything serious presents itself. He and Laura were in Tacoma today attending the funeral of Laura’s new sister-in-law’s mother.  It’s times like these that it makes it so hard being 1200 miles away. So what do I thank God for today.

I thank Him that He loves Josh and Laura and has redeemed them for His own.

I thank Him that He is surrounding them with His love and comfort right now.

I thank Him that our other son Dan and daughter Katie are driving to Tacoma to keep Laura and Josh company at the hospital.

I thank Him that Josh and Laura have been at the side of Laura’s brother and his new wife as they grieve over the sudden death of this new wife’s mother and they were at the funeral today lending support.  (Tacoma is approximately an hour’s drive from their and our homes in Washington).

I thank Him that as soon as I told one member of my family everyone was called and asked to pray! That’s a lot of prayer warriors!

I thank Him that now my bloggy friends will be praying, too.

Pray that this mommy’s heart would be still and trust in Her loving God and Savior. (Pray for the dad, too…)

There are more Thankful Thursday posts here.

Prayer ~ O Gracious Light

 

O gracious Light
Pure brightness of the everlasting Father in heaven,
O Jesus Christ, holy and blessed!
Now as we come to the setting of the sun,
And our eyes behold the vesper light,
We sing praises, O God: Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
You are worthy at all times to be praised by happy voices,
O Son of God, O giver of life,
And to be glorified through all the worlds. [Amen]
~ Phos Hilaron

This is attributed by some to the martyr and bishop Athenogenes (d. c. 305), who is said by tradition to have sung this hymn (“O Cheerful Light”) as he was burned for his faith.

I John 1:5 ~ This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.

John 8:12 ~ Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”

I Peter 2:9 ~ But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.

Revelation 22:5 ~ And night will be no more. They will need no light of lamp or sun, for the Lord God will be their light, and they will reign forever and ever.

In Other Words Tuesday ~ Praying…

“Praying is no easy matter.  It demands a relationship in which you allow someone other than yourself to enter into the very center of your person, to see there what you would rather leave in darkness, and to touch there what you would rather leave untouched.  Why would you really want to do that?”

~ Henri Nouwen ~

 Praying might not be easy but we can be more confident in our prayers if we are praying according to God’s Word. When I let the Word of God along with the Holy Spirit reveal what He wants me to deal with in my life He equips me to follow through in obedience. If I try to go into my heart without the help of God’s truth and His instruction I might tend to dwell too much on me and not enough on God’s truth and what He can do with the sin in my heart. I’m going to share another quote about prayer in response to the quote above.

This comes from Bonhoeffer’s Life Together ~

“The Scripture meditation leads to prayer. We have already said that the most promising method of prayer is to allow oneself to be guided by the word of the Scriptures, to pray on the basis of the word of Scripture. In this way we shall not become victims of our own emptiness. Prayer means nothing else but the readiness and willingness to receive and appropriate the Word, and, what is more, to accept it in one’s personal situation, particular tasks, decisions, sins, and temptations. What can never enter the corporate prayer of the fellowship may here be silently made known to God. According to a word of Scripture we pray for the clarification of our day, for preservation from sin, for growth in sanctification, for faithfulness and strength in our work. And we may be certain that our prayer will be heard, because it is a response to God’s Word and promise. Because God’s Word has found its fulfillment in Jesus Christ, all prayers that we pray conforming to this Word are certainly heard and answered in Jesus Christ.

It is one of the particular difficulties of meditation that our thoughts are likely to wander and go their own way, toward other persons or to some events in our life. Much as this may distress and shame us again and again, we must not lose heart and become anxious, or even conclude that meditation is really not something for us. When this happens it is often a help not to snatch back our thoughts convulsively, but quite calmly to incorporate into our prayer the people and the events to which our thoughts keep straying and thus in all patience return to the starting point of the meditation.”

Boenhoffer’s language might be “dated” for our ears but the truth here is so good to read. I especially appreciate this last paragraph. We can pray about what our minds wander to and then get back to the point of our prayer and the scripture we are meditating on. However hard prayer may be for us we should never abandon it.

There are more In Other Words contributors at Fruit in Season…

ht: Life Together. Copyright 1954 by Harper Collins Publishers.

James 5: 14-15 ~ I’m Wondering…

I’m not called the Happy Wonderer for nothing. There are lots of things I wonder about. Right now I’m in the midst of my yearly Bible reading (reading each book of the Bible 20x ~ which will take way longer than a year) I’m in the book of James.

James 5:14-15 ~ “Is any one of you sick? He should call the elders of the church to pray over him and anoint him with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise him up. If he has sinned, he will be forgiven.

So my questions are:

Has anyone called their elders when they are sick? Did they come?

Did they annoint you with oil and pray for you?

If you haven’t done this, why not?

Is it a common practice?

What has your experience been with this instruction?

Leave a comment with anything that might help my wondering….

http://www.albany.edu/~ka762934/anointsickpic.gif

Thankful Thursday ~ I Chronicles 16:8-12

 

 

Give thanks to the Lord, call on his name; make known among the nations what he has done. Sing to him, sing praise to him; tell of all his wonderful acts. Glory in his holy name; let the hearts of those who seek the Lord rejoice. Look to the Lord and his strength; seek his face always. Remember the wonders he has done, his miracles, and the judgments he pronounced, …”

One of the miracles that the Lord has done in my life is leading my Father and Mother out of Iran (Persia back then) to the U.S.A. This was before my Father was a believer but God’s hand was on him in a mighty way leading my Father to himself. My Mother was a believer when she married my Father. I am so thankful to God for His hand of mercy that gave my parents the desire to immigrate to the U.S. In 1963, fifteen years after immigrating to the states, my Father became a believer at the Billy Graham Crusade in Los Angeles. I am remembering and thanking God for His amazing grace in my Fathers life and the benefits of that grace to me…

Thank you Lord for all you’ve done. I will sing praises to you and rejoice. I will look to you for strength and seek your face always. I will remember the wonderful things you have done. Glory to your holy name. Amen.

To read more Thankful Thursday Posts or to participate head over to Sting My Heart…

Philippians 4: 4-9 (ESV)

“Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice. Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand; do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. What you have learned and received and heard and seen in me – practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you.”

Here are some notes from the Reformation Study Bible on these verses.

4:4 Rejoice. The theme of joy is prominent in Philippians. The command to rejoice can always be obeyed, even in the midst of conflict, adversity, and deprivation, because joy rests not on favorable circumstances, but “in the Lord.” Paul uses repetition to emphasize this truth.

4:5 reasonableness. The Greek word denotes the generous spirit that rises above offenses, or a forbearing spirit, of which Jesus provides the supreme example (2 Cor. 10:1). Such a person does not insist on his rights (2:1-4). Only such persons learn the secret of joy.

The Lord is at hand. This may be understood temporally, looking to Christ’s coming as a future event (3:20, 21), and taking hope from this. Or Paul may also be speaking of Christ’s abiding presence with those united to Him (1:1).

4:6 do not be anxious about anything. Although the same word is used in 2:20 of a loving concern for others, here it denotes an anxiety that is incompatible with trust in God.

in everything. Paul’s language is deliberately all-inclusive; there are no restrictions on applying it.

prayer and supplication with thanksgiving…requests. The four terms used here make up two couplets. Paul is not defining separate types of prayers. Rather, the cluster of words shows what importance he attaches to the practice of prayer. Presenting requests in prayer provides an outlet for anxiety (I Pet. 5:7). Doing so “with thanksgiving” is itself an antidote to worry.

4:7 peace of God.This is the direct answer to the prayer of anxiety. Things that cannot be fully comprehended can nonetheless be peacefully experienced by those who are “in Christ” (1:1; cf. Eph. 3:18, 19).

4:8 Concluding these exhortations, Paul calls his readers to a life of obedience, the right response to the peace of God. The virtues listed are not exhaustive but representative, and they come to expression in countless ways (note the repeated “whatever”). Thinking on such things is not an end in itself, but preparation for purposeful action (v.9).

Closing Prayer attributed to Patrick (Breastplate of Patrick)

May the Power of God preserve us. May the wisdom of God instruct us and the way of God direct us. May the hand of God protect us and the host of God guard us against the snares of evil and the temptations of the world.