Let me have the wisdom to avoid and keep out of peril.

Forgive me for living the hard way.  (Norman Vincent Peale)

Anonymous

Many words do not a good prayer make; what counts is the heartfelt desire to commune with God, and the faith to back it up.

Help me to remember those who came before us and be grateful for their sacrifices ... (Marilyn Moore Jenkins, Daily Guideposts, 17 Sep 1988)

Jean Paul Richter

Let prayer be the key of the day and the bolt of the night.

Help me to remember that things are not always as they appear.  (Good News Day by Day, 15 Sep)

Lord, I don't know why I'm here.  I used to know, but now I'm not sure.  But I remember that You know why and will help me.  (Daily Guideposts, 12 Aug 2004)

Dear Heavenly Father, let me be willing to learn from others and not so quick to judge.  (Samantha McGarrity in Daily Guideposts, 4 May 1985)

Food for Thought

The highways of history are strewn with the wreckage of nations that forgot God.  (Our Daily Times with God, p. 241)

Restrain my tongue and quiet my thoughts.  (Mary Sue Taylor, Prayer for Day Break and Day's End, Vol. II, p. 367)

Thank You, God, for the gift of life.  (Three Minutes a Day, Vol. 37, 12 June)

Deliver me from my negative personality.  (Food For Thought, 6 July)

God of healing, God of light, come and heal what is broken within me.  (Good News Day by Day, 18 Oct)

Albert Einstein Quote

There are only two ways to live your life.  One is as though nothing is a miracle.  The other is as though everything is a miracle.

Lord, help me to persevere when things go wrong.  (Daily Guideposts, 2 Jul 1988)

God, help me ... let go of my defects of character.  (Melody Beattie, The Language of Letting Go, 6 June)

Grant me the ability to practice rigorous honesty in all areas of my life.  (Food For Thought, 13 October)

Father, I'm in over my head with problems and I'm ready to give my case over to You.  (Dorothy Minchin-Comm, Glimpses of God, 19 August)

I'm ready, my God, for the journey I will take with You to Your kingdom.  I trust Your travel plans completely.  (Dorothy Minchin-Comm, Glimpses of God, 21 August)

Help me find You, Lord, in the silence of this day, as well as in its confusion.  (Three Minutes a Day, Vol. 37, 19 Aug)

Take my thoughts, Lord, and straighten them out.  (Food For Thought, 11 Aug)

Divine Healer, so often we turn to you in times of illness, and we want to be healed quickly.  Thank you for all the times you have healed us through the natural healing wonders that you created in us and thank you for the special graces you send.  (Good News Day by Day, Oct 8)

Some Bible History

It's October 6, the day on which I say a prayer for the soul of William Tyndale, an Englishman whose short life has made my life a joyful and happy one.  For it was he who, in 1526, make the first English translation of the New Testament.  He had decided that the Bible should be read by everyone.  Until then the marvelous words of that great book were in Latin, a mystery to the average person, and priests jealously guarded them and their meanings.

Forbidden by the bishops to print this translation in Henry VIII's Catholic England, Tyndale fled to Europe.  But he persisted with his dream that all his countrymen should be permitted to read God's words, and eventually hundreds of copies of his translation were smuggled into England.  Even after King Henry broke with Rome, he still proclaimed Tyndale a heretic, and demanded that he return to England for punishment.

And the priests didn't forgive the man who had torn the veil of mystery from God's words.  They hounded and hunted him until he was captured in Belgium.  There he was tried for heresy and condemned to death.

On October 6, 1536, he was strangled, then burned at the stake.

That's why, whenever I open my Bible, I think of the man who gave his life so that people like you and me could find solace and God's love in its pages.  And why, on the anniversary of his death, I say a small prayer of thanks for his strength and conviction to perform a spiritual service that has changed infinite lives now and in the ages to come.

(Walter Harter in Daily Guideposts, 6 October 1988)

 

Fill me, Holy Spirit, with a desire to bring the best that is in me to all I do.  (Three Minutes a Day, Vol. 37, 5 May)

The words of our prayers are not as important as the condition of our hearts.  (Our Daily Times With God, p. 162)

Take away my resentments, Lord.  (Food For Thought, 19 May)

Lord, when I'm tempted to jump to conclusions, please hold me back.  (Mary Ellen Uthlant, Daily Guideposts, 31 Jul 1981)