Rest In Peace

O Lord, as we experience the difficulties of life, help us to lift up our eyes. Give us strength for the journey, energy for the challenge, and hope for the future. (The Upper Room Disciplines - 2006, 31 January)

Today we said goodbye to our neighbor and friend, Lily May Winkel. May she rest in peace!

Keep Me On Course

Lord, keep me on the course that will change my life for the better. (adapted from One Day at a Time in Al-Anon, 4 December)

Hold Back My Words

Heavenly Father, remind me today to hold back my words when I think someone else is wrong and needs my correction. Instead, help me show that person your face by the love I express... (Patricia Wilson in The Upper Room Disciplines - 2006, 26 January)

A Time to Weep and a Time to Laugh

Photo: Mr. Dickie (Poinsettia that we have had in our house for three years. It bloomed for us a second time in December 2008.)

The Bible says, there is a time to weep and a time to laugh, and so on. The problem is, how can you be sure which time it is?

(after Edwin C. Bliss, Doing It Now, p. 190)

Fuel to a Fire

I pray to remember everyday, every hour, and especially in times of crisis, that hostile behavior on my part will only add fuel to a fire ... (One Day at a Time in Al-Anon, 24 January)

Negative Thoughts

Today God, help me let go of negative thoughts... (Melody Beattie, The Language of Letting Go, 22 January)

For the Leaders of the Nation

Our Father, bless, we pray Thee, the leaders of this nation. Strengthen the courage of the representatives in Congress assembled -- sincere men [and women] who want to do the right, if only they can be sure what is right. Make it plain to them, O Lord. And then wilt Thou start them out on the right way, for Thou knowest that we are hard to turn.

Forgive them for blunders they have committed, the compromises they have made [or not made]. Give to them the courage to admit mistakes.

Take away from us as a nation and as individuals that stubborn pride which, followed by conceit, imagines itself to be above and beyond criticism.

Save our leaders, O God, from themselves and from their friends--even as Thou hast saved them from their enemies.

Let no personal ambition blind them to their opportunites [and responsibilities].
Help them to give battle to hypocrisy wherever they find it.

Give them divine common sense and a selflessness that shall make them think of service and not of gain.

May they have the courage to lead the people of this Republic, considering [it] unworthy the expediency of ... [simply following the party line].

(adapted prayer of Rev. Peter Marshall from The Prayers of Peter Marshall, p. 96)

Shut My Mouth

Dear Lord, I give You permission to shut my mouth for at least twenty minutes every day. When I open it again, let it be under Your divine supervision. Let me speak words of forgiveness to myself and others. Let my mouth become a vessel of Your grace and Your love. May the words that I speak bring to life the essence that is You. From this day forward, let the words of my mouth be accepable to You.

(Iyanla Vanzant, Faith in the Valley, p. 52)

Save Me

Save me from fretfulness and anxiety.

Inauguration Prayer

God of our fathers, in whom we trust, and by whose guidance and grace this nation was born, bless the Senators [and Representatives] of these United States at this important time in history and give them all things needful to the faithful discharge of their responsibilities.

We pray especially today for our President, and also for...[those] who will preside over...[both houses of Congress].

Give to them good health for the physical strains of their office, good judgment for the decisions they must make, wisdom beyound their own, and clear understanding for the problems of this difficult hour.

We thank Thee for their humble reliance upon Thee. May they go often to the throne of grace, as we commend them both to Thy loving care and Thy quiding hand. Through Jesus Christ our Saviour. Amen.

(Adapted prayer, given by Rev. Peter Marshall on Inauguration Day, Thursday, 20 January 1949 in the Senate.)

Prayer for Wisdom

I pray for the wisdom to take a rational and tolerant attitude toward whatever troubles I must face each day. (One Day at a Time in Al-Anon, 15 January)

Prayer for the President

President Obama

We pray, Lord Jesus, for our President, [Mr. Obama and his family]. We are deeply concerned that he may know the will of God, and that he may have the spiritual courage and grace to follow it.

Deliver him, we pray, from all selfish considerations.

Lift him above the claims of politics.

Fill him with the Spirit of God that shall make him fearless to seek, to know, to do the right.

Save him from the friends who, in the name of politics or even friendship, would persuade him from that holy path.

Strengthen and empower his advisers. Bring them, too, to their knees in prayer. May their example and their influence spread, that we, in these United States, may yet have a government of men who know Thee, the Almighty God, as their Friend, and who place Thy will first in their lives as well as in their prayers.

Hear and answer, we pray Thee, forgiving us all our unworthiness; cleansing us from every ignoble thought and unworthy ambition that we may be renewed in spirit and mind and heart, through Jesus Christ, our Lord, Amen.

(Peter Marshall in The Prayers of Peter Marshall, p. 98)

Inspire Us

God of all, inspire us to weather life's storms with grace. (Three Minutes A Day, Vol. 38, 5 September)

Soul Friends

For those soul friends who guide us to You and who help us hear Your voice, O Holy One, we give You thanks. May we be present to do the same for others when You call. (Connie Nelson in Daily Guideposts - 2006, 10 January)

Grant Me Wisdom

Grant me the wisdom to accept the helpful criticism of others. (Wisdom from the Bible, 8 April)

Keep It Brief

Lord, when I'm upset, help me to keep my words brief - and save my wordiness for praising. (Patricia Lorenz, Daily Guideposts - 1995, 28 September)

Open My Eyes

Lord, open my eyes to ... insights that enrich my spiritual life. (Evelyn Bence in Daily Guideposts - 2006, 13 January)

Tolerance and Wisdom

Photo: Mr. Dickie (Shrine of Lourdes - Emmittsburg, MD)

I pray for the tolerance and wisdom to avoid reacting to what other people say and do. (One Day at a Time in Al-Anon, 15 September)

Right Decision

Photo: Mr. Dickie (Catholic Chapel - Boys Town, NE)

God guide me to make the right decision and give me the fortitude to cling to it against all pressures and persuasions. (One Day at a Time in Al-Anon, 13 Jan)

Prayer for the Nation

Photo: (Mr. Dickie - Alma Lutheran Church, Mead, NE, Church of his mother's family)

Father, move upon our nation. Reveal to us Your abhorrence of our sin. Bring us to our knees in godly sorrow so that we seek Your face and turn from our wicked ways. May our hearts long for Your pardon. (Kay Arthur, Search My Heart, O God, 12 January)

Good Sense

Give me the good sense, Lord, to think things through before I act. (Three Minutes a Day, Vol. 9, 24 May)

It's in God's Hands

I pray to learn to enjoy the good that each day brings and not to be apprehensive about the future, which is in God's hands. (One Day at a Time in Al-Anon, 8 January)

Blessed Assurance

Thank You, Lord, for the assurance that whatever happens, You will get me through. (Daily Guideposts - 2003, 30 August)

Anxieties and Worries

Lord, I give You today's anxieties and worries, realizing that I am helpless without Your strength and grace. (Kay Arthur, Search My Heart God, 5 January)

The Purpose of Life

• The purpose of life is the fulfillment of the law of God, not the acquisition of ever more knowledge. (Leo Tolstoy, A Calendar of Wisdom, 27 July)
• If Christians would follow the law, there would be no rich and no poor. (Leo Tolstoy, A Calendar of Wisdom, 31 July)

Grant me, O God, ears to hear and eyes to see the wonder of Your presence ... [in this new year] in the ordinary places of my life. (Jeff Japinga, Daily Guideposts - 2007, 22 December)

Trials and Solutions

Let me not expect easy solutions to my problems. Make me realize that many of my difficulties are my own fault, created by my own reactions to the happenings in my daily life. I ask only to be guided to a better way.

Dear Lord, thank You for the strength I need to endure the trials of today. I choose this moment to give You my burdens and I claim Your promise to hear my cry for help. You lead. I will follow.
(Adapted from the January 6th readings in One Day at a Time in Al-Anon and Search My Heart, O God, by Kay Arthur)

Foundations

I will live my life firmly anchored in a belief in God, and that will be my strong foundation to hold me no matter what assails me. (Soul Searching, p. 369)

You should look in suffering for the seeds of your future spiritual growth, or the bitterness of suffering will be severe. (Leo Tolstoy, A Calendar of Wisdom, 12 June)

Let Us Pause

As we begin this new year, let us pause to praise God for the wonders of creation. Let us stand in grateful awe before the dazzling colors of a rose garden or the majestic shapes of Yosemite's stone monuments. Let us take delight in a sunset and marvel over the sparkling beauty of a star-studded sky. Let us gaze admiringly at a favorite stretch of beach and look fondly at the face of someone long loved. These "wonder-filled" acts are simple ways of worshiping God, the generous Source of everything. (Wilkie Au in The Upper Room Disciplines, 4 Jan 2006)

Each New Day

I pray that I may realize that, for good or bad, past days have ended. I pray that I may face each new day, the coming twenty-four hours, with hope and courage. (Alan L. Roeck, Look To This Day, 2 January)

Living and Dying

I pray that I will not come to the end of life empty and barren of spirit. I pray that I may so live that I will not be afraid to die. (Alan L. Roeck, Look To This Day, 30 December)

Matthew 6:19-21

Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal: but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven ... for where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.

Prayer For a New Year

As we set our faces toward the new year, we know full well that it will bring many changes. The old must give place to the new. Time does not stand still, nor the world cease from its turning. ... give to us the courage and fortitude of mature men and women that will enable us to stand upon our faith, as the spirit of the living Lord shall give us strength. In Thy strong name we pray. (Peter Marshall)