Faults & Shortcomings

Lord, teach me to accept the faults of others as I seek to correct shortcomings in myself. (After Courage to Change, 18 May)

Opportunities

God, help us to see the difficulties and uncertainies in our lives not as liabilities but as opportunities to learn more about who You want us to be. (Gene Cotton in The Upper Room Disciplines - 2006, 16 February)

To Pray

To pray is to accept and to remember the laws of the limitless being, God, and to measure all your deeds - past, present, and future - according to His laws. (Leo Tolstoy, A Calendar of Wisdom, 25 February)

Keep Peace

Photo: Mr. Dickie (Sculpture in downtown Omaha, NE park)

Let me learn to keep peace with silence when it is not the right time to say what comes to mind. (One Day at a Time in Al-Anon, 24 Feb)

Calm and Steady

I pray that no emotional upheavals will hinder God's power in my life. I pray that I may be of calm spirit and steady heart. (Alan L. Roeck, Look To This Day, 21 February)

Be Present in Our Lives

Lord, we ask that you be present in the lives of our friends and neighbors who are caring for loved ones who are ill or grieving the loss of their lifetime companions. Comfort them as they provide support to the living and remember the departed.

Times of Failure

Father, help me recognize that those times of failure in my attempt to break my compulsive behaviors are also part of my struggle. (Ric Engram, Pace Yourself, 19 January)

Wholesome Thinking

I ... pray today and every day, for healthful, wholesome thinking, so that I may not generate trouble for myself [or others]. (One Day at a Time in Al-Anon, 21 February)

Understanding of God

Today, I will respect other people's understanding of God, as well as my own. I will not allow others' judgment of my beliefs to cause me anxiety and distress. I will seek to grow spiritually in recovery, with or without the assistance of a particular religion or denomination. (Melody Beattie, The Language of Letting Go, 30 January)

Rest in Peace

Last night (18 Feb 2009), Janet, our neighbor for the last thirty-one years, passed away at a hospital in Washington, DC after spending over five months there. We have many joyous memories of our times together. We will miss her.

May she rest in peace!

Pruning

I pray that I may cut away the deadwood of my life. I pray that I may not mind the pruning since it helps me to bear good fruit later. (Alan L. Roeck, Look To This Day, 10 February)

Road to Understanding

I pray that each day may advance my steps on the road to understanding; that I may leave nothing undone that could have changed the course of my life for the better. (One Day at a Time in Al-Anon, 7 February)

I'm Grateful

Lord, I'm grateful for all the good things in my life, especially for new found emotional stability that helps to restore my sanity and serenity. (after One Day at a Time in Al-Anon, 6 February)

Make Me Strong

I've never been one who thought the Lord should make life easy; I've just asked Him to make me strong. (Eva Bowring in Abounding Grace by M. Scott Peck, p. 363)

Love One Another, Right Now!

I will open myself to the love available to me from people, the Universe, and my Higher Power today. I will allow myself to give and receive the love I want today. I am grateful that my heart is healing, that I am learning to love. (Melody Beattie, The Language of Letting Go, 14 February)

Source of My Infinite Suppy

I believe in God as the source of my infinite supply which manifests though my life as abundance and prosperity on all levels. (Susan Smith Jones, Choose to Live Each Day Fully, Day 25)

Abraham Lincoln

Lord, thank You for Abraham Lincoln, who held us together as a nation in the roughest of times. May the healing he hoped to begin be accomplished in our lives. (Roberta Rogers, Daily Guideposts - 2006, 12 February)

We Thank You Lord

We thank you Lord for watching over friends, and family who are in the hospital or facing surgery in the days ahead. Please give strength to those who are without work or experiencing stress in their jobs. We thank you for our blessings in Jesus' name. Amen.

Mr. Dickie

Waiting is the Answer

Photo: Mr. Dickie (Church in Lincoln, NE)

Guide me in all I do to remember that waiting is the answer to some of my prayers. (As We Understand, found in Courage to Change, 6 February)

I Pray

Photo: Mr. Dickie (Omaha, Nebraksa)

I pray especially to resist exaggerating my troubles until they overwhelm me. (One Day at a Time in Al-Anon, 8 February)

The Most Perfect Prayer

A simple grateful thought raised to heaven is the most perfect prayer. (Gotthold Ephraim Lessing in One More Day by Sefra Kobrin Pitzele, 4 February)

Sustain Me

Photo: Mr. Dickie (Stained glass window in Catholic chapel, Boystown, NE)

Sustain me, Lord, when I am tempted to give up. (Food For Thought, 1 February)

Right Where I Need to Be

Today, regardless of my circumstances, I will believe to the best of my ability that a Power greater than myself can and will restore me to a peaceful, sane way of living. Then I will relax and let Him do that. (Melody Beattie, The Language of Letting Go, 1 February)

Today, God, help me relax and enjoy the scenery. Help me know I'm right where I need to be on my journey. (Melody Beattie, The Language of Letting Go, 4 February)

Soul's House

The body is the soul's house. Shouldn't we therefore take care of our house so that it doesn't fall into ruin? (Philo Judaeus in Touchstones, 31 January)

Make the Decision

Photo: Mr. Dickie (Catholic Church at Boys Town, Nebraska)

At the start of each day I can make the decision to turn my will and my life over to the care of God. This way I begin my day with a strong assertion that I choose to accept the reality of my life. I am moving in a healthy direction, growing ever more able to live a good life and to love those I meet along the way. (Courage to Change, 23 January)

Instructions

Listen to your thoughts, pray for divine guidance, follow your intuition. (adapted, Iyanla Vanzant, Acts of Faith, 24 January)

Prayer For America

Prayer For America

Our Father, we pray for this land. We need Thy help in this time of testing and uncertainty, when men who could fight together on the field of battle seem strangely unable to work together around conference tables for peace [and our mutual prosperity].

May we begin to see that all true Americanism begins in being Christian; that it can have no other foundation, as it has no other roots.

To Thy glory was this Republic established. For the advancement of the Christian faith did the Founding Fathers give their life's heritage, passed down to us.

We would pray that all over this land there may be a return to the faith of those men and women who trusted in God as they faced the perils and dangers of the frontier, not alone in crossing the continent, in building their cabins, in rearing their families, in eking out a livelihoood, but in raising a standard of faith to which men have been willing to repair down through the years.

Thou didst bless their efforts. Thou didst bless America. Thou has made her rich. Wilt Thou also make her good?

Make us, the citizens of this land, want to do the right things. Make us long to have right attitudes. Help us to be Christian in our attitudes. Let all that we do and say spring out of understanding hearts.

Make us willing to seek moral objectives together, that in united action this nation may be as resolute for righteousness and peace as she has been for war.

Bless those who bear responsibility. May they be led by Thee to do that which is right rather than that which is expedient or politically wise. Save us from politicians who seek only their own selfish interests. Illumine the minds of management as well as labor, that there may be an end to selfishness and greed, to the stupidity of men who are unable to find in reasonable agreement solutions to the problems that plague us.

Bless this land that we love so much, our Father, and help her to deposit her trust, not in armies and navies, in wealth and material resourse, or in achievements of the human mind, but in that righteousness which alone exalteth any nation, and by which alone peace can finally come to us.

This we ask in that name that is above every name, Thy Son, Jesus Christ, our Redeemer. Amen.

(Peter Marshall, The Prayers of Peter Marshall, p. 101-02)

I'm Working on It

Lord, I know about that and I'm working on it.

(adapted Iyanla Vanzant, Acts of Faith, 14 January)