What Comes To Mind

When I have a problem I pray about it, and what comes to mind and stays there I assume to be my answer. And this has been right so often that I know it is God's answer.

(J.L. Kraft, 6 March)

31 December 2015)

Our Hope and Trust

Oh Lord, we put our hope and trust in You.

Renew our strength.

Help us to soar on wings like eagles;

To run and not grow weary,

To walk and not be faint.

Through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

(From Isaiah 40:31, found in Flowers Along The Path, by Esther Carls Dodgen, p. 233)

30 December 2015

Prayer and Meditation

We often tend to slight serious meditation and prayer as something not really necessary. To be sure, we feel it is something that might help us to meet an occasional emergency, but at first many of us are apt to regard it as a somewhat mysterious skill of clergymen, from which we may hope to get a secondhand benefit.
(As Bill Sees It, p. 127)
29 December 2015

Christmas Letdown

Our reaction after the Christmas holidays can be discouraging because the excitement is over, but also because we approach a new year. This can lead us to feel fear and get us into a bag of looking at the past and worrying about the future.

Lord, I pray for guidance and help for today, 

and freedom from worry about tomorrow.

(Day By Day, 26 December)

28 December 2015

Star of Bethlehem

Day in the east is breaking;

day o'er the crimsoned earth;

now the glad world is waking,

glad in the Savior's birth!

See where the clear star bendeth

over the manger blessed;

see where the infant Jesus

smiles upon Mary's breast.

(Moravian Daily Texts - 2013, 26 December)

27 December 2015

Good Intention

Santa Claus on the dining room table - 2015

Lord, help me to do all things 

with a good intention and 

always to please You.

Help me never knowingly say what is not strictly true and to 

always remember that You are the God of Truth.

In Jesus's name, I pray.

Amen.

(Esther Carls Dodgen, Flowers Along the Path, p., 220)

26 December 2015

Hark, The Herald Angels Sing

Our 2105 Christmas Nativity Scene

Hark! the herald angels sing, 

"Glory to the new born King, 

peace on earth, and mercy mild, 

God and sinners reconciled!" 

Joyful, all ye nations rise, 

join the triumph of the skies; 

with th' angelic host proclaim, 

"Christ is born in Bethlehem!" 

Hark! the herald angels sing, 

"Glory to the new born King!" 

Glory to God

Our 2015 Nativity Scene

And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host, praising God and saying,
"Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace among those whom he favors!"
(Moravian Daily Texts - 2013, 24 December)
24 December 2015

Life's Burdens

Pilgrims Landed - December 21, 1620

God, I am forever grateful
for those who share
my life's burdens with me.

(Rick Hamlin, Daily Guideposts - 2013, 19 June)

21 December 2015

The Right Thing

Dear Lord, please forgive my sins. Help me do the right thing.

(Patty Kirk, in Daily Guideposts - 2014, 17 June)

20 December 2015

Answered Prayers

Lord, when I see how You have interceded on my behalf, I want to fall on my face before You. My prayers have been answered in miraculous ways. In times when all I could see was darkness, you provided light and power and hope. Amen.
(Prayers From The Heart, Day 111)
19 December 2015

Walk Humbly

Teach me, O Lord, to walk humbly before You.

(Esther Carls Dodgen, Flowers Along The Way, p. 193)

18 December 2015

Meditation and Prayer

... when we turn away from meditation and prayer, we ... deprive our minds, our emotions, and our intuitions of vitally needed support.
(As Bill Sees It, p. 93)
17 December 2015

Whatever

Photo: National Geographic

Whatever is true,

whatever is noble,

whatever is right,

whatever is pure,

whatever is lovely,

whatever is admirable --

if anything is excellent or praiseworthy --

think about such things.

(Philippians 4:8)

15 December 2015

Strengthen Me

Strengthen me, O God, by the grace of Your Holy Spirit; grant me to be strengthened with might in the inner self, and to put away from my heart all useless anxiety and distress, and let me never be drawn aside by various longings after anything whatever, whether it be worthless or precious; but may I regard all things as passing away, and myself as passing away with them.
(Thomas 'a Kempis in Flowers Along The Path by Esther Carls Dodgen, p. 206)
12 December 2015

Keep On Praying

Always keep on praying. No matter what happens, always be thankful, for this is God's will for you who belong to Christ Jesus.  

(First Thessalonians 5:17-18 (TLB))

Father, Your solution is so simple, yet how many times have I given in to despair? Nudge me to pray unceasingly.
(Patricia Lorenz in Daily Guideposts - 2014, 11 December)
12 December 2015

Meditation

In meditation, debate has no place. We rest quietly with the thoughts or prayers of spiritually centered people who understand, so that we may experience and learn. This is the state of being that so often discovers and deepens a conscious contact with God.
(As Bill Sees It, p., 108)
11 December 2015

Thank You

If the only prayer you ever say in your whole life is 'Thank You' that would suffice.
(Meister Eckhart, theologian, in Words That Matter by the Editors of The Oprah Magazine, p. 64)
10 December 2015

The Most Perfect Prayer

One single grateful thought raised to heaven is the most perfect prayer.
(G.E. Lessing, philosopher in Words That Matter by the editors of The Oprah Magazine, p. 64)
9 December 2015

Progress

Mr. Dickie at 2015 Artomatic

Lord, let me be satisfied with my progress and not expect perfection from an imperfect being.
(Day By Day, 18 November)
5 December 2015