Almighty One, thank You for continually working thousands of miracles in and around us even if we are only aware of a few. Mature our faith in You so that we can function on a more spiritual level instead of a worldly one.
Write into the margins of our minds so that we can trust in Your timing, rely on Your truth and experience Your presence. Remind us, that because of Your Son, we are not defined by our past, but are redefined by Your grace, love and forgiveness.
Lord, give us the strength to rise up from complacency and let us be extensions of You, of “justice, truth and love…because whatever we put into life is what we will get out of it” (Rev. Ed Bacon).
Tags: Christian, Church, ELCA, Jesus, lutheran, Prayer, Rev. Ed Bacon
Almighty God, shine Your light into the darkness of the unknown. Help us to embrace Your plans and lay down ours. We may not understand how everything will turn out, but we pray for the wisdom to trust You. Forgive us for our unawareness of the constant presence of Your Holy Spirit. Forgive us for living a life that shuts You out. Show us, that no matter where we are or what we’ve done, that You are always for us and You are always with us.
“We may have weaknesses, but God has strength. We may have sin, but God has Grace. We may fail but God remains ever faithful” (God’s not Dead), and “the pain that we’ve been feeling, can’t compare to the joy that’s coming” (Romans 8:18).
Tags: Christian, Church, ELCA, Jesus, lutheran, Prayer, Romans
Almighty One, thank You for every second of life that You give. Thank You for Your grace and mercy. Thank You for forgiving our mistakes and making us new. Lead us into Your vision and take us away from the uninspired and routine. Make us new and vibrant messengers of the Gospel and Your eternal truth so that every knee shall bow and every tongue will confess that Your Son, Jesus Christ, is Lord of all. We pray all these things in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Amen.
Tags: Christian, Church, ELCA, Jesus, lutheran
Lord, thank You for the gift of another year gone by. Lead us into the next chapter of life that leads us to discover the truth of God’s love. Reveal to us our part in Your story. Forgive our mistakes. Give us the wisdom to forgive others and the strength to forgive ourselves. Interrupt the chaos of negativity and allow us to be, “mirrors whose brightness is (entirely) derived from the sun that shines upon us” (C.S. Lewis).
Be our strength. Be our shelter. Be our Friend. Be the truth that we see in each and every person that we meet because, “what draws people to be friends is that they see the same truth” (C.S. Lewis) that we are all beloved children of God.
Tags: C.S. Lewis, Christian, Church, ELCA, Jesus, Prayer
Help us to see the big picture, beyond ourselves, so that we can learn from both our joys and our sorrows. Look, it doesn’t matter where we are in this life because we’re all on the same journey towards grace and redemption. Give us the strength to “never be afraid to trust an unknown future to a known God.” (Corrie Ten Boom)
This life isn’t meant to be routine, so Lord, “revive whatever peace and love has died in us” (Christian Today) because the only one who can mend a broken heart is the One who made it. And as long as we still have breath, we can still shine the light of God out onto the darkness of this world
“Our soul is not contained within the limits of our body. Our body is contained within the limitlessness of our soul…Every possession or accomplishment will rot but what remains is our heart” (Jim Carrey) and how we affected others. It is through our faith in God, God’s word and God’s grace that we know that “in Christ, there are no goodbyes and in Christ, there is no end” (MercyMe) so let’s hold on to the only truth that we have; that God so loved us all that God redefined what love is because in the end love always wins.
Tags: Christian, Christian Today, Church, Corrie Ten Boom, ELCA, Jesus, Jim Carrey, lutheran, Prayer
You came to us so that we could have hope, so that we could know love and so that we could have You, the light of the world, throughout every moment of time. You came to share the truth that this world is not our home and that sin and death can’t keep us from experiencing a love that surpasses all understanding. The birth of the Living God, who stepped into our world and walked this earth as one of us, was just the beginning of a love story that has no ending and no good byes.
Today, You are still right beside us. You hear each joyful laugh and see each tear. Throughout the wreckage of time, You are the constant that connects each generation and nation because You are the God that stand with us and shields us against the storms of life. You are the God that showers mercy and grace over a world of condemnation and judgment. You are the God that shares in our story one scarred hand to the other. May we know You as You know us.
Tags: Christian, Church, ELCA, Jesus, lutheran, Prayer
Lord God, “You are near to all who call on You” (Psalm 145:18). And we will sing of Your love from one generation to the next. (Psalm 89:1). So many memories flood our minds as another year closes and a new one begins. We pray that You would continue to bless us beyond imagination.
Don’t let us stare too long at doors that have been closed, but instead prepare us for the doors that will be opened to us because “we will not find peace by rearranging the circumstances of our lives…” (Eckhart Tolle) We have peace because Love found us right where we are, and God was born as one of us.
Faith tells us that no matter what lies ahead, God is already there. “Love has a name; Jesus. Love has a place; our hearts. Love has a story and it’s not finished yet.” (DAYSTAR)
Tags: Christian, Church, Eckhart Tolle, ELCA, Jesus, Prayer, Psalm
Light of the world, chase away the darkness in our lives and in our hearts. Strengthen us to speak truth even if our voice shakes. Remind us why we hope and what we hope for because, “the world can’t be fixed now…it has to be healed. And healing is not an event. It’s a process” (Marianne Williamson).
Remind us what we’ve forgotten: that we are all co-inhabitants of the same world house and have to live together. Shift our thinking, so that we can see Your light in each and every person that comes our way.
As we wait for You, we dwell in the mystery of faith and the glory of the gospel: that You humbled Yourself and became one of us so that Hope would overcome anguish, regret and fear. You are the bridge that closes the gap between the divine and the human, the lost and the found, the sinners and the saints. That’s why we seek Your presence. That’s why we’re here. That’s why we live.
Tags: Christ, Christian, Church, ELCA, Jesus, Marianne Williamson, Prayer
Lord of all, Your grace covers all and You make all things new. As another year slips away, show us how to stop obsessing over things that we can’t take with us to heaven because all we leave behind is the impact that we had on the lives of others.
In the absence of so many things, we can be God’s light and love on this earth so give us the strength to push through the fear so that we can touch and change lives as Your Son did with us. The birth of the Son of God, His life, death and resurrection tells us the truth that fear cannot keep us away from the presence of God. Nothing can.
Lord, just “give us enough light to see the next step” (Vicky Beeching). Center us now to step back into the story of “how God so loved the world that He sent His only Son” (John 3:16) to be the eternal living truth for all generations to know that “hate cannot drive out hate. Only love can.” (Martin Luther King) and Love won over death and sin and will continue to do so forever and ever. Amen.
Tags: Christian, ELCA, Jesus, lutheran, Martin Luther King Jr, Vicky Beeching
Almighty One, You are the author of salvation and life everlasting. Thank You for laughter, love, friends and family. Thank You for being our shelter from a dark world. Thank You for being the only constant in our lives.
Help us to identify with You so that we can have the audacity to love each other as You love us. Challenge us to “read Your word, live Your word, and to be Your word” (Rachel Garcia) so that we can let go of our will and let Your will be done in our hearts and in this world.
Because of Christ, nothing and no one can take away any of the blessings that the Lord God has given us. The “death and resurrection of Jesus Christ removes the distinctions that we have created amongst ourselves” (Rachel Garcia) so that Love, not judgement or condemnation, can be the lens in which we see each person in this room and in our life as fellow children of the only living God.
Tags: Christian, Church, ELCA, Jesus, lutheran, Prayer, Rachel Garcia
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