Prayer for Friday, April 22

Ah, God of life, God of the seeable and of the hearable. I adore you and look up to you. You made me so you could love me. You are my life and love. You take pleasure in me even though I am weak and sinful. Your mercy and love are beyond me. You envelop me in your arms of safety and comfort. You cover me with your wings of shelter during the storms of my life. You are my all.

Sometimes I hate what the government is doing. Or I hate what criminals are doing. Or I hate what some parents are doing to their children. Help me leave the hating to you.

There is so much to thank you for. Thank you for making it possible for me to speak directly to you. Still, my restless nature fights it. My mind wants to be in control of everything I do and say. My body is restless and wants to keep moving around. You draw my mind into prayer with you and, when I do not fight it, I find you. Then, empty of my will, I whisper to you, I shout to you, I sigh to you. Make your will mine, I declare. And so you do. While hungering for you, you fill me with thoughts of activities to redirect my body so it, once again, is a reflection of you and your doings. Thank you, Lord, for being in me.

Prayer for Thursday, April 21

I praise and adore you, God. You are the delight and the lover of my soul. You even gave the sense of love to the animals, both large and small.  I watch mother and father animals protect their young, and teach them, and let them lie down sometimes beside them and sometimes on them. All the good things you gave me in nature teach me lessons about my Maker. Some things you made delight my sight. Some delight my sense of touch. Some are aromatic and fragrant. I think all must be a part of heaven. I think the delights you have given on earth are a shadow of what you have waiting for me in your world.

Every time I complain, I lower myself and people lose respect for me. It’s so self-destructive. Satan, get away. Leave me alone!

Thank you for your Bible so I can understand you behind the curtain of mystery that my mind struggles to comprehend. It is your biography, and the biography of mankind, the object of your affection. Ah, Lord God, you give me peace as never before wherever I live. Thank you for the friends I will make some day and the seekers I will meet along the way. You direct my life with so many delightful surprises in it. How do you think of them all?  Oh, of course. You are God.

Prayer for Wednesday, April 20

I praise you, God for all your manifestations in order to reveal yourself to me.  I feel your presence in a morning mist, a crocus peeking up from under winter snow, a bird making her nest. I see your glory in the mighty oceans, the towering mountains, the magnificent moon, and stars that sing together of you.  Mostly you reveal yourself in your Bible. How glorious it is. Every page, every word reveals what is important to you. Every page and every word reveal your wisdom and how you run after us to bring us back to you every time someone strays. You keep track of everyone, yet you make every one of us feel as though we are the most special. How amazing. I worship you.

I moved recently and am so lonely. I have no friends. Is that to remind me of the times I did not befriend a stranger? Help me not resent those I wish to be friends with but to be an example, giving to them what I wish for myself.

Thank you, God, for pouring out you heart, your mind, your existence to me in your Words. And thank you for materializing as Jesus. You are light and the fountain of life. I can never be lonely because you are there. I can never feel forsaken or betrayed because you are there. Always, you are there. Thank you for the friends I have had, and those still unknown I shall have some day. And for the quiet time I have in this moment with you.

Prayer for Tuesday, April 19

I worship you, Jehovah. I am so unworthy of your attention. Yet, you think about me every day, every moment. You are farther above me in love than the most distant star. Your mercy plunges into the depths of the ocean where sometimes my spirit struggles to breathe. You go where ever you are needed to take care of your bride.  Me your bride? I am overwhelmed.

Yesterday I was with friends and complained about a congregation. Complaining to people is the same as complaining to you. Help me rise above it.

Thank you, Lord Jesus, for all you have done for me in my sinfulness. You saved me from punishment for my own sins, the punishment I deserve, not you. Your love for me is unstoppable though I am unworthy. You are strong.  I am weak. I cannot comprehend such love. I do not deserve it. I will spend every day of my life thanking you. And thank you for your Bible that explains all I need to know. It even has answers to questions I haven’t thought of yet! How astonishing and wonderful.

Prayer for Monday, April 18

A child’s cooing praises you. A lion’s roaring praises you. An ocean rising and falling praises you. Rainbows and snow tops and diamonds in sparkling waters praise you. Everything I see, sound I hear, everything I touch are full of praises for you. You are everywhere and you, my God, are my soul.  With exhilaration, I worship you.

 Today I spent time with Christian friends gossiping about weak Christians. Help me reach out and encourage them to do something special to someone else for you. Forgive me when I criticize instead of lift up.

Ah, my Lord, how I long to see you as you are. Life here is too long. I know I must do my share in conquering Satan and making him weaker all the time. But, when my work is done, I get to be in your realm and exchange smiles with you. What a day it will be. A glorious day when I, your bride, will be united with you forever.

Prayer for Sunday, April 17

My heart with all its vulnerabilities reaches for you and  sings of the lover of my soul , the God of heaven and earth. The strings of my heart tremble and vibrate, then rise up in loving strains. From earth to heaven, from my heart to yours, my spirit to yours. Transcending worlds, my song spreads its laughter and sighs and rests in you. Be ever my song.

Lord, I went to some friends’ house and they had a beautiful new carpet. It was lush and deep and soft to walk on. I keep thinking about it and wondering how I could get such a carpet for myself. How selfish and greedy.  There are orphanages struggling to stay open. There are preachers who have trouble supporting their families. How can I think about carpet when their needs are so great? Forgive me.

Thank you, God, for making me move to an area where not as many people believe in you. I will no longer take your church for granted. I have struggled so much here trying to expand your kingdom. It’s been so hard. Now I understand their struggles. I thank you for your strength that keeps me on course in a wilderness. I thank you for your example of courage and concern. You went everywhere seeking and saving the lost. And thank you for the church around the world, both small and large. You made us your crown jewels.

Prayer for Saturday, April 16

I lift up my praises to you, the self-existent one.  Both Father of the Son and Son of the Father. The great wellspring, mind, and will of all things. The only life giver to all things. You are all life, all truth, and altogether love. You are so far above me and yet so near. You fill the universe, yet make your home in my heart. Even the stars bow to you in effervescence.

Lord, I told some friends about something another friend went through that I had no business repeating. Nothing good can come from it. Sure, I can say it is so they will pray for this person, but deep down I know I told it in order to sound more informed than them. Forgive me and block the memory of what I said from my friends.

Thank you, God almighty, for all you did to save me. So complicated. Yet you stayed on track. You gave mankind a chance to earn and deserve our salvation by giving us the Law of Moses which we just could not to keep perfectly. You let the rest of the world come up with their own god-laws. Nothing worked. We could not be perfect. Then Jesus came and did it for us, for me. You were perfect for me and for everyone. You see me as perfect as Jesus was. Oh, Lord, you are so wonderful and merciful. I do not deserve your presence, but you love me still and stand by me always.

Prayer for Friday, April 15

Ah, my Lord, you are my light for the path I walk.  You are my path through the world I travel.  Your holiness soars through the cosmos and settles at last in my heart.  I can never feel alone when you are near. I can never feel rejected when you carry me. I can never feel deserted when you hold my heart in your arms and sing to me with your spirit.

Forgive me, Lord, when I am alone in my house and am afraid of what might be lurking in the darkness outside. Remind me that nothing will happen to me without your permission and for some greater good.

Thank you, God, for getting me through yesterday when I felt so down. I did not stay down. I saw a few friends and you lifted me up through them.  Thank you for your life on earth and your willingness to live it to the fullest ~ all the way to dying for being good. You seemed so defeated. How wrong everyone was. What you went through made your victory so much more dynamic. Thank you for materializing for me. Forever thank you. From my heart thank you.

Prayer for Thursday, April 14

I adore you, God. You are unfailing. You never give up on me and never desert me when I fail you.  You are strong, for love is strong. You are the great conqueror because love overcomes all things. You are all wise because you are truth. You are all life because you created all things ~ and me.  When I feel like a little ant lost in a great wide desert, you lean low and take me to green meadows where my heart can sing.

Lord, I don’t know how to have everyone’s favor as Jesus did when he was a child. Gradually, he revealed himself until those same people became his enemies. I am a coward around many people instead of standing up for truth and you. Forgive me and live in me more largely.

Thank you, God, for the rain today. It was so gentle and brought with it the promise of more flowers and sweet fragrances to tantalize my senses. What a beautiful world you have made. Even on a battlefield, a daffodil, a crocus, and tulip can spring up and remind the world you are still here. You love me so. You hold me in your great arms as long as I need and whenever I need. You are so good to me.

Prayer for Wednesday, April 13

I adore you, glorious God. You are my Maker and Lover. You lift me up and honor me. Oh, my. You are the one who deserves all honor, all respect, all heavenly nobility. Everything you do is right. How can you keep us all sorted out? It is amazing. You are magnificent and wise beyond all my understanding. I stretch my mind to comprehend you. I sing softly a love song to you. It mingles with my tears and then I smile.

Lord, someone began a conversation yesterday about how you created everything. You never told anyone how; you just said you did. Your creation was your miracle. We cannot explain miracles. But I jumped in with some opinions I’d heard. How silly of me to keep a conversation going that cannot come to any conclusion. Forgive me.

Thank you, God, for your Bible so I do not have to guess what you are like and what your Plans are for mankind and the world. We are here for a purpose. I thank you for the confidence you have placed in me to do my part in proving Satan wrong and dangerous. Thank you for allowing me to fight with you and help fulfill your glorious purposes for the world.