Intercessory prayer is the purifying bath into which the individual
and the community must enter every day.
(Dietrich Bonhoeffer)
and the community must enter every day.
(Dietrich Bonhoeffer)
Before You Ask
And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him. (Matthew 6:7-8)
Many people think their prayers won’t work if they don’t utter them clearly enough, or fail to explain to God exactly what they mean, or don’t speak loudly enough to him with sufficient earnestness. But when this happens, prayer becomes so exaggerated that our Savior even forbids it.
Obviously Jesus does not want to discourage us from praying. His point is that when we pray we must have a sense of proportion. Once we have prayed, we must be quiet. We need to be like the farmer who has sown his seed. Help will come only when you are quiet in faith. Also in your sickness or with other needs, learn to be still and look to the Kingdom of God.
We can share our needs with the Father in a few words, without making a fuss, and rest assured that God already knows what we need and what he will do to help us. We don’t have to explain our requests in great detail to God, or try and make quite sure that he knows our needs. God knows about even the smallest matters and takes them straight into his heart. We can turn to him by glancing Heavenward, with no words at all. We can do this even when we pray about something concrete and tangible, or about something that specifically troubles us. We may realize that what we thought we needed is actually not necessary and that we can find a way right in the midst of how things are now.
This doesn’t mean that we just let things happen – as if everything will come of its own accord without our longing for it. Nor should we just cast a brief and hurried request at God’s feet. When this happens, we too easily lose sight of God, assume that everything comes to us without his help, and we forget to thank him. Then we cease to have a believing heart and are consequently not true children of God.
Jesus said, “Before you ask him.” Therefore we do need to make our requests known to him, otherwise many things will not be given that could have been given. It never displeases God when we come to him with our heartfelt requests. A real child asks for everything, knowing God has an ear for him. We should bring all our burdens and needs to him, for at the very least this helps to make us ever more aware that in all things God is the giver.
God always has our interest in mind. He carries our various needs with fatherly concern, eagerly waiting for us to come to him. He has not forgotten us. And when we feel tempted to think so, then all the more we should remember that he knows it all and cares for us. In fact, he knows much more about us and our needs than we do. Simple, childlike prayer is enough to move his heart, give you something out of the fullness of his compassion, and save you from all sorts of fear and trouble.
(Johann Christoph Blumhardt)
(The God Who Heals, Words of Hope for a Time of Sickness)
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Julia
A Prayer for the Feast Day of Bede the Venerable
Heavenly Father, who didst call thy servant Bede, while still a child, to devote his life to thy service in the disciplines of religion and scholarship: Grant that as he labored in the Spirit to bring the riches of thy truth to his generation, so we, in our various vocations, may strive to make thee known in all the world; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
Received: May 25, 2018
Julia
The Prayer of Venerable Bede
Christus est stella matutina, Alleluia
Qui nocte saeculi transacta, Alleluia
Lucem vitae sanctis promittit, Alleluia;
Et pandit aeternam, Alleluia
O Christ, our Morning Star,
Splendour of Light Eternal,
shining with the glory of the rainbow,
come and waken us
from the greyness of our apathy,
and renew in us your gift of hope.
Amen.
Received: May 25, 2018
Julia
For Cities
God of Heaven and Earth, in your Word you have given us a vision of that holy city to which the nations of the world bring their glory. Look upon and visit the cities of the Earth. Renew the ties of mutual regard that form our civic life. Send us honest and able leaders. Help us to eliminate poverty, prejudice, and oppression, that peace may prevail with righteousness, and justice with order, and that men and women from various cultures and with differing talents may find with one another the fulfillment of their humanity; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
(The Book of Common Prayer)
Received: May 24, 2018
Julia
A Prayer for When You Struggle with Doubt
Lord, I believe in you. I believe you are good. I believe that I am secure in you – that I am hidden in you and no real harm can come to me with you as my rock and my salvation. I believe that you see me and you love me - that I am treasured in your sight. Help my unbelief. Help that head knowledge becomes heart knowledge-so that my actions reflect those truths and not the lies the enemy throws at me. Amen.
(crosswalk.com)
Received: May 24, 2018
Julia
Heavenly Father, today I pray for our nation. I ask that you would give our President wisdom beyond his own understanding and the courage to choose the right path no matter how narrow the gate. I pray for all in authority over us that you would give them the grace and strength to stand against the temptation to use power as a weapon but rather to carry it reverently as one would a child. I pray for the spiritual leaders of our country that they would hear your voice and know your heart. I pray that they would lead from their knees and by that simple grace bring each one of us to our knees before your throne. Have mercy on our nation Lord, In Jesus name. Amen.
(beliefnet)
Received: May 24, 2018
Julia
Christ Jesus, as we gather in your name help us to welcome the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of forgiveness and reconciliation, who unites our voices in your presence. Towards the end of your life, you prayed, "Father, may they be one." Make of us witnesses of unity and bearers of reconciliation.
(Taizé)
Received: May 24, 2018
Julia
Grant, Eternal Spirit, to us who kneel before thy darkness that it may become light by thy grace, for we have but a sickly spark within us. Blow upon us with thy breath, though we feel it not; lead us, though we follow not, receive us though our pride reject thy consolation; for save by thee we cannot come to thee, and, unless thou showest it, there is not end. Amen.
(Anonymous)
Received: May 24, 2018
Julia
MOROCCAN JEWS IN TORONTO: Youssef, a Moroccan of Jewish heritage, could hardly hold back his joy as the plane took off from Toronto, Canada for Morocco. He closed his eyes and thought about what visiting the country of his heritage would mean. He would be part of a Jewish pilgrimage, and visit the tombs of famous Moroccan rabbis. The rest of the time would be devoted to visiting Moroccan Jewish people and praying for God to give him a good life.
Jewish people in Morocco are Sephardic, meaning they lived in Spain or Portugal before being driven out in 1492. Some of these same Jewish people live in Tunisia. In 1950 there were 300,000 Jews living in Morocco. This is a total contrast to the 2,700 living there today. Though Moroccan Jews feel accepted in Morocco today, the decades that followed 1950 were rough. Moroccan Jews began to emigrate to Israel, France, Canada, and to South America. Most of them left because of the increasing political pressures and persecution from the dominant Islamic society. Today the population of Moroccan Jews in Toronto is flourishing, and they have maintained their Sephardic identity and religious leadership.
Pray that believers in Toronto will develop friendships with these Jewish people so they will know the saving grace of Jesus which will give them the joy of truly knowing the living Lord. Amen.
(Joshua Project)
Received: May 22, 2018
Julia
Any harm to the environment is harm to humanity. The environment is a key element that must be looked after as it forms part of our lives.
Let us do our part so that as we grow and are forged as persons, we do so surrounded by the best environment, respecting what God has given us and the Earth that he has given us to cultivate.
He created the world so that we could live in it. We are at the service of our Earth.
Amen.
(zenit)
Received: May 22, 2018
Julia
The Democratic Republic of Congo has begun to administer an experimental vaccine to halt the spread of the Ebola virus in Mbandaka, a major transport hub that is home to more than one million people and connected by river to several other large cities.
We pray for all those struck down by this disease, and for those who care for them. Amen.
(IRIN)