That We All Be One!

"The goal is for all of them to become one heart and mind...."

John 17: 21 (Message Bible)

It is a wonderful miracle that our faith in you Lord, overcomes everything that separates us! Help us to see each other through your eyes and resist the temptation to see each other through the eyes of culture and society. Help us to be aware of the foxes that try to spoil the vine. Help us not to allow little things or the little things we make big become wedges in our relationships.

Forgive us when we fail to reach the goal of one heart and one mind because we know you desire that we all be one. Strengthen us today by showing us through your mercy how to bring unity in our homes and our places of worship. In the Name above every Name, Amen.

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Enriched

"May God be gracious to us and bless us and make his face to shine upon us.."

Psalm 67:1

We lift our voices in praise and thanksgiving today. You have been more than kind, you have been gracious to us, blessed us and favored us with abundant life!

Thank you for friendships and relationships that have enriched our lives in the past and hold back the curtain of loneliness in the present. Thank you for those whom you've sent to affirm what you have whispered to us in prayer. Thank you for those who spoke the truth to us, even truth hard to hear.

Use us today as instruments of grace and peace to those around us. Help us to be better friends to friends and a better disciple of Christ. In Jesus Name, Amen.

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*Photo, by Sarah Jane

So Loved

"God so loved..."

John 3:16

God of love, thank you for so loving us that you gave your very best gift, your only son Jesus Christ, to assure that we have eternal life. Thank you for so loving us first, while we were yet sinning.

We often do not understand this kind of love. It is a love that reaches out to us while we are rebellious . It covers a multitude of sins. It is everlasting. It never fails. It does not count the cost and it suffers long. It's a love that has paid an ultimate and awesome price for our deliverance.

Lord, we are grateful for this love which has claimed and transformed our lives. It won't let us alone and continues to seek our best. Thank you for this love!

Show us the many ways we can demonstrate your incredible love to those around us. In the name of Everlasting Love, Amen

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Light On!

"Weeping may linger for the night, but joy comes with the morning..."

Psalm 30:5

Almighty God, thank you for reaching out to us in the midst of our sin and rebellion to draw us again into your forgiveness and love. Thank you for your transforming grace that changes darkness into light, bitterness into compassion, stubbornness into obedience, hatred into love and tears of grief into tears of joy.

Help us today to become tools of grace in the lives of others. Help us to bring light to all dark places for we are no longer children of darkness but children of light. In Jesus Name, Amen.

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Secret Prayer

"But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you."

Matthew 6:6

Great God, we come to you today to intercede for those who may need help in difficult times. We pray for those who quietly grieve for a loved one no longer in their lives. Give their heart, mind and soul a comfort that eases the pain yet does not erase the memories of good times. We pray for families in trouble, parents in conflict with their children; marriages gone sour, friendship fractured, careers chaotic, communities in crises and persons in physical or mental pain.

We bring these requests to you because you promised if we touch and agree you would honor our prayers. Help us today to take the time to go into our room, shut the door and pray. Thank you advance for being a prayer hearing and answering God! In Jesus Name, Amen.

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Decisive Action

"God is able to make all grace abound toward you; that ye always having all sufficiency in all things, may abound to every good work."

2 Corinthians 9:8

Lord God Almighty, thank you for loving us first; for to know you is to love you and to love is to serve. We come today thanking you for grace that abounds and the sufficiency of faith found through grace in our relationship with you.

Stir our souls so that we will lift every voice and sing your praises, sing of your goodness and sing until justice rolls down like a mighty rushing stream.

Forgive us for limited vision, when we could see a broader and longer view. Let us not be fearful of those who do not have our best interests at heart. Let us not shrink from doing what is right or be weary in well doing.

Help us not only to sing, but help us to back our singing with decisive action in our civic, social and spiritual responsibilities. Amen.

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Help When You Need It

"I lift up my eyes to the hills from where my help come. My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth."

Psalm 121:1

Lord of heaven and earth, we come to you in weakness seeking your strength. Our lives are too empty without your joy. Our burdens become too heavy without your help. Our fears run away with us without your peace. Our anger becomes too destructive without your love.

Our world has become fractured, hungry and hurting. We look to you for help. Help us Lord and give us the power to help, and make our helping effective. In Jesus Name, Amen

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