Keep me from the desire to hear
The praise of men, from words and acts
Designed to gain the human eye;
Let your approval be my guide
In all I do and say, in heart,
In thought, in every plan and purpose.
Take Us High
Make us see, O Lord, the power in prayer,
Take us high in heaven under your care,
To ask unceasingly, in time alone,
That Christ in every place be preached and known.
Statement designed to encourage prayer
Over on Travis Main’s website, Doug Dingley writes in “The Effectual Fervent Prayer of a Righteous Man”:
How tragic that a statement of encouragement by design becomes a statement of discouragement through our misunderstanding of it. As Christians, we are made righteous, not by living a perfectly sinless life, but by virtue of the fact that the Lord died for us, and His shed blood keeps us cleansed and forgiven of our sins (cf. 1 John 1:7-10). Therefore, God may hear our prayers!
Read the whole article at this link.
How Hard, O Lord, to Make a Start
How hard, O Lord, to make a start,
To reach the end, much harder still!
What joy to know that in my heart
You work to give me strength and will!
— ‹‹«»›› —
Read Philippians 2.12-13; 4.13.
Try gourmet prayers
How about trying gourmet prayers — where you gather many ingredients, not just one? They take longer, but are very special and rewarding.Your menu is your prayer list. People on your list don’t even have to be people who [you] know personally. They can be from the newspaper, teachers at a local school, government officials, your neighbors, your congregation. List people by name. Pray for them by name.
Make it happen, Lord
Make it happen, Lord, that I might breathe
The air of holiness, the scent of joy;
To freeze the fleeting hour, frustrate the thief
Of time by eternal acts that fill the void. Continue reading “Make it happen, Lord”
The practice of constancy
Keep me from distractions, temptations, and any thought or action that would draw me away from my devotion to you, O Lord. Continue reading “The practice of constancy”
John Henson on the model prayer
John Henson looks again at the model prayer given by the Lord.
Do we want to learn to pray with the same fervor we learn those things we believe are necessary to us? Are we willing to expend the same kind of effort learning to pray that we would learning our jobs? We should. via Teach us to pray | Forthright Magazine.
Four supplications based on John the Baptist’s death
God of truth, keep us from making oaths and promises, so that we will not have to choose later between breaking them or doing wrong by keeping them. Continue reading “Four supplications based on John the Baptist’s death”
Make me true
Make me true, O God, inside and out,
With a single eye, and undiluted light,
An undivided heart, where grows no doubt,
A joyful walk by faith, and not by sight. Continue reading “Make me true”