The good news of Christ
Thank you, Father, for upsets in life,
both great and small, as they provide
time to rethink, to see anew
processes and objectives, goals
and means, and even deeper things:
the whys and wherefores, the basis
of reason, faith and abiding hope.
Guide me, Lord, to the other side,
to purer joy and eternal love.
You are the God who reveals your plan and will and love and future. I will read my Bible.
You are the God who hears your people and answers prayer. I will pray without ceasing.
You are the God who does not tire in doing good. I will devote myself to good works.
You are the God who saves forevermore by the blood of Christ. I will confess his name.
You are the God who scans the horizon for your prodigal children. I will seek them out.
You are the God who sends a message of reconciliation to the world. I will go and speak.
You are the God who fulfills every promise and does not change. I will rest in your faithfulness.
Praise is yours, O Lord, and honor and glory! In Jesus’ name, Amen.
Lord God, we thank you for life today.
Among us, edify your church.
May praise be true, and hearts sincere.
We bow before you in trembling fear.
May ours be no superficial search.
Amen, amen! In Christ we pray.
2 Chronicles 16.9
In cutting grief, you give me comfort;
In weakness, I have wonderful strength.
When troubles assault me, you bring salvation;
For hurt, you offer hope of heaven.
O Sovereign Lord, I lack for nothing—
When I look up, your hand is full.
Your eyes on earth are eager to help
Those saints whose hearts are wholly devout.
But foolish men refuse your power—
They seek their own success at war.
When armies attack, on you I call;
When trials befall, in you I trust.
In the patter of the rain,
The even morning light,
And the quiet of wet leaves,
I worship you, O God Creator
And Sustainer of all that is.
Before you are my worries,
My cares of life and fears,
My whispered pleas I speak
Only in your gracious ear,
The Receiver of human sighs.
What good I hold in my heart,
Unselfish love unequalled,
Desire to welcome and cherish!
Praise is yours, O Beginner
Of worlds and Lover of man.
May everyone be able to say amen,
Our goals the same, to glorify your name.
For that, O Lord, I place both life and limb
In your good hands — all that I am, the sum
Of me — do what you must to purify
And make me useful for the News of Christ.
So tear away the dross, tip over the gods,
Rebuild this life of straw, of cheap charades.
Let the Lord Jesus remain, so chip away
At names, traditions, ambitions that betray
The pattern you gave us. Here am I, O God,
The creature in need of your defining touch.
Inside my mind a constant prayer runs,
That drowns the violent voices and beating drums
Of self-destruction and Satan’s half-truth lies.
The prayer’s a plea — my desperate plea —
To not look right or left or down or behind,
But straight ahead in Jesus’ shining path.
The prayer’s a fervent plea for his return,
For the end of trials and time and pain and death,
For the new creation promised by the Lord.
The prayer’s a cry that God will save us all:
Both friend and foe, my house and every house,
The ignorant man in Amazonia’s hut.
The prayer’s a hope — and not the vaguest wish —
To be secure in what the Cross has wrought,
That mine is not the hand in Jesus’ dish.
Let me love you more —
My Lord who loved before,
Who loved until the end
And dared to call me friend.
Make my love be pure,
Your pain my daily cure,
Where self need not appear,
To seek you ever near.
Lord, you show the way,
So I can only pray
To know your saving grace
And see your glorious face.
The day begins with risen light,
With peace within to meet the fight
Without. Be glorified, O Lord,
In me, who in the beginning died
To self, whose will must daily die.
Look down with your benevolent eye
To bless with power, for foe and friend,
To reach with shining faith the end.
Psalm 91.17; Isaiah 55.11
Make your hand rest lightly upon us,
Lord, show your grace without delay.
Bless all our work with good success—
Yes, prosper our hands in all they do.
And when the plant is slow to bear,
The fields show little sign of fruit,
Work in our hearts, that we have faith
Your Word will not return to you empty.