General Chat

Good morning everyone..............and I do apologise for copying the same prayer twice this week.....no excuses :-(



Whilst I love the Barclay prayers, I thought that, maybe, it would be a good idea to vary writers and styles of prayer so please feel free to add your favourites.

Meanwhile.......for today....


We give you thanks, O God, for those who mean so much to us–

Those to whom we can go at any time.

Those with whom we can talk and keep going back, knowing that they will not laugh at our dreams or our failures.

Those in whose presence it is easier to be good.

Those who by their warning have held us back from mistakes we might have made.

Above all, we thank you for Jesus Christ, Lord of our hearts and Savior of our souls, in whose name we offer this thanksgiving. Amen.




If anyone would like to request a prayer for a specific reason as Emma did yesterday, please add it to the thread or, if anyone wishes to remain anonymous, please send me a pm and I will add it anonymously on your behalf.


Have a lovely day everyone......... :-)

Very good news Emma......... :-)

Amen

Thank you Cynthia <3

To let you know she is doing well and surgeon very pleased
with her progress.

Emma

Hello Emma, so sorry to hear about your family member with the brain aneurysm - it must be a very worrying time for you all.


This is a prayer I have used many times in the past. I hope you find it useful.


Heavenly Father, we bring to you in prayer.............(name).
In simple trust we commit them into your hands.
We thank you that you love them more than we do and understand their every need.
Do for them, O Lord, what we cannot do, and what you see is most for their good. For Jesus' sake. Amen.


Cx <3

I would appreciate a healing prayer for a member of
my family who is recovering from operation for a brain
aneurysm.

Emma

Thankyou as usual, Cynthia. :-D :-D Will now be thinking of your pre-schoolies on Sunday (Pentecost Sunday, incidentally). Some good advice for Sunday schools and all mothers of restless and noisy children and grandchildren ;-)

Job has always been favourite book of mine, Susan with. I think it is the earliest book ever written that has been saved to canon of scripture. Job was a rich and successful man with a good life and a large family. He loses everything, his family die, and yet he still turns to God.

Some today get so upset when they lose a child or a fortune that they blame God - "how can He be a loving God and cause all this pain and anguish?" Well, Job lost ALL his family. Yet he keeps loving God and searching for a purpose in his life. And he and his friends are wrestling with creation, believing they have more knowledge and intelligence than God. Chapter 38 brings that debate to a very dramatic conclusion.

And so it has been in every generation since Job. Ultimately, we either accept God or we continue to criticise, continue to challenge what we have been told. Job trusted, his friends all trusted and the remainder of their lives were wonderful and harmonious. Out of tragedy and despair and unbelief came joy and real friendship :-D :-D

Good morning. I must get myself into action and tidy out the school bags which we give to our pre-schoolers on Sunday mornings. I bring them home every couple of weeks to sharpen crayons etc.

Each bag has two books in it - we use board books for ease of cleaning. One is a faith book and the other is a story book. They also have a lacing card (brilliant for keeping tiny hands busy and little mouths closed), and an assortment of jumbo crayons.

As they arrive, each child is handed a bag and given a new picture to colour in. We try and vary the pictures according to the church season or weather season.

At the back of church, I keep a small pile of 'touchy feely' but not noisy play books to hand out to any child who is getting restless.

I usually get a wink and a nod from a couple of the choirmen who want to colour pictures during the sermon.......tuts.... :-D


Anyway, to start the day.......................

William Barclay's Personal Prayer

O God, grant that today
I may not disappoint any friend;
I may not grieve any loved one;
I may not fail anyone to whom I have a duty;
I may not shame myself.

Grant that today
I may do my work with honesty and fidelity;
I may take my pleasure in happiness and purity.

Grant that today
I may lead no one astray;
I may not make goodness and faith harder for anyone.

Help me today
to be a help and example to all;
to bring strength and encouragement wherever I am:

Through Jesus Christ my Lord, Amen.

Thank you.........friends are, indeed, very precious.

:-)

From prayers about friendship......


And the LORD restored the fortunes of Job, when he had prayed for his friends. And the LORD gave Job twice as much as he had before.
Job 42:10

:-)

Respecting One Another

God our Father
you call each of us by name,
and you treasure each of us individually
as though no-one else exists,
Inspire us
to respect and value
each person who comes into our lives this day.
Amen.

:-D :-D Great way to start the day :-D

Good morning - at least it isn't raining and my decorator has arrived :-D

Thinking of all members who are having 'one of those days' - with love.



O God, you are our refuge

When we are exhausted by life’s efforts;
When we are bewildered by life’s problems;
When we are wounded by life’s sorrows:
We come for refuge to you.


O God, you are our strength.

When our tasks are beyond our powers;
When our temptations are too strong for us;
When duty calls for more than we have to give to it:
We come for strength to you.


O God, it is from you that all goodness comes

It is from you that our ideals come;
It is from you that there comes to us the spur of high desire and the restraint of conscience.
It is from you that there has come the strength to resist any temptation,
and to do any good thing.


And now as we pray to you,

Help us to believe in your love,
so that we may be certain that you will hear our prayer;


Help us to believe in your power,
so that we may be certain that you are able to do for us above all that we ask or think;

Help us to believe in your wisdom,
so that we may be certain that you will answer, not as our ignorance asks,
but as your perfect wisdom knows best.


All this we ask through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen

- William Barclay


Cx :-)

Good morning - albeit a very wet morning here...... :-D


If anyone else has a favourite prayer or quote they would like to share with us, please do......... :-)


For today...

O God, you are our refuge.

When we are exhausted by life’s efforts;
When we are bewildered by life’s problems;
When we are wounded by life’s sorrows;
We come for refuge to you.


O God, you are our strength.

When our tasks are beyond our powers;
When our temptations are too strong for us;
When duty calls for more than we have to give it;
We come for strength to you.


O God, it is from you that all goodness comes.

It is from you that our ideals come;
It is from you that there comes to us the spur of high desire and the restraint of conscience,
It is from you that there has come the strength to resist temptation,
and to do any good thing.


And now, as we pray to you,

Help us to believe in your love,
so that we may be certain that you will hear our prayer;

Help us to believe in your power,
so that we may be certain that you are able to do for us above all that we ask or think;

Help us to believe in your wisdom,
so that we may be certain that you will answer,
not as our ignorance asks,
but as your perfect wisdom knows best.

All this we ask through Jesus Christ our Lord, Amen.

~William Barclay, from A Barclay Prayer Book


Cx :-)

:-D :-D @ Emma. Hope you have a lovely day today. Same goes for all on Genes chat - whatever their religious or non-religious views might be :-) :-)

Good morning and thank you Cynthia and John.

Emma

Many thanks for prayer from Wm Barclay, Cynthia. Thought from Selwyn Hughes who died 7 years ago and was described by George Carey as one of the giants of faith in our generation:

"If it pleases the king ' let him send me to the city in Judah where my fathers are buried so that I can rebuild it." (Nehemiah Chapter 2 v.5)

SH' s comment. "Every Christian has the responsibility of coming before God to seek to discover just what it is that the Lord wants to achieve through his or her life. And as we are faithful in reading His Word, obeying His commands, and communing with Him in prayer, we can expect Him to reveal those special plans for our lives. Take our reading today: Nehemiah served the king faithfully, but when he heard about the disgraceful condition of God's city, Jerusalem, he caught a vision of rebuilding the walls. God then worked in the king's heart to give him a desire to assist Nehemiah in achieving that vision. Have you caught the vision of what God wants to achieve through your own individual life and witness on this earth? If not, why not?"

SH's prayer:
Gracious Father, give me, I pray, a clear picture of what You want to achieve through my own personal life and witness for You. I have kept myself in the dark too long; now I want to step out into the light - Your light. Amen.

Good morning everyone - I hope you all have a good day. :-)


O God, our Father, in the life and death and resurrection of Jesus you have given us the remedy for sin. In him you have opened to us the way to forgiveness for all our past sins, and you have given us the strength and the power to live in purity and in truth.

Help us to put away all evil things.

Silence the evil word;
Forbid the evil deed;
Break the evil habit;
Banish the evil thought;
Take away the evil desire and the evil ambition;
and make our lives to shine like lights
in this dark world.


Help us to live in purity.

Make all our words so pure
that you may hear them;
Make all our deeds so pure
that you may see them;
Make all our thoughts and desires so pure
that they may bear your scrutiny.
And so grant that we, being pure in heart
may see you.


Help us to live in truth.

Grant that we may never speak or act a lie;
That we may never be misled by false or mistaken
beliefs;
That we may never evade the truth,
even when we do not want to see it.


Grant us at all times
to seek and to find;
To know and to love;
To obey and to live
the truth.


This we ask for the sake of him who is the Way, the Truth, and the Life, even for the sake of Jesus Christ, our Lord.

Amen.


- William Barclay


Cx :-)

*O Father, more and more the conviction grows that it is not what happens to me, but what I do with it, that is important*

Yes....good thoughts,


Ave Maria with a voice to to sooth the soul......sung by Mirusia Louwerse

http://m.youtube.com/#/watch?feature=related&v=sZoZwdesumY

"There is no love between I and John but for Cynthia's sake please keep out the sarcasm." being straight after my post made me wonder what I had said that could be be interpreted as being sarcastic.


Thank you, Susan, my pleasure.