NIGHT PRAYER: Saturday 10/3

Prayer comes, Lord,

    when I put my foot on the brake

       and pull off life's highway, 

    when I step aside from my schedule   

       and make some time to be still, 

    when I clear some space in my mind 

      and find a place in the chapel of my heart

         and wait upon your presence...

And waiting can be the hard part... 

I know you're there, by my side
    but I wait to see you,
       not with my eyes but with my heart...
    I wait to hear you,
       not with my ears but in your word...
    I wait for your touch,
       not on my skin but on my soul...

I wait for your presence beside me, around me,
   and especially within me:

and your presence, Lord, is a fine mist,

    translucent, spun of the Spirit's breath,

it's a soft but steady light

  glowing in the shadows of my heart,

    burning with a warmth my soul desires...

 

And though I wait to find you, Lord,
   I know that first   

    - it's you who waits for me...

You wait all day 

`for me to call upon your name...

You wait for me to slow my step 

`and find you by my side...

You wait for me 

    to nod in your direction,

    to tip my grateful heart towards you,

    to open my soul's windows to your grace...

You wait for me 

    with help for this day's problems...

You wait for me 

    with mercy for my failings...

You wait for me 

    with healing for my bruises...

You wait for me 

    with peace to ease my sorrow...

You wait for me 

    with light to fill my darkness...

You wait for me 

    with grace to bless my nights...

 

You wait for me 

    to make some time and find a place

where I might rest 

    and wait for you...

You love me while I wait for you

    who wait for me

        with loving, open arms...

 

Protect me, Lord, while I'm awake

    and watch over me while I sleep

that awake, I might keep watch with you

    and asleep rest in your peace...

 

Amen. 

 

Wait For Me by Zach Williams

 

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Pause for Prayer: SATURDAY 10/3

I've posted this prayer in other years, too, but it's one of my favorites and  I've done some more work on it - so here it is again...

 

When fall comes 'round each year, Lord,

I wonder if, by night,

you climb down from the heavens,

perhaps on some great ladder,

to paint the leaves, just one by one, 

in all their autumn glory...

I wonder and I muse, Lord,

on how it is you might decide

the trees that you'll choose first

as worthy your brush...

 

Why the ash and not the maple?

Why those towering elms 

but not the oak 

close by, just down the street?

 

And oh, the colors, Lord:

I love orange, red and yellow!

But it seems perhaps you favor

the purple, rust and brown...

 

 

It seems you move from tree to tree, 

painting branches, here and there

- with swaths of green left in between -

until you next return and then

with blessings from your palette,

complete what you'd begun...

 

Do we see with different eyes, Lord,

a beauty I'm yet blind to?

Is your splendor in the branches 

or in the changing, turning hues

of all that lives and breathes?

 

The wonder in my reverie 

probes wisdom, grace and memory

but you alone, the artist, Lord,

know autumn's sacred mystery...

 

And sooner than I want, Lord,

these leaves in all their beauty 

will lose their grip on branch and limb

and spill, swirl and fall,

in November's chilly gusts

to  my backyard 

for the coming winter's snow...

 

Draw my eye, my heart and soul

to see the  beauty you reveal

when night by chilly night

you climb down from the heavens

and paint the leaves, 

just one by one,

in autumn's passing glory...

 

Amen.  

 

All photos by CP in Concord, MA  

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NIGHT PRAYER: Friday 10/2

Tonight: a litany of seasonal images, a simple guitar solo, a few questions to spark our prayer... 

Autumn... 

    summer fades

    time flies

    sun hides

    seasons turn

    colors change

    leaves fall 

    shorter days 

    rain pours

    harvests yield

    wind chills

    frost numbs

    shadows lengthen

    night falls

    silence stills

    Spirit visits

    grace attends

    God whispers

    I pray... 

Tonight's music is instrumental, placed here that you listen while praying through the lines following the widget... 

Autumn Hymn by Dong Hwan Noh 

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Lord,  

    help me hear what word, what wisdom

        you're whispering to me tonight...

 

And help me know 

    what words of prayer and praise

        I might whisper in turn to you...

 

And help me see how your Spirit,

    in our whispered conversation,

        might help me through 

            this season in my heart...

 

Protect us, Lord, while we're awake

    and watch over us while we sleep

that awake we might keep watch with you

    and asleep, rest in your peace...

 

Amen. 

 

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Leo on AI

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Pause for Prayer: FRIDAY 10/2

On the Church calendar, today is the Feast of the Guardian Angels. (For another slice of angelfood prayer, see my post from this week's feast of the Archangels.)

 

It's not that I don't believe in angels, Lord 

    - I do!

 

But in all my years, I've never met 

    a wings-and-halo angel,

    a robed but disembodied spirit

    sent to bring me peace and light

    and messages from you...

I'm sure such angels do exist
and I trust they're watching over me
but of all the angels I have met -
    each one was was flesh and bone,
    warm blooded just like me...

Such angels cross my path, Lord,
  and almost every day:
    they wait for me and walk with me,
    listen to and speak with me,
    they have my back and take my side,
    they serve as guides and counsel me:
        my loyal friends, they're always there,
        they're always faithful, ever true...

 

Angels made of flesh and bone,

warm blooded and embodied:

    couriers with messages,

    swift heralds of your wisdom,

    speaking to my mind and heart  

    by email, text and word of mouth

    in prayer and conversation:

        angels I call friends, Lord

        and now and then (amazing grace!)

        they come disguised as strangers,

        unannounced and unexpected,

        bearing gifts you knew I needed,

        gifts of mercy, help and love... 

Send angels, Lord, to guard me:
    send angels winged and haloed

        and angels in disguise

     to hover all around me

        and protect me on my way,

    to keep and guard and guide me

        as I walk my path to you... 

Amen.

Voice of an Angel by Liam Lawton

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When I'm lying in the darkness
And I'm half afraid to sleep
I keep thinking of tomorrow
And the thoughts that lie so deep
Then I pray in talking whispers
Cause I know that somewhere near
Is the presence of an angel
Come to hold me through my fear

And who are you who guides me
My messenger of light
Will you walk beside me now
Beyond the day and night
Who are you who guides me
With words I cannot write
It's the voice of an angel,
The voice of an angel,
The voice of an angel
Come to hold me close this night

Then I close my eyes
And open the window of my heart
For I know that you will listen
Even though I kiss the dark
And as I'm slowly breathing
O the night just lingers on
I hear the voice of an angel
Come to calm me with the song

And who are you who guides me
My messenger of light
Will you walk beside me now
Beyond the day and night
Who are you who guides me
With words I cannot write
It's the voice of an angel,
The voice of an angel,
The voice of an angel
Come to hold me close this night

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NIGHT PRAYER: Thursday 10/1

 On an annual basis, the pope publishes a particular intention for prayer for each month of the year.  Here's the intention for October 2026: "Let us pray that the mental health ministry be established throughout the Church, helping to overcome the stigma and discrimination of persons with mental illnesses."

Before tonight's prayer, spend some time with this video of Pope Leo calling us to pray for this month's intention...

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I pray tonight, Lord, 

    for all who suffer from mental illness...  

    from PTSD... depression... eating disorders... 

    for those who live with anxiety disorders...  

    schizophrenia and bipolar disorder...  

    for those with neurodevopmental disorders...

    and disruptive behavior and dissocial disorders...  

 

I pray for patient and compassionate care

    for those who suffer in their thoughts, their emotions

    and their relationship to the world around them...

 

I pray for those who feel alone in their illness,

    who are misunderstood, judged and marginalized

and I pray for those who find it difficult

    to accept their need for treatment and medication...

 

I pray for a Church whose doors are wide open

    to those whose illness is often hidden, denied,

        undiagnosed or untreated...

 

I pray, Lord, 

    for those who live with and care for the mentally ill,

and I pray for all who research and treat 

    illness whose mystery is so hard to fathom and grasp...

 

Lord, I pray for the healing of all that afflicts 

    our minds and our spirits,

    our thoughts and self-awareness,

    our feelings and emotions

and all the ways we struggle 

    to relate to one another

        with compassion, understanding, 

            empathy and  grace...

 

Protect us, Lord while we're awake

    and watch over us while we sleep

that awake, we might keep watch with you

    and asleep, rest in your peace...

Amen. 

 

Spirit of the Living God by Dan Iverson

 

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Pause for Prayer: THURSDAY 10/1

September is history!

    Where did that month go, Lord?

 

And we're in the 1oth month of the year!

    Seems like yesterday this year was new...

 

How have I used all that time, Lord?

How have I spent and shared that time?

    those hours, days, weeks and months

        - three quarters of a year?

 

What time have I spent with you, Lord,

    you who are with me 

        every minute of every day and night?

 

I'm always on your schedule, Lord

    - how much time do I set aside for you? 

 

For the blessings and burdens

    of these last 9 months

and for all the ways 

    you were present to me,

        in good times and in bad,

    I praise and thank you, Lord! 

 

And make me mindful of the time

    in the weeks and months ahead

        - October, November, December;

help me be a faithful steward

    of the gift of time that's mine 

from you, eternal God,

    the Lord beyond all time... 

 

Amen. 

 

Ain't Got Time by Hall Johnson

   performed by UGA Combined Choirs 

 

 

 

Lord, I keep so busy praising my Jesus,

     ain't got time to die!

'Cause when I'm healing the sick,
     I'm praising my Jesus!

'Cause it takes all of my time to praise my Jesus
    - if I don't praise him the rocks gonna cry out,
        "Glory and honor!"

Lord, I keep so busy working for the kingdom,
     ain't got time to die!

'Cause when I'm feeding the poor,
      ain't got time to die!

'Cause it takes all of my time to praise my Jesus
    - if I don't praise him the rocks gonna cry out,
        "Glory and honor!"

Lord, I keep so busy serving my Master,
     ain't got time to die!

'Cause when I'm giving my all,
     ain't got time to die!

'Cause it takes all of my time to praise my Jesus
    - if I don't praise him the rocks gonna cry out,
        "Glory and honor!"

Now, won't you get out of my way!    

   If I don't praise him the rocks gonna cry out,
        "Glory and honor!"
    Ain't got time to die!

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NIGHT PRAYER: Wednesday 9/30

Perhaps it's the time of year and the change of seasons... I've encountered so many people in the past week whose hearts are restless and troubled...  If your heart's restless tonight, I pray you'll find some peace in these words...

My heart is restless, Lord, 

    until it rests in you...  

        - Saint Augustine

 

My heart is anxious, Lord,

    'til it rests in your deep peace...

 

My heart is wounded, Lord,

     'til it rests in your healing arms...

 

My heart is grieving, Lord,

    'til it rests, again, in you, my joy...

 

My heart is worried, Lord,

     'til it rests and puts its trust in you...

 

My heart's impatient, Lord,

    'til it rests within your Spirit's calm...

My heart is tired, Lord,

    'til it rests, refreshed, restored in you...  

 

My heart is doubtful, Lord,

    'til it rests within your wisdom's truth...

 

My heart is waiting, Lord,

      'til it rests in you who wait for me...

 

My heart is restless, Lord,

    until it rests in you...

 

And my heart is peaceful, Lord,

    when it rests in you, in your embrace,

        in your forgiving, open arms...

 

Protect me in my restlessness,

    keep vigil while I sleep,

that awake, I'll keep the watch with you

    and rest and sleep in your deep peace...

 

Amen.

 

Restless by  Audrey Assad

 

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You dwell in songs that we are singing, 

Rising to the heavens, 

   rising to your heart, your heart. 

Our praises filling up the spaces  

In between our frailty 

   and everything you are  

You are the keeper of my heart  

 

And I'm restless, I'm restless

Til I rest in you, 'til I rest in you  

I am restless, I'm restless  

'Til I rest in you, 'til I rest in you  

Oh God, I wanna rest in you  

 

Oh, speak now for my soul is listening  

Say that you have saved me, 

whisper in the dark, the dark.  

'Cause I know you're more than my salvation  

Without you I am hopeless, 

   tell me who you are,

You are the keeper of my heart  

You are the keeper of my heart  

 

And I'm restless, I'm restless  

'Til I rest in you, 'til I rest in you  

I am restless, I'm restless  

'Til I rest in you, 'til I rest in you, 

Oh I wanna rest in you  

 

Still my heart, hold me close  

Let me hear, a still small voice 

Let it grow, let it rise Into a shout, into a cry  

Still my heart, hold me close 

And let me hear a still small voice 

And let it grow, let it rise  

Into a shout, into a cry  

 

And I am restless, I'm restless 

'Til I rest in you, let me rest in you 

And I am restless, so restless

Til I rest in you, 'til I rest in you, O God  

Let me rest in you

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