9/15/12

Praying 10 minutes today: SUNDAY 9/16


Find a quiet time and place to pray... take a few deep breaths...
be still... and know that God is near...


A word to reflect on:   
Relent, O LORD! How long?
Have pity on your servants!
Fill us at daybreak with your mercy,
   that all our days we may sing for joy.





(Before moving on to the reflection below,
   spend some quiet time with the scripture verse above...)

So often when I come to prayer, Lord,
   I lay before you my burdens and troubles,
      my fears and my sorrows...

I'm grateful that you never turn me away,
   that you always lend me your ear,
      that your heart always opens wide to mine...

You know my problems, Lord,
   you're understand what weighs upon my soul,
      you know all my needs long before I speak them...

Sometimes, Lord, I take my cares to bed with me
   and hold and hug them tight, as a child would a teddy bear:
I hunker down with my sadness
   and blanket myself in worry...

And so my dreams are haunted by one day's grief
   with little hope that dawn will make a difference.
I go to bed with a pack of troubles, Lord,
   and wonder why good rest is hard to find...

So, when this day ends, I pray you help me put away,
   for one night's peace, my backpack full of burdens,
trusting them to your safe-keeping, even healing,
   while I sleep in your good care...

What I've carried all day long
   I now lay down before you:
now let me lie down and seek the rest you offer me
   in sleep unfettered,
      free of fear of what tomorrow holds...

And when daybreak comes, fill me with your mercy, Lord,
   fill me with your peace, flood my soul with faith in you
and help me sing for joy that you have brought me through the night
   that you have given me the dawn, that you rise within my heart
      as I rise up from my bed...

Relent, O LORD! How long?
Have pity on your servants!
Fill us at daybreak with your mercy,
   that all our days we may sing for joy...
     
In the quiet of my prayer, Lord,
   help me let go the things that weigh on me
      and trust them to your care as day is ending...

Keep me from holding tight my worried fears
   and open up my arms to you and to your peace
      and to a night of peaceful sleep...

In the stillness, Lord, help me trust
   you'll hold me through the dark of night and save me
      for a new day's dawn and walk with me again
         'til that day, too, is done...
  
To ponder and pray over...
Do I sometimes hunker down in my own sadness?
Do I blanket myself in worry and fear?
What burdens might I trust to the Lord's care
   when I'm longing for a good night's rest?
Is anything gained by my taking my troubles to my bed?
What will I ask of the Lord today?
From this prayer time, what word or phrase will I keep with me
   to carry through the rest of my day?

(After you spend some time with these questions,
   pray the reflection above one more time...)


Here are some tips for praying 10 minutes a day.  If you find these daily prayer reminders helpful, please let me know - and share them with others.  You'll find an archive of these daily posts here.

 
 
   
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