NIGHT PRAYER: Friday 7/17

You set up mountains by your might.
You still the roaring of the seas,
   the roaring of the waves,
      the tumult of the peoples...   -Psalm 65

Lord, the scriptures tell me how powerful you are:
    you put the mountains in their place,
        with only a word you quiet the ocean's roar;
    and at your glance
        the sea's roiling waves grow calm...
    you speak peace in your people's hearts
          and still the turmoil and tumult of nations...

Be powerful in my life, Lord,
    when I'm too weak and too small to do on my own 
        what you ask and require of me,
    what my responsibilities demand of me
    and all that I want and need to do
         to become the person you made me to be...

Will you move the mountains in my way?
Will you put them in their place?  

   clear a path for me to make my way?

   a valley safe, through heights and peaks 

         that loom so dark above me?

By your own might, Lord,
    you built the mountains:
       let them not stand a barrier between us...

With but a word 

   will you quiet the ocean tempest

      that roars through my mind and my thoughts?
Will you hush the rush 

    of all the noise distracting me     

        from prayer, from peace,

            from your presence by my side?

With only a glance will you calm the waves 

    that rock my boat and threaten my life's voyage? 
Will you smooth the seas capsizing my craft
   and reach out your hand 

      to pull me up from the depths?

Will you still the turmoil 

   that troubles my mind and heart,
   that shakes my confidence in you, 

      in others -- in myself?

 
Will you speak your peace deep within my soul
   and give me grace to trust in your strong arm?

Will you show your power in my life, Lord?
Will you move, powerfully, deep within me?
Will you open my eyes and help me see  
   where you are, how you move, what you do?

When I come to prayer, Lord, let me find:
    the safe path you map for me to walk;  

    the peaceful word you speak to soothe my soul;
    the calm and peace your presence always brings...

In the stillness of this night Lord,     

    give me a taste of the peace you offer,

    a hunger for your word and truth
    and a thirst for your holy wisdom...

 

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. 

 

God Turn It Around by Jon Reddick

 

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I'm praying God come 

And turn this thing around 

God, turn it around 

God, turn it around 

God, turn it around 

 

I’m calling on the name 

that changes everything 

God, turn it around 

God, turn it around 

God, turn it around 

 

All of my hope 

Is in the name 

The name of Jesus 

 

Breakthrough will come 

Come in the name 

The name of Jesus 

 

God, turn it around 

God, turn it around 

He is up to something 

He is up to something 

 

God is doing something right now 

He is healing someone 

He is saving someone 

God is doing something right now 

He is moving mountains 

Making a way for someone 

God is doing something right now 

God is doing something

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NIGHT PRAYER: Thursday 7/16

 

Let us never forget, Lord, 

how you cause the sun to rise and set

   on the just and the unjust,

   on the young and the old,

   on people of every color and kind, 

   on warmongers and peacemakers,

   on Democrats and Republicans,

   on the unborn, the newborn and the dying,

   on those who are sad and those who party,

   on those who believe and those who don't,

   on those who harm and those who heal, 

   on sinners and on saints...

 

Whatever today has brought us, Lord,

whatever we've brought to this day

- and whatever tomorrow may bring -

        your light will shine all over the world,

        your  mercy will cleanse and forgive,

        your patience will faithfully wait upon us,

        your Spirit will urge us to justice and peace,

        your Word will call us to seek the truth, 

        your grace will set us free from our sins

        and your rain will refresh us, one and all,

        saints and sinners alike...

 

All our help, O Lord, comes from you,

    the maker of heaven and earth...

Protect us, Lord, while we're awake

    and watch over us as we sleep

that awake, we might keep watch with you

    and asleep, rest in your peace...

Amen.

Psalm 121 by Francis Patrick O'Brien

 

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Our help is from the Lord, the maker of heaven,

the maker of heaven and earth.

 

I lift up my eyes to the mountains,

from where shall come my help?

My help shall come from the Lord,

the maker of heaven and earth.

 

May our God, ever wakeful, 

not allow you to fall.

No, he sleeps not nor slumbers; 

for Israel, God is at guard.

 

God is your guard and protection;

by your side God shall stand.

By day the sun shall not harm you

nor the moon in the night.

 

The Lord will shelter you from evil;

God will guard your soul,

will guard your coming and your going

both now and forever more.

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Pause for Prayer: THURSDAY 7/16

I trust in you, Lord,
    in you above all… 

I trust in your presence
    when I feel alone…

I trust that you'll find me
    each time I go missing…

I trust in your wisdom
    when I'm so clueless...

I trust you’re still with me
    when I'm left behind...

I trust in your comfort
    when I am distressed…

I trust in your grace

    to help make choices...  

I trust in your plan
    when the world goes nuts...

I trust in your law

    to show me what's just...

I trust your compassion
    when I'm filled with sorrow...

I trust in your healing

    to mend and restore me...  

I trust in your strength
    when mine is all gone... 

I trust in your Word

    to teach me the truth... 

I trust you still love me
    when I hate myself…

I trust that you’ll calm me
    when I am afraid…

I trust in your mercy
    to pardon my sins...

I trust in your Spirit
    when I’m down and out…

I trust in you, Lord,
    when I’m helpless and hopeless...

I trust in you, Lord,
    in you above all…

Amen.

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NIGHT PRAYER: Tuesday 7/14

Putting in a request here, Lord
    - and I hope you don't think

         I'm asking too much...

 

I need, I'm asking for one day

    - just 24 hours -

one day free of surprises, interruptions and distractions;

one day free of out-of-nowhere complications; 

one day free of bad news and fake news;

one day free of frightening headlines;

one day free of pain and sickness;

one day free of injustice and corruption,  

one day free of death, loss and grief; 

one day free of the mean, the ugly, the brutal;

one day free of rumors, lies and gossip;

one day free of terror, war and casualties;

one day free of sin, faults and failure 

I know!

That is a lot to ask... 

 

So, how about this, Lord?

 

How about one day,

    - just 24 hours -

when I might have the grace to be

    kind,

    peaceable,

    generous,

    merciful,

    joyful, 

    fair,

    faithful, 

    honest,

    modest, 

    helpful,

    good,

    truthful,

    humble, 

    healing,

    considerate,

    patient,

    understanding,

    consoling

    and loving... 

     

And I know:

    that's a lot to ask for, too...

 

So, how about this, Lord?

How about I just ask for the grace

    to follow you and live your word

        more faithfully tomorrow

            than I did today?

And I'm pretty sure,

    well, I hope, Lord:

      that's not asking too much...

  

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.

Lord, I Need You by Matt Maher

 by Unspoken

    performed by HCS Junior High Choir

 

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Lord I come, I confess 

Bowing here, I find my rest 

Without You, I fall apart 

You're the one that guides my heart 

 

Lord, I need You, oh I need You 

Every hour, I need You 

My one defense, my righteousness 

Oh God, how I need You 

 

Where sin runs deep, Your grace is more 

Where grace is found is where You are 

And where You are, Lord I am free 

Holiness is Christ in me 

 

Lord, I need You, oh I need You 

Every hour, I need 

You My one defense, my righteousness 

Oh God, how I need You 

 

So teach my song to rise to You 

When temptation comes my way 

And when I cannot stand, I'll fall on You 

Jesus, You're my hope and stay 

 

Lord, I need You, oh I need You 

Every hour, I need 

You My one defense, my righteousness 

Oh God, how I need You 

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Slowing the pace...

That path above winds around Georgetown Lake and it's a beautiful place, indeed.  It's time for me to slow my already slow pace just a bit more and make sure that I take in all there is around me. So, I'm not going to hold myself to my usual "two posts a day."  I will be posting prayers and other sundry items - but at a gentler pace...  And if you can - slow your own pace down here in the summer time and take in all that's around you...

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He and we - are simply proclaiming the gospel...

 

 

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NIGHT PRAYER: Monday 7/13

 How peaceful this path, Lord...

Walden Woods: photo by Chuck Clough

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

How peaceful this path,

soft, shaded from the heat,

worn by other's steps, a carpet

laid with joys and sorrows, spilled

on the way to a grove

deep in the woods where you, Lord, 

with amazing grace 

and patience

wait for me... 

 

How peaceful: this velvet path

drawing me ever deeper,

in the forest of your mystery

to a quiet, hidden, secret place

where you, Lord,

with amazing grace 

and patience

wait for me...

And comes a day that finds me lost,
far from this secluded grove:
beat a path within me

and beckon me to join you
in a softly shaded clearing
in the forest of my lonely heart
where you, Lord,

with amazing grace 

and patience

wait for me...

 

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.

 

Your Patience Amazes Me

    by Lauren Daigle

 

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Monday Morning Offering: 7/13

Morning Coffee by George Mendoza

 

Good morning, good God!

 

Today I come to you, 

    offering my faults for your healing,
         and praying that you'll challenge me to grow...

   I offer you all my lame excuses, Lord:
      challenge me to honesty 

         with others and with myself...

   I offer you my selfishness:
      challenge me to watch for and respond 

          to others' needs...

   I offer you my jealousy:
      challenge me to gratitude 

          for what's already mine...

   I offer you my laziness:
      challenge me, kick-start me 

          to finally get a move on...

   I offer you my wastefulness:
      challenge me to prudently 

         conserve and not misuse...

   I offer my desire to have more than I need:
      challenge me to sacrifice, 

          restraint and moderation...

   I offer you my lustful heart:
      challenge me to center 

          on what's clean and pure and true...

   I offer you my prejudice:
      challenge me to fairness,

          to just, impartial insight...
   
   I offer my self-pity, Lord:
      challenge me to mindfulness 

          and honest self-acceptance... 

   I offer you my vanity:
      challenge me to modesty,

         self-knowledge and humility...

   And I offer you my hasty words deeds:
      challenge me to patience, 

          discretion and serenity...

I offer you my faults, Lord, 

    and pray you'll challenge me
with your truth, your grace and wisdom:
      with your healing, saving word...

Amen.

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NIGHT PRAYER: Sunday 7/12

On Sundays, Night Prayer takes its lead from an element from the day's liturgy. Tonight's prayer is based on the first reading at mass today... 

I wonder, Lord...

 

In what ways has your word

    rained and fallen on my heart 

or covered my soul

    as a blanket of fresh snow?

 

What droplets of your wisdom

    have you sprinkled on my thoughts?

 

What snowflakes of your grace

    have anointed me with healing?   

 

What words of your good counsel

    have you showered on my worries?

 

What commandment have you rained down

    on my lazy, foolish ways?

 

................................................................

 

Too often I complain, Lord,

    of dry spells, droughts and deserts

- in my life and in my prayer,

    in my heart and mind and soul...

 

Help me see, Lord, in each season

    when as rain your word comes down,

how the heavens open up

    and your mercy, word and wisdom

        come in buckets - or in sprinkles -

to bathe and grow and heal me

    and to nurture in my life,

all the seeds of love you've planted

    in a harvest of your grace...  

 

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. 

 

Healing Rain by Michael W. Smith

 

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Pause for Prayer: SUNDAY 7/12

Image source

Help me to pray, Lord,

    for I don’t know how to pray as I ought…

I try to "make time" for prayer, forgetting

    that few things in my life are more important

    than spending time each day alone

    with you, just talking 'bout what's going on...

I "try to make time" for you, Lord,
    who are always there, waiting 

        ready to meet me in prayer,

    never too busy to take the time

        and sit down to listen to me...

But sometimes, Lord, 

    I worry about prayer

but you're always pleased 

    with each prayer I make... 

You're pleased with my prayer, Lord,

    always pleased with my prayer

- even when I can't find words to pray -
    you're pleased, always pleased

        with the simple prayer of my presence...

I so often forget this simple truth:

    you understand me completely, Lord!

You hear my prayer

        in the flow of my tears,

        in the groans of my pain,

        in my shivers of fear,

        in my silent sorrow

        and my peaceful sigh

        - each time I meet you in prayer...

 
Remind me that praying is simple, Lord,

    I need only sit in the silence,

        to speak your name

            and to sit and wait in the silence...

And sometimes the silence

    is the only prayer, the very best prayer,

        the most honest prayer I can offer...

Your love for me is simple, Lord:

    you’re always waiting, waiting for me

         even when I've not prayed in ages...

 

You welcome me warmly, kindly and gently 

    - and you look me in the eye -

        though I fear looking back into yours...

 

You open wide your arms to me

     even when I've been unfaithful;

you’re there for me, always,
    even though I've ignored you

         or turned away from your face…

 

I don't need a holy saint’s words and wisdom
    to come to you in my prayer, Lord,

I need only 

    to thank you for all my blessings

    to praise you for all your glory,

    to ask you to pardon my sins,

    and to seek your help in toils and trials

    and beg the grace to be more faithful today

         than the day before...

Help me to pray today, Lord,

    and not put it off til tomorrow;

help me to pray for I don’t know how 

    to pray as I might and I ought...

 

Just help me to pray today, Lord

    - help to pray even now -

remind me that praying is simple, Lord,

    I need only sit in the silence,

        to speak your name

            and to sit and wait in the silence...

and sometimes, Lord, the silence

    is the only prayer, the very best prayer,

        the most honest prayer I can offer...

 

Amen.

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