Happy Thanksgiving

I found the following poem/prayer online and wanted to share it with you.

A Thanksgiving Day Prayer

Lord, so often times, as any other day

When we sit down to our meal and pray

We hurry along and make fast the blessing 

Thanks, amen. Now please pass the dressing

We're slaves to the olfactory overload
We must rush our prayer before the food gets cold

But Lord, I'd like to take a few minute more
To really give thanks to what I'm thankful for

For my family, my health, a nice soft bed
My friends, my freedom, a roof over my head

I'm thankful right now to be surrounded by those
Whose lives touch me more than they'll ever possibly know

Thankful Lord, that You've blessed me beyond measure
Thankful that in my heart lives life's greatest treasure

That You, dear Jesus, reside in that place
And I'm ever so grateful for Your unending grace

So please, heavenly Father, bless this food You've provided
And bless each and every person invited

Amen!

--Scott Wesemann

I especially like the last part of the prayer. I want to make it my prayer as well. 

Thank you for letting me share with you. Please visit Spiritual Sundays where many inspirational posts are shared each week. Click HERE to go to that blog.

OPEN MY EYES

A FAVORITE PRAYER OF HELEN STEINER RICE

God, open my eyes so I may see
And feel Your presence close to me.
Give me strength for my stumbling feet
As I battle the crowd on life's busy street.
And widen the vision of my unseeing eyes,
So in passing faces I'll recognize
Not just a stranger, unloved and unknown.
But a friend with a heart that is much like my own.
Give me perception to make me aware
That scattered profusely on life's thoroughfare
Are the best gifts of God that we daily pass by
As we look at the world with an unseeing eye.

I pray God will open the eyes of my heart to see others as He sees them. Even more important is to have eyes that see Him. This is also my prayer and I think the video expresses it very well.


To everyone who came here from Spiritual Sundays you have my heartfelt thanks. If not, I hope you will visit Spiritual Sundays. I promise you that you will be blessed.

MUCH PRAYER NEEDED

There is always a need for much prayer, but it occurred to me that now more than ever before we need to be spending much time in prayer. The devastation caused by the tornados is enormous. Japan is still trying to recover from their disasters. And then there is all the turmoil in the middle east. Our government needs our prayers now more than anytime in recent history. I know we are all praying and will continue to pray about these concerns. 

I want to remind you of another source of things we need to pray about. We are constantly adding new prayer requests to our Prayer Request blog. I hope many will go to that blog and pray for those listed there. Here is the link: Prayer Requests. There us also an e-mail button where you can send other prayer requests to that blog.

Matthew 21:22 (New International Version, ©2011)

²² If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer.”

Of course this is being linked to Spiritual Sundays. Last week we had 98 links on that blog, the most ever. There is so much inspiration shared in those links that I hope you will visit as many as you possibly can. Here is the link for that blog: Spiritual Sundays.

Let's Pray

First of all I want to wish all you dads out there a Happy Father's Day. I was trying to decide what to share for Spiritual Sundays and ran across this illustration written by Patsy Clairmont from God Uses Cracked Pots. The article is about a mother, but could easily apply to fathers as well.

During a prayer time, as I cried out to the Lord for help with my temper, especially with my son, an idea formed I believe was heaven-sent because it made a difference. 

I was to pray with Marty before I administered any form of discipline. Sometimes those prayers sounded strange and strained as I almost shouted, "Dear Lord, please help this miserable little boy and help his miserable mommy who wants so desperately to raise him in a way that would honor you."

By the time I said "amen," I was almost a reasonable person. I was able to see past my emotions and do what was in Marty's best interest.

Sometimes he needed a firm hand, but he was dealt with in love instead of anger, and the moment drew us together instead of tearing us apart. Many times all he needed was time and a mother's tender touch.

But one day that boy really ticked me off! I remember heading across the room for him like a high-speed locomotive, steam coming out all sides. I had one goal and intent--get the kid, get the kid, get the kid!

Just as I loomed over him, his eyes the size of saucers, he held up one hand and yelled, "Let's pray!"

Marty had learned a valuable lesson in life. "When Mommy talks to Jesus, we're all a lot better off."

I think what Marty learned is a lesson we all can profit from. Not just in the disciplining of children, but in every area of our lives, we're a lot better off when we talk to Jesus.

Please join us each week for Spiritual Sundays where you can share something on your blog by linking there or just go there to read what others have shared. Click HERE to go to that blog. Or, you can just click on the birdies.

I LOVE BAGELS

If you saw my facebook comment this morning, you know I went to Einstein Bros. Bagels this morning and bought a dozen bagels. I plan to freeze most of them. Don't think I want to eat them all today. lol  I couldn't believe how many people were in that little shop. There were about two dozen people eating in and there were about a dozen or more people in line to buy take out and eat in items.

I am completely "spoiled" by eating these bagels. I used to buy bagels at the grocery store and other places, but now I only want Einstein's. If there is one close to you and you like bagels, you should go to their website and get a 25% off coupon.

On a more serious note, many of my blogging friends need prayers right now. Two that come immediately to mind are Joyce who will have gall bladder surgery next Thursday and Cheryl who is having serious problems and is scheduled for an MRI this afternoon. I hope you will join me in praying for these two dear ladies.

p.s. I like cupcakes too, but Einstein's doesn't make them.

SPIRITUAL SUNDAYS

I love the way these scriptures are used in Nancy Guthrie's book "Hearing Jesus Speak into Your Sorrow". This is adapted from passages in Hebrews, Romans, Luke, John, 1 Peter, and Philippians.

"JUST AS I PRAYED for you when I was on earth, I am interceding for you before the throne of God, now and forever. In your utter weakness and deepest despair, when you don't have the words or the will to ask for what you need, my Holy Spirit is praying for you with the kind of passionate groaning for which there are no words.

You can be confident that God will say yes to what the Spirit prays for you, because he always pleads for God to accomplish his perfect will in your life. He is at work in you and on your behalf, tearing down the walls of your resistance to God's will.

The answer to the Spirit's prayers may not be what you would ask for on your own, but don't you want your Father's will to be done in your life more than you want to get what you want? Remember that he will cause everything in your life to work together for your ultimate good.

I hear your prayers, asking for your path to be smooth and asking the Father to bless your plans with success. But I have to tell you, that is not how I am praying for you. I love you too much for that. I am praying that when your plans go awry and your efforts fail, your faith will not. I am asking the Father to give you the good gift you have asked him for--more of my Holy Spirit at work in the interior of your life and character.

I am praying that you will walk in the truth and complete the work that has been entrusted to you--not so you can revel in the glory, but so you can experience the joy of giving the glory back to me. I am praying that the truth of my Word will teach you and refine you, even though that refining may be painful, because I know your greatest happiness will come as you become holy as I am holy.

The day is coming when you will see and share in the glory I have shared with my Father since before Creation I'm praying that God will purify you and protect you until that coming day."

I hope you will go to our Spiritual Sundays blog to share with us or to find links to other blogs who do share there. Have a wonderful weekend.

ANDY ROONEY AND PRAYER

Andy Rooney says:

I don't believe in Santa Claus, but I'm not going to sue somebody for
singing a Ho-Ho-Ho song in December. I don't agree with Darwin , but I didn't
go out and hire a lawyer when my high school teacher taught his Theory of
Evolution.

Life, liberty or your pursuit of happiness will not be endangered because
someone says a 30-second prayer before a football game. So what's the big
deal? It's not like somebody is up there reading the entire Book of Acts.
They're just talking to a God they believe in and asking him to grant safety
to the players on the field and the fans going home from the game.

But it's a Christian prayer, some will argue.

Yes, and this is the United States of America , a country founded on
Christian principles. According to our very own phone book, Christian churches
outnumber all others better than 200-to-1. So what would you expect --
somebody chanting Hare Krishna?

If I went to a football game in Jerusalem , I would expect to hear a
Jewish prayer...

If I went to a soccer game in Baghdad , I would expect to hear a Muslim
prayer.

If I went to a ping pong match in China , I would expect to hear someone
pray to Buddha.

And I wouldn't be offended. It wouldn't bother me one bit.
When in Rome .....

But what about the atheists? Is another argument.

What about them? Nobody is asking them to be baptized. We're not going to
pass the collection plate. Just humor us for 30 seconds. If that's asking
too much, bring a Walkman or a pair of ear plugs. Go to the bathroom.
Visit the concession stand. Call your lawyer!

Unfortunately, one or two will make that call. One or two will tell
thousands what they can and cannot do. I don't think a short prayer at a
football game is going to shake the world's foundations.

Christians are just sick and tired of turning the other cheek while our
courts strip us of all our rights. Our parents and grandparents taught us
to pray before eating, to pray before we go to sleep. Our Bible tells us to
pray without ceasing. Now a handful of people and their lawyers are
telling us to cease praying.

God, help us. And if that last sentence offends you, well, just sue me.

The silent majority has been silent too long. It's time we tell that one
or two who scream loud enough to be heard that the vast majority doesn't
care what they want. It is time that the majority
Rules! It's time we tell them, You don't have to pray; you don't have to
say the Pledge of Allegiance; you don't have to believe in God or attend
services that honor Him. That is your right, and we will honor your right; but
by golly, you are no longer going to take our rights away. We are
fighting back, and we WILL WIN!

God bless us one and all ... Especially those who denounce Him , God
bless America, despite all her faults. She is still the greatest nation of
all. God bless our service men who are fighting to protect our right to pray
and worship God.

Let's make 2009 the year the silent majority is heard and we put God
back as the foundation of our families and institutions .. And our military
forces come home from all the wars.

Keep looking up.

Another Ken Gire Prayer

Dear Lord,

Help me in suffering my cross
to look to you and gain strength from how you
suffered yours,
to bear the pain of my unanswered
questions the way you bore yours.
Help me to see that even in the darkness and the
aloneness of your forsakenness,
still you loved,
still you forgave,
still you trusted yourself to the care of
your Father’s hands.
Sometimes, Jesus, the road to the Father’s house
seems so long and so steep
and sometimes I get so tired.
Here and there I need an angel, Lord,
someone along the way to lift my head,
to point the way,
and to tell me the truth about the road ahead.

Grant me traveling mercies for the journey, Lord.
Help me to be as hopeful in my joy
as I am honest in my sorrow.

Sorrowful but always rejoicing,
knowing that though I shall be more and more tired,
I shall also be nearer and nearer to Thee.

I'm surprised that I have just recently discovered Ken Gire's wonderful books. They have been in our home for years. Some of the prayers he writes are so meaningful to me that I like to share them with my blogging friends. I hope they bless your life as they have mine.

A Prayer of Awareness

The prayers in Ken Gire's book Windows of the Soul are so good. Here is another one called "A Prayer of Awareness". These prayers have blessed my life and I hope they will bless yours.

Thank You, O God,

For seeing beyond the surface of my life

to the child sitting at the mirror.

Thank You for sitting down beside me,

putting Your arm around me,

and speaking to me with such tenderness,

such compassion, and such understanding.

Help me to be aware of the pictures in my life

that are everywhere around me and at all times

showing me something I need to see,

telling me something I need to hear,

offering me something I need to receive.

Help me look beyond the surface of those pictures to see windows.

Give me eyes to see, ears to hear, and a heart to receive

what You are offering me through those windows,

that I might sense what is dear to You

so that it might become what is dear to me . . .

It's time to go get ready to go to church. I love Sundays. I love to go to church. I hope you have a great day.

A Prayer of Courage

I love the prayers in Ken Gire’s book Windows of the Soul. Here is another one.

Help me, O God,

Give me the courage to cry.
Help me to understand that tears bring
freshly washed colors arching across the soul,
colors that wouldn’t be there apart from the rain.
Help me to see in the prism of my tears,
something of the secret of who I am.
Give me the courage
not only to see what those tears are revealing
but to follow where they are leading.
and help me to see,
somewhere over the rainbow,
that where they are leading me is home . . .

A Prayer

The following prayer is from Ken Gire's book Windows of the Soul.

A Prayer for Understanding

Help me, God,

To realize it is in being crippled that I learn to cling, and in limping that I learn to lean,

that victory comes not in how courageously I struggle

but in how completely I surrender,

and that this is how I am to grow,

by being defeated,

decisively

by constantly greater things.

Help me to understand that Your power is perfected in weakness,

so that when I am rendered weak,

You are given the opportunity to be shown strong.

Help me to understand, too,

that "more things are wrought by prayer than this world dreams of,

for so the whole round earth is every way

bound in gold chains about the feet of God..."