The Lord's Prayer
Our Father, who art in Heaven
Hallowed by Thy Name
Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done
One Earth as it is in Heaven
Give us this day our daily bread
And forgive us our trespasses
As we forgive those who trespass against us
And lead us not into temptation
But deliver us from evil
For Thine is the Kingdom, and the Power and the Glory
Forever and Ever. Amen.
A Prayer For Guidance
Oh my dear God
I know that you are in this universe, but I know you are more than this universe
Open me up to you, Source of all power and being
Let the light of your Grace and Truth fill me up, animate me
Lead me away from sin and iniquity, and towards a greater understanding of Thee
May the inspiration of Thy Holy Spirit guide me to be a better servant, a better minister, and a better human being. Amen.
A Confessional Prayer
Most merciful God,
I know that I have sinned against you
In thought, word and deed.
By what I've done, and by what I've left undone.
I have not loved you with my whole heart, I have not loved my neighbor as myself.
I've grieved your Holy Spirit, and doubted your very existence.
I've given myself over to the worst kind of lust, pride and anger,
But I am truly sorry God, and I humbly repent.
For the sake of the blood of Your Son our savior Jesus Christ,
Cleanse me of my sins today, tomorrow, and for the rest of my life.
Meditations 1
Glory to to God on high and on earth peace and good will towards me.
I've just touched the hem of His garment.
God I'm a worm, but through you I become a man, may Christ guide me.
Lord Jesus Christ let everyone who stands before you this day know your love rooted in your pain, and your pain rooted in your love.
God I believe, I believe God, I believe...help my unbelief.
God you may deny me peace if you grant me glory...but if you could God, could I have both?
Come Holy Spirit, Come.
God I have uttered things too wonderful for myself, that I understood not. And wherefore I abhor myself and repent in dust, and ashes.
Petitionary Prayers
God bless this country and its war on terror. Bless the victims of hurricanes, earthquakes, tsunamis, and anyone in any need, sickness or any other adversity.
Bless especially: my wife's family, my family particularly my father and brother.
Bless the people of St. Thomas especially those who are sick, those who are dying, and their families.
Bless the political situation in this country, the victims of the economic downturns, and the people of the middle east: especially Syria, Israel and Egypt.
Bless the youth group, and the work I do this day.
Bless Angelic and our relationship.
Finally bless me God, be with me, be in me, be over me. Grant me thy strength, thy faith and thy righteousness...come into the deepest part of my heart and dwell there God, and let me see only your face.
And God bless all those for whom I should wish to pray.
Thanksgivings
God thank you for this moment.
Thank you for your love and all that it produces: the wonders of existence, the beauty of nature.
Thank you for life and for love, for every breath that I take, for every beat of my heart. For the opportunity to serve you this day. For knowledge and for wisdom, for faith and for feeling, for imagination. For the overcoming of evil with good, for the overcoming of lies with the truth, and the overcoming of darkness with light.
Thank you for my wife and our relationship, for the communities of which I am a part: my friends and my family.
Thank you for my material wealth: which I know is fleeting, and I know I don't deserve.
Thank you for your presence, especially in the form of your Son our Savior Jesus Christ, and in the form of your Holy Spirit.
And for all that I have, and all that I am, thank you.
The Serenity Prayer
God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the strength and courage to change the things that I can, and the wisdom to know the difference. Living one day at a time, enjoying one moment at a time, accepting hardship as a pathway to peace. Taking as Jesus did, this sinful world as it is, and not as I would have it. Trusting that you will make all things right if I surrender to your will. So that I may be reasonably happy in this life, and supremely happy with you forever in the next. Amen.
Meditations 2
The quest is to be liberated from the negative. Which is really just our own will to nothingness. And once the moment is affirmed, it becomes contagious. It breaks out into a chain of affirmations that knows no end. To say 'yes' to a single moment, is to say 'yes' to the sum of existence.
I learned later, and I am still learning up to this moment, that it is only by living completely in this world that one learns to have faith. By this worldliness, I mean living unreservedly in life's duties, problems, successes and failures. Taking seriously, not our own sufferings, but the sufferings of God in the world. In so doing we throw ourselves completely into the arms of God, standing with Christ at Gethsemane. That, I think, is faith. That is metanoia, and that is what it means to be a Christian, and a man.
This man on the Cross who cries "weep not for me" can also save us from our tears of self-pity. What he reveals about life and God transmutes tears of self-pity into tears of remorse and repentance. Repentance doesn't accuse life, or God, but accuses self. In that self-accusation lies the very beginning of hope and salvation. If the defect lies in us and not in the character of life, then life is not hopeless. If we can only learn to weep for ourselves as (persons) we need not weep for ourselves as (people).
God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten son to the end that those who believe in Him will not perish, but have life ever-lasting.
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