Redeeming Love

O Lord of love, as we rapidly approach Christmas, the frenzy of life increases until it almost inundates us!  Like Peter, sinking into the angry waves of the Sea of Gallilee, we cry out to you, "Lord save me."  There is nothing in this life which can save us from our own self-destruction - only your abiding, redeeming love!   So as we reach out to you in faith, Lord grasp our hand and save us from the false and destructive teachings of our world today.  Let the true meaning of Christmas triumph in our hearts, over the secularism which indulges our every whim .  Help us to open our lives to your love, so your presence might so fill our hearts that your love will  rediate through our lives to the lives of others lost in this mad confussion.  Lord save us!  Amen.

The Warmth of God's Love

Gracious God, on a cold morning like this, we are reminded of how cold and dismal life would be if you hadn't come to us in the little Christ Child.  Thank you for your love incarnate!!  May we use this Advent season to concentrate on the real meaning of the Christmas Season, so that we will again welcome the Christ Child into our hearts and lives.  We know how difficult it is to not be distracted from your message to us in the birth of Jesus, so we humbly ask that you help us to keep focused on your love which is revealed in a specil way during Christmas.  Amen.

Thanksgiving For God's Presence

"O Holy Child of Bethlehem, descend on us we pray; cast out ur sin and enter in, be born in us today."

Thank you God, for taking on the flesh of your creation by coming to us in the Christ Child!  Through his life and teachings you have revealed the depth of your love for us, and have shown us the way that leads to your reign on Earth.  We would be part of that Kinigdom which overcomes our sins and failures and offers us eternal life where all sin and suffering ceases to exist and only love and peace will be ours to enjoy in your presence for ever.  Amen.

Prayer of Devotion

O Holy, Loving God, how long before we remember that the plan you have for the life of each one of us is designed to bring us the greatest Good??  We know better, but we still go through life struggling to do things our own way without taking into account your divine plan.  Open our hearts and minds so that we become devoted to following the way you have given for our lives.  Then we will really have good reason to live every day as a day of Thanksgiving and praise.  We would feel your hand in ours - may we reach out and feel the grasp of your power.  Amen.

The Holiday Spirit

Remember the Reason for the Season.

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Prayer In Times of Despair

The holidays are usually a time of great joy and celebration, but for many in our nation it is a time of deep despair.  That is especially true because of the uncertainty of our economy now.  We can empathize with the Psalmist who wrote:  "Why are you in despair, O my soul?  And why have you become disturbed within me?  Hope in God, for I shall again prise Him for the help of His presence."  [Psalm 42:5]
So our prayer for today is one reaching out to God for someone steadfast on whom to cling.

Lord God you are our rock and our sure foundation.  Help us to cling on to your presence ever more tightly because we feel the shifting sands of life swallowing us up.  Lift up our spirits from the depths of despair to gaze on the wonder of your Love which can help us overcome any challenges which life might place before us.  We would feel the strength of your love; we would experience the warmth of your presence enveloping us and protecting us from harm.  Help us to relax in your arms and to trust you explicitly.  Hold us and take away all our anxiety and all our fears.  Thank you, gracious God.

Amen.

Thanksgiving Day

Almighty God, whose gifts to us cannot even be measured and whose goodness to us leaves us amazed, we offer to you today our most heartfelt gratitude and thanksgiving.  We recognize you as the source of all creation and the ground of being.  Without you there is nothing: in you there is everything!  The world is filled with the wonder of your beauty and love.  We stand in awe before your creative genius.  Words fail us when we try to express how much we need you and how thankful we are that you love us so deeply that you have provided for our every need.  Thank you for our families; thank you for our nation of freedom; thank you especially for revealing yourself to us when we were lost and hopeless!  Praise be to you forever and forever.  Amen.

God Is Calling

God of the universe, you have chosen to call us to be co-creators with you - thank you for that priviledge!  In these changing and challenging times, help us to be faithful to that calling.  Show us the life style we should live so that the world might come to know the Love of God through us.  Make our commitment and loyalty to reflective of our love for you and for the mission you have set before us.  Continue to enrich and inspire us that as your children we may walk in love and peace.  Amen.

Thanksgiving For Our Nation

Most high and mighty Ruler of the universe: we thank you for your servants who established upon these shores a nation conceived in liberty and preserved in union.  We pray that we citizens may so honor the memory of our fore parents that our nation may stand in all the coming years for righteousness and peace.  Let your blessing rest uupon our leaders who have lost their way in the leadership of this great country, and enable them to once again discharge the duties of their stations with wisdom and integrity and with the welfare of the people they serve always in mind.  Amen.

Thankful Hearts

During this week of national thanksgiving, we can find dozens of thanksgiving prayers from the Judeo/Christian scriptures that we can offer to God with grateful hearts.  Psalm 118 is one such Psalm and I encourage you to re-visit this blog each day this week and pray this prayer: 

O give thanks to the Lord,
     for God is good; God's steadfast love endures for ever!
Open to me the gates of righteousness,
     that I may enter through them and give thanks to the Lord.
This is the gate of the Lord;
     the rithteous shall enter through it.
I thank thee that thou hast answered me
     and hast become my salvation.
This is the Lord's doing;
     it is marvelous in our eyes.
This is the day which the Lord has made;
     let us rejoice and be glad in it.
Thou art my God, and I will give thanks to thee;
     thou art my God, I will extol thee.
O give thanks to the Lord, for God is good;
     for God's steadfast love endures forever!

Amen.
 

Making Time to be With God

Waiting and patient God we are so thankful that even in our busy-ness You are always with us, waiting for us to tune into your presence through prayer so we can feel your closeness and experience your power in our lives!  We are so overwhelmed with things which we feel are very important for us to do, that we forget to make time fot that which is most important of all - opening our minds and hearts to your Guding hand throughout the day.  Help us to realize that we can do every thing in life better when we are in relationship with you daily.  Thanks again for being there for us.

Amen. 

Prayer for health

Thank you loving God for another beautiful day in which to enjoy life!  Yet there are many of us praying today who are sick in either body or mind or perhaps even facing death which makes it hard to be thankful.  For those who are sick in body, we pray that it be your will to touch them with your healing spirit.  For those who are depressed or besought with anxiety we pray that your spirit will make your love known to them and give them peace of mind.  For those who are facing either their death or that of a loved one, we ask that your comforting presence might be made known to them so they know that they are never alone.  For those of us who are in good health, may we use that gift from you to beings blessings to those with whom we live and work thus giving glory to your most glorious name.  Amen.

Prayer for Assurance

As we look out of our windows today, gracious Lord, the warm, cheerful, life-giving rays of the sun are blocked from our view by clouds.  So also in our lives sometimes the clouds of despair or fear or anxiety block from our view, the lifegiving power of your Spirit, and we feel lost and alone.  Reach out to us, O good and gracious Shepherd, and take our hand thus assuring us of your presence in the midst of our darkness.  Embrace us with the warmth of your Love; enhance us with the power of your indwelling spirit; enlighten us with  your wisdom so we can see beyond our clouds and again bask in the awareness of your abiding presence.  Guide us through this day, and throughout our future, lead us.  Amen.

Prayer for Strength

Your Holy Word tells us, O God, that you are "our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble."  All around us the uncertainties of life are almost overwhelming, so we turn to you gracious God asking that your Spirit might be with us today to guide us and to encourage us so we don't despair.  Let us feel your presence and reassurance that you walk with us every step of the way.  Thank you, gracious God.    Amen.

O God, all good things come from you, and from you nothing is hidden. Give us the grace to act faithfully both in our wealth and in our lack of it.

God is our refuge and our strength, a very present help in trouble.

Let him guide you in troubled times.

Today's Devotional

When you keep your eyes on Christ,
everything will come into focus.

Welcome to the new Blog for Christ United Church of Christ in Belleville, IL

Welcome to the blog.