Rest

Lord,

Please teach me to sleep and to make time for it.  Thank you for building into my design that I get blurry eyed when I absolutely must sleep.  I'd rather that than to have health problems from not sleeping.

Teach me to see the signs through my stubborn pride that I must take time for rest.  I do not have the answers.  I cannot always make up for things by staying up a few extra hours, working a few extra hours, etc.

Help me to recognize and acknowledge when the answer is to cut things out of my life that don't lead me to You rather than trying to fit everything in just because I'm attached to unnecessary things. Help me to see that it is only in embracing You that I will find fulfillment.  Everything else is clutter.

Amen

Knots

Lord,

Please help me to see situations in the light that you want me to see them.

Help me to not mistake one thing for another simply out of convenience. 

Help me to see which decisions give You glory and to then carry out and live according to Your will.  Help me not to slip through the cracks of my mind that lead to my own will. 

When my tie myself all in knots because I am worried if I have done the right thing, help me to turn to You for answers.

Amen

Lord,

When I feel pushed up against a wall, help me to always stand by You.

Help me to prepare for the next battle, for there are ebbs and flows in the journey of following You.  Surely there will be more battles to come.

Amen

Forgotten Ones

Lord,

Please help me to never forget the people whom the world views as little and worth forgetting.

Even when backed into a corner and given the choice between that which is simple, easy, and glorious in the eyes of the world, help me to remember that there are so many people who need nothing more a generous human contact.

When the weather beats down upon the world's forgotten ones, please help me to not act as the world does.  Not in this matter and in so many others.

Amen

The Crowd

Lord,

Please help me avoid to sin.  Sometimes I sin only because I am with a group of people who are doing something wrong.  I tell myself that this is the reason for my own sin, but there is always more to it than that.

I sin because there is something else in my mind or in my being that seeks something/someone other than You.  Help me to keep my mind trained and focused on You. Help me to constantly reach for You.

Amen

Trampled Gems

Lord,

Let me not walk by someone who has been trampled underfoot

and mistake that person for what he or she truly is: my brother or sister in your love.

It is too easy to accidentally or somewhat purposely turn my eyes to things other than You.  When I do, I fail to notice the gems around me.  Let me never crush them, accidentally, purposely, or by sins of omission.

Amen

Community

Lord,

Help me to shrug away from shyness and to be with people in community even though I always struggle to do so.  Help me to remember to just relax and let a conversation flow with someone whom I don't know.

Help me to give to my community but also to allow my community to give back to me.  It isn't all about me doing things by myself.

Help me to learn how to approach people rather than just standing back and hoping someone will invite me into a conversation.  Then, help me to always remember to listen.

Lord Jesus,

Please help me to remember that You gave your people a community of believers for a reason.  You were always gathering with people and teaching people in groups.  Help me to rejoice not only in personal communion with you, but to celebrate and rejoice in the community You have given to me.  Then, help me to have humility within the group.

Amen

The Good

Lord,

Help me to see the good in people and not complain against them.  If something needs fixing, help me to help to fix the situation but to always see the good in people.

Help me instead to focus inward at those things in myself that need changing.  

Help me to turn away from the notion that there is nothing within me that needs changing.  This trap is laid out  for me in a new place in my life everyday.  I must always look for where it is hiding.

Lord,

Help me to rejoice in the goodness of others and see that it is the goodness You have placed there.

Help me to recognize that when I see and want to over-grasp those things I see as good in myself that I must also remember that these things are the goodness You have placed in me and not merely a testament to puff myself up.

Lord,

Please help me to keep my mind and my heart ready for You today.

Amen

Joy

Lord,

Help me to be open to joy in my life.

Help me me to accept that I can turn things around when I feel like the storm is rocking the boat too much.  You are with me, ready to walk, even on water, to help me.

Help me to know when to open my petals to others.

And when to close my petals to rest.

Lord,

Thank You for the gifts you have given to me and are giving me.  Let me learn how to best use them.  I have needed to be shown that the stream flows above ground and is not meant to be buried.

Amen

Wash Me

Lord,

Wash me in Your mercy.

Wash me in Your love.

Wash me in Your peace.

Let me always remember Your life giving water,

Your cleansing water, for I am always in need of Your mercy.

Amen

Seeing What's Hiding

Lord,

Help me to see the good that sometimes hides.  Give me eyes to see it, for it is so much easier to sink into sadness than to always look for the good in others and the good you have placed within me.  Help me to turn the leaves over to see it and be willing to stir up my mind to never settle for sadness when You mean for me to see something else.

Help me to remember that I am a sinner and never better than anyone else.

Help me to learn how to reach out, even when it hurts.  Help me to also respect other people's space.

Lord,

Purge from me all those things that keep me from clinging to You, trusting You, and seeing You in others.  Purge from me all those things that keep me from treating everyone as if they were You.

Help me to see that no one is a waste of time because everyone was created by You, and You seek everyone to choose to be near You.

Amen

Your Will

Lord,

Help me to accept your will, even when I don't understand it.  If it be your will that I have spasms and move in a way that is foreign to me, then so be it.

If it be your will that I shed unnecessary parts of my life that I think are wonderful but that are not pleasing to You, then so be it.

If it be your will that I shed expectations about what I'm supposed to carry with me on this journey of life, then so be it.

If it be your will that I don't understand your will and must wander around in the dark for awhile, so be it.

If it be your will that I fight sadness, loneliness, and fatigue, so be it. 

But when it is time and when it is your will that others help me, I pray for the humility to accept others' efforts. 

Amen

Goodbye

Lord,

Help me to say goodbye to a friend who is leaving my life.  Help me to let go when people tell me they need space.

Help me to listen to people and not just act and react the way I think they need help but rather to listen to what they are telling me regarding what they want or need.

Help me to discern what You are calling me to do.

Thank You for your forgiveness and healing.  I need it often for I fall often.

Help me to stand against darkness and put it behind me.

But if and when I fail, for I am a flawed person, help me to continually come back to You for healing.  Help me to come back to You as soon as I can, to seek You and to call out to You when You are near.

Help me to see You and to look for You everywhere, especially in other people around me.

Amen