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

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

Forgiveness

Lord,

Heal me.  When sin tears a hole in my heart as it so often does, whisper in my ear to remind me that I all need to do is seek your forgiveness.

Make me whole again so that I can shine vibrantly for You to others.

The stain of sin still marks me as I walk this earth but your forgiveness makes me whole in the way possible while still here.  Help me to remember to continually seek forgiveness and to realize that I am so many times at fault.  But, through your mercy, I can get up again to sing your praises. 

I see your breath everywhere. 

For it surrounds me. 

When You move my heart I cannot help but see you in every glance.

Your whisper is so subtle yet so pronounced that I must always listen for it. 

Speak to my heart, oh my Lord and God, for You are marvelous indeed. 

Reach down and touch me with your forgiveness. 

And help me to take that forgiveness and extend it to those around me who hurt me.

Help me Lord Jesus to always see that you are near, even in my day to day endeavors.

Amen

Trampled Underfoot

Lord,

Help me to stand up when I have fallen.

Help me to shine vibrantly for You even though the world may trample me underfoot.

Help me to be an answered prayer for someone else today, that I might add color to another's day by serving You.

Help me to open up to You and open up to others rather than closing in on myself.

Lord,

Please help me to again stand up, even as I fall again.  I fall often.

Help me to be there for others even when others want to curl up and turn away.  Help me to know when to back off and when to push so that they don't close me out.

Amen

Teach Me to Make Time

Lord,

When I am surrounded with too many tasks to complete, let me peek through to see You.

Bridge the gaps I have between what it takes to follow You and where I currently am, for I fall often.

Help me to understand your what it means to love.  Your fullness of love is such a mystery to me.

Help me to look deeper into people and into situations than just the surface.  So many times the heart of an issue or the heart of a person's pain is found at the very center.  Help me to make time to see it.

And when life gets prickly, as it always does from time to time, help me to embrace You and to embrace others.  Help me not to shout out, "Don't touch me!  You or I might get hurt."

Amen

Cracks of Life

Lord,

When I feel like curling up, going back to bed, and being lazy, remind me that there is work that you have for me to do.  Not just going to my job, but your work.

Help keep me focused and pointed toward what I can do for others rather than always looking inward toward my own wants.

When I fall, help me get back onto my feet.

When I feel that life is taking a bite out of me,

help me to remember that it is in your embrace by your passion, death, and resurrection that I am made whole.

For you show me everywhere that You are with me.

I need not look in far away places.

For You are at my side, ever helping me to rise out of the cracks of life.   Please help me to remember it.