Still Saturday::more than the wide sea's sand...

GRACIOUS LORD

Thy name is love,     
in love receive my prayer.

My sins are more than the wide sea's sand,     
but where sin abounds, there is grace more abundant.

Look to the cross of they beloved Son,     
and view the preciousness of his atoning blood;

Listen to his never-failing intercession,     
and whisper to my heart,
"Thy sins are forgiven,
be of good cheer, lie down in peace."

Grace cataracts from heaven and flows for ever,     
and mercy never wearies in bestowing benefits.

Grant me more and more to prize the privilege of prayer;

to come to thee as a sin-soiled sinner, 

to find pardon in thee, 

to converse with thee; to know thee in prayer as

the path in which my feet tread, 

the latch upon the door of my lips, 

the light that shines through my eyes, 

the music of my ears,

the marrow of my understanding, 

the strength of my will, 

the power of my affection, 

the sweetness of my memory.

May the matter of my prayer be always wise, humble, submissive,

     obedient, scriptural, Christ-like.

Give me unwavering faith that supplications are never in vain,

that if I seem not to obtain my petitions

I shall have larger, richer answers,

surpassing all that I ask or think.

Unsought, thou has given me the greatest gift,     

the person of thy Son,   

and in him thou wilt give me all I need.

From "The Prayer of Love," Valley of the Vision, p. 147

Still Saturday::before you pray...

Before you pray, bow quietly before God, just to remember and realise 

who He is, 

how near He is, 

how certainly He can and will help. 

Just be still before Him, 

and allow His Holy Spirit to waken and stir up in your soul 

the child-like disposition of absolute dependence and confident expectation. 

Wait upon God as a Living Being, 

as the Living God, 

who notices you, 

and is just longing to fill you with His salvation. 

Wait on God till you know you have met Him;

 prayer will then become so different. 

 And when you are praying, 

let there be intervals of silence, 

reverent stillness of soul, 

in which you yield yourself to God, 

in case He may have aught He wishes to teach you or to work in you. 

Waiting on Him will become the most blessed part of prayer, 

and the blessing thus obtained will be doubly precious 

as the fruit or such fellowship with the Holy One, 

God has so ordained it, 

in harmony with His holy nature, 

and with ours, 

that waiting on Him should be the honour we give Him. 

Let us bring Him the service gladly and truthfully; 

He will reward it abundantly. 

Andrew Murray,Waiting on God

Thanksliving::Day 11: to not be anxious...

30 Days of Thanksliving - Day 11

In a season of weeping for those who weep {Psalm 84.8 Memory Verse}...

I can't remember another season quite like this one. 

The deaths over the past week of five precious souls - from the unborn and six to eighty-seven - and those who loved them most here on earth consume my thoughts and prayers.

Every night, I fall asleep whispering their names in prayer. 

Thank you, LORD, for hearing us and for comforting those whose hearts are broken as they walk through the Valley of Weeping.

Selah

31 Days::Day 15 - Pray day ...

It's a pray day, my friend tells me on the phone this morning.

Two people we know and love have surgery today, another two have heart caths.

Someone we love is preparing for a risky procedure later this week. Still others are battling symptoms without answers.

And our dear, dear gratitude-counting friend Marilyn is not long for this world...all we can do is pray.

My just one thing for the day is to pray.

Day 13 - Romans 1 { ...For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made... vs 19-20}, pray day.

Sorrow overload...

...with an unusual abundance of contemplative moments - from backyard swinging to waiting room sitting - I've been reading and studying and listening and wondering.

And sometimes carrying the weight of the world on my shoulders.

Turn your eyes upon Jesus,
Look full in His wonderful face,
And the things of earth will grow strangely dim,
In the light of His glory and grace.
~ Helen Lemmel

The "things of earth" can be heartbreakingly heavy at times.

As David Murray recently wrote in I'm suffering from sorrow overload, not only do we care about hurting people around us that we know and love well, technology brings an awareness of pain and brokenness and grief beyond our reach - and often I'm burdened by long lists of suffering people.

Sorrow overload, indeed.

When the righteous cry for help, the Lord hears
and delivers them out of all their troubles.
~ Psalm 34:17

In My Utmost for His Highest, Oswald Chambers wrote...

It is actually more important to be broken bread and poured-out wine in the area of intercession than in our personal contact with others.

And so I do the only thing I can with such sorrow - confident that my prayers are heard - I place these long lists of suffering people before the Lord - knowing that He is good and just and faithful and strong and mighty to save.  

And I pray I'll keep my eyes on Jesus - His mercies, His glory, His grace - and opportunities to be broken bread and poured-out wine in a season of contemplative moments.

{an unedited post  and photos from the archives that could just as easily have been written today}

To not fear winter...

Just beyond all that lush green, there's fields of brittle-dry brown - almost as far as the eye can see.

I'm grateful for the winter grass seed Louis plants close to the house weeks before frost's first bite.

We're no longer grove owners, and there's nothing to fear about sub-tropical winters on Pollywog Creek, but that green winter grass makes me think of sowing and reaping and the passage in Proverbs that praises the woman who does not fear winter for she is prepared.

And I think of "sowing" as prayer and the "reaping" that could be the answer I want, but it isn't. The reaping is in the peace of knowing that I've "sowed" - that I've prepared for the future by leaving it with the only One who holds it.  

{Photos} Day 12/366 autumn leaves still fall on my backyard swing, and a long-tailed moth rests in the sun on the grandlittle's swing

Wrapped in love...

"This piece was handmade for Pat Hunter by the Prayer Shawl Ministry of Cumming First United Methodist Church. As it was created, we prayed for you. We asked the Lord to give you many blessings of courage, strength, and comfort. As you hold this in your hands, please remember the love that we have for you and the love that God has for you as He holds you in His hands."

...in humility count others more significant than yourselves.

How do you do that - count others more significant than yourself?  

I learn from my beautiful gratitude-counting friend Marilyn. 

She fights for her life against a disease she'd overcome years ago - and she labors in love for others. 

While drugs for the disease drips into her veins, she crochets a cerulean shawl, embellishes it with a charm of love, and mails it to me on the wings of prayer.

Stirring up love and good works...

"Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful. And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near." ~ Hebrews 10:23-25

"Consider - think about, ponder, deliberate, meditate, mull over - other people, with this conscious goal: what can I do today so that they will be stirred up to love and to good deeds? Now there is a reason to live and a focus for every day that will never be boring. Every day is new and different. People change. Their circumstances change. You change. But the call remains the same: consider, consider, consider these people you will be around today. ~ John Piper