7 Prayers That Work

Lord, Give me energy . I have a lot to do. Help me prioritize . I have a lot to do. Give me awareness of my surroundings. I have a lot to do, which means I may ignore or accidentally hurt people. Keep me from hurting people in my quest to do good. (You know I have a lot to do.) Soften my spirit. The things I have to do are not nearly as important as the people I'll pass along the way. Give me compassion while I'm busy . You know I want to get things done, but I want to help people, too. Okay, you can have my day. I'll only do what you tell me and help the people you bring to mind. Ho-hum. I was going to do a lot today. But now I guess I'll focus on the kingdom of heaven instead. You can't check that off a list, but it's good stuff, anyway. In Jesus' name, Amen. "Keep yourself in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life. And of some, have compassion, making a difference....

A day like Memorial Day stirs emotions for military families. (Read my personal blog about Memorial Day  here .) Perhaps it even affects regular families who sit with an empty chair at every dinner table. Grief is stirred both by remembering and by trying to forget. (Read about remembering grief here .) What should you do when you're overwhelmed with loss or sadness? You should lament. Just complain, vent, rage, mourn, grieve, cry, blubber. To God. Ask rhetorical questions. Make accusations. Just do it with a dependance and faith on God's love for you. Do it with the awareness that you are not and cannot see the whole picture of your life. Understand that grief and loss always blur reality. With or without immediate answers, when you lament, you must choose to trust in the unseen. That is faith, after all. For more about the lament, read my recent full Guideposts blog on lamentation here . A brief excerpt is below: Here are a few things you can include in ...

Dear Father, Thank you for the privilege of raising this child who is now an adult, graduating onto new and bigger things. I ask your blessing and protection over my graduate . I ask for your Spirit to hover over him and around him, to speak truth into his mind and courage into heart. Please give him divine appointments with professors, employers, roommates, friends, and a future spouse. Help him to meet the right people at the right time with a heart that's right and ready to obey your will. Give him a life of impact and purpose. Happiness and joy. Lord, help him to see the positive and fight the negative and to be an accurate reflection of your love and grace to everyone he meets. He will make mistakes. He will fail. He will grieve and have heartache. But I pray for him to cling to you-- to always lean on you and look to you for guidance, comfort, and direction. Remind him to be courageous and try again. To get back up. To confess, forgive, beli...

Well, Lord, I messed up this week. I got upset about an injustice that was done to one of my kids-- which of course, felt like an injustice to me-- and I went all Mama-Bear on some well-intentioned people who, however unintentional their behavior was, hurt my child. So I messed up right back at them. I was nice about it, but I hurt them with my well-crafted phrases. I feel terribly convicted, even though what I said and how I said it may not have been so terrible. I don't know anymore. I just know I didn't leave this at your feet. I didn't turn the other cheek. (It's my kid, after all!)-- but I guess you know about that better than I do! I took the bait. I was less than Jesus about the whole thing. I lacked grace and wisdom. Please forgive me for not representing you well. I've reached out to those I've offended-- I've affirmed them and explained myself-- but I guess I need to boldly ask their forgiveness , with more grovelin...