Sunday, October 24, 2010
prayer
It was a blessing to worship this morning at Cross of Glory Lutheran Church in Mounds View, Minnesota. The guest preacher was Rev. Wendell Frerichs, Professor Emeritus of Old Testament at Luther Seminary in St. Paul. His theme, following the Gospel text from Luke 18:9-14, was prayer. Central to his message was the following prayer by Charles Whiston, which Pastor Frerichs uses in his daily devotions. We would do well to follow his example:
Christ's claim:
I am your Lord Jesus Christ.
I was the agent of my Father in creating you.
I died on the cross and rose from the dead for you.
Therefore, you do not belong to yourself.
You belong to me.
Will you give yourself to me for today?
My response:
O Lord Christ, in obedience to your claim on me,
I surrender myself to you anew today,
all that I am, all that I have,
to be wholly and unconditionally yours for your using of me.
Take me away from myself and my preoccupation with myself.
Use me up as you will,
when you will, where you will,
with whom you will.
Amen.
Labels: Charles Whiston, Cross of Glory, prayer, Wendell Frerichs
Monday, October 18, 2010
prayer
If you want to set out in search of God without knowing how to go about it, learn to pray: force yourself simply to pray every day. You can pray anywhere, anytime. There's no need at all to be in a chapel or church. You can pray while working: work doesn't put a stop to prayer, nor prayer to work. If you feel in need of help, you can ask advice of a priest or pastor.
Try to talk directly to God. Speak to him; tell him everything, spontaneously, directly, just as it comes. He is the Father of us all. Whatever our religion might be, we have all been created by him and are his children. We can trust him, love him, believe in him, work for him. When we pray, our problems are resolved to the degree that it is good for us.
Without prayer I could not fulfill the work it is mine to do, not even for half an hour. I draw my strength from God by prayer.
-- Blessed Teresa of Calcutta (1910-1997)
Try to talk directly to God. Speak to him; tell him everything, spontaneously, directly, just as it comes. He is the Father of us all. Whatever our religion might be, we have all been created by him and are his children. We can trust him, love him, believe in him, work for him. When we pray, our problems are resolved to the degree that it is good for us.
Without prayer I could not fulfill the work it is mine to do, not even for half an hour. I draw my strength from God by prayer.
-- Blessed Teresa of Calcutta (1910-1997)
Labels: prayer
Monday, February 19, 2007
prayer
Almighty God, we ask you to grant us
that our minds may be turned to what is pleasing to you
and that our words and actions may follow.
Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
God for ever and ever.
Amen.
that our minds may be turned to what is pleasing to you
and that our words and actions may follow.
Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
God for ever and ever.
Amen.
Labels: prayer
Friday, February 09, 2007
prayer
Friday, February 02, 2007
prayer
If a man wants God to hear his prayer quickly, then before he prays for anything else, even his own soul, when he stands and stretches out his hands towards God, he must pray with all his heart for his enemies. Through this action, God will hear everything that he asks.
-- Abba Zeno
-- Abba Zeno
Thursday, January 04, 2007
prayer
We often have a kind of notion, as part of this highfalutin, noble picture of ourselves as pray-ers, that when we pray we need to be completely attentive and we need to be fully engaged and we need to be concentrating and we need to be focused. But the fact is, if prayer is our end of a relationship with God, that's not the way we are with the people we love a large portion of the time. We simply are in their presence. We're going about our lives at the same time in each other's presence, aware and sustained by each other, but not much more than that… However we are, however we think we ought to be in prayer, the fact is we just need to show up and do the best we can do. It's like being in a family.
—Roberta Bondi
—Roberta Bondi
Labels: prayer
