appointed prayer

week of October 5

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Almighty and everlasting God, you are always more ready to hear than we to pray, and to give more than we either desire or deserve: Pour upon your church the abundance of your mercy, forgiving us those things of which our conscience is afraid, and giving us those good things for which we are not worthy to ask, except through the merits and mediation of Jesus Christ our Savior; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Wednesday, June 11, 2008

Anna, Isaac, and Haley the Christmas dogSolomon tells us that “a happy heart is good medicine and a cheerful mind works healing” (Proverbs 17:22, AMP ). God undoubtedly has a sense of humor; we need only look at some of the animals He created (it’s hard not to smile at the sight of a hippo, a monkey, or a puppy). Or think of some of the married couples you know: don’t you think God was smiling at the wedding as He looked ahead to the interaction of the wildly different personalities that will be living together?

And as if often the case, medical science is proving the wisdom of Solomon’s Spirit-inspired words.

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Posts Tagged ‘Lot’

risk everything

Saturday, June 17, 2006 · meditations · no responses · comments closed

In today’s reading from By Faith Alone, Martin Luther writes about the mistaken idea that we must somehow be worthy to pray, taking the parable of the tax collector and the Pharisee as his text. Luther says that if we trust in our own worthiness, we’ll never be able to pray. Instead, “We become worthy to pray when we risk everything on God’s faithfulness alone.” I love Luther’s choice of words: risk everything. It occurs to me that this is why legalism becomes such an attractive approach to Christianity….

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