Tag Archives: faithfulness

Soft and Steadfast, a prayer based on Hebrews 3 and James 1

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Based on Hebrews 3:7-14, The Voice Translation and James 1:19-25, NRSV

Merciful One, soften my heart

Save me from hardheartedness
From evil and deceit
From mutiny and unbelief

Turn and return me
From wandering away
From petrifying slowly

Make my heart pure
Open to you
Wanting what you want

Make my heart true
Confident in you and your Word
Hearing and Doing

Make my heart noble
Quick to listen, slow to speak, slow to anger
Rejoicing in your direction

Jesus
Heart of my heart
Keep me soft and steadfast in your nail scarred hands

Extended quote by John R. Wimmer, Blessed Endurance
The words joy rejoice as they appear in James and First Peter do not mean what they seem at first glance. The rejoicing we find here is not a shallow, syrupy, or optimistic refusal to admit that problems exist; instead, it is the realistic recognition of struggle bolstered by the decision to rejoice in knowing that God is working to bring us through strife to greater spiritual depth. Yes, it may be tough if not impossible to rejoice when suffering, but such joy will not take the form of emotional jubilance or elation.

James proclaims that suffering may be considered as joy when the encounter produces the spiritual virtue of steadfastness. And steadfastness, when allowed to flower into fullness, produces the most attractive bloom of all qualities: Christian maturity.

Authentic Christian maturity, then, is a steadfastness that we attain not by denial. It is a quality that, like any other kind of maturity, accrues with age, hard work, and a lot of bruising experience. It is the ability to redirect our thoughts beyond immediate woes in order to realize the spiritual growth that results from tests of faith.

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Prayer: Soft and Steadfast © 2017, updated 2021 Lisa Ann Moss Degrenia
You are welcome to use this work in a worship setting with proper attribution.
Please leave a message for information and permission to publish this work in any form.

Prayers based on Mark 13.24-37

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week 12Prayers Based on Mark 13:24-37
The Necessity of Watchfulness

Prayer: Morning by Morning
Morning by morning you waken me
You open my eyes to your presence and desire for this day
You know my weakness, my weariness
You open me to your sustaining

Morning by morning you waken me
Now open my mouth to share what first found me
In every season and circumstance
With every soul along the way

Morning by morning you waken me
My eyes, my ears
My mouth, my heart

Morning by morning you waken me
To You and to all
Find me faithful on your return

Prayer: Break Through
Break through Jesus
Break through the clouds with great power and glory
Break through the earth like tender fig leaves in summer

Break through our overcast eyes
our gravelly heart

Awaken us from apathy and busyness and self-deception
We’re asleep at the wheel of life
On automatic pilot faith

Nothing can keep you in the grave
Nothing can keep you from coming again
Awaken us
Raise us up
Make us alive with expectation and action
For our good and your glory. Amen

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For the next few months, I’ll be posting prayers to accompany Bishop Ken Carter’s Bible Study on Facebook. Each week, Bishop Carter will bring in a guest to speak about the passage. We’ll be walking through the last chapters of the Gospel of Matthew. 

You’re most welcome to read along and to join this Facebook discussion group. You don’t need to be a Methodist or attend a Methodist church. All are welcome and all means all.

May the grace of God’s word, the challenge, and the call, inspire us to great faith and great good works in Jesus’ name. – Lisa <

Morning by Morning © 2020 Lisa Ann Moss Degrenia
Break Through © 2020 Lisa Ann Moss Degrenia
You are welcome to use this work in a worship setting with proper attribution.
Please leave a comment for information and permission to publish this work in any form.

Prayers based on Matthew 25.14-30

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week 10Prayers Based on Matthew 25:14-30
The Parable of the Talents

Prayer: In My Hands
Generous One
You place the needed solution in my hands
An extravagant opportunity

Fear whispers in my ear
Bury it
Abandon it
Get rid of it as fast as you can

The warning comes strong
Persistent
Working hard to twist my perspective and your truth
The gift is a trap laid by your harsh master

Fear loves waste and chaos
Your love casts out fear

Deliver me, Jesus
Cast out my fear
Give me eyes to see blessing, not burden
Free me to seize what you offer
To delight in the adventure
To risk and reap

I long to be named “good and trustworthy”
I long for your “well done,” my Jesus

Prayer: Bring You Joy
Creative, Powerful God
Generous Author of Life
You make
You bless
You give

You entrust us to care and tend your gifts
You call us to be fruitful and multiply
You empower us with abilities and opportunities

Your goodness is in our hands
We will use it and risk it
We will be trustworthy
May our efforts bring you joy
Amen

Be sure to also check out Spent, a powerful prayer of commitment by Steve Garnaas Holmes.

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For the next few months, I’ll be posting prayers to accompany Bishop Ken Carter’s Bible Study on Facebook. Each week, Bishop Carter will bring in a guest to speak about the passage. We’ll be walking through the last chapters of the Gospel of Matthew. 

You’re most welcome to read along and to join this Facebook discussion group. You don’t need to be a Methodist or attend a Methodist church. All are welcome and all means all.

May the grace of God’s word, the challenge, and the call, inspire us to great faith and great good works in Jesus’ name. – Lisa <

In My Hands © 2020 Lisa Ann Moss Degrenia
Bring You Joy © 2020 Lisa Ann Moss Degrenia
You are welcome to use this work in a worship setting with proper attribution.
Please leave a comment for information and permission to publish this work in any form.

Prayers based on Matthew 21.23-32

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week 3Prayers Based on Matthew 21:23-32
The Authority of Jesus is Questioned

Prayer: All Authority
Merciful and Mighty Christ
You proclaim and answer with authority
You reveal the way of righteousness

All authority in heaven and earth is yours
Receive the sacrifice of our trust and time

You deliver and heal with authority
You call for our turning and transforming

All authority in heaven and earth is yours
Receive the sacrifice of our trust and time

You breathe and share your authority
You send us to work and witness in your world

All authority in heaven and earth is yours
Receive the sacrifice of our trust and time
For the honor and glory of your name
For the building of your kingdom
For the saving of all creation. Amen

Prayer: Steadfast Surrender
Faithful One, make me faithful.
Steadfast One, make me steadfast.
Unchanging One, change me.
I surrender to your Word and ways, your call and claim.
Fulfill your good purposes in me and through me, now and forever. Amen.
______________

For the next few months, I’ll be posting prayers to accompany Bishop Ken Carter’s Bible Study on Facebook. Each week, Bishop Carter will bring in a guest to speak about the passage. We’ll be walking through the last chapters of the Gospel of Matthew. 

You’re most welcome to read along and to join this Facebook discussion group. You don’t need to be a Methodist or attend a Methodist church. All are welcome and all means all.

May the grace of God’s word, the challenge, and the call, inspire us to great faith and great good works in Jesus’ name. – Lisa <

All Authority © 2020 Lisa Ann Moss Degrenia
Steadfast Surrender © 2010 Lisa Ann Moss Degrenia
You are welcome to use this work in a worship setting with proper attribution.
Please leave a comment for information and permission to publish this work in any form.

Midweek Devotion- Psalm 33

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Scripture: Psalm 33

Breath Prayers: Psalm 33:20-22
IN: Our soul waits for the Lord
OUT: He is our help and shield

IN: Our heart is glad in him
OUT: Because we trust in his holy name

IN: Let your steadfast love, O Lord, be upon us
OUT: Even as we hope in you

You’re encouraged to use the following process as you read scripture.
We use this process together on Wednesdays at 8:00AM EST. https://www.facebook.com/TrinityUMCSarasota

STILLNESS: Spend 5-20 minutes in silence looking to God and listening for God.

ATTENTION: Read or listen to the Scripture. What word, phrase, or verse captures your attention? Underline it or copy it onto a piece of paper.

CONNECTION: What connections do you see to other scriptures? To your own experience or current situation? Or, to the character or promises of God?

ACTION: What is God inviting you to trust, say, or do? How will your life be different because of this scripture?

PRAY: Talk to God about what you just experienced or anything else on your heart.

Contact Information:
941-924-7756
trinity@iTrinity.org

Recorded 7/8/2020

He Leadeth Me, O Blessed Thought
Text: Joseph H. Gilmore
Music: William B. Bradbury
Public Domain

Bind Us Together
CCLI Song # 1228; CCLI License # 686715
Bob Gillman © 1977, Thankyou Music (Admin. by Capitol CMG Publishing)

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Midweek Devotion- Psalm 33 © 2020 Lisa Ann Moss Degrenia