a prayer

This didn't make it into the book. It's Patrick's prayer, with my own response to it. Do try this at home: write someone else's prayer, or a scripture verse, and insert your own responses. Use it as a structure, a signpost, a place to begin.

Christ, as a light illumine and guide us
Fill us with Your joy today, Lord, and direct our choices.
Christ, as a shield overshadow us
I ask You to protect us from discouragement and danger.
Christ under us
Lord we need Your strength and support.
Christ over us
Help us to trust You and praise You, our faithful Friend!
Christ beside us on our left and our right
Remind us of Your presence Lord, all day long.
This day be within and without us
Shape our inner attitudes and control our outward actions.
Lowly and meek, yet all-powerful
We pause to marvel at Your life, death and resurrection.
Be in the heart of each to whom we speak
Lord, plant Your truth in the hearts of everyone we meet today.
In the mouth of each who speaks unto us
Keep us tuned to Your voice, through whomever You choose to speak.

Praying for Strength

Hello, Lewis and Clark ladies (and other readers), this week you're reading the Strength chapter.

Here is a simple prayer based on Psalm 38. I wrote this in a busy season several years ago, and I'm re-using it this month. I love discovering prayers from a few years ago and remembering how God answered! Those memories help me to trust Him now.

Lord, my every desire is known to You;
my sighing is not hidden from You.

I put my hope in You, Lord;
You will answer, Lord my God.

(Psalm 38:9, 15)

Lord, You know all the activities and responsibilities I am juggling this month.
You are my Hope
my Strength
and You will enable me to accomplish Your will.

Praying for Protection

If you're reading chapter three this week, you're praying for protection. I looked back at my prayer journal in search of a prayer on this topic. I found this.

Rejoice in the Lord, you righteous ones;
praise from the upright is beautiful.

...The earth is full of the Lord's unfailing love.

We wait for the Lord;
He is our help and shield.
For our hearts rejoice in Him,
because we trust in His holy name.
May Your faithful love rest on us, Lord,
for we put our hope in You.

Proclaim with me the Lord's greatness;
let us exalt His name together.

Those who look to Him are radiant with joy...

(Psa. 33:1, 5, 20-22, 34:3, 5)

Oh Lord,
Thank You for walking with me through this long day.
You are my help, my shield, my hope, my joy.

Praying in Color on St. Patrick's Day

I didn't draw this today--my prayer journal today had many of these phrases but it's too sloppy to share. This is a prayer drawing (stenciling, to be precise) I made a few weeks ago as I prayed through the requests in St. Patrick's prayer.

My complete post on Praying in Color is here.

Come by the Hills - Celtic Thunder - Damian Mc Ginty

This is a beautiful song with fabulous scenes of Ireland. Enjoy.

St. Patrick's Prayer

praying for light

This week the ladies at Lewis and Clark Bible church are studying chapter two and praying for light.

Because of our God's merciful compassion,
the Dawn from on high will visit us
to shine on those who live in darkness and the shadow of death,
to guide our feet into the way of peace.
(Luke 1:78-79, emphasis added)

It is a peaceful day when I see the Lord as my Dawn, my Sunrise. Any light that brightens my day comes from Him.

O blessed Lord, beyond the moment's sorrow
I see above, beneath, before, behind--
Eternal Love. Give me today, tomorrow,
A quiet mind.
--Amy Carmichael, Mountain Breezes, p. 139)

When I pray this poem, I like to substitute whatever I'm feeling for the word sorrow: anxiousness, exhaustion, blahness, joy.... Beyond my changing emotions, I want to see Him, Eternal Love and Light.

The Savior is a great source of comfort to us...Many live in the darkness of divorce or in the shadow of death. Some watch a loved one slowly disintegrate before their eyes. Others, in seemingly “perfect” circumstances, live in the deepest darkness of all -- depression that nothing seems to penetrate! Listen to the Good News! There’s light at the end of the tunnel -- look up and see Jesus standing there! Hear what He says: “I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life.” (John 8:12) --from a blogpost by Jill Briscoe.

Recipe!

When we visited Ireland, we brought home this yummy recipe for Irish brown bread. I am not a baker, but I can manage this.

St. Patrick's Breastplate: A Modern Version

Look for St. Patrick's Breastplace at itunes.com; you'll find this version from an album by Stefan Van Voorst. The words are modernised without losing the beauty of the prayer. The tune is catchy and upbeat yet still prayerful. My children love this song. My five year old calls it "Christ, Christ, today." I love to listen to this in the car on the way to Bible study.

Christ with me
Before me
Behind me
Within me
Above me
Beneath me
Around me
Throughout me
On my right and left
In length, and height, and breadth
With You I will not fear
Whether far or whether near

I arise today
Through a mighty strength
Following the One who showed the way
I’m alive today
Through Christ my strength
I’m following the One who showed the way
Uphold me and guide me
Look before me
Speak for me
Protect me and guard me
Watch o’er me
Come save me

In the heart of the ones who think of me
In the mouth of the ones who speak of me
Every eye that sees
Every ear that hears
Christ be...

Distractions and Interruptions

This is a special message for the ladies at Lewis and Clark Church who are studying Sacred Signposts...but you're all welcome to read it.

Do you often get interrupted or distracted when you're trying to pray? Let me share a story with you.

It's a true story, and it happened during the Second World War. There was a professor called Jack who lived in a country village in England. He loved solitude and quietness because he was not just a professor but a writer—an author of Christian books. He needed quiet times to study and write. But during that time, many parents in London sent their children away from the danger of the bombs that were falling on the city so regularly, and people in country villages let these children stay with them. Jack felt that serving others was the way to put Christianity into practice, so he agreed to let several children stay with him. They interrupted his work. His home was no longer quiet. He was distracted.

But one rainy day one of those children began playing in an old wardrobe and wondering what might be behind it. And suddenly, this interruption gave the professor an idea: the beginning of a story.

You've probably read that story: it's The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. The professor, though he liked to be called "Jack", was C. S. Lewis. Eventually the story became a whole series of books that have blessed so many people, adults and children alike, for decades.

That interruption became a blessing. And beyond that one scene, having children in the house and getting acquainted with them helped Lewis to write in a way that was so fascinating to children.

This story reminds me to thank God for the interruptions and to realize that He's in control.

Whatever you do, do it enthusiastically, as something done for the Lord and not for men. (Colossians 3:23)
I like this verse. It tells me that whether I'm reading my Bible or getting my daughter a bandaid, I'm still serving God.

I am sure of this, that He who started a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus. (Philippians 1:6)
This verse reminds me that the work God is doing in me today–whatever He is calling me to do or change—He is the one who is doing the work. It is in His strength that I follow Him. Even when I'm interrupted or distracted, He has begun a good work in me and He won't give up.

So if you're distracted today, trust God to make those interruptions into a blessing.