(Prayer for June 30, 2013)

Year of Grace 1654

 From about half past ten at night to about half an hour after midnight,

 FIRE

 “God of Abraham, God of Isaac, God of Jacob” (Exodus 3:6), not of philosophers and scholars.

 Certitude, heartfelt joy, peace.

 God of Jesus Christ.

 God of Jesus Christ.

 “My God and Your God” (John 20:17).

 “Your God shall be my God” (Ruth 1:16).

 The world forgotten, everything except God.

 He can only be found by the ways that have been taught in the Gospels.

 Greatness of the human soul.

 “O righteous Father, the world has not known You, but I have known You” (John 17:25).

 Joy, Joy, Joy, tears of joy.

 I have separated myself from him.

 “They have forsaken me, the spring of living water” (Jeremiah 2:13)

 “My God, will you leave me?” (cf. Matthew 2746).

 Let me not be cut off from him forever!

 “Now this is eternal life: that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent” (John 17:3).

 Jesus Christ.

 Jesus Christ.

 I am separated from him; for I have shunned him, denied him, crucified him.

 May I never be separated from him.

 He can only be kept by the ways taught in the gospel.

 Complete and sweet renunciation.

 Total submission to Jesus Christ and to my director.

 Everlasting joy in return for one day’s striving upon earth.

 “I will not neglect your word” (Psalm 119:16) Amen.

 by Blaise Pascal – Discovered on a piece of parchment on which Pascal recorded the decisive experience of 1654 when he was converted. This testimony was found sewn into his clothing after his death. It appears that he carried it with him at all times. (Os Guinness)

Faithful and gracious Lord, Thou has granted us the joy of beholding our son confess his faith in Thee, the only true God, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. We beseech Thee to keep him faithful to Thee all the days of his life.

O Lord, we, too, dedicate our lives again to Thee and ask Thee to give us strength and grace to live closer to Thee, who has so graciously been with us throughout these many years. We confess that we have not always served Thee as we ought; forgive us and grant that we may walk daily in Thy presence as an example of Christian devotion and consecrated living to our son. Preserve and keep us in Thy grace, and make our home Thy dwelling place, where Thy Word governs our every thought, word, and deed.

 O Lord, let this be a day of rejoicing to all who confess Thee. We ask this is Jesus’ name. Amen.

 Taken from The Lutheran Book of Prayer, 1951

Almighty God, who hast given unto thy Son Jesus Christ a kingdom, that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve him: Make us loyal followers of our living Lord, that we may always hear his word, obey his commands, and live in his Spirit; and hasten the day when every knee shall bow and every tongue confess that he is Lord; to thine eternal glory. Amen.

from The Methodist Book of Worship for Church and Home, 1965

O God, who at this time didst teach the hearts of thy faithful people, by
sending them the light of thy Holy Spirit: Grant us by the same Spirit to
have a right judgment in all things, and evermore to rejoice in his holy
comfort; through the merits of Christ Jesus our Savior, who liveth and reigneth
with thee, in the unity of the same Spirit, one God, world without end.
Amen.

 from The Methodist Book of Worship for Church and Home, 1965

Author and Ruler of all things, I confess that I am often impatient with the processes of life that force me to cease striving and know that You are God and I am not. My resources, wisdom and power are so bounded that I control very few of the things that happen in my life. I get frustrated and impatient with the challenges and unexpected troubles that crop up so often. But when I think more deeply, I realize that these setbacks and circumstances can accomplish more in my character formation than in having things go my way. It is through such things that patience and forbearance and steadfastness and fortitude are forged by Your wise and loving hands in my life. May I learn to wait on You, to hope in You, to trust in You, to delight myself in You and to unreservedly commit my ways to You.

by Ken Boa

From Prayers for the Christian Year by William Barclay

 O God, our Father, we know that the issues of life and death are in your hands, and we know that you are loving us with an everlasting love. If it is your will, grant to us to live in happiness and in peace.

      In all our undertakings,    
Grant us prosperity and good success.
     In all our friendships,         
Grant us to find our friends faithful and true.
     In all bodily things,
          Make us fit and healthy,
               Able for the work of the day.
     In all things of the mind,
          Make us calm and serene,
               Free from anxiety and worry.
     In material things,
          Save us from poverty and from want.
     In spiritual things,
          Save us from doubt and from distrust.
     Grant us
          In our work, satisfaction;
          In our study, true wisdom;
          In our pleasure, gladness;
          In our love, loyalty.

 And if misfortune does come to us, grant that any trial may only bring us closer to one another and closer to you; and grant that nothing may shake our certainty that you work all things together for good, and that a Father’s hand will never cause his child a needless tear. Hear this our prayer; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Almighty God, from whom all thoughts of truth and peace proceed: Kindle, we
pray thee, in the hearts of all men the true love of peace, and guide with thy
pure and peaceable wisdom those who take counsel for the nations of the earth,
that in tranquility thy kingdom may grow, till the earth is filled with the
knowledge of thy love; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

 from The Methodist Book of Worship for Church and Home, 1965

It shames us to admit, most holy God, to what extent we fall for popular perversions of your holy Gospel simply because we find them pleasing, attractive, comforting, and affirmative of our prejudices, our lifestyles, our goals, and our desires. Forgive us our self-serving gullibility, we pray, and give us the courage to hear and hold firmly your divine and eternal truths, even when they call us and the way we live into question and judgment. In the name of Jesus Christ we pray. Amen.

Paul A. Laughlin

Almighty and merciful God, to whom the light and the darkness are both alike, and without whom nothing befalls thy children: Strengthen us to meet all the experiences of life with a steadfast and undaunted heart; help us to go on our way bravely whether it be rough or smooth and, when the mists hide thy face, to continue patiently till they are dispersed by the sun of thy unchanging love; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

The Methodist Book of Worship for Church and Family, 1965