PRAYER

O Lord, help me.
I have been saved to be a
vessel of your glory and not
my own. Yet, I feel my flesh
demand attention and crave
after glory! Help me turn my
gaze toward Jesus. Help me
turn away from my self focused
and self-centered living and
instead live for Christ alone.

Lord, I beg of you, I cry out
to you to help me truly believe
the gospel. I want to believe
 the gospel in such a way that it
helps me lose myself so that I
can become fully who I have
been created to be in Christ!
I want to believe the gospel
in such a way that it impacts
how I live each and every
moment of each and every
day as well as how I react
toward others.

I want my life to be distinctively
gospel driven. I want you to do
for me what you did for Peter
and for Paul. I plead with you to
help me see myself and my sin
and to see Jesus and His sacrifice
so that I have a clear understanding
of what you have done for me in
Christ. Even as a believer, I can
barely comprehend it.

Abba Father, have mercy
upon me. Help me live for Jesus
just as He did for me. Help me
be willing to die to myself so
that Christ would live in me.
In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen.


In His hands for His glory,

Laurie

Thistlebend Devotion 7/17/2018

 _____________________ 
  

Your Will Be Done

Lord, help me get past myself, 

my feelings, my concerns, and my 

unbelief, and grant me the faith to 

walk forward in grace to turn my 

eyes toward you. Lord, increase my 

faith that I would believe, that I 

would magnify, glorify, and hallow 

your name! I am weak, please 

be my strength; I have many 

responsibilities, please grant me 

your wisdom and your power to 

accomplish them for your glory;

I continue to give into temptation, 

Lord, and fail in my walk with you, 

please grant me true conviction of 

heart and full repentance; I

feel inadequate and ill-equipped,

please help me trust in you and walk 

forward in your Holy Spirit;

I am sick, my health is failing, help 

me find my rest and health in you;

I have this day, Lord, this 

day that you have made, let me 

rejoice in it and help me give it

all to you; I have these hands, these 

feet; let me use them to serve you;

I have many thoughts and 

feelings; help guard my mind

and watch over my heart that they 

would all be glorifying to you.

Hallowed be your name, 

your kingdom come, 

your will be done!

From Thistlebend Devotional 1/10/2018

Jesus Prayer Expanded

Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me.

“LORD, hear my prayer, listen to my cry for mercy; in your faithfulness and righteousness come to my relief.”
-Psalm 143:1 NIV

Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me.

The Deeps

LORD JESUS,

Give me a deeper repentance,
a horror of sin,
a dread of its approach;
Help me chastely to flee it,
and jealously to resolve that my heart
shall be thine alone.
Give me a deeper trust,
that I may lose myself to find myself in thee,
the ground of my rest,
the spring of my being.
Give me a deeper knowledge of thyself
as Saviour, Master, Lord, and King.
Give me deeper power in private prayer,
more sweetness in thy Word,
more steadfast grip on its truth.
Give me deeper holiness in speech, thought, action,
and let me not seek moral virtue apart from thee.
Plough deep in me, great Lord,
heavenly Husbandman,
that my being may be a tilled field,
the roots of grace spreading far and wide,
until thou alone art seen in me,
thy beauty golden like summer harvest,
thy fruitfulness as autumn plenty.
I have no Master but thee,
no law but thy will,
no delight but thyself,
no wealth but that thou givest,
no good but that thou blessest,
no peace but that thou bestowest.
I am nothing but that thou makest me,
I have nothing but that I receive from thee,
I can be nothing but that grace adorns me.
Quarry me deep, dear Lord,
and then fill me to overflowing
with living water.



From "The Valley of Vision" p 134-135, edited by Arthur Bennett

Prayer of St. Francis

Lord, make me an instrument of Your peace.
Where there is hatred, let me sow love;
where there is injury, pardon;
where there is doubt, faith;
where there is despair, hope;
where there is darkness, light;
where there is sadness, joy.

O, Divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled as to console;
to be understood as to understand;
to be loved as to love;
For it is in giving that we receive;
it is in pardoning that we are pardoned;
it is in dying that we are born to eternal life.
Amen.



Prayer attributed to St. Francis of Assisi

Soften Our Hearts

O Lord, have mercy on us.
Soften our hard hearts
and create a longing in us
for Christ and Christ alone!




by Laurie Aker, “A Time to Fast.” Thistlebend eMoment Friday, July 7, 2017 

Whole Heart Prayer

I am asking, Lord God,
that you would change my heart.
Cut through the apathy
and indifference.
Quench the doubt and unbelief.
Give me a love for you
that is whole-hearted.



From Thistlebend E-moment devotional on June 5, 2017.

Prayer of Confession

Most merciful God,
we confess that we have sinned against you
in thought, word, and deed,
by what we have done,
and by what we have left undone.
We have not loved you with our whole heart;
we have not loved our neighbors as ourselves.
We are truly sorry
and we humbly repent,
for the sake of your Son Jesus Christ,
have mercy on us
and forgive us;
that we may delight in your will,
and walk in your ways,
to the glory of your Name.
Amen.



From the Episcopal Book of Common Prayer

Prayer for Pardon

Almighty God, who does freely pardon all who repent and turn to Him, now fulfill in every contrite heart the promise of redeeming grace; forgiving all our sins, and cleansing us from an evil conscience; through the perfect sacrifice of Christ Jesus our Lord. Amen.

taken from The Book of Common Worship, 1946 

Prayer of Confession

O God, teach us of our need,
where we are in need of forgiveness,
where we are in need of grace,
where we are in need of your careful discipleship.

We confess we seldom hear Your words first,
We are moving so fast we run right past You.
Please help us to slow down this week to drink in
Your special counsel to each one of us.
We want to heed Your wisdom, and cut ties with
arrogance, and let go of our need to control.

We trust you; in Your hands we are safe.
We are trying to believe You will not hurt us as You shape us.

This week we want to surrender to Your guidance.
This week we want to lay down fears at Your feet.
This week we want to be surprised by Your Spirit's voice.
This week we want to see Your light for the path ahead.
This week we want to know the fellowship of your church.

Turn our pride into humility.
Turn our anger into peace,
Turn our defense into hospitality,
Turn our emotional exhaustion into rest,
Turn our anxiety into patience.

Help us remember we have nothing to prove
When we are Yours.

We ask in the name
of the Father,
of the Son,
and of the Holy Spirit.
Amen.


Prayer of Confession from Sunday worship gathering, New Life Christian Fellowship, March 12, 2017