Good Evening Dear Family of Love!
I sit here giving thanks for many blessings that cannot be numbered. Today is my 57th birthday and I cannot believe that I am now this age. I want to give thanks for you this day and always and let you know how important you all are to me each and everyday. I love you and respect you and do not take you for granted. I wanted you to know that. Writing this blog gives me great hope for all of us wherever we are. So as I go forward with you for another year I wanted you to know that I truly do count you among my dearest family members. I may not know who you are but I feel your presence here as each pageview is read, meditated with, and prayed. So dear ones let us spend time pondering today's #AdventWord #Hope. Let's take a look at what the definition of #Hope is. Instead of me giving you the information please click on this link: Hope and take a look around and seek out the right definition of hope for you. Hope to me is a sacred up lift with a forward thinking edge. We need to become hopeful people these days so that we might be able to navigate the murky waters and cross over on to the dry land and get out of the wilderness mode. Hope has energy and it is not static. Tonight let us meditate on hope and expectancy so that we might begin to follow the star to Bethlehem.
Let us light our candles be at prayer for love, peace, hope , and joy for our fragile and broken world.
A Smudging Prayer
Creator, our Father in heaven, we come to you as your children. We confess that we are weak and broken images of you. We pray for the forgiveness and healing you give in Jesus Christ. May his Spirit clean our spirits, minds, hearts, and bodies. We pray that your Holy Spirit will help us to worship in spirit and truth. We pray in the name of Jesus, so that his Spirit will carry our prayers to you. Amen.
Let us join our virtual hands and be united in love, hope, peace, and joy as we pray these prayers.
Let my prayer be set forth in your sight as incense, the lifting
up of my hands as the evening sacrifice. Psalm 141:2
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and from the
Lord Jesus Christ. Philippians 1:2
Worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness; let the whole earth
tremble before him. Psalm 96:9
Yours is the day, O God, yours also the night; you established
the moon and the sun. You fixed all the boundaries of the
earth; you made both summer and winter. Psalm 74:15, 16
I will bless the Lord who gives me counsel; my heart teaches
me, night after night. I have set the Lord always before me;
because he is at my right hand, I shall not fall. Psalm 16:7, 8
Seek him who made the Pleiades and Orion, and turns deep
darkness into the morning, and darkens the day into night;
who calls for the waters of the sea and pours them out upon
the surface of the earth: The Lord is his name. Amos 5:8
If I say, “Surely the darkness will cover me, and the light
around me turn to night,” darkness is not dark to you, O
Lord; the night is as bright as the day; darkness and light to
you are both alike. Psalm 139:10, 11
Jesus said, “I am the light of the world; whoever follows me
will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”
John 8:12
O Gracious Light Phos hilaron
O gracious Light,
pure brightness of the everliving Father in heaven,
O Jesus Christ, holy and blessed!
Now as we come to the setting of the sun,
and our eyes behold the vesper light,
we sing your praises, O God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
You are worthy at all times to be praised by happy voices,
O Son of God, O Giver of life,
and to be glorified through all the worlds.
The Song of Mary Magnificat
Luke 1:46-55
My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord,
my spirit rejoices in God my Savior; *
for he has looked with favor on his lowly servant
From this day all generations will call me blessed: *
the Almighty has done great things for me,
and holy is his Name.
He has mercy on those who fear him *
in every generation.
He has shown the strength of his arm, *
he has scattered the proud in their conceit.
He has cast down the mighty from their thrones, *
and has lifted up the lowly.
He has filled the hungry with good things, *
and the rich he has sent away empty.
He has come to the help of his servant Israel, *
for he has remembered his promise of mercy,
The promise he made to our fathers, *
to Abraham and his children for ever.
Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit: *
as It was in the beginning, is now, and will be for ever. Amen.
The Song of Simeon Nunc dimittis
Luke 2:29-32
Lord, you now have set your servant free *
to go in peace as you have promised;
For these eyes of mine have seen the Savior, *
whom you have prepared for all the world to see:
A Light to enlighten the nations, *
and the glory of your people Israel.
Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit: *
as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be for ever. Amen.
A Collect for the Presence of Christ
Lord Jesus, stay with us, for evening is at hand and the day
is past; be our companion in the way, kindle our hearts, and
awaken hope, that we may know you as you are revealed in
Scripture and the breaking of bread. Grant this for the sake
of your love. Amen
Book of Common Prayer 1979
A Prayer attributed to St. Francis
Lord, make us instruments of your peace. Where there is
hatred, let us sow love; where there is injury, pardon; where
there is discord, union; where there is doubt, faith; where
there is despair, hope; where there is darkness, light; where
there is sadness, joy. Grant that we 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; and it is in dying that we
are born to eternal life. Amen.
God is our hope and strength,
a very present help in trouble.
Therefore will we not fear, though the earth be moved,
and though the hills be carried into the midst of the sea;
Though the waters thereof rage and swell,
and though the mountains shake at the tempest of the same.
There is a river, the streams whereof make glad the city of God,
the holy place of the tabernacle of the Most High.
-- Book of Common Prayer 1979
Prayer of Comfort
Grant unto us, Almighty God, in all time of sore distress,
the comfort of the forgiveness of our sins.
In time of darkness give us blessed hope,
in time of sickness of body give us quiet courage;
and when the heart is bowed down, and the soul is very heavy,
and life is a burden, and pleasure a weariness,
and the sun is too bright, and life too mirthful,
then may that Spirit, the Spirit of the Comforter, come upon us,
and after our darkness may there be the clear shining of the heavenly light;
that so, being uplifted again by Thy mercy,
we may pass on through this our mortal life
with quiet courage, patient hope, and unshaken trust,
hoping through Thy loving-kindness and tender mercy
to be delivered from death into the large life of the eternal years.
Hear us of Thy mercy, through Jesus Christ our Lord - Amen.
--George Dawson
God of Joy may we lift up our voices in holy song and dance for joy for this is the season of joyful expectation.
God of Hope may our hearts give hope to the hopeless and let us be mindful of the least of these.
God of Peace we pray for ____________that there won't be one more act of violence and terror committed by extremists and those who suffer from mental illness.
God of Love may we lovingly respond to each other's needs and that we may love all of our family members who feel unlovable.
God of Hope may be be hope and light bearers to your fragile and broken world.
God of Peace we pray for peace in your world among all people who are your beloved children.
God of Love we pray for all who are mourning the loss of loved ones especially in Aceh Indonesia, Oakland, Gatlinburg,and all who mourn losses of any kind.
God of Joy we pray for all who are dying or have died today that they may find with you in the Thin Places a source of eternal joy and where the perpetual light will always shine upon them.
God of Peace we pray for peace in our own lives, hearts, and accept your healing of our bodies, minds, and spirits. We pray for all who are ill that they may receive your gift of healing.
God of Love, Help us to love ourselves more fully so that we may love others to the brim and overflowing.
God of Joy we pray for ourselves and the many requests made on behalf of our family members remembering especially________ May they feel your loving and joyful presence and in the stillness
come hear your voice.
God of Hope may we awaken refreshed, relaxed, rested, and renewed to serve you tomorrow and in the days to come.
We pray these our prayers in the Name of Jesus your Son. Amen.
++++++++++
Good Night Dear Family of Love! Have a blessed and lovely night. I love you and give thanks to God for you this Night and always.
With love, peace, and hope for a world united in love, justice, and mercy,
Sara
No comments:
Post a Comment