December 22, 2019

Give me
Give me
Give me

Oh, Lord God, stop me!
Forgive me.
Break me.
Mold me.
Silence me.
Put me on my knees before You.
Show me Your mercy again.
And give me the gift You want me to have.

Because You know what is best.
And You've already given the best: Yourself, Lord Jesus.
So help me find a silent night, set me down in the manger, help me see God-with-me.
I want to adore You.

I want my faith to grow.
I want whatever it takes to come closer to You.
And I pray this for my sisters too.
Through the loneliness, the separations, the deployments, the waiting for little ones, the toddlers and the teens, the jobs and no jobs, the illnesses and injuries, the failing parents, the launching young adults, the imperfect friends, the next move and the next...
through it all, Lord, more of You.

I pray for rest for the weary new mother.
I pray for healing for the chronically ill sister.
I pray for encouragement for the hard-working friend.
I pray for wisdom for the leader.
I pray for courage for the female service member.
I pray for patience for the mother of teens.
I pray for endurance for the spouse of the deployed.
I pray for peace for the one in the stumbling marriage.
I pray for love for all of us.
All these things come from You.
So, I pray for more of You.

Lord reign over us, leaving no room for the spirit of suicide, depression, anxiety, loneliness. Help us to fight these with the unleashing of Your Holy Spirit.

Thank You for this greatest gift. Thank You for this season to celebrate it. Thank You for giving us more every day. Amen.

"Because of the tender mercy of our God,
by which the rising sun will come to us from heaven
to shine on those living in darkness
and in the shadow of death,
to guide our feet into the path of peace." --Luke 1:78-79

December 29, 2019

Lord God who makes all things new!

We look forward to this new year because You are already there.

You are the One who created time. You started it and You will finish it and You will never be controlled by it because You are outside of it.

We don't need to fear anything coming because You are in control. 

We don't have to stress and strive because You alone can make it good.

We can stop worrying because we can rest in You.

When the deployments and PCSs come, they are not a surprise to You.

When loneliness creeps in and all people fall short, You never fail.

When the anxiety chokes and the tasks are too many, You give us breath and rest.

When the finances just don't work out, You are unafraid. You provide.

God we thank You for all You have done this last year.

May we remember Your faithfulness and power in the days ahead.

We thank You for growth, for grace, for life.

We thank You for loving us, living in us.

And so, we give this next year to You. 

You alone have the wisdom to handle our problems.

You alone have the strength to endure the hardships.

You alone have the love for all we will encounter.

You alone have the patience to wait and work with time.

We pray for more of Your Spirit in our lives for all these things.

So whether this year brings joy or sorrow, success or setbacks, we trust You.

Increase our faith Father.

We pray for our military family. May the spirit of suicide, division, and all things evil be thwarted. May revival sweep our land, and may it begin with us.

We ask these things because:

"From Him and through Him and for Him are all things.

To Him be the glory forever! Amen." --Romans 11:36

December 15, 2019

Oh Lord,

You are the God of love; we are the people of self.

You are the God of light; we hide in the dark.

You are the God of all power; we try to grab control.

You are the God of creation; we continue to destroy.

You are the God of forgiveness; we are the people of grudges.

Please Lord, forgive us again.

As we lie in our helpless filth and darkness, be born in us today.

Be born in us and dawn Your light into our little towns, our Bethlehems.

Make us the shepherds to our people, in fear and awe and praising Your name.

We pray for our little towns, Lord--our forts and bases and ports and outposts and camps.

Please forgive our complaining, our wrongful pride, our stubborn independence, our endless striving.

Please bring revival in this Christmas season.

Remind us of how You have saved us in all ways, over and over.

Humble us Lord. Teach us to be servants like Your Son.

Be born in us today.

Be born in our schools and our headquarters. May Your presence grow in our churches and neighborhoods. Be the grace between us and please heal our divisions God. Don't let us be comfortable without helping the hurting, holding the lonely, carrying each other's burdens.

Lord please protect all from the spirit of suicide, from the lonely private to the bitter veteran.

May the Holy Spirit prevail. May we learn true community with You and each other.

We, the people, need You Lord. How incredible it is that You have come to us. 

November 24, 2019

Good Morning Lord,

We wake to advent today, and remind ourselves again to look for You.

We remind our hearts to hope again

to anticipate the coming of joy

to see You in the world as a child does

to embrace the longing as part of the plan.

We have so much to look forward to.

Give us a glimpse of that wonder. Don't let us lose the awe.

And may we gift that wonder to our children.

Forgive us for distracting them

for trying to give things when they need You,

and You in us.

Help us to give the gift we covet most, our time, our attention, our love.

We pray for the military child who can't be with their service member this holiday.

May they understand deeply how You never fail.

We pray for the kids who are PCSing. May the families pull together and make special, even if different, memories. Please hold them close in the transition.

We pray for those in troubled homes. Lord, show us how to reach out to these families. May the little ones be protected. May Your light pierce their darkness, even as You did on that first Christmas.

We pray for our young adults. Please give them safety in traveling. Help the college kids finish their tasks. Please surround those who can't come home with Your presence. Establish their path in Your way Lord.

We pray for the child of the hurting veteran. May they have wisdom and grace beyond their years.

And Lord we lift up to You those in despair. May the spirit of suicide be thwarted at every turn. We pray in Jesus' name against it in all of our military communities.

We ask all these things knowing Your love for children Lord, Your love for us. We look for Your answers to our prayers.

November 17, 2019

For the beauty of the earth
For the beauty of the skies
For the love which from our birth
over and around us lies
Lord of all to thee we raise
this our hymn of grateful praise*

Oh, yes Lord!
For burgundy berries and golden squash and corn the color of the sun it came from,
For the smells of abundance in roasting turkey and bubbling pie,
For laughter and hugs and even shared tears,
For all the extravagant, outrageous bounty of beauty that is impractical, unnecessary, for no reason other than to drown us in love--
For all these things, we thank You.
Because Your love does this, we praise You.

And because of this overflowing love that covers every detail,
We can come to You with every confidence that You will help us with every heartache.

Lord, we pray for our deployed who cannot be with us now
For those surrounded by metal, camo, sand
may they find the beauty that You have sent
and may they be Your instruments in bringing beautiful peace.
May their hearts be surrounded with Your presence
and please keep their bodies safe.
May they see You at work and be overwhelmed with life-changing gratitude.

We pray for safety.
We pray for focus.
We pray for rest.
We ask You, Father, for success
and a quick return home.

And God please be with our service members and veterans at home. May their hearts swell with gratitude in this time and may the spirits of despair and depression and suicide be squelched. May we not miss any opportunity to reach out to them.

Because Your love around us lies, may our grateful hymn of praise grow loud and strong and overwhelm the ugly evil of this world Lord!
Amen.

*For The Beauty of the Earth hymn by Conrad Kocher