A prayer of Jude

 

Lord, 

may mercy,

peace,

and love

be

lavished

upon us:

we who have been called,

we who are loved by God the Father,

we who are kept safe in Jesus Christ.

 

Mary Harwell Sayler
paraphrase of Jude 1:1-2
in the Book of Bible Prayers

Getting grounded in the love of God

I’m asking God to gift us
the riches of His glory,
so we will be given
Inner strength and power
through His Spirit,
and Christ will live in us
through faith.

And I pray our roots will spread
deeply
into His love,
so we - and all of God’s children -
can begin to glimpse

how wide,

how long,

how high,

how deep

is His love for us.

Then we will know
Christ’s love reaches far
beyond our understanding
and fills us wholly
with our Holy God.

Mary Harwell Sayler, ©2018, prayer-a-phrased Ephesians 3:16-19 as found in many translations on Bible Gateway.

Praying for God to empower the church

Kneeling before the Father –
from Whom every family
in heaven and earth
has its true Family Name –
let's pray for God’s great glory
to give us the power to be
strengthened in our spirit
through the Holy Spirit.

Let's pray for Christ to quicken
our hearts with faith,
so our lives will be built
on unshakable love.

And pray for all of God’s people
to be fortified by Christ’s love,
so we can see how wide,
how long, how high, how deep
His Fortress of Love really is.

For Christ’s love is greater
than anything we can know!

And His love fills us with God.

Now to Him Who Is Able
to do far more than we
can ask or imagine,
let's let His power be at work in us,
the Body of Christ, and may we,
as one church, bring glory to God
for ever and ever.

Ephesians 3:14-21 prayer-a-phrased by Mary Harwell Sayler, ©2017, using scripture from various translations on Bible Gateway.

…

Thank God for being with us!

Psalm 138: 1-3, 7-8

With all my heart, I give You thanks, O LORD.
Before the heavenly beings, I sing Your praise.

I bow down to You toward Your holy temple
and give thanks to You
for the love and truth in Your name –

Your name,
Your word
above all!

On the day I call,
You answer me
and increase the strength
in my soul.

Even if I find myself in the middle of trouble,
You protect me from the anger of others.

Your stretch out Your hand to me,
and the rightness of Your hand delivers me.

The Lord will fulfill
His purposes for me,
for Your steadfast love endures forever, O LORD,
and You will not let go
the work placed in Your hands.

© 2015, Mary Harwell Sayler prayer-a-phrased today’s reading in Psalm 138 from many translations found on Bible Gateway.

…