Praying for those who labor

 

Matthew 11:28-30 – Jesus promised, “Come to Me you who are weary and heavily burdened, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you shall find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy, and My burden is light.”

How often do we place unnecessary loads on our own shoulders, Lord, or struggle to do jobs that aren’t ours but Yours? How often do we let our ambitions and egos get in the way of Your Way?

Help us to be kindly taskmasters toward ourselves and other people over whom we have influence.
 

Help us to recognize and receive Your easy yoke without squirming or flinching or trying to shift the light weight we’re to carry onto someone else.

Thank You, Lord, for promising a reward of rest to Your followers. Help us to rest easy in You.

 

 

from Kneeling on the Promises of God 

Mary Harwell Sayler 

 

 

Prayer of Thanks for the Holy Spirit

 

John 14:26 – Jesus promised, “The Comforter – your Advocate, the Holy Spirit – Who the Father will send in My Name, shall teach you all things and bring to mind everything I’ve said to you.”

 

Lord, we get busy, busy and forget. We get older and sometimes lack recollection of what we thought we knew. We have to confess that sometimes we did not listen in the first place!

 

Thank You, for promising to teach us through Your Holy Spirit, Who speaks to and for us like a perfect lawyer, well-prepared to provide a sure defense.

 

Please draw us into reading the Gospels, again and again, so we can hear You more clearly and see how Your words and teachings give us exactly what we need today.

 

 

Mary Sayler

from the book, Kneeling on the Promises of God

 

Mourning then Mercy

 

Zechariah 12:10 – “And I will pour a spirit of mercy and compassion on My people, and they shall look on Him Whom they pierced, and they shall mourn for Him as for an only child and weep bitterly for Him as one weeps over a firstborn.”

 

Lord God, Heavenly Father, we can’t begin to imagine how much You suffered! Lifted high on the cross for all to look upon, Your Son felt the nails, brutally piercing His hands and feet. Below the cross His mother wept, and surely You did too.

Thinking about this moment also draws our tears, but only momentarily for we know the ending. We know Jesus Christ arose from the dead, appeared to many, comforted His mother and followers, and ascended into Heaven, where He pours out His Holy Spirit of mercy and compassion onto His people – onto us! Praise God!

from the book, Kneeling on the Promises of God

 

Jesus prays for us

 

As Jesus faced the certainty of the cross, He prayed for us!

John 17:10-19 – a prayer of Jesus

 

Holy Father, all I have belongs to You,

and all You have is mine.

The people You gave Me

have given Me glory.

I won’t be in the world much longer,

but they will be in the world

as I come back to You.

Holy Father, keep them safe

by the power of Your Name –

the Name You gave to Me,  

so their unity may be like Ours.

 

While I’ve been with them, I’ve kept them safe

by the power of Your Name – the Name You

gave to Me. I watched over them, and none,

but one, became lost, showing scripture true.

But now, Father, I’m returning to You, and I

say these things while I’m still in the world,

so they will have the same joy We have.

 

I have given them Your message, but the world

now hates them because, like Me, they don’t fit

into the ways of the world.

I’m not asking You to take them out of the world

but to protect them from the evil one, for they

do not belong to the world any more than I do.

 

Let Your truth make them holy,

for Your words are truth.

I’ve sent them into the world as You sent me.

And so, for their sake, I dedicate Myself – I

consecrate and sanctify Myself – so they, too,

will be sanctified, consecrated, and dedicated

to the truth in You.

from The Book of Bible Prayers

Jesus teaches us how to pray

Many Christians regularly pray the Lord’s Prayer or Our Father, and many churches include Jesus’ prayer in Sunday services, daily mass, or other times of worship. Throughout the week, however, and throughout the year, we can use this beautiful prayer “as is” or as an outline for whoever or whatever God brings to mind as we pray each phrase or line.

The prayer most often memorized or recited comes from the Gospel of Matthew, but Luke recorded the following version:

Luke 11:2-4 – a prayer of Jesus
from the King James Version of the Bible

And (Jesus) said unto them,
When ye pray, say,

Our Father which art in heaven,
Hallowed be thy name.
Thy kingdom come.
Thy will be done,
as in heaven, so in earth.

Give us day by day our daily bread.

And forgive us our sins;
for we also forgive every one
that is indebted to us.

And lead us not into temptation;
but deliver us from evil.

From the Book of KJV Prayers - actual prayers from the King James Version of the Bible (KJV) collected by Mary Sayler

 

Luke 11:2-4 – a prayer of Jesus
paraphrased into contemporary English

Father in heaven,
may Your Name
be kept holy among us.

Bring us into Your kingdom. 

Give us bread for the day.

Forgive us
as we forgive those who
have wronged us.

Keep us from temptation.

Deliver us
from a time of hard trials.

From the Book of Bible Prayers – actual prayers of the Bible collected from a variety of translations researched on Bible Gateway then paraphrased into everyday English by Mary Sayler

Amen!

Have a blessed New Year!

 

© 2021-2022, Mary Sayler

 

…

The prophetic prayer of Simeon

In Exodus 2:2 and again in verse 12, the Lord God told His people to dedicate every firstborn male to Him. As devout Jews, who followed God’s instructions, Mary and Joseph presented the Baby Jesus in the Temple.

As God-incidence would have it, an elderly man named Simeon arrived at just the right moment to greet the young family. Simeon had been eagerly awaiting the arrival of the Messiah, Whom the Holy Spirit had assured him that he would live to see.

Taking the newborn into his arms, Simeon knew this was The One he’d been waiting for, and so he praised God and prayed a prayer that astonished the Baby’s parents:

 

Luke 2:29-32 – the prophetic prayer of Simeon
as translated in the King James Version of the Bible

Lord, now lettest thou thy servant

depart in peace, according to thy word:

For mine eyes have seen thy salvation,

Which thou hast prepared

before the face of all people;

A light to lighten the Gentiles,

and the glory of thy people Israel.

From the Book of KJV Prayers - actual prayers from the King James Version of the Bible (KJV) collected by Mary Sayler

 

Luke 2:29-32 – the prophetic prayer of Simeon
as paraphrased into contemporary English

And now, Lord, Your bond-servant

can go in peace,

for You have kept Your word,

and my eyes have witnessed Your

salvation –

the salvation You prepared

in the presence of all nations –

the Light You revealed to everyone,

the glory You have with Your people.

From the Book of Bible Prayers – actual prayers of the Bible collected from a variety of translations researched on Bible Gateway then paraphrased into everyday English by Mary Sayler

 

As we approach Christmas week, may the Light of Christ be born anew in us as we praise the Lord God and thank Him for the wonderful gift of His Son. Amen.

 

…

Praying for Mercy, Praying to See

 

When two blind men approached Jesus for healing, the people around Him criticized them and tried to shoo them away. Despite this ill treatment by others, the men kept calling out to the Lord – not for sight but for mercy. 

No wonder! If the reaction of the crowd was typical of the way these men were usually treated, their suffering and rejection by others might have felt worse than their blindness.

 

Reading the story in the King James Version below, Jesus’ response seems odd and unexpected. i.e., He doesn’t go to the blind men. He stands still and calls them to Him.

 

Jesus calls and gives us the choice to follow.

 

Although obvious to everyone, Jesus did not presume the men wanted to see. Remember? They had prayed only for mercy. So the Lord called them to Him. The Lord waited for them. Then Jesus asked them what they wanted to ask Him.

 

Matthew 20:30-33

from the King James Version

 

And, behold, two blind men

sitting by the way side,

when they heard

that Jesus passed by,

cried out, saying,

 

Have mercy on us,

O Lord, thou son of David.

 

And the multitude rebuked them,

because they should hold their peace:

but they cried the more, saying,

 

Have mercy on us,

O Lord, thou son of David.

 

And Jesus stood still, and called them,

and said,

 

What will ye

that I shall do unto you?

 

They say unto him,

Lord, that our eyes

may be opened.

 

From the Book of KJV Prayers - actual prayers from the King James Version of the Bible (KJV) collected by Mary Sayler

 

 

Matthew 20:31b-33

paraphrased

 

Lord, Son of David,

have mercy on us!

 

Lord, Son of David,

have mercy on us!

 

Lord Jesus,

we want to see.

 

From the Book of Bible Prayers – actual prayers of the Bible collected from a variety of translations researched on Bible Gateway then paraphrased into everyday English by Mary Sayler

 

Having the Lord Himself ask us to tell Him what we want shows His compassion, grace, and mercy! And so, we ask:

 

 

Dear Lord God, help us to receive Your mercy and see more clearly in Jesus’ Name.

 

…

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