A prayer for strength from Psalm 80

Oh, Shepherd of Your people,
lead us in Your flock.

Oh, God enthroned on cherubim,
stir Your strength and save us.

Restore us, oh, God
and shine on us with Your glory.

Return to us, oh, LORD of Hosts.
Regard us as the vine You set.

With Your right hand, You planted us
and made strong Your branch –
Your Son.

Let Your hand again
be on the Son of Man,
Whom You have made strong in us.
Then we shall not depart from You.

Give us life,
and we shall remain with You.

Revive us to call on Your Name.

Restore us, oh LORD – God
of the armies of Heaven,
and in Your shine, we shall be
saved.

Psalm 80:1-3,14-19

© 2014, Mary Harwell Sayler, a poet, writer, and lifelong lover of Christ, the Bible, and the church, prayer-a-phrased portions of Psalm 80 from translations provided on Bible Gateway.

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Jesus prays in the Spirit

Filled with joy at the Disciple’s return, Jesus
prayed in the Holy Spirit:

Praise You, Father,
LORD of heaven and earth!

From clever people, You have hidden
things You show to those who come to You
like little children.

Yes! How this pleases You!

All things
have been entrusted to Me
by My Father,
for no one but the Father
really knows Who I Am,

and no one really knows
Who You are, Father,
except Your Son
and everyone
to whom I have shown You
and to whom I will make You known.

Luke 10:21-22

© 2014, Mary Harwell Sayler, a poet, writer, and lifelong lover of Christ, the Bible, and the church, researched today’s reading from the Gospels in translations on Bible Gateway before prayer-a-phrasing this poem.

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Prayer of praise to God

Praise You, LORD!

Praise You in every place
Your people find You.

Praise Your infinite embrace
of the universe.

Praise You for Your magnitude,
magnificence, and mighty acts.

Praise You with every instrument
of musicality.

Praise You for creative gifts
of song and dance
and poetry.

May every living being
praise You,
Almighty God,
with singing
and every breath of life.

Praise You, LORD.
Praise You.


© 2014, Mary Harwell Sayler, a poet, writer, and lifelong lover of Christ, the Bible, and the church, researched Psalm 150 from many of the translations on Bible Gateway before prayer-a-phrasing this poem.

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Praying for God’s Word to be in me

Oh, LORD, prepare me
to keep Your Word,
so I won’t be ashamed
when I look at my life
in light of Your commands.

Sincerely, I will praise You
as I learn more of Your
righteous rules.

Don’t ever leave me, LORD,
for I want to obey You,
but, oh! How can anyone
keep Your ways – purely
without fault – except
by discerning Your Word?

With all my heart, I seek You!
Don’t let me stray away!

Deep inside me,
I will hide Your words,
so I’ll know what to do.

Blessed LORD, teach me!
You Are To Be praised
and blessed.

Psalm 119:5-12


© 2014, Mary Harwell Sayler prayer-a-phrased this poem from today’s Bible Reading in Psalm 119, drawing from several of the many translations on Bible Gateway.


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Bible prayer on Halloween

The Apostle Paul’s prayer for the church in Philippi extends to us in today’s Bible reading as a timely word of remembrance, encouragement, and blessings found in the power of our Lord Jesus Christ.

May the grace and peace of God our Father
and the Lord Jesus Christ be with you all.

Every time I remember you,
I thank my God.

Every day I pray for you with joy –
from the first day until now –
for your coming together in the Gospel
gives confidence
that the good work
God began in you
will come to completion
in the day of Christ Jesus.

It’s right to think this way
as our hearts hold us together
in the Grace of God,
binding us and confining us
to defend and confirm the Good News.

For God is my witness
that I long for you all
from the very depths of Christ.

And this is my prayer:

That your love may grow and grow
in knowledge and insight,
so you may know what’s best
and discern what’s of value,

becoming genuine and guiltless
each day in Christ
as you're filled
with the fruit of righteousness,
given to you through Christ Jesus
to bring glory and praise to God.


© 2014, Mary Harwell Sayler prayer-a-phrased this poem from today’s Bible Reading in Philippians 1:1-11, drawing from many of the translations on Bible Gateway and also her previous prayer-a-phrase, which appeared last year, entitled “May the peace of the Lord be with us.”


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A call to prayer

Praise the LORD God!
Call upon His Name.

Make His acts known among the people.
Tell everyone
His Name is above all names.

Sing of the LORD
Who does glorious things,
and let this be known
in all the earth.

Sing and shout for joy,
all peoples of God,
for great in our midst
is the Holy One,
the God of Israel.

Isaiah 12:4-6


©2014, Mary Harwell Sayler. This poem prayer-a-phrase of Isaiah 12:4-6 draws from the many translations found on Bible Gateway.

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A prayer request for God’s help

Isaiah 33:2

O LORD God, favor us
with Your grace and mercy
as we await You
every morning.

Be to us
Your strength
and Your salvation
in times of trouble
and distress.

May God guide, protect, and empower our families, our country, the church Body of Christ, and all Christians throughout the world in Jesus’ Name.


©2014, Mary Sayler. This poem prayer-a-phrase of Isaiah 33 from today’s Reading Plan on Bible Gateway draws from several translations found on that site.

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