To Live Holy Lives

Father, I'm praying for (name one or more) and others in my circle of family and friends to have the self-control they need in every area of life...

Strengthen their hearts so they will be holy and blameless in Your presence when Christ comes. Help them make every effort to be good and knowledgeable, self-controlled and godly, relying on the Spirit's power within them. (1 Thessalonians 3:13; 2 Peter 1:5–7; Ephesians 3:16)

May they imitate the Lord Jesus Christ in all they are and everything they do, and may the way they live match what they say they believe. May they make every effort to live clean and holy lives, devoting themselves to You, to prayer, and to doing good. (1 Thessalonians 1:6; 1 Corinthians 4:17; Hebrews 12:14a; Leviticus 27:28; Jeremiah 30:21; Colossians 4:2; Titus 3:8b)

May they desire more than anything else to follow You, setting their hearts and souls on seeking You. Help them move from strength to strength, faith to faith, and glory to glory. May their love increase and overflow for each other and for everyone else. (Psalm 84:5; 1 Chronicles 22:19; Psalm 84:7; Romans 1:17; 2 Corinthians 3:18; 1 Thessalonians 3:12)

In Jesus' name, amen.

- Jim & Kaye Johns
source: "Prayers for the Moment: One-Minute Scripture Prayers" Copyright September 2006. Reprinted with permission of B&H Publishing Group

amen ... Lord only by Your Spirit, not by ourselves ... we can do all these things.

Prayer for Those With Chronic Illness

Dear Lord, please help all those with chronic illnesses. We suffer more than people see on the outside and have lost the faith at times. Help us hold up to the daily struggle of living.

Evening Prayer

Almighty God, we give you thanks for surrounding us, as daylight fades, with the brightness of the vesper light; and we implore you of your great mercy that, as you enfold us with the radiance of this light, so you would shine into our hearts the brightness of your Holy Spirit; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Grant us, Lord, the lamp of charity which never fails, that it may burn in us and shed its light on those around us, and that by its brightness we may have a vision of that holy City, where dwells the true and never-failing Light, Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

O Lord God Almighty, as you have taught us to call the evening, the morning, and the noonday one day; and have made the sun to know its going down: Dispel the darkness of our hearts, that by your brightness we may know you to be the true God and eternal light, living and reigning for ever and ever. Amen.

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. Amen.

Gratitude for Friends and Family

To our friends who have become family
and our family who have become friends-
May you be blessed with the same
love and care you've given us.

Prayer of Thanksgiving

We gather today, Lord of abundant life, as grateful children. Delighted and humbled by our bounty, we celebrate gifts of food and shelter, of colors that dance at dawn and dusk; we relish the scent of cooking foods, of burning leaves and summer's wet grass, of snowflake, of animal fur. We marvel at the intricacy of spiders' webs and fish bones, newborn babies and lines etched on faces of grandparents come for a visit today. All gifts from Your hand. When our meal is completed, leftovers stashed, and naps taken, we will leave replete, energized, and eager to go generously into the world and share our good fortune.

- Rev. Lynn James