Hello to all readers. Today’s prayer came to me yesterday, on Christmas Eve. I wrote the first ten lines before I got up in the morning, but the rest followed after a very stormy walk by the sea. I finished it just now, immediately before publishing this blog.
I don’t do Christmas, in the sense of extra eating, drinking, consumer goods, or company, at all. However, this year I will be launching my first prayer book “Snakes and Ladders” at church, after the guests finish their Christmas lunch. The book is free, so if you live in the UK, and would like a copy, please send me a self-addressed A5 envelope with a 90p stamp, and I will post you a copy. If you are outside the UK, please email me, and I will find out the postage price for your country.
Address: Ruth Kirk, Ripple Cottage, 6 Douglas Street, Castletown, Isle of Man, IM9 1AY, British Isles.
Email: rkirk@manx.net
Meanwhile, I hope that each of you will have a manageable Christmas Day, however you spend it.
Yours, Lord
* Yours, Lord, are the greatness, the power, the glory, the victory, and the majesty; for all that is in the heavens and on earth is yours
(1 Chronicles 29:11; NRSV).
* …and after the fire a sound of sheer silence (1 Kings 19.12; NRSV).
* And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus (Philippians 4:7; NIV).
* For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life
(John 3:16; NIV).
Father,
How great you are!
Everything in heaven
And on earth
Is yours.
Yours, Lord,
Are the kingdom,
The power and the glory,
The splendour, the majesty
And the victory,
Now, and forever.
Yours, Lord,
Are the raging storm,
The violent earthquake,
And the consuming fire,
Now, and forever.
Yours, Lord,
Are the holy silence,
The blessed stillness,
And the perfect peace
That passes all understanding,
Now, and forever.
Yours, Lord,
Is the love
Poured out to save sinners
Who repent and turn to you:
The love that saves the world.