Month: August 2023

Good morning

Ruth Kirk

This prayer came to me yesterday morning as I kissed the cross on my bedroom shrine, then blessed myself with holy water. All I could do was to start writing it down immediately.

To my utter astonishment, the second line of the second verse had already been given to me the day before, though at the time it seemed unconnected with anything else. As always, I had noted it down, but with no idea how it might be used. It was only as I finished roughing out the first verse that I realised the purpose of this precious phrase.

1Good morning, Mother, Father: Yahweh –
God of gods, and Lord of lords;
My thanks for all you send each day –
The “good” and “bad” that life affords.

Good morning, Teacher, Saviour: Jesus –
Son of God, and Son of Man;
You are the sacrifice for sins –
The consummation of God’s plan.

Good morning, Ruach: Holy Spirit –
Breath of God, the King of kings;
All life, and truth, and peace are here –
Beneath the shadow of your wings.

Because you are my helper, I sing for joy in the shadow of your wings (Psalm 63:7; NLT).

Notes and references

Verse 1
* Will I, who causes others to give birth, not also give birth myself, says the Lord? Will I, who bestows generation upon others, be barren myself, says the Lord your God? (Isaiah 66:9; CPDV).
* “As truly as God is our Father, so truly is God our Mother” (Julian of Norwich).
* “The personal name of God, Yahweh, which is revealed to Moses in Exodus 3, is a remarkable combination of both female and male grammatical endings. The first part of God’s name in Hebrew, “Yah,” is feminine, and the last part, “weh,” is masculine” (David Wheeler-Reed, “What the early church thought about God’s gender”; the conversation.com).
* Should we accept only good things from the hand of God, and never anything bad? (Job 2:10; NLT).

Verse 2
* The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word. After he had provided purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven (Hebrews 1:3; NIV).
* The angel answered and said unto her, The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God (Luke 1:35; KJV).
* Jesus replied, “Foxes have dens to live in, and birds have nests, but the Son of Man has no place even to lay his head” (Matthew 8:20; NLT).
* He himself is the sacrifice that atones for our sins – and not only our sins but the sins of all the world (1 John 2:2; NLT).
* Once at the consummation of the ages He has been revealed to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself (Hebrews 9:26; NASB20).
* This is God’s plan: Both Gentiles and Jews who believe the Good News share equally in the riches inherited by God’s children. Both are part of the same body, and both enjoy the promise of blessings because they belong to Christ Jesus (Ephesians 3:6; NLT).

Verse 3
* “In Hebrew the word for Spirit (רוח) (ruach) is feminine“ (Gender of the Holy Spirit, Wikipedia).
* God, who knows everything in our hearts, knows perfectly well what the Spirit is saying, because her intercessions for God’s holy people are made according to the mind of God (Romans 8:27; TIB).
* The Spirit of God hath made me, and the breath of the Almighty hath given me life (Job 33:4; KJV).
* The mind governed by the Spirit is life and peace (Romans 8:6; NIV).
* The Spirit is truth (1 John 5:6; NKJV).

 

A dedication

Ruth Kirk

Today’s blog is the group version of, “A dedication (#1 of 2)”, which I posted on the 13th of August. If you would like to check out that earlier, individual prayer, here is a link: https://wp.me/p45bCr-eSN.

May your kingdom come (Luke 11:2; GNT).

Father,
May your kingdom come
In every life,
To make us one.

Jesus,
May your will be done
In every mind,
Till we are one.

Spirit,
May your pity dwell
In every heart:
Please make us one.

Yahweh,
May your mercy reign
In every soul,
Then we’ll be one.

Saviour,
May your kingdom come
Throughout this world:
Your will be done.

May your will be done on earth, as it is in heaven (Matthew 6:10; NLT).

Holy Spirit

Ruth Kirk

Now all of us can come to the Father through the same Holy Spirit because of what Christ has done for us (Ephesians 2:18; NLT). 

Holy Spirit, deep within,
Please pray for me, despite my sin.
I beg you, Lord, to help me cling
To Jesus.

Pray for me with heartfelt sighs.
Lord, plead on my behalf. Arise
And intercede for me, with cries
To Yahweh.

Holy Spirit, pray for all.
Please weep for those in need, and call
Their names, and save them when they fall:
Bring comfort.

Pray for us. Please don’t delay,
For you know all we need to say.
Lord, keep our feet on Jesus’ way
Forever.

Jesus answered, “I am the way” (John 14:6; NIV).

 

Comfort

Ruth Kirk

Right at the end of my prayer-time a few days ago the first words of today’s blog struck me insistently. As I noted them down the rest simply followed, for which I was deeply thankful.

“If you possibly can, have pity on us and help us.” “‘If I possibly can!'” replied Jesus; “why, everything is possible to him who believes.” Immediately the father cried out, “I do believe: strengthen my weak faith” (Mark 9:22-4; WNT). 

Lord,

Help me
Where my faith falls short:

Give me your comfort
And support,

So I can comfort
Others, too,

Helping them, Jesus,
Just like you.

All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. God is our merciful Father and the source of all comfort. He comforts us in all our troubles so that we can comfort others. When they are troubled, we will be able to give them the same comfort God has given us. For the more we suffer for Christ, the more God will shower us with his comfort through Christ (2 Corinthians 1:3-5; NLT).

 

You’re good

Ruth Kirk

Only God is truly good (Luke 18:19; NLT).

We know you’re good,
For you accept us,
Even though you know
Our secret thoughts.

We know you’re kind,
For you uphold us,
Even though you hear
Our foolish words.

We know you’re great,
For you protect us,
Even though you see
Our selfish deeds.

We know you’re love,
For you embrace us:
Make us more like you,
Our Lord of lords.

The Lord – who is the Spirit – makes us more and more like him as we are changed into his glorious image (2 Corinthians 3:18; NLT).

References

How kind the Lord is! (Psalm 116:5; NLT).

God is great! (Psalm 70:4; NLT).

God is love (1 John 4:8; NLT).

Beyond praise

Ruth Kirk

Yesterday I was praying without words in brilliant, white light when this hymn of praise began to arrive. Thinking about it afterwards, the light seemed to be both inside me and all around me. Everything was one, and I was one with everything. I couldn’t see anything but the brightness, which was very beautiful. These verses proved exceptionally difficult to express in words, and I don’t feel I did the whole experience justice at all.

Who can endure the day of His coming? And who can stand when He appears? For He is like a refiner’s fire (Malachi 3:2; NKJV).

You are my Maker,
Earth’s living Creator:
A shining, refining,
Unquenchable blaze.

You are my Teacher,
My Prophet and Preacher;
My yearning: returning, Lord,
All of my days.

You are my treasure,
My wealth beyond measure;
Compelling, indwelling:
My spirit obeys.

You are my story,
My future, my glory;
My crying, my dying, Lord:
Far beyond praise.

The Lord our God is great beyond all gods (2 Chronicles 2:5; BST).

 

Burdens

Ruth Kirk

Last Sunday, I felt completely overwhelmed by the amount of correspondence I needed to tackle. I had even missed a friend’s birthday the day before, due to illness. Then I remembered Jesus’ words, and today’s prayer came straight to me.

Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest (Matthew 11:28; NLT).

There will always be more emails,
Lots more blogs, and texts, and tweets;
Lots more messages and comments, Lord –
More tasks I should complete.

I’m not good with correspondence,
Though I do my very best,
But you promised we can come to you –
And you will give us rest.

So, when I am overwhelmed
By more than I can hope to do,
Lord, I’ll lay my burdens down in prayer –
And give them all to you.

Give your burdens to the LORD, and he will take care of you (Psalm 55:22; NLT).

References 

Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus (Philippians 4:6-7; NLT).

Take my yoke upon you. Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle at heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy to bear, and the burden I give you is light (Matthew 11:29-30; NLT).

 

Wordless prayer

Ruth Kirk

These couplets came to me last Saturday, during wordless prayer. Part of me hoped they would fade away, so I wouldn’t have to write them down, but they were much stronger than me, so I quickly gave way.

Pray in the Spirit at all times and on every occasion (Ephesians 6:18; NLT).

God, who knows everything in our hearts, knows perfectly well what the Spirit is saying, because her intercessions for God’s holy people are made according to the mind of God (Romans 8:27; TIB).

Wordless prayer: my great adventure –
Going where the Spirit leads,

Seeing what she wants to show me,
Far beyond all human creeds.

So I listen in the darkness,
As she sighs and intercedes,

Speaks within me, though I’m silent,
Watching, as the Spirit pleads

For all: entreating, grieving, weeping,
Sweating, while creation bleeds.

He prayed more fervently, and he was in such agony of spirit that his sweat fell to the ground like great drops of blood (Luke 22:44; NLT).

All creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time (Romans 8:22; NLT).

Further references 

The Spirit helps us in our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with sighs too deep for words (Romans 8:26; RSV). 

Will I, who causes others to give birth, not also give birth myself, says the Lord? Will I, who bestows generation upon others, be barren myself, says the Lord your God? (Isaiah 66:9; CPDV).

For a long time I have kept silent, I have been quiet and held myself back. But now, like a woman in childbirth, I cry out, I gasp and pant (Isaiah 42:14; NIV).

 

A dedication

Ruth Kirk

Today’s prayer arrived last Friday morning. As I worked to put it into words, it divided into two: one version for personal use, and one for groups. Here is the personal version, which came first. I plan to post the second in a week’s time, God willing.

May your kingdom come (Luke 11:2; GNT).

The kingdom of God is within you (Luke 17:21; NKJV).

Father,
May your kingdom come
Within my body:
Make us one.

Jesus,
May your will be done
Within my mind,
Till we are one.

Spirit,
May your kingdom come
Within my heart,
So we’ll be one.

Three-fold God,
Your will be done
Within my soul,
Then we’ll be one. 

The person who is joined to the Lord is one spirit with him (1 Corinthians 6:17; NLT).

Threefold love

Ruth Kirk

Yesterday, whilst I was praying quietly and sleepily, the sudden arrival of these simple, worshipful verses woke me up completely. This piece came together very sweetly, and was easy to put into words.

You are my Father, my God, and the Rock of my salvation (Psalm 89:26; NLT). 

God, my Father,
And my Mother;
Lord, my Maker:
I love Thee.

Christ, my Teacher,
And my Shepherd;
Lord, my Saviour:
I love Thee.

Holy Spirit,
Guide, and Helper;
Lord, my Comfort:
I love Thee.

Three in One,
And One in Three;
Lord, forever:
I love Thee.

I love thee, O LORD, my strength (Psalm 18:1; ERV).