This simple prayer came to me so sweetly and easily yesterday morning that it was a great pleasure to write.
Our lives are in his hands.
(Psalm 66:9; NLT).
Wake in the hands of God, and pray;
Rise in the hands of God.
Walk in the hands of God: obey;
Live in the hands of God.
Laugh in the hands of God each day;
Weep in the hands of God.
Sleep in the hands of God, and stay
Safe in the hands of God.
I am in the hands of the Lord,
the Most High is my safe resting-place.
(Psalm 91:9; BBE).
Yesterday I felt very tired, which had its up-side, as I was able to spend time putting the morning’s notes into words whilst resting. The lines in italics form a prayer within a prayer:
O Lord, you alone are my hope (Psalm 71:5; NLT).
My hope, my way,
My light each day:
I want to do your bidding;
My peace, my Lamb,
My great “I AM”:
For you are God’s dear Son.
My truth, my life,
My purchase-price:
You, Lord, are my salvation;
My strength, my blood,
My longed-for love:
May you and I be one.
My Lord, my God,
My staff, my rod:
My body is your temple;
My Guide, my Friend,
My start, my end:
My mind is yours, Lord, too.
My bread, my wine,
My living vine:
My heart is yours forever;
My Shepherd King,
My everything:
My soul belongs to you.
The LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul (Genesis 2:7; KJV).
Our bodies will return to the dust of the earth, and the breath of life will go back to God, who gave it to us (Ecclesiastes 12:7; GNT).
Christ is all that matters, and he lives in all of us (Colossians 3:11; NLT).
I glance in the mirror,
And see you within,
Ready to save me
From weakness and sin.
I look in the mirror,
And greet you within:
My Light, my Redeemer,
My Shepherd and King.
I watch in the mirror,
And meet you within:
My Guide and my Teacher,
My Healer, my kin.
I smile in the mirror,
And love you within.
My heart is content, Lord:
No wonder I sing!
My heart is confident in you, O God; no wonder I can sing your praises with all my heart! (Psalm 108:1; NLT).
References
The LORD must wait for you to come to him so he can show you his love and compassion (Isaiah 30:18; NLT).
The person who is joined to the Lord is one spirit with him (1 Corinthians 6:17; NLT).
Don’t you realise that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, who lives in you? (1 Corinthians 3:16; NLT).
Don’t you know that your bodies are a part of Christ’s body? (1 Corinthians 6:15; CSB).
You …are complete through your union with Christ (Colossians 2:10; NLT).
A reading from 1 Corinthians 13:9-13; NLT.
Now our knowledge is partial and incomplete, and even the gift of prophecy reveals only part of the whole picture! But when the time of perfection comes, these partial things will become useless.
When I was a child, I spoke and thought and reasoned as a child. But when I grew up, I put away childish things. Now we see things imperfectly, like puzzling reflections in a mirror, but then we will see everything with perfect clarity.
All that I know now is partial and incomplete, but then I will know everything completely, just as God now knows me completely. Three things will last forever – faith, hope, and love – and the greatest of these is love.
The Rosary Hospital
Christ is all that matters, and he lives in all of us (Colossians 3:11; NLT).
I glance in the mirror,
And see you within,
Ready to save me
From weakness and sin.
I look in the mirror,
And greet you within:
My Light, my Redeemer,
My Shepherd and King.
I watch in the mirror,
And meet you within:
My Guide and my Teacher,
My Healer, my kin.
I smile in the mirror,
And love you within.
My heart is content, Lord:
No wonder I sing!
My heart is confident in you, O God; no wonder I can sing your praises with all my heart! (Psalm 108:1; NLT).
References
The LORD must wait for you to come to him so he can show you his love and compassion (Isaiah 30:18; NLT).
The person who is joined to the Lord is one spirit with him (1 Corinthians 6:17; NLT).
Don’t you realise that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, who lives in you? (1 Corinthians 3:16; NLT).
Don’t you know that your bodies are a part of Christ’s body? (1 Corinthians 6:15; CSB).
You …are complete through your union with Christ (Colossians 2:10; NLT).
A reading from 1 Corinthians 13:9-13; NLT.
Now our knowledge is partial and incomplete, and even the gift of prophecy reveals only part of the whole picture! But when the time of perfection comes, these partial things will become useless.
When I was a child, I spoke and thought and reasoned as a child. But when I grew up, I put away childish things. Now we see things imperfectly, like puzzling reflections in a mirror, but then we will see everything with perfect clarity.
All that I know now is partial and incomplete, but then I will know everything completely, just as God now knows me completely. Three things will last forever – faith, hope, and love – and the greatest of these is love.
The Rosary Hospital
Context: Today’s prayer arrived early yesterday morning when I woke at around 4am with a migraine. After taking my medications, I sat propped up in bed, alternately dozing and writing. These verses slowly emerged over the course of the day, finishing late in the evening:
What is sweeter than honey? (Judges 14:18; NLT).
What’s sweeter than honey,
And choicer than wine?
Higher than knowledge,
And vaster than time?
What’s brighter than sunlight,
And greater than wealth?
Warmer than friendship,
And finer than health?
What’s stronger than sharing,
And deeper than love?
Kinder than giving,
And richer than blood?
What’s wiser than serving,
And dearer than breath?
Simpler than worship,
And closer than death?
What’s better than living,
And makes us all one?
It’s Christ, our salvation,
God’s dearly-loved Son.
There is salvation in no one else! God has given no other name under heaven by which we must be saved (Acts 4:12; NLT).
This is my dearly loved Son, who brings me great joy (2 Peter 1 17; NLT).
References
I once thought these things were valuable, but now I consider them worthless because of what Christ has done. Yes, everything else is worthless when compared with the infinite value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have discarded everything else, counting it all as garbage, so that I could gain Christ and become one with him (Philippians 3:7; NLT).
There is no longer Jew or Gentile, slave or free, male and female. For you are all one in Christ Jesus (Galatians 3:28; NLT).
Your unfailing love is better than life itself (Psalm 63:3; NLT).
God loved the world so much that he gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life (John 3:16; NLT).
Context: This little prayer came to me on 28.10.22, well before I consciously registered that All Souls’ Day was fast approaching. I had to smile at God’s advance planning! It forms a pair with yesterday’s blog (https://wp.me/p45bCr-cIe).
The Messiah also died once for the sake of our sins, the Righteous One in the place of sinners, to bring you to God, and he died in body and lived in his Spirit. And he preached to those souls who were held in Sheol, those who from the first were not convinced (1 Peter 3; 18-19; PHBT).
Lord,
Heal the souls
Of all the dead –
Don’t punish them:
Forgive, I beg.
Lord, surely
They have cried
Enough? Your arms
Are open wide,
For you, alone,
Are love and grace:
Please welcome all
With your embrace.
References
The Son of Man came to seek and save those who are lost (Luke 19:10; NLT).
God wants everyone to be saved and to know the whole truth (1 Timothy 2:4; CEV).
Then I called on the name of Yahweh: “Yahweh, I beg you, deliver my soul” (Psalm 116:4; WEB).
God is love (1 John 4:16; NLT).
By God’s grace, Jesus tasted death for everyone (Hebrews 2:9; NLT).
First reading: Psalm 16:7-11; NLT
I will bless the LORD who guides me;
Even at night my heart instructs me.
I know the LORD is always with me.
I will not be shaken, for he is right beside me.
No wonder my heart is glad, and I rejoice.
My body rests in safety.
For you will not leave my soul among the dead
Or allow your holy one to rot in the grave.
You will show me the way of life,
Granting me the joy of your presence
And the pleasures of living with you forever.
Second reading: Psalm 103:1-4; NLT
And crowns me with love and tender mercies.
Rosary-making update:
