St. Patrick's Breastplate

I bind unto myself today
The strong Name of the Trinity,
By invocation of the same
The Three in One and One in Three.

I bind this today to me forever
By power of faith, Christ's incarnation;
His baptism in Jordan river,
His death on Cross for my salvation;
His bursting from the spicèd tomb,
His riding up the heavenly way,
His coming at the day of doom
I bind unto myself today.

I bind unto myself the power
Of the great love of cherubim;
The sweet 'Well done' in judgment hour,
The service of the seraphim,
Confessors' faith, Apostles' word,
The Patriarchs' prayers, the prophets' scrolls,
All good deeds done unto the Lord
And purity of virgin souls.

I bind unto myself today
The virtues of the star lit heaven,
The glorious sun's life giving ray,
The whiteness of the moon at even,
The flashing of the lightning free,
The whirling wind's tempestuous shocks,
The stable earth, the deep salt sea
Around the old eternal rocks.

I bind unto myself today
The power of God to hold and lead,
His eye to watch, His might to stay,
His ear to hearken to my need.
The wisdom of my God to teach,
His hand to guide, His shield to ward;
The word of God to give me speech,
His heavenly host to be my guard.

Against the demon snares of sin,
The vice that gives temptation force,
The natural lusts that war within,
The hostile men that mar my course;
Or few or many, far or nigh,
In every place and in all hours,
Against their fierce hostility
I bind to me these holy powers.

Against all Satan's spells and whiles,
Against false words of heresy,
Against the knowledge that defiles,
Against the heart's idolatry,
Against the wizard's evil craft,
Against the death wound and the burning,
The choking wave, the poisoned shaft,
Protect me, Christ, till Thy returning.

Christ be with me, Christ within me,
Christ behind me, Christ before me,
Christ beside me, Christ to win me,
Christ to comfort and restore me.
Christ beneath me, Christ above me,
Christ in quiet, Christ in danger,
Christ in hearts of all that love me,
Christ in mouth of friend and stranger.

I bind unto myself the Name,
The strong Name of the Trinity,
By invocation of the same,
The Three in One and One in Three.
By Whom all nature hath creation,
Eternal Father, Spirit, Word:
Praise to the Lord of my salvation,
Salvation is of Christ the Lord.

Amen

I put a train yard in your head.....

Jon is at it again.....he's inside my head and blogging about it over on Stuff Christians Like.
Go check it out!

Jesus Messiah

This song is a wonderful prayer. It pretty much stops me in my tracks whenever I hear it (which can be pretty darn dangerous if I'm driving....)
It stills my heart. It quiets my mind. It humbles me.
Awe, reverence, worship, thanks, joy, peace.
I lift my hands.

Jesus, Messiah.

Jesus Messiah

He became sin
Who knew no sin
That we might become His Righteousness
He humbled himself and carried the cross

Love so amazing
Love so amazing

Jesus Messiah
Name above all names
Blessed Redeemer
Emmanuel
The rescue for sinners
The ransom from Heaven
Jesus Messiah
Lord of all

His body the bread
His blood the wine
Broken and poured out all for love
The whole earth trembled
And the veil was torn

Jesus Messiah
Name above all names
Blessed Redeemer
Emmanuel
The rescue for sinners
The ransom from Heaven
Jesus Messiah
Lord of all

All I hope is in You
All I hope is in You
All the glory to You, God
The light of the world

Jesus Messiah
Name above all names
Blessed Redeemer
Emmanuel
The rescue for sinners
The ransom from Heaven
Jesus Messiah
Lord of all

Can you hear me now??

So, this is another one of those thoughts that I'm working on - it is still in process, but this is where I am in my thinking this morning...

Yesterday, as I was trying to pray - with no success, a new take on an old theme occurred to me.
Why does it seem like God does not hear our prayers? We were always taught that you had to be "right with God" for your prayers to be heard. That sin in your life kept God from hearing you - unless of course the prayer was a prayer of repentance. If that is so than there are an awful lot of prayers not being heard. Would God deliberately ignore our prayers? Sometimes it feels like it - those times it seems like the prayers bounce off the ceiling and go no further. So - if it IS sin that stops the prayer, is it God punishing us? I don't think so.
What occurred to me today is the fact that I can't pray with this obvious "sin" in my life. It has nothing to do with any of the other requests, praises, etc., but it's there in the back of my mind when I am trying to pray about other things. It is something I should be praying for, asking for, wanting, and yet I don't, and until I get that fixed, how dare I think I have the kind of deep open relationship with God that allows fellowship and communication? Yes, he's still hearing me. And probably answering me. But I can't hear it, I can't see it, and I'm hiding instead of truly connecting with God. Because I know what he wants me to do and I'm not doing it. My guilt, shame and avoidance are the hindrance. It is not God's judgement.
When Adam and Eve sinned they knew they had done wrong. They were embarrassed, and they hid from God. And yet, he went looking for them. They didn't want to talk to him, but he still wanted to have a relationship with them.
He is still waiting, still listening; He is still there.
My prayers are not heard, because I am not able to pray.
He is not ignoring me - I am not comfortable being in His presence.
And so, I hide.

Pray for Rebecca

Tomorrow (Friday) morning at 7:30, my friend, Rebecca, is having major surgery on her spinal column. The surgery, depending on what they find could be 5 hours or longer. She will be in ICU for a few days - some Christmas gift. How do you wish someone a Merry Christmas with that hanging over their head? I did the best I could. Anyway, recovery is 7 - 10 days in the hospital, and about 6 weeks at home. Please, if you think of it, pray for her. And her parents. This is a scary time in her/their life.
Thanks!

Stir up your power, O Lord, and with great might come among us; and, because we are sorely hindered by our sins, let your bountiful grace and mercy speedily help and deliver us; through Jesus Christ our Lord, to whom, with you and the Holy Spirit, be honor and glory now and for ever. Amen.

The Divine Hours

I have become intrigued over the past few months with the concept of The Divine Hours. But like so many things I get interested in, I'm not sure if it is just interest, or a discipline that I would like to introduce to my life. I thought about purchasing a book, but again, decided I need to wait a bit and see if it is really something I intend to do. So I was really excited to find a website that I can use! explorefaith.org
Here you can find information about fixed hour prayer, suggestions, and best of all, the offices themselves. I will definitely be checking this out now, and I thought I'd share in case anyone else had an interest. Enjoy! :)

I am thankful for:

my family
my health
my church
my church family
good friends
sunshine
Dana
Mike
grace and mercy
laughter
Emma
past 2 years struggles
music
silence
Aaron
all my blog friends, new and old.

Philip Yancey

Last night I went with my friend D to hear Philip Yancey speak. Way cool. And he actually had his new book there - selling and autographing copies before it's general release. (Oct 1st according to Amazon.) I didn't have the time or energy to stand in line and wait tho. Anyway, his new book is about the very thing I have been wresting with since last spring:
Prayer: Does It Make Any Difference?
Time constraints kept him from going into any great depth last night He just scratched the surface. But it was enough to make me want to read the book to see what his thoughts are on the complex issues and questions concerning prayer.
I would love to hear him speak again sometime when time isn't pressing......

Breathing is involuntary....

Seems like my life is just full of revelations this week. This one is pretty funny tho at first glance, then it's pretty cool. I realized that everytime I walk into the bathroom I start praying. And that made me laugh. And I started thinking about it, and realized that it's because it's the one place in the house I am truly alone, and I have used it as a refuge at times. Last fall I had a lot going on and I would go get a bath, and just sit and try to relax, and it was the perfect time to just open my heart to God. Now it's such a habit I do it whenever I just walk through the bathroom door.....
And then I realized I do the same thing in the car....hmmmmm. I used to drop my daughter off at youth group, and because of all those same things going on I would use the 10 - 15 minute drive home to pray. Well, more accurately to yell, rant, complain, argue, have a temper tantrum - all out loud - the way I couldn't anywhere else. So, I noticed the other day whenever I get in the car alone I'm praying....way cool! And I thought some more and I realized I do it everytime I go into my bedroom - I caught myself doing it the other day... Whoa. And I do it everytime I head out on the Prairie Path to walk, and I'm astounded! It has become such a habit that I do it as easily as breathing. That's the cool part. And not only do I talk, I find myself listening. And that is even cooler.

No one ever said....

No one ever said the Christian life was easy, or fun. Sometimes we are asked to do things we really don't want to do.
I gave you something tonight Lord - something I wasn't ready to give. Something you demanded. And so, in trust and with much difficulty and sorrow I surrender this to you. In my head I know it had to be done. In my heart I couldn't let go. It took time to get the words out - Take _________________. Take ________________.
I give ____________ to you. I surrender all. Help me Father, meet my need, comfort my heart. I am doing as you ask. Accept my offering. Fill my soul with you. Fill the hole left from surrendering with you. Let the wrestling be over God. You win.