Follow-up on Kenya

The Kenyan referendum was peaceful, although it did not turn out the way church leaders had hoped. They may seek a referendum on an amendment in the future.

Dear Father,
We thank You for maintaining this nation in peace. Amen.

Iowa

The name Iowa is probably from an Indian word meaning “the beautiful land.”

Isaiah 62:4 (Amplified Bible)
You [Judah] shall no more be termed Forsaken, nor shall your land be called Desolate any more. But you shall be called Hephzibah [My delight is in her], and your land be called Beulah [married]; for the Lord delights in you, and your land shall be married [owned and protected by the Lord].

O Lord, may You delight in the state of Iowa. Amen.

A prayer to the life of our souls

Another prayer I found online from the Gelasian Sacramentary:

O God who art the light of the minds that know thee, The life of the souls that love thee, and the strength of the hearts that serve thee; Help us to know thee that we may truly love thee; so to love thee that we may fully serve thee, whom to serve is perfect freedom; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

John 1:43-46

The following day Jesus wanted to go to Galilee, and he found Philip and said to him, “Follow me.” (John 1:43)
      Jesus, please help us daily hear and respond to your call to follow you.

Now Philip was from Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter. Philip found Nathanael and said to him, “We have found him of whom Moses in the law, and also the prophets, wrote–Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.” (John 1:44-45)
      Holy Spirit, please help us share with others what we have found in Jesus.

And Nathanael said to him, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” Philip said to him, “Come and see.” (John 1:46)
      Father, please help us get past our assumptions and receive what you have for us in Jesus. Please get us moving and walking with Jesus daily; help us receive him into our hearts. Thank you.

Thursday: 85, 86; Judges 8:22-35; Acts 4:1-12; John 1:43-51
Friday: 91, 92; Judges 9:1-16,19-21; Acts 4:13-31; John 2:1-12

Albany Intercessor

All African Bishops’ Conference

The conference will be held August 23-29 at Entebbe, Uganda.

Hosea 11:9-11 (New International Version)
I will not carry out my fierce anger, nor will I turn and devastate Ephraim. For I am God, and not man—the Holy One among you. I will not come in wrath. They will follow the LORD; he will roar like a lion. When he roars, his children will come trembling from the west. They will come trembling like birds from Egypt, like doves from Assyria. I will settle them in their homes,” declares the LORD.

I am told that when a lion roars in the jungle, all of the animals flee or hide. The only animal who goes toward the roar is another lion.

Lion of the Tribe of Judah, roar, roar over this conference. Amen.

Another morning prayer from the Gelasian Sacramentary

In researching the background of a prayer Kendall Harmon posted this week at TitusOneNine, I learned about an ancient Catholic collection of prayers, the Gelasian Sacramentary. I’ve done a bit of online research to dig up a few more prayers from that collection:

Christ our true and only Light, receive our morning prayers, illumine the secrets of our hearts with your healing goodness, that no evil desires may possess us who are made new in the light of your heavenly grace, through Jesus Christ our Savior. Amen.

+John Guernsey: The importance of prayer warriors

The Rev. Steve Wood in South Carolina has had a series of “guest bloggers’ recently at his blog Treading Grain. Yesterday the guest blogger was ACNA bishop +John Guernsey, with a fantastic post on the importance of prayer warriors and intercessory prayer, especially for clergy.

Here’s an excerpt, but please read it all!

We are engaged in a spiritual battle and our adversary the devil is prowling around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. Clergy experience attacks:

Attacks on finances

Attacks on health

Attacks on marriage and family.

Attacks of fear and doubt.

Clergy need prayer. Yes, we must be people of prayer ourselves. That is vital. But we also urgently need the prayers of others. As leaders, we need to view prayer cover the way the infantry views air cover. We have to fight the battle on the ground, to be sure, but we’d be foolish to try it without that canopy of covering in the heavenlies.

For too many years, I failed to grasp how important intercessory prayer cover is for my ministry, for my family, for me. But I have repented and I’ve become very intentional about recruiting and encouraging those who faithfully and sacrificially pray and fast for me, for my family and for my ministry.

Such prayer support is not just for clergy. In the parish I served as rector, we would urge everyone who took on a ministry or leadership responsibility to seek out personal intercessors who will commit to pray for them and support them in their ministry as a member of the Vestry or as a Sunday School teacher or as a short-term missionary or youth group leader—whatever their role. It really is OK to ask people to make an intentional commitment to intercede for you.

The full text is here.

John 1:29-32

The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, “Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!” (John 1:29)
      Holy Spirit, please help us bring all of our sins to Jesus so that he can take them away.

“This is he of whom I said, ‘After me comes a man who is preferred before me, for he was before me.’” (John 1:30)
      Jesus, please help us daily take second place to you.

“I did not know him; but that he should be revealed to Israel, therefore I came baptizing with water.” (John 1:31)
      Father, thank you for the witness of all those who share the light of the gospel with your people Israel.

And John bore witness, saying, “I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and he remained upon him.” (John 1:32)
      Holy Spirit, come and remain on us and help us bear witness to Jesus. Thank you for staying with us day by day.

Wednesday: 81, 82; Judges 7:19-8:12; Acts 3:12-26; John 1:29-42
Thursday: 85, 86; Judges 8:22-35; Acts 4:1-12; John 1:43-51

      Notes from the Front Line

***** “Kim Walker Smith – Show Me Your Glory – Jesus Culture (lyrics)” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ckwEZsglLLU

Albany Intercessor

Shield of faith

This is part of a series of prayers on the armor of God. When I originally thought about this prayer, I had an image of a shield encrusted with mustard seeds. Now I realize how wrong that image is. One minute mustard seed in your pocket is all that is needed. God does the rest.–JW

Genesis 15:1 NIV
[ God's Covenant With Abram ] After this, the word of the LORD came to Abram in a vision: “Do not be afraid, Abram. I am your shield, your very great reward. “

2 Samuel 22:36 NIV
You give me your shield of victory; you stoop down to make me great.

Thank You for Your covenant love, O Lord.

Helmet of salvation
Shoes of readiness
Breastplate of righteousness
Belt of truth

Kenyan constitutional referendum

The vote is Wednesday. There are several controversial features. The church is not speaking as one voice. There is some division along tribal lines. There is a fear of post-referendum unrest.

Colossians 1:15-20 NIV
He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For by him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy. For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.

Dear Father,
We claim the shed blood of Christ Jesus over the church in Kenya and the referendum. By the fullness of Your presence through Him, make peace, we pray. Amen.

A Prayer to Begin the Day

The Rev. Dr. Kendall Harmon posted this at TitusOneNine on August 2.

Into thy hands, O Lord, we commend ourselves this day. Let thy presence be with us to its close. Strengthen us to remember that in whatsoever good work we do we are serving thee. Give us a diligent and watchful spirit, that we may seek in all things to know thy will, and knowing it, gladly to perform it, to the honour and glory of thy name; through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Kendall did not include a source, but a Google search suggests it is excerpted from this book: The local church in a global era: reflections for a new century, By Max L. Stackhouse, Tim Dearborn, Scott Paeth. See p. 89, “A Morning Prayer from the Gelasian Sacramentary.”

Read more about the Gelasian Sacramentary here.

A prayer before preaching the Gospel

Baptist blogger Trevin Wax has an awesome prayer posted in his blog Kingdom People, which he calls a “prayer before preaching the Gospel.”

Here’s what he writes about this prayer: This has been my prayer every morning as I have worked on my upcoming book on the gospel. I’ve tweaked it to make it useful for pastors and church leaders who will be proclaiming the gospel today. May we never forget what an awesome privilege it is to preach the good news!

In addition to praying it for ourselves whenever we have occasion to speak and teach about the Gospel or engage in some kind of ministry or outreach, perhaps we can regularly prayer this prayer for the pastors, preachers and teachers that we know.

Here’s an excerpt:

Be ever gracious to me.
Let a ray of your light penetrate the darkness of my understanding.
Give me confidence in the power of your gospel.
Grant me clarity in understanding and proclaiming the truths of your Word. Edify your church through this work.

Father Almighty,
empower your people to tell the gospel story,
to recount your wondrous deeds
which shine light on your glorious and holy character.

Lord Jesus Christ,
empower your people to announce the good news
that you have brought to earth the life of heaven,
that you have sacrificed yourself for sinners,
that you have been raised from the dead
and exalted as Lord over all creation.

Holy Spirit,
empower us to live in light of the gospel,
declaring its truth with our words,
and embodying this truth through our actions.
Give us love for you and love for one another.
Amen.

Please go read and pray the whole thing. It is a lovely and deep prayer.

John 1:1-5,14

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. (John 1:1)
      Holy Spirit, write that Word on our hearts — write Jesus on every cell of our bodies.

He was in the beginning with God. (John 1:2)
      Jesus, we want you to be the beginning and end of our lives.

All things were made through him, and without him nothing was made that was made. (John 1:3)
      Jesus, we are your creation and you have stamped us with your image — thank you.

In him was life, and the life was the light of men. (John 1:4)
      Holy Spirit, please help us walk; help us take each step by the light that Jesus gives. Help us all enter the new life he is offering. Thank you.

And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it. (John 1:5)
      Father, Jesus is your provision for all to be able to see in the surrounding darkness. Please help each of us daily turn to him for light to see by. Thank you.

And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. (John 1:14)
      Father, word and flesh and glory come together in each Eucharist. Help us hear Jesus’ glory in the word that is spoken and see his glory in the bread and wine made flesh and blood for us. Thank you.

      A word received: You are in my care.

Monday: 77, [79]; Judges 6:25-40; Acts 2:37-47; John 1:1-18
Tuesday: 78:40-72; Judges 7:1-18; Acts 3:1-11; John 1:19-28

      Notes from the Front Line

***** “Holy (with Lyrics) by Kim Walker” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xBJeTdy8x3I

Albany Intercessor

Kenyan constitutional referendum

This Wednesday, August 4, Kenya will be voting on a proposed referendum.  It includes several constitutional issues–land reform, government structure, and abortion.  Archbishop Eliud Wabukala has called for a peaceful vote.

Numbers 6:22-27 (New International Version)

The Priestly Blessing

 ²² The LORD said to Moses, ²³ “Tell Aaron and his sons, ‘This is how you are to bless the Israelites. Say to them: ²⁴ ” ‘ “The LORD bless you
       and keep you; ²⁵ the LORD make his face shine upon you
       and be gracious to you; ²⁶ the LORD turn his face toward you
       and give you peace.” ‘ ²⁷ “So they will put my name on the Israelites, and I will bless them.”

Oh, Lord, we cry out that the priests and intercessors around the world will put Your Name upon the nation of Kenya and You will bless them.  Amen.

A Prayer of Saint Augustine for Spiritual Strength in the Battle

A huge thank you to Kendall Harmon for posting this wonderful prayer today at TitusOneNine. I needed to pray this as I have been feeling overwhelmed by my own weakness and my tendency toward negligence in completing some hard tasks. – Karen

O God, our Father, we are exceedingly frail, and indisposed to every virtuous and gallant undertaking: Strengthen our weakness, we beseech thee, that we may do valiantly in this spiritual war; help us against our own negligence and cowardice, and defend us from the treachery of our unfaithful hearts; for the sake of Jesus Christ our Lord.