Prayer For Giving Thanks and For Seeking Guidance
Tuesday July 28, 2020
Today we want to once again borrow the prayers that we find in Scripture and that others have written down that somehow touch places in our hearts that we long to express to God. We’ll read the 23rd Psalm together as it affirms so many things that are true and solid about life with God today. We’ll give thanks – and I’ll pause after each thanksgiving thought to give all of us a chance to add our own personal expression. We’ll pray for guidance and then come together as a family to pray the Lord’s prayer.
Let’s pray:
Twenty-Third Psalm – Psalms 23: 1-6
The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want.
He makes me lie down in green pastures;
he leads me beside still waters; he restores my soul.
He leads me in right paths for his name’s sake.
Even though I walk through the valley
of the shadow of death,
I fear no evil; for you are with me;
your rod and your staff–they comfort me.
You prepare a table before me
in the presence of my enemies;
you anoint my head with oil;
my cup overflows.
Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me
all the days of my life,
and I shall dwell
in the house of the Lord forever.
A THANKSGIVING PRAYER
Accept, O Lord, our thanks and praise for all that you have done
for us. We thank you for the splendor of the whole creation,
for the beauty of this world, for the wonder of life, and for the
mystery of love.
We thank you for
the blessing of family and
friends, and for the
loving care which surrounds us
on every side.
We thank you for setting us at
tasks that demand our best
efforts, and for leading us
to accomplishments that satisfy
and delight us.
We thank you also for
those disappointments and
failures that lead us to
acknowledge our dependence
on you alone.
Above all, we thank you for
your Son Jesus Christ; for the
truth of his Word and the
example of his life; for his steadfast
obedience, by which he overcame
temptation; for his dying,
through which he conquered death;
and for his rising to life
again, in which we are raised
to the life of your kingdom.
Grant us the gift of your Spirit,
that we may know Christ
and make him known;
and through him, at all times
and in all places, may give thanks
to you in all things. Amen.
FOR HOLY THOUGHTS
O God, without whose beauty and goodness
our souls are unfed, without whose truth
our reason withers: Consecrate our lives
to your will, giving us such purity of heart,
such depth of faith, and such steadfastness
of purpose, that in time we may come
to think your own thoughts after you;
through Jesus Christ our Savior. Amen.
PRAYER FOR GUIDANCE
O God, by whom the meek are guided i
n judgment, and light rises up in darkness
for the godly: Grant us, in all our doubts
and uncertainties, the grace to ask what
you would have us do, that the Spirit of wisdom
may save us from all false choices; that in your
light we may see light, and in your straight path
we may not stumble; through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen.
The Lord’s Prayer – Matthew 6:9-13
Our Father, who art in heaven,
hallowed be thy name,
thy kingdom come,
thy will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread
and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive
those who trespass against us.
And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil,
for thine is the kingdom and the power
and the glory, forever. Amen.
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