The Prayer Room: Praying for America, FR, and all who need it

Unless the LORD builds the house, those who build it labor in vain. Unless the LORD watches over the city, the watchman stays awake in vain.

Psalm 127:1>

At this time, when feelings run high, the world seems crazy, and anger seems to be the one thing the peoples of the world have in common, I invite you, my fellow FReepers, to join me in prayers and meditation for guidance, God's help and for our fellow man, for America, our troops, and all our own needs.

Sweet hour of prayer! sweet hour of prayer!
That calls me from a world of care,
And bids me at my Father’s throne
Make all my wants and wishes known.
In seasons of distress and grief,
My soul has often found relief
And oft escaped the tempter’s snare
By thy return, sweet hour of prayer!

William Bradbury

God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.
Therefore we will not fear though the earth should change,
though the mountains shake in the heart of the sea;
though its waters roar and foam,
though the mountains tremble with its tumult.

Psalm 46: 1-3

Luk 5:1 And it happened that the crowd was pressing on Him to hear the Word of God. And He was standing by Lake Gennesaret.
Luk 5:2 And He saw two boats standing by the lake, but the fishermen had left them and were washing the nets.
Luk 5:3 And entering into one of the boats, which was Simon's, He asked him to put out a little from the land. And sitting down, He taught the crowd from the boat.
Luk 5:4 And as He quit speaking, He said to Simon, Put out into the deep and let down your nets for a haul.
Luk 5:5 And answering, Simon said to Him, Master, laboring all through the night we took nothing. But at Your word I will let down the net.
Luk 5:6 And doing this, they netted a great multitude of fish; and their net was being torn.
Luk 5:7 And they signaled the partners, those in the other boat, to come and help them. And they came and filled both the boats, so that they were sinking.
Luk 5:8 And seeing, Simon Peter fell at the knees of Jesus, saying, Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, Lord.
Luk 5:9 For astonishment took hold of him, and all those with him, at the haul of fish which they took;
Luk 5:10 and in the same way also, James and John, the sons of Zebedee, who were partners with Simon. And Jesus said to Simon, Do not fear. From now on you will be taking men alive.
Luk 5:11 And bringing the boats down onto the land, forsaking all things, they followed Him.

Oh LORD,
This is your World, and your Salvation. After we have been at your feet today, in your Word, bring the harvest.
Your Word does not return to you void, but accomplishes what you desire.
I ask that you would save to the uttermost, those that you are adding to the Church today, to that Body of Christ, to that Pure Bride.
It is surely not by power or might, but by Your Spirit, all these things are accomplished.
Let me walk with you today and follow closely.

http://www.cyberhymnal.org/htm/o/f/oforaclo.htm

O for a closer walk with God,
A calm and heavenly frame,
A light to shine upon the road
That leads me to the Lamb!

Where is the blessedness I knew,
When first I saw the Lord?
Where is the soul refreshing view
Of Jesus and His Word?

What peaceful hours I once enjoyed!
How sweet their memory still!
But they have left an aching void
The world can never fill.

Return, O holy Dove, return,
Sweet messenger of rest!
I hate the sins that made Thee mourn
And drove Thee from my breast.

The dearest idol I have known,
Whate’er that idol be
Help me to tear it from Thy throne,
And worship only Thee.

So shall my walk be close with God,
Calm and serene my frame;
So purer light shall mark the road
That leads me to the Lamb.
--William Cowper

Like the beat of a heart,
pounding, pounding,
like the beat of a drum
as an army moves out,
like the pain of a wound
throbbing, throbbing,
The whole weight of sin
on the wood of one cross.

How high we pile it,
higher and higher,
the guilt load, the sorrow
on the weight of His head,
Each act of darkness,
blacker and blacker,
The whole weight of sin
on the wood of one cross.

Each wrong against brother,
the anger, the anger,
The coldhearted choosing
the wrong over right,
Each trust we've betrayed,
how bitter, how bitter,
The whole weight of sin
on the wood of one cross.

He carried it all,
Each wrongness, each wrongness
He bore it for us,
God With Us, for love,
Each black-hearted deed,
To save us, to save us,
The whole weight of sin
on the wood of one cross.

O help us to love,
O Jesus, O Jesus,
To end the great weight
we pour on your head,
To see the great love
Poured on us, poured on us,
From the gift that you gave
on the wood of one cross.

Jud 1:1 Jude, a slave of Jesus Christ, and brother of James, to the ones called in God the Father, having been set apart, and having been kept to Jesus Christ:
Jud 1:2 Mercy and peace, and love be multiplied to you.
Jud 1:3 Having made all haste to write to you about the common salvation, beloved, I had need to write to you to exhort you to contend earnestly for the faith once delivered to the saints.

http://www.cyberhymnal.org/htm/l/e/letplead.htm

Let us plead for faith alone
Faith which by our works is shown;
God it is Who justifies,
Only faith the grace applies.

Active faith that lives within,
Conquers hell and death and sin,
Hallows whom it first made whole,
Forms the Savior in the soul.

Let us for this faith contend,
Sure salvation is the end;
Heaven already is begun,
Everlasting life is won.

Only let us persevere
Till we see our Lord appear,
Never from the Rock remove,
Saved by faith which works by love.

The deepest longing of the human heart is to know and
enjoy the glory of God. We were made for this. “Bring my
sons from afar and my daughters from the end of the earth
. . . whom I created for my glory,” says the Lord (Isaiah
43:6-7).--John Piper, "Seeing and Savoring Jesus Christ", 2004

Psa 8:1 To the chief Musician upon Gittith, A Psalm of David. O LORD our Lord, how excellent is thy name in all the earth! who hast set thy glory above the heavens.

Psa 8:9 O LORD our Lord, how excellent is thy name in all the earth!

Psa 36:7 How excellent is thy lovingkindness, O God! therefore the children of men put their trust under the shadow of thy wings.

Psa 148:13 Let them praise the name of the LORD: for his name alone is excellent; his glory is above the earth and heaven.

Heb 1:1 In many ways and in various ways of old, God spoke to the fathers in the prophets;
Heb 1:2 in these last days He spoke to us in the Son, whom He appointed heir of all; through whom He indeed made the ages;
Heb 1:3 who being the shining splendor of His glory, and the express image of His essence, and upholding all things by the Word of His power, having made purification of our sins through Himself, He sat down on the right of the Majesty on high,
Heb 1:4 having become so much better than the angels, He has inherited a name more excellent than they.

Thank you Father for the Excellence of Jesus Christ and the Excellence of His Salvation of us to the uttermost.
Let us see the Glory that he had with you from the beginning.

Joh 17:24 Father, I desire that those whom You have given Me, that where I am, they may be with Me also, that they may behold My glory which You gave Me, because You loved Me before the foundation of the world.

http://www.cyberhymnal.org/htm/p/h/phimphim.htm

Praise Him! Praise Him! Jesus, our blessèd Redeemer!
Sing, O Earth, His wonderful love proclaim!
Hail Him! hail Him! highest archangels in glory;
Strength and honor give to His holy Name!
Like a shepherd, Jesus will guard His children,
In His arms He carries them all day long:

Refrain

Praise Him! Praise Him!
Tell of His excellent greatness.
Praise Him! Praise Him!
Ever in joyful song!

Praise Him! Praise Him! Jesus, our blessèd Redeemer!
For our sins He suffered, and bled, and died.
He our Rock, our hope of eternal salvation,
Hail Him! hail Him! Jesus the Crucified.
Sound His praises! Jesus who bore our sorrows,
Love unbounded, wonderful, deep and strong.

Refrain

Praise Him! Praise Him! Jesus, our blessèd Redeemer!
Heav’nly portals loud with hosannas ring!
Jesus, Savior, reigneth forever and ever.
Crown Him! Crown Him! Prophet, and Priest, and King!
Christ is coming! over the world victorious,
Pow’r and glory unto the Lord belong.
--Fanny Crosby

A prayer for us all, and for the captured British sailors, and all those who will be dealing with personal and national crises:

Out of the depths I cry unto you,
O Lord,
My Light and my Hope.

The darkness is deep today,
O Lord,
and I feel the waters rising
that threaten to sweep me away,
and in my fear
and in my anxiety
and in my hope
and in my longing,
I cry out to you.

Lord,
From dust you made me,
to dust will my body return,
but it is you who put the life in me,
it was you who breathed his last
so that I might live,
it was you who shattered death
so that you might take me home.
In the darkness of my fears
show me Golgotha, Lord,
that I might kneel
in the shadow of your cross
and see how much you care.
In the depths of my anxieties, O Lord,
show me your empty tomb,
and the hope you left with us
so we know your word is true.
When I feel so overwhelmed,
show me the Garden,
and how you sanctified the struggle
to do the right thing,
the Father's will
with your own dark moment.

O Lord,
who lets my cry come unto you,
who sends back the word,
"I know.
I am there with you.
I will never leave you alone,"
I trust in you,
be thou my strength,
my life,
my hope,
this day and always,

Amen.

Glorifying our Savior with you, and Thanking Him for His Love!

Our Merciful Master,

We Come Reverently Before Your Throne, So Thankful for Your Love and Your Grace. Great are You, O Lord our Redeemer, for Thou hast Destroyed our Sins, Christ having Borne them Forever Away. O Thou Who hath Quickened us, and Raised us from Death, Receive our Worship, our Holy God Most High.

We Interceed for our Nation's Leaders, and for our Military, O Loving Lord. Grant them the Mind of Christ, with All Wisdom, and Insight Divine. Strengthen our Troops, Most Righteous Lord, with Great Power and Heavenly Might. Thank You, our God, for the Victories you have Granted them, through Grace. Bring to Justice All Terrorists, that No More Innocent Blood be Shed. Bless our President, and Help him to Walk in Your Godly Ways.

We Praise You, our Royal Master, and Worship our God, His Majesty the King. Grant Your Children Great Blessings, my Lord Most Great. We Pray in the Name of our Jesus; Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, amen.

God's Grace be with you all. (Heb.13:25)

http://www.cyberhymnal.org/htm/n/o/nowrestb.htm

Now rest beneath night’s shadow
The woodland, field, and meadow,
The world in slumber lies;
But Thou, my heart, awake thee,
To prayer and song betake thee;
Let praise to thy Creator rise.

The radiant sun hath vanished,
His golden rays are banished
By night, the foe of day;
But Christ, the Sun of gladness,
Dispelling all my sadness,
Within my heart holds constant sway.

The rule of day is over
And shining jewels cover
The heaven’s boundless blue.
Thus I shall shine in heaven,
Where crowns of gold are given
To all who faithful prove and true.

To rest my body hasteth,
Aside its garments casteth,
Types of mortality;
These I put off and ponder
How Christ will give me yonder
A robe of glorious majesty.

Lord Jesus, Who dost love me,
Oh, spread Thy wings above me
And shield me from alarm!
Though evil would assail me,
Thy mercy will not fail me:
I rest in Thy protecting arm.

My loved ones, rest securely,
For God this night will surely
From peril guard your heads.
Sweet slumbers may He send you
And bid His hosts attend you
And through the night watch o’er your beds.
--Paul Gerhardt,1648

Joh 6:26 Jesus answered them, "Truly, truly, I say to you, you are seeking me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate your fill of the loaves.
Joh 6:27 Do not labor for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give to you. For on him God the Father has set his seal."
Joh 6:28 Then they said to him, "What must we do, to be doing the works of God?"
Joh 6:29 Jesus answered them, "This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent."

http://www.cyberhymnal.org/htm/s/u/surround.htm

Surrounded by a host of foes,
Stormed by a host of foes within,
Nor swift to flee, nor strong t’oppose,
Single, against hell, earth, and sin,
Single, yet undismayed, I am;
I dare believe in Jesus’ Name.

What though a thousand hosts engage,
A thousand worlds, my soul to shake?
I have a shield shall quell their rage,
And drive the alien armies back;
Portrayed it bears a bleeding Lamb
I dare believe in Jesus’ Name.

Me to retrieve from Satan’s hands,
Me from this evil world to free,
To purge my sins, and loose my bands,
And save from all iniquity,
My Lord and God from Heav’n He came;
I dare believe in Jesus’ Name.

Salvation in His Name there is,
Salvation from sin, death, and hell,
Salvation into glorious bliss,
How great salvation, who can tell!
But all He hath for mine I claim;
I dare believe in Jesus’ Name.
--Charles Wesley, 1749.

Joh 9:35 Jesus heard that they had cast him out, and having found him he said, "Do you believe in the Son of Man?"
Joh 9:36 He answered, "And who is he, sir, that I may believe in him?"
Joh 9:37 Jesus said to him, "You have seen him, and it is he who is speaking to you."
Joh 9:38 He said, "Lord, I believe," and he worshiped him.
Joh 9:39 Jesus said, "For judgment I came into this world, that those who do not see may see, and those who see may become blind."

LORD, we ask for that simple faith that Believes God.
Give it by your Spirit and help us to cherish it always, and let it grow and be strengthened by your Word of Truth, until that work which you began in us, the Work of God, is completed.
Amen.

That is a Lovely Hymn, and has Greatly Refreshed my Heart.

I just Found a Wonderful Hymn on the Net, but I can't Get my Link to it to Work. The Site Says it has Many Midi's and Hymns, but I haven't Studied them Yet to See if they're Doctrinally Sound.

www.biblestudycharts.com

I Love Thee {Lyrics: William Featherston, 1864. Composer: Adoniram Gordon, 1876.}

I love Thee, I love Thee, I love Thee, my Lord;
I love Thee, my Savior, I love Thee, my God;
I love Thee, I love Thee, and that Thou dost know;
But how much I love Thee my actions will show.

I’m happy, I’m happy, oh, wondrous account!
My joys are immortal, I stand on the mount;
I gaze on my treasure and long to be there,
With Jesus and angels and kindred so dear.

O Jesus, my Savior, with Thee I am blessed.
My life and salvation, my joy and my rest.
Thy Name be my theme, and Thy love be my song;
Thy grace shall inspire both my heart and my tongue.

Oh, who’s like my Savior? He’s Salem’s bright King;
He smiles and He loves me and helps me to sing:
I’ll praise him, I’ll praise Him with notes loud and clear,
While rivers of pleasure my spirit shall cheer.

As we near Easter, I will go through my files with the many, many poems I have written on the Passion of our Lord and post more than usual, Lord willing. This one is the very first posting on my blog:

When you prayed in the garden, Lord,
and the heaviness pressed all around you
as the full moon's light peaked through the olive trees,
and your apostles snored in the shadows,
and you sweated blood in the depths of your grief,
how heavy did today weigh on your shoulders,
with a war-torn world,
mad with bloodlust,
despising your peace,
hot with hatred and selfish fulfilment
sometimes done in the name of God,
or done in the name of self,
careless with all you have taught?

When they tied you to the pillar, Lord,
and scourged you in the Roman way,
a beating so severe that it alone could take a life,
as the weights at the ends of the whips,
and the heavy slap of the leather tore your flesh,
did you see the babies ripped for profit,
the innocents blown up to make a political statement,
the slaughtered millions killed
because they belonged to the wrong class,
or bloodline,
or culture
or faith
or country?
Which gave you the most pain,
the cruel leather,
or the knowlege how we would reject you?

When you walked that long walk
with the heavy crossbeam tied to your hands
as they paraded you and the others
to the Place of the Skull
amid a phalanx of proud and hard Roman soldiers
who hated the noise and the crowd and the foreignness
of it all,
and took out their spite by tugging your bonds
and watching you fall with arms extended,
and when you saw your Mother there,
and the aching pain passed between you,
did you see all the other mothers
aching in their pain for what evildoers would do
to their sons and daughters in the days to come,
mothers of the disapeared,
mothers of political prisoners,
mothers of those slain by bombers,
mothers of the beaten and kidnapped,
mothers looking for children buried in mass graves,
mothers who watch their children starve for others'
gain?

When they nailed you to the cross,
and hung you up to die the slow death
reserved for slaves and foreign traitors,
gradual suffocation
in hot, aching, painful breaths,
did our evil make the pain that much harder?
Did our lack of mercy and love
echo down the centuries like a pressing weight
making your sacrifice all the more painful?

And yet, still you managed to love us,
and gave us all you had left,
your mother,
your compassion,
your heart's blood.

Dear Lord,
Forgive us!

http://www.cyberhymnal.org/htm/c/r/creatore.htm

Creator of the earth and sky,
Ruling the firmament on high,
Clothing the day with robes of light,
Blessing with gracious sleep the night.

That rest may comfort weary men,
And brace to useful toil again,
And soothe awhile the harassed mind,
And sorrow’s heavy load unbind.

Day sinks; we thank Thee for Thy gift;
Night comes; and once again we lift
Our prayer and vows and hymns that we
Against all ills may shielded be.

Thee let the secret heart acclaim,
Thee let our tuneful voices name,
Round Thee our chaste affections cling
Thee sober reason own as King.

That when black darkness closes day,
And shadows thicken round our way,
Faith may no darkness know, and night
From faith’s clear beam may borrow light.

Rest not, my heaven born mind and will;
Rest, all the thoughts and deeds of ill;
May faith its watch unwearied keep,
And cool the dreaming warmth of sleep.

From cheats of sense, Lord, keep me free;
And let my heart’s depth dream of Thee;
Let not my envious foe draw near,
To break my rest with any fear.

Pray we the Father and the Son,
And Holy Ghost: O Three in One,
Blest Trinity, Whom all obey,
Guard Thou Thy sheep by night and day.
--Ambrose of Milan (340-397)

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