Prayer & Praise
The Collect
O Lord God, grant your people grace to withstand the temptations of the world, the flesh, and the devil, and with pure hearts and minds to follow you, the only God; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.
Ezekiel 33:1-11
The word of the Lord came to me: “Son of man, speak to your people and say to them, If I bring the sword upon a land, and the people of the land take a man from among them, and make him their watchman, and if he sees the sword coming upon the land and blows the trumpet and warns the people, then if anyone who hears the sound of the trumpet does not take warning, and the sword comes and takes him away, his blood shall be upon his own head. He heard the sound of the trumpet and did not take warning; his blood shall be upon himself. But if he had taken warning, he would have saved his life. But if the watchman sees the sword coming and does not blow the trumpet, so that the people are not warned, and the sword comes and takes any one of them, that person is taken away in his iniquity, but his blood I will require at the watchman’s hand.
“So you, son of man, I have made a watchman for the house of Israel. Whenever you hear a word from my mouth, you shall give them warning from me. If I say to the wicked, O wicked one, you shall surely die, and you do not speak to warn the wicked to turn from his way, that wicked person shall die in his iniquity, but his blood I will require at your hand. But if you warn the wicked to turn from his way, and he does not turn from his way, that person shall die in his iniquity, but you will have delivered your soul.
“And you, son of man, say to the house of Israel, Thus have you said: ‘Surely our transgressions and our sins are upon us, and we rot away because of them. How then can we live?’ Say to them, As I live, declares the Lord God, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and live; turn back, turn back from your evil ways, for why will you die, O house of Israel?
Psalm 119:33-48
Teach me, O Lord, the way of your statutes, * and I shall keep it to the end.
Give me understanding, and I shall keep your law; * indeed, I shall keep it with my whole heart.
Make me go in the path of your commandments, * for therein is my desire.
Incline my heart to your testimonies, * and not to covetous desires.
O turn away my eyes, lest they behold vanity, * and revive me in your ways.
Confirm your word to your servant, * and to all those who fear you.
Take away the reproach that I am afraid of, * for your judgments are good.
Behold, my delight is in your precepts; * O revive me in your righteousness.
Let your loving mercy come to me, O Lord, * even your salvation, according to your word.
So shall I answer those who taunt me, * for my trust is in your word.
O do not take the word of your truth utterly out of my mouth,* for my hope is in your judgments.
So shall I always keep your law, * even for ever and ever.
And I will walk at liberty, * for I seek your commandments.
I will speak of your testimonies also, even before kings, * and will not be ashamed.
And my delight shall be in your commandments, * which I have loved exceedingly.
My hands also will I lift up to your commandments, * and I will meditate on your statutes.
+Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit; As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be; world without end. Amen
Romans 12:9-21
Let love be genuine. Abhor what is evil; hold fast to what is good. Love one another with brotherly affection. Outdo one another in showing honor. Do not be slothful in zeal, be fervent in spirit, serve the Lord. Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer. Contribute to the needs of the saints and seek to show hospitality.
Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them. Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep. Live in harmony with one another. Do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly. Never be wise in your own sight. Repay no one evil for evil, but give thought to do what is honorable in the sight of all. If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all. Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.” To the contrary, “if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink; for by so doing you will heap burning coals on his head.” Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.
Matthew 18:15-20
“If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault, between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have gained your brother. But if he does not listen, take one or two others along with you, that every charge may be established by the evidence of two or three witnesses. If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church. And if he refuses to listen even to the church, let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector. Truly, I say to you, whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. Again I say to you, if two of you agree on earth about anything they ask, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven. For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I among them.”
Thank You, Lord, that even when I don’t yet see the answers to my prayers, You are good and You are faithful!
Been doing the same line of thinking, Captain K. The three procedures on my nose really knocked the stuffing out of me (to quote my dear late grandmoter). Think it was the general anesthesia… Avid Dr. Pol watcher here and they don’t like to anesthetize old animals – bet it is the same with humans…. BUT
Trying to live in the shadow of His wings, trusting…. Medical care IS expensive even with insurance – i am feeling a bit poorer.
We have a good clinic up here for those who are strapped for cash… Perhaps there is something similar where you are?
You stay in my prayers as do all on dear dusty’s list…. God keep you and yours there.
Another fire in our neighborhood started today – prayer appreciated as our resources are across the Colombia R. fighting a big fire that broke out yesterday…
https://inciweb.nwcg.gov/incident/6901/
Em,
Are you having the crazy winds up there?
Yes, Michael, they are erratic – praying for the folks out there fighting them, too
Strangely we still have folks dragging their campers up to the campgrounds 15 miles up river – they’ll create a nightmare on our 2 lane mountain road if we have to evacuate…
My daughter has been called in to work tonight – so I’ll be trusting God with one eye open
You take care
please remember in prayer
Em – Another fire in our neighborhood – prayer appreciated as our resources are across the Colombia R. fighting a big fire
Captain Kevin – : I’ve been experiencing some digestive issues, and may need to see a gastroenterologist. I do not have health insurance. To be honest, I’m scared.
Duane – Please pray for the repose of the soul of the Rev’d Dr Steven Peay, sometime Dean of Nashotah House, who has died. He was a friend and a generous soul…
Em – Would appreciate prayer for my nurse daughter. The company she works for have scheduled her for 11 days straight 12 hour shifts and many of the critical care dialysis patients are covid positive from outside the area… Humanly speaking, this schedule is impossible. .
jtk – I request prayer for our outreach to the university. 25% of those 18-23 have considered suicide in the last 30 days. This is so urgent in my heart and spirit.
Michael – Miss Kitty has cancer
EM – recovering from facial surgery – nose repair
Linnea – healing from knee replacement. has developed an infection.
Michael – I’m going in this morning for a stress test and cardiac ultrasound…praying I’m stable enough to put off surgery a while longer…
Em – Prayer for my daughter on city council would br appreciated, she has, as of this morning (Thursday) received 24 threatening Emails demanding that they disband their police department
Michael – tachycardia
Our Phoenix Preacher family, health, healing, joy, peace
Kelly -I have a real need to continue to see my counselor. In addition to the other reasons I see him for I have been having day long panic attacks, on top of the depression and PTSD-C symptoms.
Alissa-My sweet husband has Autism and was let go from his job yesterday.
Patrik -Pray for me, an ER nurse in Indianapolis.
Dan form Georgia- I work in aviation/transportation. We are getting hit HARD as many of you know. I am not even confident when I go into work everyday that it will be my last day (layoff or termination). Also struggling a lot with anxiety.
Chris -My wife started her second career as a nurse this week on the hospital floor that they treat the Covid patients.
Linneia – joint and muscle aches
Nancy – prayer for her discernment of an unexpected opportunity to become a more public advocate for the homeless,
Em – daughter is healing from fracture spine
Michael – I would appreciate prayer as well…life is pretty overwhelming right now.
Captain Kevin – Appreciate prayer. I’ve been in a Fibro/fatigue/depressed funk all week.
Also, I’m teaching piano and voice at a local studio, and need many more students to make things work.
Linnea – Would you pray for Greg? He was treated for an aggressive brain cancer and thought he was clear, but it has roared back. Please pray for healing and that he and his wife come to know the Lord. Thank you!
Xenia-+Pray for the churches of Sri Lanka
Paige – Asking for prayer for a family issue… God knows…. and the silencing of a lying gossip who is spreading slander about me to family members and others. It’s an on going issue that is quite perplexing, and apparently demonic. Twisted, delusional and strange.
cash – depression , PTSD
David H – I could use a prayer. I was diagnosed with Bell’s Palsy . Right side of my face is paralyzed. Prednisone and an antiviral.
Michael – heart aneurysm and a bad valve, bad back and neck issues.
JD – Marshal whose mother told him that she doesn’t love him
Linnea – Jon and Sarah. Please pray that they would know God’s love and would follow Him out of horrible lifestyles to freedom.
Michael, Rick, Joel, Dan, capt. Kevin, Owen – wand to hear from God in their prayer life
JTK- ongoing back issue.
David H – Aunt Ramona has Adenocarcinoma primary lung cancer.
Victor- chronic back pain
Linnea- sister salvation
Paige- 4 boys to be pleasing to God
I just heard that half of Medford burned down last night…..
Michael, please check in to let us know how you and your family are!!! Praying you all are safe
I’m safe as are the cats so far. I’ll write more when I can.
Good to hear you and your cats are safe right now.
Thank You, Lord – give Michael and family strength now please Father.
Half of Medford burned?
Real quick. Medford is mostly intact. My town and the one further south are basically gone. Hard to tell right now, info is real hard to come by.
Oh man. Continued prayers for you and your cats and neighbors.
Thank you, Michael. Hard to grasp whole towns, evrn small ones, burned. Let the peeps know what you need when things settle a bit. Hug your mom for me