With Thanksgiving coming up in less than a week and Christmas soon to follow, I thought it wise for us to prepare ourselves for the coming weeks.
I can tell you the enemy is lurking and hunting our doubts and fears; our past experiences and our weaknesses; stay in the word, seek God often, bring all your worries and cares directly to Him through prayer and submission and know that He is faithful.
We must stay alert and prayed up. Next week, Thanksgiving Day and the ensuing weekend will be a stressful time for many, including some of us - spending time with family, who most of the year are avoided, dealing with issues that are not dealt with daily (sometimes, yes), or just being overwhelmed with tasks of preparing a meal, a home or other planning. Remember it is the time we spend with our family that is important. Keep things simple, ask for help and spread out the responsibilities - we cannot do it all, people want to help and feel needed, so divie it up. Bless others with the opportunity to serve as well.
Prayer for all of us.
Father, thank You for giving us so much to be grateful for; thank You for the life we have the opportunity to share with others; thank You for Your grace and mercy and Your willingness to draw us near and hold us tightly when we are afraid, anxious or concerned.
Gracious and merciful Father, we ask for forgiveness for all the thoughts that are not of You, actions that we know are wrong and those we have yet to realize are wrong; forgive our selfishness and greediness; our doubt and fears.
It is in Your glorious presence that we know we are safe and secure, and when we seek You wholly that we can truly know Your blessings for us. Lord, as we head into this beautiful time of thanksgiving and celebrating what we have in our lives, we pray that Your presence is felt, not only by us, by those in our lives who do not know You. We pray Lord that during these next weeks lives will be transformed and hearts will mend from brokenness and blend into Your family called the church.
It is Your likeness that we crave so earnestly and strive for in our daily walk, and Your grace we depend on because we will fall short, every time we will fall short. Amazing Father, we know You love us so much and You sacrificed so much, so that all of our falling short could be sinched up and made whole through the unimaginable suffering, the blood, the horific, yet beautiful death and promised resurrection of Jesus - Thank You.
Father, we come to You today to ask for Your protection over our group and all we serve in Your name, we pray that families will be restored and solid examples of Your presence in their lives be lived out and shared and followed. We pray for Your provision, through this economy, their are many financial hardships and we pray that your mercy for these families without proper resources, will be blessed with enough to see them through with jobs and changed circumstances. We pray Lord that the full strength of Your healing hands to those suffering illness or heath issues into full repair of body, emotion and mind.
We pray that Your people seek You; that there is a revival of gratitude and joy and hearts full of hope throughout the church. We pray for our respective communities, our states, governments and all the people of the world, for strong, moral and honest leadership; that truth prevail and the evil that exists will be removed and replaced with men and women with a heart for good.
In Jesus' name, we pray. Amen
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