My Shepherd, thank you for caring for me enough to look for me when I wander.

God comes looking for us and brings us home,

away from the danger we got ourselves into.

He loves us so much that He doesn’t want to lose even one of us.  

~~Tracie Petterson 

This morning’s prayer and meditation for Sally’s healing comes from Take Heart, Oh God: Riches from the Greatest Christian Women Writers of All Time.

When a shepherd discovers a sheep is missing, he can stand and shake his head over that stupid animal, or call out the sheep’s name and give up on it if it doesn’t come. But a shepherd who cares about his sheep goes out in search of the creature who has gone astray. He knows the sheep may be lost, stuck, or in danger from a predator. He will keep looking until he finds it.

Jesus, our Great Shepherd, doesn’t give up when he calls and we don’t answer. He doesn’t leave us to make our own way home. He doesn’t stand and scold when he finds us stuck in thorns after we’ve wandered away. He tenderly pulls us out of the thorn bush and offers medicine for our wounds.

Oh that we would learn that the best place is to stay close by the Shepherd’s side.

Prayer for Meditation

My Shepherd, thank you for caring for me enough to look for me when I wander.

Scripture for Meditation

I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd sacrifices his life for the sheep.  A hired hand will run when he sees a wolf coming. He will abandon the sheep because they don’t belong to him and he isn’t their shepherd. And so the wolf attacks them and scatters the flock.  The hired hand runs away because he’s working only for the money and doesn’t really care about the sheep. 

“I am the good shepherd; I know my own sheep, and they know me, just as my Father knows me and I know the Father. So I sacrifice my life for the sheep. 

Music for Meditation

The Lord is My Shepherd

 

If you feel led to do so, please post a note of encouragement in the comment section below, or send your note by email to PrayersForSally@gmail.com

Lord, in silence I come to you to hear and to serve and to find peace.

The fruit of silence is PRAYER.

The fruit of prayer is FAITH.

The fruit of faith is LOVE.

The fruit of love is SERVICE.

The fruit of service is PEACE 

~~Mother Teresa 

This morning’s prayer and meditation for Sally’s healing comes from Take Heart, Oh God: Riches from the Greatest Christian Women Writers of All Time.

Tending to the needs of the sick, the suffering, and the dying, Mother Teresa shared the light of Christ with the world. She practiced five simple steps in her life, steps that lead to peace. Each step builds upon the previous step, and so step one is vital—the need for us to find a place of silence in order to commune with God.

Silence allows us to open our hearts to God, who longs for us to turn to him. This is followed by prayer, where we share our concerns with God. Prayer leads to faith, which wells up in our hearts as confident trust in our Savior. This reassurance allows us to embrace others with kindness and to serve them. That kind of service brings peace. Like falling back onto a sumptuous featherbed, God’s peace enfolds us and brings us in silence back to him to begin the cycle again.

Prayer for Meditation

Lord, in silence I come to you to hear and to serve and to find peace.

Scripture for Meditation

And this righteousness will bring peace.  Yes, it will bring quietness and confidence forever. Isaiah 32:17 

Music for Meditation

Perfect Peace

 

If you feel led to do so, please post a note of encouragement in the comment section below, or send your note by email to PrayersForSally@gmail.com

Father, for your sake, grant me the strength to forgive those who have wronged me.

Those who were able to forgive their enemies were able to return to the outside world and rebuild their lives, no matter what the physical scars. Those who nursed their bitterness remained invalids. It was as simple and as horrible as that. 

~~Corrie ten Boom 

This morning’s prayer and meditation for Sally’s healing comes from Take Heart, Oh God: Riches from the Greatest Christian Women Writers of All Time.

Bitterness and unforgiveness don’t hurt the unforgiven ones; they hurt the one who refused to forgive. Persecuted by the Nazis who also killed many of her loved ones, Corrie ten Boom later learned that God could grant forgiveness for the worst of her tormenters. In the years after the war, she cared for others who, like her, had been imprisoned in the concentration camps, and she discovered that the ones who could forgive were free; those who didn’t were still captives.

Whatever loss you have experienced—betrayal, suffering—you need God’s power to move on. To start over, to forgive what may need forgiven, takes God’s strength. Forgiveness does not mean you don’t hurt or don’t care; it simply means you want to move forward and rebuild. To refuse to forgive leaves you stuck in your bitterness.

God has better plans for you.  

Prayer for Meditation

Father, for your sake, grant me the strength to forgive those who have wronged me.  

Scripture for Meditation

Give us today the food we need, and forgive us our sins, as we have forgiven those who sin against us. And don’t let us yield to temptation, but rescue us from the evil one. Matthew 11-13 

Music for Meditation

I Surrender All

 

If you feel led to do so, please post a note of encouragement in the comment section below, or send your note by email to PrayersForSally@gmail.com

Hallelujah, Christ is Risen

Hallelujah by Andre Rieu

 

If you feel led to do so, please post a note of encouragement in the comment section below, or send your note by email to PrayersForSally@gmail.com

Forgive me for being demanding and impatient. Teach me to willingly wait on you.

Often God delays purposely, and the delay is just as much an answer to your prayer

 as it is the fulfillment when it comes. 

~~Emilie Barnes 

This morning’s prayer and meditation for Sally’s healing comes from Take Heart, Oh God: Riches from the Greatest Christian Women Writers of All Time.

From Instant Messaging to microwave dinners, we are accustomed to receiving what we want or getting our tasks done right now—or at least within seconds. When answers to our prayers don’t come according to our desired timeline, we become as frustrated as small children who want dessert before dinner.

No wonder we get so impatient with God. We pray. He delays. We get flustered and frustrated. We want the answer now.

Just as a loving parent knows we need nourishment before treats, God knows the perfect order and timing of the answers we desire. He also knows that waiting on him will bring us even greater satisfaction when he finally sends his answer.

The delay is as much an answer as the answer itself. As your patience grows, so will your faith. God is waiting too—waiting to know that you want him more than you want answers.

Prayer for Meditation

Forgive me for being demanding and impatient. Teach me to willingly wait on you.

Scripture for Meditation

Wait patiently for the Lord. Be brave and courageous.

Yes, wait patiently for the Lord. Psalm 27:14 

Music for Meditation

How Long Oh Lord

 

If you feel led to do so, please post a note of encouragement in the comment section below, or send your note by email to PrayersForSally@gmail.com

Banish any self-love so that I can be sincere in my walk with you.

The finest bread hath the least bran, the purest honey the least wax,

 and the sincerest Christian the least self-love 

~~Anne Bradstreet 

This morning’s prayer and meditation for Sally’s healing comes from Take Heart, Oh God: Riches from the Greatest Christian Women Writers of All Time.

Quality always matters. It is timeless. From Anne Bradstreet’s seventeenth-century world she describes the defining qualities of bread and honey—and sincere Christ followers. And the quality of a Christian, both then and now, has not changed—a sincere believer has the least self-love.

This rubs against our “me-first” culture. Many people live as though their actions happen in a vacuum. They do what they want to do, and their self-love leaves devastation in their wake.

Christians are not immune. While a healthy self-image is certainly important, it is unhealthy to love ourselves more than we love God, more than we love our family, or more than we love our closest friends. Our Savior wants to be first. If we love him more than we love ourselves—really, truly, sincerely—then loving others will come naturally.

Self-love will drive others away; God-love will bring others closer to you, and to God through your example.

Prayer for Meditation

Banish any self-love so that I can be sincere in my walk with you.

Scripture for Meditation

You were cleansed from your sins when you obeyed the truth, so now you must show sincere love to each other as brothers and sisters. Love each other deeply with all your heart. 1 Peter 1:22 

Music for Meditation

Loving God, Loving Each Other

 

If you feel led to do so, please post a note of encouragement in the comment section below, or send your note by email to PrayersForSally@gmail.com

Lord, thank you for the beauty that surrounds me each day

In all ranks of life the human heart yearns for the beautiful;

and the beautiful things that God makes are his gift to all alike. 

~~Harriet Beecher Stowe 

This morning’s prayer and meditation for Sally’s healing comes from Take Heart, Oh God: Riches from the Greatest Christian Women Writers of All Time.

What is beautiful to you? A baby’s smile?  The roar of a waterfall? The smell and taste of fresh blueberry pie?

We tend to think of nature as God-made, and everything else as man-made. But ultimately God is the Creator of everything—the new life that smiles up at you, the mountain chasm over which the waterfall pours, the blueberry that gives the delicious taste to the pie. And then he created human beings with gifts and abilities and senses to enjoy all of that beauty.

God could have created a black and white, two-dimensional world with no sounds or tastes or smells. Instead, he gave limitless colors to flowers in the forest and fish deep beneath the ocean’s surface. He gave us trees blowing in the wind, and yes even the smell of blueberry pie.

All for you. He loves it when you joy the beauty he created.

Prayer for Meditation

Lord, thank you for the beauty that surrounds me each day.

Scripture for Meditation

Since everything God created is good, we should not reject any of it but receive it with thanks.  For we know it is made acceptable by the word of God and prayer. 1Timothy 4:4-5 

Music for Meditation 

All Things Bright and Beautiful

 

If you feel led to do so, please post a note of encouragement in the comment section below, or send your note by email to PrayersForSally@gmail.com

Lord, help me listen so that I hear your best answers to my requests.

It is not enough to pray for answers
if we are too stubborn to listen to what the Lord is telling us.   

~~Allison Bottke 

This morning’s prayer and meditation for Sally’s healing comes from Take Heart, Oh God: Riches from the Greatest Christian Women Writers of All Time.

As a milestone event approaches, we shop for a new dress. We know exactly what we want or else we search until we find the perfect one. No sales clerk can change our minds. We know what we want.

How often do we petition God with the same determination? We know our needs and we know exactly how we want them to be met. We know what he should provide for us, when he should provide it, or how he should deal with that person who hurt us. We aren’t ready to hear another alternative. We may not recognize when God sends a friend or a Scripture to soften our hearts in order to hear him. If we’re too stubborn to listen to what God is saying, we miss his perfect answers.

Listen with an open heart. God’s answers may surprise you.  

Prayer for Meditation

Lord, help me listen so that I hear your best answers to my requests.  

Scripture for Meditation  

My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. John 10:27 

Music for Meditation 

Word of God Speak

 

If you feel led to do so, please post a note of encouragement in the comment section below, or send your note by email to PrayersForSally@gmail.com

Lord, I’m tired, give me strength to take the next step and follow you.

The last and foundational part of my perseverance is born out of my faith. When all those other things . . . run out or fall short, my faith is the thing that enables me to just show up and take one more step. 

~~Michelle Akers 

This morning’s prayer and meditation for Sally’s healing comes from Take Heart, Oh God: Riches from the Greatest Christian Women Writers of All Time.

It’s tough to keep going. When our strength is gone, when that next step takes such tremendous effort, when our body screams in protest and our brain has called in sick—what can motivate us to keep moving forward? What reason can trump our tired mind and limbs?

There’s only one: Jesus. Perseverance is born out of faith in him.

Everything else will run out. Our own determination. Desires, or dreams may not be enough to keep us going.

But faith in the One who calmed the raging sea, healed the sick, raised the dead, and gave sight to the blind—that will keep us showing up and taking one more step.

Whatever you’ve been called to do, know this: he will provide strength and energy for the work to do it. No matter how tired you are today, faith will help you persevere. Take that next step. Your faith will sustain you.

Prayer for Meditation

Lord, I’m tired, give me strength to take the next step and follow you.

Scripture for Meditation

Even youths will become weak and tired, and young men will fall in exhaustion. But those who trust in the Lord will find new strength. They will soar high on wings like eagles. They will run and not grow weary. They will walk and not faint. Isaiah 40:3-31

Music for Meditation 

I Need Thee Every Hour

 

If you feel led to do so, please post a note of encouragement in the comment section below, or send your note by email to PrayersForSally@gmail.com

Lord, I want to honor you today in everything I do.

How I need to order my life around one incredible thought:

 God is to be honored in all I do.

My heart’s desire is to be so overwhelmed with

 . . . God that my life cannot help but bring Him glory.  

~~Cynthia Heald 

This morning’s prayer and meditation for Sally’s healing comes from Take Heart, Oh God: Riches from the Greatest Christian Women Writers of All Time.

In those early morning moments when your eyes first open, what goes through your mind? What gets you up and out of bed?

Perhaps a fussy infant gets you moving, or a long list of responsibilities. Maybe it’s the smell of fresh-brewed coffee, or the song of sparrows. But have you ever considered that you and the sun share the same reason for rising?

God created you and the sun to display his glory. The sun displays the glory of his sustaining and creative power. You display the glory of the risen Christ who lives in you!

Imagine that. As the sun warms the earth, you radiate the warmth of God’s love. That’s why you’re here. And every single thing you do falls into the category of showcasing God’s glory and goodness. Order your life around the incredible thought—God is to be honored in all you do.  

Prayer for Meditation

Lord, I want to honor you today in everything I do.

Scripture for Meditation

For God, who said, “Let there be light in the darkness,” has made this light shine in our hearts so we could know the glory of God that is seen in the face of Jesus Christ.

Music for Meditation 

I Watch the Sunrise

 

If you feel led to do so, please post a note of encouragement in the comment section below, or send your note by email to PrayersForSally@gmail.com

Lord, let my actions reveal my faith in your word as truth.

It is one thing to stand in truth, to believe it, and to embrace it, yet,

there’s more than this in girding our loins with truth; we are to walk in truth.  

~~Mother Teresa 

This morning’s prayer and meditation for Sally’s healing comes from Take Heart, Oh God: Riches from the Greatest Christian Women Writers of All Time.

We long for truth. We appreciate the people in our lives who tell us the truth. Truth means we can count on it. Even if it’s a difficult observation or statement, we at least have a foundation to work from to make a change.

As believers, we count on God’s Word as truth. We stand on it, we believe it, we embrace it. But we must do one more thing—we must walk in it. What we do, what we say, how we live, the example we set, the attitudes we show—all of these must line up with the truth to which we have committed our lives.

It isn’t always easy, but it’s vital. We have found the truth that changes the world, changes lives, changes hearts. Let that truth affect every step you take today and every day.

Prayer for Meditation

Lord, let my actions reveal my faith in your word as truth.

Scripture for Meditation

Teach me your ways, O Lord, that I may live according to your truth! Grant me purity of heart, so that I may honor you. Psalm 86:11 

Music for Meditation 

Come to Jesus

 

If you feel led to do so, please post a note of encouragement in the comment section below, or send your note by email to PrayersForSally@gmail.com

When life gets too big for me, Lord, Please calm the winds and the waves.

Men say there are no atheists in foxholes.

 Women can testify that there are no atheists in delivery rooms

 . . . never is she so at the behest of forces beyond herself.   

~~Marjorie Holmes 

This morning’s prayer and meditation for Sally’s healing comes from Take Heart, Oh God: Riches from the Greatest Christian Women Writers of All Time.

People look to something bigger when they face forces beyond themselves. In the foxholes of wartime, most men want to know that a God watches over them, and that, should they die, their sacrifice will matter and their life will go on in a better place. In the delivery room, where women push life into being, they too know that something bigger than themselves is happening and they have no control over it. They know that a higher power and a higher purpose is involved.

What foxholes are in you right now? What part of your life is spinning out of control? That’s the time to look to the One who alone knows the reason and the outcome. When forces beyond you press in and threaten to undo you, look to God, your Creator and Sustainer.

He’s got it all in his hands. Nothing is too big for him. Even the winds and the waves obey him.

Prayer for Meditation

When life gets too big for me, Lord, Please calm the winds and the waves. 

Scripture for Meditation

Suddenly a furious storm came up on the lake, so that the waves swept over the boat. But Jesus was sleeping. The disciples went and woke him, saying, “Lord, save us! We’re going to drown!”  

He replied, “You of little faith, why are you so afraid?” Then he got up and rebuked the winds and the waves, and it was completely calm.  

The men were amazed and asked, “What kind of man is this? Even the winds and the waves obey him!” Matthew 8:24-27 

Music for Meditation 

Jesus Calms the Storm

 

If you feel led to do so, please post a note of encouragement in the comment section below, or send your note by email to PrayersForSally@gmail.com

Lord, help me bring joy to those in my world today!

It’s not half so sensible to leave legacies when one dies as it is to use the money wisely while alive, and enjoy making one’s fellow creatures happy with it.  

~~Louise May Alcott 

This morning’s prayer and meditation for Sally’s healing comes from Take Heart, Oh God: Riches from the Greatest Christian Women Writers of All Time.

What legacy will you leave? What will those left behind say of you after you are gone?

“She really worked hard to get to the top.”

“Her house was spotless.”

“She always dressed so nice.”

“She left behind a lot of money.”

Sounds a little empty, doesn’t it? Especially when life is in front of us to be lived and enjoyed! The resources you have should be used to make your “fellow creatures happy,” As Louisa May Alcott said. So what if your home is not spotless? All of the neighborhood kids enjoy gathering there. So what if your clothes are a little ragged? You choose to put your money toward something more lasting.

What better legacy to leave than memories of the joy we gave to others? What if we lived knowing that all that makes us unique—our talents, love, passions, and resources—are to bless other? The possibilities are thrilling!

Prayer for Meditation

Lord, help me bring joy to those in my world today!

Scripture for Meditation

As for me, my life has already been poured out as an offering to God. The time of my death is near. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, and I have remained faithful. And now the prize awaits me—the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give me on the day of his return. And the prize is not just for me but for all who eagerly look forward to his appearing. 

Music for Meditation 

Loving God, Loving Each Other

 

If you feel led to do so, please post a note of encouragement in the comment section below, or send your note by email to PrayersForSally@gmail.com

Help me to look at my limitations as your limitless opportunities, Lord.

Consider your own limitations not as obstacles but as opportunities for God to show his limitless power and unlimited love.

~~Carol Cymbala 

This morning’s prayer and meditation for Sally’s healing comes from Take Heart, Oh God: Riches from the Greatest Christian Women Writers of All Time.

We all have limitations. Maybe we just can’t cook to save our lives, or we have difficulty staying organized, or we can’t seem to make any set of numbers add up the same way twice. Face it, not one of us is good at everything.

Where we have limitations, someone else excels. Where we are gifted, someone else needs our help. And through it all God put the pieces together, showing his limitless power and unlimited love.

Consider your limitation as an opportunity. Can’t cook? Check in with your elderly neighbor and spend some time learning a few of her special recipes. Need to be better organized? Call upon that friend who in turn is feeling bad about herself for not being able to add—and let her shine as she organizes your life.

See how it works? God can use even your limitations for his glory.

Prayer for Meditation

Help me to look at my limitations as your limitless opportunities, Lord.

Scripture for Meditation

Now these are the gifts Christ gave to the church: the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, and the pastors and teachers. Their responsibility is to equip God’s people to do his work and build up the church, the body of Christ.  This will continue until we all come to such unity in our faith and knowledge of God’s Son that we will be mature in the Lord, measuring up to the full and complete standard of Christ. Ephesians 4:11-13 

Music for Meditation 

Give Thanks

 

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