Praise and thanksgiving to Father, Son, and Holy Spirit--- I just received test results and have passed the 5-year milestone cancer free! I was treated for breast cancer in 2007. Recurrence is most likely during the first 5 years. So, I praise God for this great blessing in my life. Anna
Great news Anna. Jubilate Deo O be joyful in the Lord, all ye lands: serve the Lord with gladness and come before his presence with a song. Be ye sure that the Lord he is God: it is he that hath made us and not we ourselves, we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture. O go your way into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise: be thankful unto him and speak good of his name. For the Lord is gracious, his mercy is everlasting: and his truth endureth from generation to generation. Glory be to the Father, and to the Son : and to the Holy Ghost; As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be : world without end. Amen.
Wow I didn't know this prayer thread existed. Sorry for creating my own! Anna, I am very grateful that the Lord has given you this joy. Please join me, from afar, in dedicating the Te Deum tomorrow morning to the recovery of your health. If you can't pray Mattins tomorrow morning, don't worry... I've got you covered! ~ I would like someone to pray that the Lord, the Holy Spirit of wisdom and counsel, will mercifully guide, strengthen, and encourage me to go to my first Anglican service on Sunday morning without scruples...
I'd appreciate prayers for wisdom and discernment. I'm leaving the Episcopal Church. There is no way to win, and I can tell that the Holy Spirit is leading me elsewhere. I want to be sure that I follow his lead and not my own faulty instincts.
Are you very sure about that, Adam? I will pray for your wisdom and discernment not to jump ship, and then if you believe it to be God's will that you jump ship, that He will send you some drifting wood to catch hold of. It is a trying time... God is our hope and strength, a very present help in trouble... if you need wisdom, repair to the Collect for Pentecost Sunday... GOD, who [as at this time] didst teach the hearts of thy faithful people, by sending to them the light of thy Holy Spirit: grant us by the same Spirit to have a right judgment in all things, and evermore to rejoice in His holy comfort; through the merits of Christ Jesus our Saviour, who liveth and reigneth with thee, in the unity of the same Spirit, one God, world without end. Amen.
Adam, I shall pray for you. Fasting is an important act for us to take. We should all join in at least a partial fast, (40-50% of daily intake) for the month of August, to coincide with Bp. Lawrence's retreat.
Will do and you are all in my prayers - the more I pray for unity in the church the things come to my attention that show how fractured it is. Maybe God is trying to tell us something - last one must remember to turn off the lights.
Thanks to all for your kind words and prayers. Adam, I've been praying for you. Have you made a final decision yet? Anna
Lord Jesus Christ, alive and at large in the world, Help me to follow and find you there today, in the places where I work, meet people, spend money, and make plans. Take me as a disciple of your kingdom, to see through your eyes, and hear the questions you are asking, to welcome all others with your trust and truth, and to change the things that contradict God's love, by the power of the cross and the freedom of your Spirit. ~ John V. Taylor, A Matter of Life and Death
I asked God for strength, that I might achieve. I was made weak, that I might learn to humbly obey. I asked for health, that I might do greater things. I was given infirmity, that I might do better things. I asked for riches, that I might be happy. I was given poverty, that I might be wise. I asked for power, that I might have the praise of men. I was given weakness, that I might feel the need of God. I asked for all things, that I might enjoy life. I was given life, that I might enjoy all things. I got nothing I asked for--but everything I had hoped for. Almost despite myself, my unspoken prayers were answered. I am among all men most richly blessed. --unknown Confederate soldier (C.S.A.)
A Recipe for Happiness by Helen Steiner Rice Happiness is something we create in our mind, It's not something you search for and so seldom find-- It's just waking up and beginning the day By counting our blessings and kneeling to pray-- It's giving up thoughts that breed discontent And accepting what comes as "a gift heaven-sent"-- It's giving up wishing for things we have not And making the best of whatever we've got-- It's knowing that life is determined for us, And pursuing our task without fret or fuss-- For it's by completing what God gives us to do That we find real contentment and happiness, too.
Charles Spurgeon: David was heartsick. Ease he did not seek, honour he did not covet, but the enjoyment of communion with God was an urgent need of his soul. . . an absolute necessity, like water to a stag. . . . His soul, his very self, his deepest life, was insatiable for a sense of the divine presence. . . . O to have the most intense craving after the highest good! The Treasury of David, vol. 2 (McLean Vir.: MacDonald Publishing Company, nd) 270, 271