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New every morning is your love, great God of light, and all day long you are working for good in the world. Stir up in us desire to serve you, to live peacefully with our neighbors and all your creation, and to devote each day to your Son, our Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.

"A Liturgy for Morning Prayer," Upper Room Worshipbook

Used by permission from the Book of Common Worship, © 2018 Westminster John Knox Press. All rights reserved. This prayer appears in “A Liturgy for Morning Prayer” in Upper Room Worshipbook.

Today’s Reflection

I WAS WORKING with Lana … to plan a retreat for her church. For weeks we e-mailed back and forth to finalize the agenda and hammer out the details. One day my eyes scanned over her e-mail signature. At the bottom, below her name and contact info, I saw this: “Be at peace; you are deeply loved by God” (Daniel 10:19). I was unfamiliar with this verse, so I picked up a Bible and found the passage, though the wording differed. I decided to use my Bible app to flip through the translations. What I gleaned from the various versions was this: “Do not fear, for you are deeply loved by God. Be at peace.”

I was speechless. Do not fear. I read this as God’s confirmation that I no longer needed to be afraid. Why? Because I am deeply loved by God. Deeply. Loved. By God. In other words, God’s got this. God was with my seven-year-old self during the trauma, and God was also present after the trauma as I tried to figure out how to cope. God had created me, giving me a body and mind that were capable of doing what needed to be done to foster my survival at the time. God had gotten me through decades of living in fear. And now, God was helping me see how I could retrain this miracle of a body to handle stress and fear. God was offering me new life – a life free from fear. A life full of peace.

– Kristen E. Vincent
Beads of Healing

From pages 76-77 of Beads of Healing: Prayer, Trauma, and Spiritual Wholeness by Kristen E. Vincent. Copyright © 2016 by Kristen E. Vincent. All rights reserved. Used by permission of Upper Room Books. http://bookstore.upperroom.org/ Learn more about or purchase this book.

Today’s Question

God loves you deeply. What thoughts does that bring to mind? Share your thoughts.

Today’s Scripture

Restore to me the joy of your salvation, and sustain in me a willing spirit.

Psalm 51:12, NRSV

This Week: pray for students starting back to school. Submit your prayer to The Upper Room Living Prayer Center or share it in the comment section.

Did You Know?

In need of prayer? The Upper Room Living Prayer Center is a 7-day-a-week intercessory prayer ministry staffed by trained volunteers. Call 1-800-251-2468 or visit The Living Prayer Center website.

This week we remember: Ignatius of Loyola (July 31).

Lectionary Readings

(Courtesy of Vanderbilt Divinity Library)

Sponsored by Upper Room Ministries ®. Copyright © 2018 | PO Box 340004 | Nashville, TN 37203-0004 | USA

6 Comments

  • Mary Ng Shwu Ling Posted August 2, 2018 12:30 am

    Filled with joy to be deeply loved by God.

    Thank you God for your perfect love!

  • robert moeller Posted August 2, 2018 5:41 am

    Thankful for the comments about the UR and ways to post and see comments.
    i am now going back to the previous day to read posts and will try to post based on what I read there.

    Was able to take care of steps to keep my car on the road, it’s now registered in VT. It all went pretty smoothly at DMV yesterday. Took care of more errands and cleaned up after a critter, probably a bear, made a mess with the garbage can contents. That’s ny first experience with that.

    Happy Birthday Andrea! Hope the time with your daughter and grandson on Lake Superior goes well. Prayers for healing after Julie’s surgery and an end to that terrible migraine for Marcy. Prayers for Gloria, Larry, Becky, and Jill.
    God’s love is with all of you.

    Not much train news, I do have a paper on card stock Bismarck model started. It will help to built the metal version. Will help an older society member access and arrange his collection of the society’s journals, and recently saw photos of two restored sleeping cars from “olden” days at
    Boston’s South Station.

    Will have more zucchini by the weekend and can share at church. Very thankful for the fresh vegetables and their abundance. Thank You, Lord.

  • Julie Posted August 2, 2018 7:58 am

    I continue to know intellectually that God loves me. But like the author of today’s Devotional relates in the extra link, I grew up with criticism and extremely high expectations.
    Prayers for Mary and her parents and coworker.
    Prayers for Robert, Erich and Anneliese. May your upcoming move be smooth.
    Prayers for Marcy and an end to her pain. More kitty stories. Chai sleeps with my daughter at night. He has a bed on her bed which of course has a blanket for him to crawl under. But he also yells at her at night to open her covers so he can sleep under them with her. He often fights her for space on her pilow. I do not allow Tazzie to sleep with me as he would take a flying leap at me and land on my chest knocking the wind out of me at night.
    Prayers for Jill aand her family, Andrea and her daughter as they spend time together this week, Connie and her family, Lou aand her family, Betsy and her family, Gail and her family, April and her family.
    Praayers and blessings for and THANK YOU to alll of the UR readers and posters and visitors

  • Andrea Posted August 2, 2018 8:15 am

    This is an important reading for those who grew up with trauma, as I did, and those living with trauma in their current circumstances. Gracious loving God,. may we come back, over and over, to Your gentle reminder that we are deeply loved by God and need not fear.

    Today, my daughter and grandson are coming over and we are going to our county fair, which is across a field from our house. My precious 3 1/2 y.o. grandson will love the 4H animals and the kiddie rides. Thank you, God, for this joy; and I pray You will guide me in supporting, listening, and responding to my tense, beloved daughter.

    Prayers for Julie’s healing and well- being, for Robert and Erich as they explore moving to a new area, and for all dear UR friends and those for whom you pray. Blessings, all.

  • Lou Posted August 2, 2018 9:07 am

    God loves us all deeply. That is all we need – to rest in that – He will never leave or forsake us- Praise God.
    Robert- I always love your joyous thankfulness over the small things in life like car repairs and good meals and fresh garden produce – your posts always make me happy. Prayers for Julie’s healing and Marcy and her health- for Jill and her family – for her rest and vacation, for Andrea and the joy of being with her grandson, for Francesca, April, Betsy, and all the other faithful UR readers and posters. Connie- hope you are enjoying this beautiful Chicago morning! I walked by the lake early this morning and thought of you- it’s a beautiful day. Thank you God for your amazing love – Marcy always reminds us – faith hope and love – the greatest is love.

    • Connie Posted August 3, 2018 8:39 am

      Thank you for thinking of me, Lou. Yes, I do love this Illinois weather!

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