Today’s Reflection
REMEMBERING TO PRAY for our creative work and to engage in the practices that sustain our work can feel like a lot of work in itself. But I think of Amma Syncletia, a desert mother who had a keen understanding of the forces of resistance that come from within as well as from without. Syncletia once said, “In the beginning there are a great many battles and a good deal of suffering for those who are advancing towards God and afterward, ineffable joy. It is like those who wish to light a fire: at first they are choked by the smoke and cry, and by this means obtain what they seek (as it is said: ‘Our God is a consuming fire’ [Heb. 12:24]): so we alsmo must kindle the divine fire in ourselves through tears and hard work.”
BLESSING
May everything that keeps you from your work
give way to your work.
May the God who created you
encompass and protect you,
and may you love with joy
deeper and deeper still
into the life that God
has made for you.
– Jan L. Richardson
In the Sanctuary of Women
From pages 245-246 of In the Sanctuary of Women: A Companion for Reflection & Prayer by Jan L. Richardson. Copyright © 2010 by Jan L. Richardson. All rights reserved. Used by permission of Upper Room Books. http://bookstore.upperroom.org/ Learn more about or purchase this book.
Today’s Question
Pray today’s blessing. Share your thoughts.
Today’s Scripture
Then Jesus said to them, “Prophets are not without honor, except in their hometown, and among their own kin, and in their own house.”
Mark 6:4, NRSV
This Week: pray an increase of love of neighbor. 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: Thomas (July 3).
Lectionary Readings
(Courtesy of Vanderbilt Divinity Library)
Sponsored by Upper Room Ministries ®. Copyright © 2018 | PO Box 340004 | Nashville, TN 37203-0004 | USA
16 Comments
Father God – I try to be keenly aware, with gratitude, that my times are in Your hands. Every moment is an opportunity to be grateful and glorify You. I have sought the path You have laid out for me and I will trust You as we move forward together. Strengthen my faith and align it to Your ways.
Grateful for the stillness of this morning and hearing my cat lapping at his water in the kitchen. I imagine his little tongue going a mile a minute as he drinks. Grateful for less humidity, cooler air and open windows. Grateful to have time with mom this morning – we will go to an art festival and then meet up with dad for lunch.
Prayers of thanksgiving for this UR space.
I pray you and your parents have a good time at the art fair today, Jill. Marcy, I pray Prayers for Marcy the migraine subsides and the soreness and bruising resolve quickly.
I am grateful for the blessing offered by Jan Richardson today.
Please keep my friend Jane, who has ovarian cancer that has been in remission. Now she is battling fluid in her lungs and heart – I’m not sure if it’s caused by the cancer or something else. Jane was diagnosed with cancer several years ago, very soon after her husband died. Thank you for your prayers.
Gracious God, grant us wisdom, strength and courage for the challenges we face.
Wishing all a blessed weekend.
Andrea, keeoing your friendm Jane, in prayer.
May God surround Jane with His love and peace! May the fluid in her lungs and heart be removed. May God’s healing touch be upon her!
Prayers for Jill, Gloria, and Larry. Lord, may they have a good day together storing up memories to sustain them in times to come.
Prayers for Andrea and her daughter. May their relationship remain harmonious.
Prayers for Jane, may her heart and lungs be relieved of the fluid and may her breathing and pain be eased.
Prayers for Marcy, may her pain and breathing be eased. I pray she has a means of transportation to her appointments.
Prayers for Robert. I pray he had a safe return trip.
Prayers and blessings and thank you to all of the caring UR family
Thank you, Julie, for your prayers for Jane as well as for my daughter and me. I keep you in daily prayer, praying for your health, for your lawyer to be capable and communicate well with you, for your comfort and support, for your daughter’s support and well-being, and for your husband to be responsible and kind. I pray and believe God will have carried you to better, more peaceful circumstances once you are through this and it is all behind you. Blessings.
Thankful for:
A beautiful cooler day and brilliant sunshine.
The Upper Room
A good day yesterday
NOT thankful for:
Huge mosquitoes that “love” me.!
“I love Thee, oh Lord, my strength. Thou art my rock and my fortress and my deliverer”. I begin most of my days with this scripture.
Prayers for Jane.
Amen to Jan’s blessing.
Thankful for the trip to see my daughter and grand daughters. Had a wonderful time, visited a live butterfly museum, swam in the pool, ate a a favorite summer meal, naengmyun, I haven’t had in a long time, a safe travel down and back. Oona and Willa sure kept us all busy. Oona was quickly rescued from her fall in the fish pond.
Prayers for Gloria and Larry and the support they have from Jill and Becky, for Marcy’s health and wellbeing, resolution of Julie’s situation, peace for Betsy, Connie, and blessings for all the UR family. Thankful for today’s cooler temps, wonderful weather, and garden improvements.
Have a great weekend and a blessed Sunday.
Praise God for blessing Robert with a good trip visiting his daughter and grand daughters!
Thank you, Jan L. Richardson, for the Blessing/Prayer today, and the excerpt from your book. I am trying each day, to retain the belief of better health to come, as my present health keeps me from putting my faith in action. Getting out and doing the things God has planned for me to do, using His gift to me of caregiving. My Hope has not left me, so I know He still walks with me. There are many in my position who wish to do the same.
UR siblings and friends, I am praying in patience for God’s will to be done. I pray that His will is for improvement of my health, so I can better serve Him in spreading the Good News. Just this morning, I burned the fingers of my left hand, while trying tp prepare breakfast. It’s not serious, some welts and pain, but I pray that these accidents don’t land me in the ER before the State of Illinois provides the help I so desperately need.
Jill, I continue to pray for your parents, Gloria and Larry, and your sister, Becky and her family. Little Roger sounds adorable! Lucy drinks by dipping her paw in water and licking it. My cat Trevor, used to drink the same way. Have a blessed day with your Mom today!
Andrea, I am praying for your friend, Jane, who has been in remission of ovarian cancer. I pray these new challenges of fluid retention in her heart and lungs are dealt with quickly and successfully. I pray for the difficulties she has faced since being diagnosed, in the loss of her husband. Thank you for your continued prayers for me, Andrea. I am thankful and grateful for your encouraging words. You and Lowell, your daughter, son-in-law and sweet grandson remain in my prayers.
Julie, I am continuing to keep you and your daughter at the top of my daily prayers. I pray that your new lawyer has eased your concerns and that God will keep your strength up in the coming months. Thank you so much for your daily prayers for me. I admit, I am in need of them. Thank you for being the first one to welcome me here, in the UR Reflections family.
Connie, thank you for your cheerful words of the things you are thankful for! (NO misquitos, please! They love me too!) Yes! NRSV Psalm 18:1-2 – “I love You, O Lord, my strength. The Lord is my rock, my fortress, my deliverer, my God, my rock in Whom I take refuge, my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.” You and your husband continue to be in my prayers, my sister.
Robert, praises for your wonderful visit with your daughter and granddaughters! It sounds like you thoroughly enjoyed yourself! Praise the Lord!!! You and Erich, your daughter and her family, Annaliese, and your church members are in my prayers. I wonder if Pearl has missed you, even though she has Erich?! Thank you for keeping me in prayer, Robert. I am living on prayers and our Triune God!
Betsy, Lou, Mary, Gail, Francesca, Pamela, April, Gerri, Louise, Rusty and K, Carol and Robin, Chloe and Paige, you are all in my prayers. Also, Kenneth Miller, Mark Bryant, Ken Linscott, David L. Worden, Lawrence Berry, and the many others who have posted here, I have written down your names and continue to keep you in prayer. I pray for all who visit, posting and/or reading, occassionally dropping in and those beyond this site.
I’m praying for the children in the cave in Thailand and that hurricane Beryl loses steam before hitting any inhabited islands.
I love you, UR family, and am sending well wishes and God’s heavenly blessings to all!
And these three: Faith, Hope and Love, and the greatest of these is LOVE!
Praise God for blessing Marcy with the gift of intercession!
Marcy, i am keeping you in prayer too!
May your health and situation improve, dear Marcy!
Blessings!
Marcy, I am an only child and it’s nice to have a sister, especially a sister in Christ.
Andrea, Julie, and other regular posters, would you tell me the names of your cats and dogs? This may seem odd, but I keep meaning to ask, then lose my courage. My dear cat, Lucy, is a blessing to me, so that motivates me to ask. Andrea and Julie, I thought I had written your cats names down, but can’t find them. Please forgive me if this sounds silly, but I truly would like to know!
Marcy, that is so kind. I do not have pets because I have rather severe allergies. However my daughter has a cat, Poppy, and a dog, Fina. I take extra allergy medication when I visit her.
Deep thanks for all your prayers, Marcy. I pray the daily challenges you face will lessen, pain will ease, and you will become stronger and healthier each day.
Father God, i commit all our work, including prayers, into your hands.
May we love with joy deeper and deeper still into the life that You have made for us!
Blessings to all!
May all be well and all your needs be met!
I’m catching up, prayers for all who are ill, have conditions, or issues that are health and wellbeing related. May fluid be drained, cancer stay in remission, burns be healed, breathing improved, allergies resolved, hands and feet be comforted, and God be present. Yes, prayers for the family members called pets, they too are precious. Watch over those, Lord, who may be facing storms, guide the rescuers of the boys in the Thailand cave that a successful rescue is made. Prayers for a safe and secure result for Julie’s situation.
Thankful for all the good and positive news, all good things come from God. Thank You, Lord. Thankful for Marcy’s diligent naming of the many who post, I too will take notes following her example.
God’s peace to all of the UR family on this the Lord’s day, it is now Sunday as I write this.
Thank you all for your prayers for Anneliese, Erich, Pearl, and me. They are helpful in ways that are beyond our understanding and bring great reassurance to us.
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