Healing is in Your Hands

Father God, we ALL need healing for one thing or another! Right now we raise up our families, our children, our teens, our spouses to Your healing hands. We ask that You draw every individual to You; that You speak to their hearts. No addiction, no sickness, no weakness, no broken relationship, no grieving heart is too much for You to heal, Lord God, for You are the Great Physician! Help us to call upon You in every time of trouble and with every circumstance. Help us to be faithful in prayer, Jesus; just like you!

Great is Your Faithfulness

Great is Thy Faithfulness,O God my Father;
There is no shadow of turning with Thee,
Thou changest not: Thy compassions, they fail not;
As Thou has been, Thou forever wilt be.

Great is Thy faithfulness! Great is Thy faithfulness!
Morning by morning new mercies I see;
All I have needed Thy hand hath provided;
Great is Thy faithfulness, Lord unto me!

Summer and winter and springtime and harvest,
Sun, moon, and stars in their courses above
Join with all nature in manifold witness
To Thy great faithfulness, mercy, and love.

Great is Thy faithfulness! Great is Thy faithfulness!
Morning by morning new mercies I see;
All I have needed Thy hand hath provided;
Great is Thy faithfulness, Lord unto me!

Pardon for sin and a peace that endureth,
Thine own dear presence to cheer and to guide;
Strength for today and bright hope for tomorrow,
Blessings all mine, with ten thousand beside!

Great is Thy faithfulness! Great is Thy faithfulness!
Morning by morning new mercies I see;
All I have needed Thy hand hath provided;
Great is Thy faithfulness, Lord unto me!

Praise God from Whom All Blessings Flow

Praise God from whom all blessings flow

Praise Him all creatures here below

Praise Him above ye heavenly host

Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost!

Praying for our congregational leaders

Heavenly Father, we lift up the leaders of our congregation to you. These men have been called by You, Lord, and are working as members of the Body of Christ. We pray that You keep their eyes focused on the Head, which is You, Jesus; and that You lead the rest of the body in its work in making disciples of You. Their work is so important and such progress has been made already! Please strengthen them, protect them, guide them, give them wisdom, and help us all to support and encourage them. In the mighty name of Jesus, we pray. Amen.

Psalm 63

A psalm of David. When he was in the Desert of Judah.

You, God, are my God,
earnestly I seek you;
I thirst for you,
my whole being longs for you,
in a dry and parched land where there is no water.

I have seen you in the sanctuary
and beheld your power and your glory.
Because your love is better than life,
my lips will glorify you.
I will praise you as long as I live,
and in your name I will lift up my hands.

I will be fully satisfied as with the
richest of foods;
with singing lips my mouth will praise you.

On my bed I remember you;
I think of you through the watches of
the night.
Because you are my help,
I sing in the shadow of your wings.
I cling to you;
your right hand upholds me.

God, oh God, for some who have seen you in your sanctuary, it was just a quick glimpse, and then just as quickly, forgotten, when 'life' crept in and 'took over'. Lord, take us to that mountaintop once again where our desire will be like Peter, James and John, who wanted to pitch a tent and camp out with you for an extending period of time! Holy Spirit, dwell within each of us ... remain in us ... lead us to seek you daily in your Word and Sacraments. Guide us on your path, dear Lord, so we will want nothing more than to cultivate our love for you. Help us to be doers of your Word; not just hearers. Help us to look for every opportunity to spend time with you, oh God, and to value you more than life itself. Help us to think and talk about you often, to look to you for protection and to cling to you for comfort and strength. In the awesome name of Jesus, we pray. Amen

This Day ... I set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life ...

... so that you and your children may live and that you may love the LORD your God, listen to his voice, and hold fast to him. For the LORD is your life ..." Deuteronomy 30:19,20

Heavenly Father, thank You for this wonderful, wonderful pastor that You love so much! You know that we love him, too. We thank You for the thing You are doing in him and for us; for the blessing that You are pouring out on him and your people at Good Shepherd. We pray that we will seek Your face, listen to Your voice, and see that we are all a blessing for life and that You will continue to prosper and to grow us all.

Father God, send Your Holy Spirit to dwell richly within us, teaching us, admonishing us, loving us, helping us to be a blessing for life; for Your Kingdom, for our children, for this nation. Instill in each of us the spirit of diakonoi and synergoi ... as we work together as servant helpers ... building up as we choose life; emptying graves of death and filling up heaven, building Your Kingdom, Lord ... today, tomorrow, during a time of waiting ... and, in Your perfect time, Lord, with a new pastor.

In Your name, Lord Jesus. Amen.

You are the Light of the World -Matthew 5:14

Father in Heaven, oh that we will strive to be the salt of the earth and the light of the world as Jesus says we are! Help us to call out to you and boldly beseech your help and guidance in this! Holy Spirit, draw us to you so that we desire our will to be in line with yours; not the other way around! Point us to your Word, Father God, continuously seeking you and what you would have us do ... to be a light to the darkness around us. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.

Morning February 11 (from a Devotional Series by Charles H. Spurgeon)

"And they took knowledge of them, that they had been with Jesus." --Acts 4:13

A Christian should be a striking likeness of Jesus Christ. You have read lives of Christ, beautifully and eloquently written, but the best life of Christ is his living biography, written out in the words and actions of his people. If we were what we profess to be, and what we should be, we should be pictures of Christ; yea, such striking likenesses of him, that the world would not have to hold us up by the hour together, and say, "Well, it seems somewhat of a likeness;" but they would, when they once beheld us, exclaim, "He has been with Jesus; he has been taught of him; he is like him; he has caught the very idea of the holy Man of Nazareth, and he works it out in his life and every day actions." A Christian should be like Christ in his boldness. Never blush to own your religion; your profession will never disgrace you: take care you never disgrace that. Be like Jesus, very valiant for your God. Imitate him in your loving spirit; think kindly, speak kindly, and do kindly, that men may say of you, "He has been with Jesus." Imitate Jesus in his holiness. Was he zealous for his Master? So be you; ever go about doing good. Let not time be wasted: it is too precious. Was he self-denying, never looking to his own interest? Be the same. Was he devout? Be you fervent in your prayers. Had he deference to his Father's will? So submit yourselves to him. Was he patient? So learn to endure. And best of all, as the highest portraiture of Jesus, try to forgive your enemies, as he did; and let those sublime words of your Master, "Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do", always ring in your ears. Forgive, as you hope to be forgiven. Heap coals of fire on the head of your foe by your kindness to him. Good for evil, recollect, is godlike. Be godlike, then; and in all ways and by all means, so live that all may say of you, "He has been with Jesus."

O God, My Faithful God #696 Lutheran Service Book

O God, my faithful God, True fountain ever flowing,
Without whom nothing is, All perfect gifts bestowing:
Give me a healthy frame, And may I have within
A conscience free from blame, A soul unstained by sin.

Grant me the strength to do with ready heart and willing
Whatever You command, my calling here fulfilling;
That I do what I should while trusting You to bless
The outcome for my good, for You must give success.

Keep me from saying words that later need recalling;
Guard me lest idle speech may from my lips be falling;
But when within my place I must and ought to speak,
Then to my words give grace lest I offend the weak.

Lord, Let me win my foes with kindly words and actions,
And let me find good friends for counsel and correction.
Help me, as You have taught, to love both great and small
And by Your Spirit's might to live in peace with all.

Let me depart this life confiding in my Savior;
By grace receive my soul that it may live forever;
And let my body have a quiet resting place
Within a Christian grave; and let it sleep in peace.

And on that final day when all the dead are waking,
Stretch out Your mighty hand, my deathly slumber breaking,
Then let me hear Your voice, redeem this earthly frame,
And bid me to rejoice with those who love Your name.

For Jesus's sake, O God, my faithful Father, hear my prayer. Amen.

For the Congregation

Remember, O Lord, our congregation,
Your people,
who are nothing without You,
who need the Word of Your forgiveness,
who need comfort and solace,
who need healing and help,
who need courage and strength,
who need counsel and guidance,
who need food and shelter,
who need correction and admonition,
who need acceptance and assurance,
who need zeal and a willing mind,
who need example and direction,
who need charity and goodness,
who need humility and honesty,
who need liberty and peace,
who need wisdom and insight,
who need faith and hope,
who need love and joy,
For we are Your people gathered by Your Spirit around Word and sacraments, that we may be scattered to share Your love through Christ, our Lord. Amen.