Category: benedictions and prayers

as you seek, may you find God.

as you hurt, may you find comfort in the one who knows both the wounds of your heart and the desires of your soul.

as you heal, may you find rest in the arms of one who shelters you and holds you safe.

as you journey, may you feel the presence of the constant companion who walks beside you.

and as you walk from this place, may you know that he goes with you,
that he will guide your path
wherever it may lead.

Forgiven.

As the sound of the word rings in your ears, may its reality ring in your heart.

May the reality of who you are and who you were created to be fill and consume who you are.

May you learn to forgive as you have been forgiven, to love as you have been loved,

and to accept the reality that you have been given a new identity;

forgiven.

The Lord took hold of me, and I was carried away by the Spirit of the Lord to a valley filled with bones. He led me around among the old, dry bones that covered the valley floor. They were scattered everywhere across the ground. Then he asked me, “Son of man, can these bones become Living people again?”

“O Sovereign Lord, you alone know the answer to that.”

As you survey your valley of dry bones –
your broken dreams,
your hollow disappointments;

As you contemplate the parts of your life,
scattered and disjointed,

Hear the words of the Lord:

“Speak to these bones and say, “Dry bones, listen to the words of the Lord! This is what the Sovereign Lord says: Look! I am going to breathe into you and make you live again! I will put flesh and muscles on you and cover you with skin. I will put breath into you and you will come to life.

Then you will know that I am the Lord.”

a people –
lost and wandering
in the desert of your own self-interest,
thirsting
for the significance
of the one who holds
the secrets of life –

hear the promise of his words;

the promise
of an eternal spring of water
to take away all thirst,
found
only when lost and wandering
in the one who brought you out of sin,
and into life eternal.

God reaches out to you.
He seeks you.
He gazes deep into the inner places of your heart.
He looks at you –
a groom,
longing for his bride
as she walks down the asile.

may you run.

as a child runs to his father,
as a sprinter stretches for the finish line,
as friends on a quiet evening jog.

May you run to the embrace of God,
who opens his hands
to receive your tired, hurting life,
to wrap his arms around you,
and hold you
in his grasp.

may you reach the finish line,
exhausted but satisfied,
having given everything to the race
with your eyes longing for one thing –
the place where Jesus sits at the right hand of God –

home.

you who search for wisdom in a thorny world
who seek God’s truth instead of man’s empty words

Jesus stands before you and speaks:

I am
the way
the truth
the life…

No one comes to the Father
except through me.

May you draw near to Christ.

You who wait expectantly for a Savior
Who search for one who will restore your soul
And quench the needs and desires of you heart –

He is come.
He is Jesus.

He bids you come to him.

May the Lord bless you.

As you struggle with his plan may he give you comfort.

As you question his plan may he give you wisdom.

As you follow his plan may he light each step of your path,
guiding your way home.

You who have tasted the world,
who have climbed highest mountains
and run through fields,
only to find emptiness and despair;

You who search diligently,
finding meaning in pleasure
only to have it retreat from you;

You who knew the seeds of pleasure,
but experienced a harvest of pain –

hear the words of He who made you and know:

“Pleasure is from the hand of God.
Who can enjoy anything apart from him?”

May you delight in the Lord.
May you find your pleasure in Him.