Friday

Friday

When the righteous cry for help, the Lord hears, and rescues them from their troubles.

Psalm 34:17

Friday Prayer

Lord, my heart is occasionally inclined toward stirring up conflict.  One tiny word spoken can cause a ripple of hurt and resentment.  You, O Lord, do not stir up conflict.  You, O Lord, speak words of love to your people.  Teach me to guard my tongue so that the words coming out of my mouth are filled with love.  Give me your Spirit so that my words can cause a ripple of renewal.  Amen.

Friday Meditation

If we pray, and really pray, we can hardly escape the fact that our cares for the moment, big and small, will fill our prayer and often make it nothing but a long list of requests.  Often this prayer of petition is treated with a certain disdain.  Sometimes we regard it as less than prayer of thanksgiving and certainly less than a prayer of praise.  Prayer of petition is supposedly more egocentric because the person is putting his own interests first and trying to get something for himself.  The prayer of thanksgiving, it is said, is directed more toward God, even if it is in connection with gifts which he has given.  And prayer of praise is devoted directly to God for his own sake apart from anything we may or may not have received from him.  But the question is whether this distinction helps us understand what prayer is.  The important thing about prayer is not whether it is classified as  petition, thanksgiving or praise, but whether it is a prayer of hope or of little faith.

-          Henri Nouwen