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Philosophy/religion

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A Christian prayer thread for Autumn/Winter

990 replies

Tuo · 30/10/2014 01:17

Welcome to our new prayer thread for autumn/winter. This is a safe and supportive place of prayer, where regulars, occasional visitors and lurkers, committed Christians and those just dipping a toe into the water are all equally welcome. Come and leave a prayer, tell us what's going on in your life, bring your worries, hopes, fears and joys to God, and know that you will be prayed for.

We pray, in particular, for...

... amberlight, for her work raising awareness of the ways in which we can work to make life easier for our autistic friends, and for her to know love and acceptance wherever she goes; also thanking God for her recent 'all-clear' at her annual cancer check-up;

... BlackEyedSusan, for all the many things which she has to juggle in her life as a single parent; in particular, for her DS to get adequate support so that he is less stressed at school; also for her DD and for her mum, and for BES to find the RL support that she needs;

... BlessedAssurance, for life with her two LOs, and for her family who are far away;

... DontstepontheMomeRaths, for her life as a single mum, for God to provide if her XH is successful in training for a new role, and for the wonderful work she does through her church supporting people going through separation and divorce;

... DutchOma, as she continues to miss Bob; thanking God for the wonderful support that she provides for so many on here; and praying for her relationship with her DD, in particular;

... Gingercurl, for her work situation; and for the relationship between her brother and sister to improve;

... howtoapproachthis for physical and emotional healing; and for a good bond between her and her DD;

... Kaykat, continuing to pray for her as she goes through the stressful and painful process of divorce; praying, in particular, that she is able to find good ways of supporting her DS, and for him to find renewed happiness in the coming weeks;

... MadHairDay, for her health; for peace of mind about the choice of secondary school for her DS; and for her DD to find friendship and acceptance;

... MrsPixieMoo, thanking God for her baby DD; and praying for a new home where the family can be really happy;

... Pipbin, for her IVF treatment - for her to find support and a positive way forward, whatever the outcome;

... PositiveAttitude, for her new studies and her work as a Deacon in her church; for her mum, who has dementia; and for her DD1 to find one or more special friends;

... PurplePidjin, for a more peaceful life;

... QuestionofFaith, for her and for her DH - for his depression to lift and for them to find ways to rebuild their lives;

... and for a poster we won't name but whose situation is known to God, praying that she is safe and supported.

We pray also for all regular and occasional visitors including: ALittleFaith, Badvoc, BlueTinkerbell, CharlotteCollins, cloutiedumpling, JugglingFromHereToThere, ktef, MaryBS, niminypiminy, PandaG, RoomForALittleOne, SEStheBrave, thegreenheartofmanyroundabouts, tunnocksteacake, weegiemum, and for anyone I've forgotten to name-check (don't take it personally, please!). And we pray for those who read and pray but don't post, for those who need our prayers but are afraid or too uncertain to post them, and for all those known to us in our own lives who need God's love.

Keep Your people, Lord,
in the arms of Your embrace.
Shelter them under Your wings.
Be their light in darkness.
Be their hope in distress.
Be their calm in anxiety.
Be strength in their weakness.
Be their comfort in pain.
Be their song in the night. Amen

[post edited by MNHQ]

OP posts:
KayKat · 10/11/2014 19:52

Great news howto and now I pray The Lord will also help you with your fatigue

PurplePidjin · 10/11/2014 19:54

in biblical times - and in modern small communities - the wider social group would regulate behaviour. in our isolated modern families nobody goes "oi stop it" if one party steps out of line

Tuo · 10/11/2014 20:38

Hello everyone. Sorry to have been away so long - have been reading but very tired and have been trying to catch up from a week-and-a-half away. Nonetheless, thanking God for a safe trip, some positive outcomes, some really good support from one of the colleagues I was travelling with when the other one became hard to deal with, and for a lovely home to come back to.

Thanks for asking about DD2, PA. She is doing well. She has not cut herself since I found out what she had been doing and her legs are almost totally healed now. I think she'll have very few lasting scars. She also seems happier - I think I said on here before that it was almost as if she wanted to be discovered and as if a weight has been lifted now that we know. So much to thank God for here, then.

How is your DD1, PA? Is she any happier? Praying for true friendship to come into her life and to bring her great joy.

Kay - I am glad to hear that things are better with your DS too. I pray that things continue to be more positive for him and for you.

Thanking God also for healing for Feeling's grandma and for howto. How are you doing, MHD now that the colder weather is coming? Praying that you manage to stay as well as possible this winter, and starting prayers now, well in advance, for another Christmas at home...

I have no problem identifying as both a feminist and a Christian, and it seems to me that the problem is with a misunderstanding of what it means to be a Christian (equating it with biblical literalism, homophobia, misogyny, creationism, and what have you) rather than of what it means to be a feminist. Having said that, believing in equality does not equate to telling others how they should live their lives: every couple has to do what works for them. It is not anti-feminist, in my view, to have a more 'traditional' (for want of a better shorthand) role in a marriage; it is anti-feminist to feel that it is the only option allowed to the woman in a marriage. (But my own marriage is fairly role-reversed, so maybe I would say that... Wink.) Thinking of all this, I thank God also for my DH, who is not a Christian, but who has, over the last 4 years, grown immeasurably in respect and tolerance for the faith of others (principally mine) and who does so much to support me in all he does.

I want to add a few prayers anonymously, if that's OK: for a friend who has family problems; for a colleague who was told he had colon cancer a couple of weeks ago; for another friend who has recently come out of hospital and is struggling to cope on her own; for a colleague whose son is unwell. And praying that the person who bought the little box from Oma's stall for his wife will notice the missing part and get in touch.

Finally, thanks to Oma for posting prayers on this thread in my absence, and to all the posters on the thread for their contributions. This is a little place of peace and prayer and contemplation for me, and it means a lot to me.

Praying following yesterday's Remembrance Sunday commemorations for all those, whatever their nationality or religion, whose lives have been torn apart by war. Thinking especially of those suffering right now in so many parts of the world, and of those who mourn, and those who live in fear. Thinking of them, I am sharing Amnesty International's prayer:

Lord Jesus,
you experienced in person
torture and death
as a prisoner of conscience.
You were beaten and flogged
and sentenced to an agonizing death
though you had done no wrong.
Be now with prisoners of conscience
throughout the world.
Be with them in their fear and loneliness,
in the agony of physical and mental torture,
and in the face of execution and death.
Stretch out your hands in power
to break their chains.
Be merciful to the oppressor and the torturer,
and place a new heart within them.
Forgive all injustice in our lives,
and transform us to be
instruments of your peace,
for by your wounds we are healed. Amen

OP posts:
Dutchoma · 10/11/2014 21:37

That is a very beautiful prayer TUO. Thank you for that. Praying for all the people you mention and giving thanks for so many things, on here and also for my neighbour who came over when I had this funny smell in the house, which turned out to be a smouldering light fitting, which looked really dangerous. Also giving thanks for knowing an electrician who did some work for us already and who is a deacon at a nearby Baptist church. It was a scary smell.

madhairday · 10/11/2014 22:42

Amen, tuo. And praying for all those mentioned tonight.

The submissive thing is interesting because we understand the word very differently to how it was written. We might understand the meaning more as a kind of loving, upholding respect. Will dig out some more on it when not on my phone - I love looking at all these passages which have Ben used to oppress women and see how they were originally written to liberate and encourage women in their callings.

blackeyedsusie · 11/11/2014 11:53

meeting with head later, need to be clear headed to think properly.

I have made a little progress on landing clearing/cleaning. a small section has been done. I finally unpacked my suitcase and found the other set of clothes.. I have been mixing and matching and washing one set since august. (several items that all co-ordinate so not quite as bad as it sounds) seems I have been rather distracted with ds and mum to be more than vaguely aware that I may not have seen these things for a while. it has only taken me three months to actively go looking for them.

amberlight · 11/11/2014 15:05

Keeping prayers going as I'm reading through...

MrsPixieMoo · 11/11/2014 17:09

We saw a really good house today, ticks lots of boxes, heaps of potential and very liveable-in. Walking distance from the school my older DD has been accepted at. But, it's significantly over-budget. We want to make a low offer. Please pray for us at this time. I want to give my family a lovely home and I could make this house a lovely home. Thank you for your prayers. God bless you.

blackeyedsusie · 11/11/2014 19:56

FOUND

School field

location: bottom of my bath.

PositiveAttitude · 12/11/2014 06:49

Prayers MrsPixie

Thanks Tuo DD1 is doing ok. No special friendship yet, but she seems quite relaxed and content at the moment Please continue to pray for her.
Good news about your DD2.

Prayers for everyone else on here, lurkers as well as posters.

PositiveAttitude · 12/11/2014 06:55

...OOps posted too quick.

Please pray for wisdom for me. My minister (who I struggle very much with) has been an absolute idiot and has deeply hurt someone I am very close to. I want to go and tell him what I think of him.......but that probably would not be very Christian and not very helpful to the situation. Please pray that I can support the hurt person and they can heal and see this situation for what it is.

MrsPixieMoo · 12/11/2014 14:45

Prayers for you also PA.

God has blessed us financially and with other assistance today. Please continue to pray that we will have a happy home and a healthy family.

GingerCurl · 12/11/2014 21:01

Have been lurking and praying for a while now.

Could I ask for prayers for DS please. His behaviour at home and at school is really challenging at the moment and we've had a couple of letters home about him misbehaving in class. We think (and hope) it's a developmental phase, but he's so unhappy. Tonight he said that he thinks he'll never be happy again and that everyone in class, except two of his friends, were whispering about him. He kept repeating that he's bad. And when I said that I didn't think he was bad but that he behaves in a challenging way at the moment, he just kept saying, "no, I'm bad." I wish I knew how to help and support him. Sad

blackeyedsusie · 12/11/2014 21:25

shattered. been volunteering gardening. 2 hours digging. eek. guess what tomorrows post will be!

managed to tidy some of the landing. this requires untying the barriers that prevent the children falling through the massive gap in the sixties style bannisters. cleaning behind them and retying them to the top rail, plus lots of tidying.

on the plus side I have also found the receipt i needed. cleaned the bath spent 3 hours on the school run. (one dc in afterschool activity) washed up, cooked tea, etc. put a load of washing in, checked in the charity shop for clothing, heard ds read, discussed dd's homework with her, cleaned their teeth, and had a visitor in the middle of the night... who stayed and seemed to think I was a mattress. makes a change from a soft play centre

I still feel like I have not done enough!

Dutchoma · 12/11/2014 22:00

Have you asked him whether he has done something he shouldn't have done? Even though any misdemeanours wouldn't make him bad, it can well make him feel bad. Does he know he can ask God's forgiveness for anything he has done wrong? They are so little and often can't make ense of their feelings.

Dutchoma · 12/11/2014 22:01

BES I'm not surprised you are shattered. Let's hope that you all sleep soundly in your own beds tonight.

Tuo · 12/11/2014 23:49

Praying tonight for PixieMoo's house situation: for happiness and security in a special family home.

Also praying for GingerCurl and her DS: he sounds so sad at the moment - praying for happiness for him and perhaps for better support at school which will enable him to flourish.

Also for BES: for a good night's sleep and not too many aches and pains tomorrow.

Praying for PA's DD1 and for the situation with her minister to be resolved easily and quickly so that any hurt can be repaired with the minimum of damage.

And thanking God for Oma's neighbour who located the source of the funny smell and for the electrician who fixed it.

I went to our 'quiet' service tonight, where we read Psalm 103. These verses have stayed with me:

For as high as the heavens are above the earth,
so great is his love for those who fear him;
as far as the east is from the west,
so far has he removed our transgressions from us.

Thanking God tonight for His infinite love and forgiveness, then, as well as for glimpses of peace in our busy and stressful lives.

OP posts:
blackeyedsusie · 13/11/2014 10:21

all in own beds last night... wey hey!

dd walked into the school metal fence this morning and has a massive bump on her head.

Dutchoma · 13/11/2014 10:31

Nose in a book? Or just not looking where she was going?

blackeyedsusie · 13/11/2014 14:55

just walked straight into it. obviously did not see it or misjudged it.

Dutchoma · 13/11/2014 15:01

Poor thing. Is it very sore?

cloutiedumpling · 13/11/2014 17:27

Lurking and praying

MHD - any more thoughts on the submissive wives passages? I'd be interested to know what you think.

blackeyedsusie · 13/11/2014 22:55

read the line before the page break... is it the one that says submit to each other? remember that the numbers and minititles were put in by people...

also go back to genesis, the submission thing was part of the fall...

that is all I can remember off the top of my head..and will need checking out.

dd's head is ok. a slight red mark.

ds is asleep downstairs again as he could not sleep upstairs as it is too playful.

I have been "sitting in a corner and rocking" again as I did not get chance to get much done today as had to go back into school for a presentation and the state of the flat is depressing.

i have managed to do a couple of loads of washing, sort some clean washing, put some away, washup, cook tea.. go shopping, and do a little tidying. sort of preventing it getting worse.

blackeyedsusie · 14/11/2014 12:58

phew. been to assembly. ds got star of the week! (yay) been to the charity shop to check for the christmas stuff coming in. been to the library and someone has complemented me on my handling of ds... obviously it wasn't one of those days where I have manhandled him out kicking and screaming! shopped for chopped tomatoes as this is ds's latestthing. put some of the shoping away. some is still in the car til later. been clearing out my room. a little more than the five minute target I set. hoping ex will take away a couple of carrier bags of stuff.

I need to clear out the wardrobe of dust and clean it out so I can put some of my clothes in there.

Dutchoma · 14/11/2014 13:28

Sounds like you are doing very well. Give yourself a pat on the back. And Brew and Cake