General Chat

I like that prayer :-)

Happy to be of service John. :-D


Good morning to those who will pop in today......

We seem to have a mixture on here of varying denominations which is good.


I found this lovely prayer by Mother Theresa whilst I was looking for inspiration for today's thoughts.



Mother Teresa's Nazareth Prayer for the Family

Heavenly Father,
you have given us the model of life
in the Holy Family of Nazareth.
Help us, O Loving Father,
to make our family another Nazareth
where love, peace and joy reign.
May it be deeply contemplative,
intensely eucharistic,
revived with joy.

Help us to stay together in joy
and sorrow in family prayer.
Teach us to see Jesus in the members of our families,
especially in their distressing disguise.
May the eucharistic heart of Jesus
make our hearts humble like his
and help us to carry out our family duties
in a holy way.
May we love one another
as God loves each one of us,
more and more each day,
and forgive each other's faults
as you forgive our sins.
Help us, O Loving Father,
to take whatever you give
and give whatever you take with a big smile.

Immaculate Heart of Mary,
cause of our joy, pray for us.

St. Joseph, pray for us.

Holy Guardian Angels,
be always with us,
guide and protect us.

Amen.




Cx :-)

:-) :-) @ Cynthia. How often I pray in very strange places. My commute into London used to be just over an hour down M40 about 20 years ago. I would put a service led by Dr Lloyd Jones or similar on cassette deck and by the time I got to Uxbridge I would be on top of the world and singing the chorus of last hymn and praying.

What must the person sitting next to me at traffic lights have thought?

Your comment about care homes/nursing homes struck a chord. I used to regularly lead a service in a home when we lived in Northants. It was only 25-30 minutes long, and "sermon" was always about 5 minutes. And it was well attended and, yes, they always remembered the words (even long Bible passages if they were from the Authorised Version). It was one of highlights of their week and, to be honest, it was one of the highlights of our week also. Often children or grandchildren visit on a Sunday and they would also join in.

Used to pick very simple texts for sermon - love thine enemies as you would like Jesus to love you, for example. Often a few red faces :-) ;-)

As far as I am aware, there are few services like that where I now live in South Wales. Will ask now you have prompted me.

Good morning everyone.......


I've found these words to be so true......



Anywhere is a place of prayer


I have prayed on my knees in the morning,
I have prayed as I walked along,
I have prayed in the silence and darkness
And I've prayed to the tune of a song.

I have prayed in the midst of triumph
And I've prayed when I suffered defeat,
I have prayed on the sands of the seashore
Where the waves of the ocean beat.

I have prayed in a velvet-hushed forest
Where the quietness calmed my fears,
I have prayed through suffering and heartache
When my eyes were blinded with tears.

I have prayed in churches and chapels,
Cathedrals and synagogues, too,
But often I've had the feeling
That my prayers were not getting through.

And I realized then that our Father
Is not really concerned where we pray
Or impressed by our manner of worship,
Or the eloquent words that we say.

He is only concerned with our feelings,
And he looks deep into our heart
And hear the "cry of our soul's deep need"
That words could ever impart.

So it isn't the prayer that's expressive
Or offered in some special spot,
It's the sincere plea of a sinner
And God can tell whether or not -

We honestly seek his forgiveness
And earnestly mean what we say,
And then and then only He answers
The Prayer that we fervently pray.

- Helen Steiner Rice



Cx :-)

Thy creatures bless and grant that we, may feast in Paradise with Thee.


:-D :-D :-D :-D :-D :-D :-D



A Christian conference centre I am very fond of, tends to always 'sing' grace at meals. It was always funny when, everyone sang the words and then, from the kitchen would come a chorus of Aaaaaaaamen. :-D

at infants/junior school we always sang before lunch - Be present at our table Lord, be here and everywhere adored - can't remember the rest :-D

kandj, personally, I think they WILL remember it in adulthood. I've often heard it said by folk who take Holy Communion to the housebound or those in nursing homes that, although the old folk may not know what day it is, they can say the Lord's Prayer and sing the old hymns without any prompting whatsoever.

The brain is, indeed, an amazing thing. :-)


A few years ago, I was involved in our local theatre group and would, sometimes, be asked to be the 'prompt' at some of the plays which they put on. The one that stands out vividly in my mind, is the time I prompted for The Anne Frank Diaries.

I can remember, even now, sitting hunched up on a stool, shining my torch on the words in front of me, cowering at the thunderous knocking on the door and 'feeling' the deathly silence within the theatre. I can still shiver when I think of it and I sat through it several times.

With that in mind, I thought I would share these words with you........




"I do not think of all the misery, but of the glory that remains. Go outside into the fields, nature and the sun, go out and seek happiness in yourself and in God. Think of the beauty that again and again discharges itself within and without you and be happy."


- Anne Frank.


Wise words from one so young.



Cx :-)

Thank you KittytheLearnerCook. AnninGlos said that she also remembered the simple prayer from her primary schooldays, so I guess this was learned in my school. It is so long ago now but the words are clearly printed in my brain, despite the heat!!

I love the short prayer your little ones say each day at lunchtime. I wonder if they will remember it in adulthood? The brain really is an amazing human computer.

Love them........... :-D

The little ones in the class I supervise at lunchtimes say

For every cup and every plateful
Please God make us truly grateful
Amen

Kandj, your prayer was the one we said at my primary school every day.

xx

lol Cynthia

A favourite of my father's was a Robert Burns one...

Some hae meat and canna eat,
And some would eat that want it;
But we hae meat, and we can eat,
Sae let the Lord be thankit.

We always used that grace with our children and grandchildren and, on the odd occasion, it got muddled into thank you for the birds we eat and the food we sing :-)

AnninGlos, I don't actually remember if this little prayer came from schooldays or from Sunday School and have no idea why it is still clear in my thoughts today. I am repeating this and being aware of all that it mentions and counting my blessings too.

Kandj, the grace we used to say before our school dinner at my church school (primary).

A special meaningful prayer John, thank you.

Cynthia, patience is usually high on the list of my daily prayers. God is good indeed!

This hot sunny morning I have a childhood prayer going around in my head, this is:-

Thank you for the world so sweet
Thank you for the food we eat
Thank you for the birds that sing
Thank you God for everything. Amen

<3..thank you Cynthia.. patience sometimes I need some
and am not very good at it :-(

John thank you also for your words :-)

Emma :-)

Thank you for those words John - we almost double posted... :-)

Good morning everyone.............



The Patience Prayer

“God, teach me to be patient, teach me to go slow,
Teach me how to wait on You when my way I do not know.

Teach me sweet forbearance when things do not go right
So I remain unruffled when others grow uptight.

Teach me how to quiet my racing, rising heart
So I might hear the answer You are trying to impart.

Teach me to let go, dear God, and pray undisturbed until
My heart is filled with inner peace and I learn to know your will.”

? Helen Steiner Rice

Lord

All creation belongs to you. Thank you for a new day. Thank you for my friends who I can pray alongside. You know they are from many different walks of life, and from different parts of the world.

Yet we can connect across many miles because we all look to Jesus to guide our day, guide our conversation, guide our thoughts and our deeds.

Help us make a difference today. Help us to share your love.

Through our Lord Jesus Christ, the beloved Saviour of mankind

Amen.

I have "failed miserably even more than I thought". Mary of Magdalene was my answer to Q13. Salome was the exotic (careful of spelling ;-)) dancer who demanded head of John the Baptist.

But, no, there was another Salome who was with the women at the end. So well done, Hayley. I very much enjoy posting on this thread - and love it on Sundays when Cynthia tells us how many babies have been christened.

I have to say that our Minister also gets all the children to come to the font and watch. Then he marches round the church clutching the poor baby like an FA Cup trophy whilst everyone googles (is that right word?). Must be part of job description. :-) :-) ;-)

Brill Hayley!!! :-D :-D


In the (near) words of Eric Morecame, I got all of the names right, but not necessarily in the right order..... ;-)

Just put......'failed miserably' :-D



Another very busy day - I think the pile of ironing I have to do tomorrow will be much easier.


A beautiful two week old baby was baptised within the main service this morning and, I managed to get a brief cuddle with him. At one point, all the lights went AWOL which came as a bit of a shock, especially as we have special lights which make odd noises when coming back on. We found out later, that there had been a power surge in the area. :-S


Following hard on the heels of that service we had three more baptisms. Our organist came down to the piano/organ he uses occasionally, and encouraged everyone to sing the song 'Jesus loves .............. (name of baby), yes He does', which has a very catchy tune. We sang it for each baby and then one of the parents stood up with each child so that we could see them. It was lovely. :-)


Our vicar was back on form today..........He always invites children within the congregation to come to the baptistry to watch the baptisms. When it is over, he says to the children....."You can go back to your mums and dads again now.............whether they want you back or not". It always raises a laugh... :-D


I helped out at the Strawberry Tea this afternoon and it all looked most appetising with an assortment of sandwiches and a choice of strawberry scone/ strawberry tart or strawberry meringue........and everyone had a good time. :-)


Take care all........ :-)