Heart Fire/Yvonne Devilliers
“If sinners be damned, at least let them leap to hell over our bodies. And if they perish, let them perish with our arms about their knees, imploring them to stay. If hell must be filled, at least let it be filled in the teeth of our exertions, and let not one go there unwarned and unprayed for.” Charles H. Spurgeon
Tag Archives: Prayer
Be Ready For The Infant King
Nine days to get ready! Time enough for a novena.
Who will come to the stable
On Christmas Day?
And what will they take away?Wise men, steadfast and earnest, came,
Instead of palace music,
They heard the donkey brae.
A lowly sound and sight,
Yet their wonder unallayed.Many come rejoicing,
To behold the Newborn King,
Bowing low,
While angels sing.Christ’s comes for all
But not all come.
Some come, behold, then fall away,
Being rootless, they merrily go their way.Father God prepared a voice
To announce His Only Word,
A messenger, born before, to go before.
Another child, spared Ramah’s plight
To live and pierce Sin’s long night
John, O, John, still cries, “Repent!”Prepare if you would follow.
At Jerusalem’s Gate,
Many cried, “Messiah,”
Who would soon cry, “Crucify.”Whose will will you do,
When the music fades in life?
Pride prides itself on ‘my way,’
Confounds with will and strife.Without a ready, willing heart,
Nothing changes Christmas Day.
Corrupt hearts go on corrupting,
All the while the kingly Infant cries,
As throughout His life,
“I am the Way.”Whose heart will live in yours
As angelic songs fade away.
Will you simply leave the stable
To follow your own way?Come, O come, rejoicing!
Praying for a change.
Receive this Babe within your Heart;
The humble He teaches His Way.By Joann Nelander
The Lights of Advent Keep Vigil
Via Wikipedia
Advent candles lit within my being,
Prayer like a torch,
Calling on the Spirit,
To light the lamp of vigil
And illuminate my soul.
Thanksgiving, a spot light,
Setting blessings all aglow,
While praise as a million votives
Ring Your manger in the night.Though my soul be steeped in sorrow,
For the sin that went before,
My tears You turn to shining crystal
As the sea before Your throne.O, Sun of Justice,
In Heaven you replace the shining stars.
Banish all darkness here below,
As once Your Star lit Earth’s long nightAlight all holiness,
As a rainbow green with Life,
Arches ’bout the celestial throne,
While incandescent angels
Sing with haloed headed saints.Because You come,
This earthy life’s Tomorrows
Are bedecked in Hope
As You knock at ready virgins’ door,The Promise ever before me,
You stand, an open door.
I, Bold Abandonment,
Before the throne of grace,Sainted souls gleaming like electrum
Flashing love’s arrows as lightning.
Advent becomes Christmas in my soul.By Joann Nelander
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This Day For God
Image via Wikipedia
Father, I thank you for this day, this holy day.
As I rise from sleep, may my soul arise, leaving sin to seek Your face.
As I wash in preparation for new day, I recall my Baptism
and the cleansing River of Life that flowed from the side of my Redeemer.
As I clothe my body, I remember the dignity of Christ and the Name by which He calls me.
I am clothed in the robes of a priest to sacrifice with Jesus in my day.
The words of a prophet live on my lips ready to give an account of my hope and joy.
The Kings of Kings proclaims me a king,
and by the power of His throne in heaven,
He rules in my life
and the lives my life touches through all generations.
Through my prayer of faith, covered in humility as the Blood of Christ, angels minister to the people of God,
bringing peace, protection, strength and provision
as I proclaim my “Amen” to His Will and His prayer “Father, forgive them.”
Go before me,Lord. Walk with me, Lord. Be my rearguard, Precious Savior, Warrior King!
You, Who live in me, suffer in my flesh that which is to be in this hour on Your Cross.
You are “more than a conqueror” as You bring about Your kingdom in this day.
O, Love sublime, my life is Thine.
A Thousand Little Moments
Image via Wikipedia
I fail and I fall.
“Yes, Father, it’s me, again.”
My prayers and tears reach Your heart with plaintiff sighs.I reach for Love, as a baby grasps the finger,
securing You to my heart,
binding You by trifles.
A thousand little moments, like a knitter’s weave,
trivial triumphs conquering like souls,
for made in Your image, I desire only You.Of wooing, my begging be a part.
I turn, my God, to You as a prayer with every care.
Prayer and tears, now, all one.
I nestle to Your breast and am all ear.I listen as beat upon beat,
Love’s rhythm reassures me of the next
and of Your eternal constancy.
I listen, as for a whisper, and fear not
to whisper every care and fretful prayer.I reach for You with every breath,
and sigh when You draw nigh.
You answer with a mother’s warmth,
bending low, picking me up, pressing me
to Your great and consoling bosom.“What is it my child. Am I not here? Haven’t I given you all?”
You kiss away my tears
and delight in the exchange.
I have given nothing but complaint,
yet You are full of smiles.A thousand little moments knit our day.
I cry and You comfort.
I beckon and You bend in kind regard.You draw me into that chamber,
in which I was formed,
that hallowed space,
in which my time began.Heaven and rest contained
in one all holy Name.
Name me, my God,
and I will come into being,
called forth from my darkness
into Your marvelous Day.All our moments measured by Your mercy,
I cry out for a heart made unto Your own,
that I may grow to give Your Love.
Love begetting love, for love alone.By Joann Nelander
Worldwide Prayer for the Unborn
The Holy Father has announced a worldwide vigil of prayer for unborn children. On Saturday evening, November 27, in St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome the Holy Father will begin the season of Advent. He will lift up in prayer all the children living in the womb, and call God’s protection on them.
Please join Pope BenedictXVI in prayer. He has invited all the bishops of the world to join him. The Advent prayer may be prayed as a Novena or through the season of Advent:
Advent Prayer for LIfe
God of Life,
We rejoice in the promise of your coming.You have sent your Son, born in Bethlehem.
He is the Prince of Peace, and
The one in whose name all oppression shall cease.May we welcome his coming each day
And prepare for his coming at the end of time.
May we build a culture that welcomes him
By welcoming every child, born and unborn.We pray through the same Christ our Lord. Amen.
Priests for Life offers Advent Prayer Cards for your parishes (free).
Be Holy! 