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New every morning is your love, great God of light, and all day long you are working for good in the world. Stir up in us desire to serve you, to live peacefully with our neighbors and all your creation, and to devote each day to your Son, our Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.

"A Liturgy for Morning Prayer," Upper Room Worshipbook

Used by permission from the Book of Common Worship, © 2018 Westminster John Knox Press. All rights reserved. This prayer appears in “A Liturgy for Morning Prayer” in Upper Room Worshipbook.

Today’s Reflection

HELP ME, dear God,
to see my brother with the eyes of Christ,
to hear my sister with the ears of Christ,
to taste my neighbor’s hunger with the mouth of Christ,
to smell creation’s beauty with the nose of Christ,
to touch the world’s pain with the hands of Christ
and to love life, each life, every life,
with the heart of Christ.

– Sam Hamilton-Poore
Earth Gospel: A Guide to Prayer for God’s Creation

From page 79 of Earth Gospel: A Guide to Prayer for God’s Creation by Sam Hamilton-Poore. Copyright © 2008 by Sam Hamilton-Poore. All rights reserved. Used by permission of Upper Room Books. http://bookstore.upperroom.org/ Learn more about or purchase this book.

Today’s Question

Pray today’s prayer. Share your thoughts.

Today’s Scripture

Have you not known? Have you not heard? The LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He does not faint or grow weary; his understanding is unsearchable.
Isaiah 40:28, NRSV

This Week: Pray for those suffering from natural disasters. Submit your prayer to The Upper Room Living Prayer Center or share it in the comment section.

Did You Know?

In need of prayer? The Upper Room Living Prayer Center is a 7-day-a-week intercessory prayer ministry staffed by trained volunteers. Call 1-800-251-2468 or visit The Living Prayer Center website.

This week we remember: Brigid of Ireland (February 1).

Lectionary Readings

(Courtesy of Vanderbilt Divinity Library)

Sponsored by Upper Room Ministries ®. Copyright © 2018 | PO Box 340004 | Nashville, TN 37203-0004 | USA

20 Comments

  • Jill Posted January 30, 2018 3:50 am

    Yes, Father – give me the heart of Christ. A compassionate, patient, deliberate heart. Be Thou my Vision…to look intently, to linger with someone, to encourage conversational depth. And, yes, that I would hear my sister, love her, respect her, honor her.
    Father – thank You for this UR family. As we support each other in prayers and words of kindness, might we be encouraged by Your Loving Spirit and how we are knit together. I pray for strength and wisdom for Mary and her work situation, on top of her family’s needs. Father, sustain her.
    Grateful for Bible study group last evening. Grateful for dad’s continued progress. Today mom will have her testing re-scheduled. No longer waiting on the appeal, just going to move ahead and forgo the suggested prep in the hospital. I anticipate it will be scheduled end of next week, but will find out for sure today.

  • Betsy Posted January 30, 2018 7:14 am

    Praying today to draw closer to you, Dear Lord, through interactions with brothers and sisters in Christ. I’m struggling with a ministry opportunity which is before me. Please pray that God will show me my next steps, because I am conflicted about it (time commitment, feelings of inadequacy). Thank you, UR Family.

    So glad to “hear” from Andrea yesterday! I miss it when one of us is away for a bit. Blessings for all as we go our ways n the world today. Teaching, sharing, helping and comforting. We all have opportunities to be God’s hands and feet.

    • robert moeller Posted January 31, 2018 6:55 am

      Prayers for God’a wisdom and direction Betsy with regard to your opportunity. Thankful this opportunity is before you. Praying you have courage and God guides your decision.

  • robert moeller Posted January 30, 2018 7:33 am

    Very thankful to hear that Jill’s dad is doing well and her mom’s test is being scheduled. Health should always come before insurance, but that’s not the world we live in. Thankful that school has revived Jill. That’s great news when you are a teacher.

    Prayers for Mary’s difficult position at her school. Hope the new centre manager has the ability to resolve the situation. Lots of sympathy and understanding from me. While I taught more social studies than foreign language or English as a Second Language, my background and education is in those fields. Have dealt with foreign language starting in high school, as a teacher, and wth family.

    Thankful for the many focused posts and prayers from Marcy and Julie who make good use of the time and computer.

    Prayers that Andrea and her grandson will be ok with their breathing. Life begins when we take our first breath.

    The focus of this wonderful site is God, our relationship with God and fellow believers. God comes first, I will limit trains to answering questions from others. There are many other sites where trains are THE TOPIC, this will not be an additional one.

    Thankful for progress with Anneliese, her health is improving, tenant moving, and some interest in the purchase of the condo. Very glad for all of this.
    Her daughter’s father-in-law is in the hospital with pneumonia. Ashley remains there as well and has lost a lot of weight. Will learn more about Arnolds Sunday. Thankful too that Erich is getting better, he’s cooked great meals, and we’ve played chess.

    Thankful for all of you, your concern, posts for one another, and sincerity.
    Blessings to all of you, prayers for those we don’t hear from. The Lord is with you. Thank You, Lord.

    • Mary Ng Shwu Ling Posted January 30, 2018 9:21 pm

      Thanks Robert

      Blessings

  • Mary Ng Shwu Ling Posted January 30, 2018 7:34 am

    Yes, Lord, help me to love life, each life, every life,
    with the heart of Christ!

    My dad is transferred to another hospital today to do his therapy. Hopefully he will be here for two weeks and able to come home.

    Blessings

    • robert moeller Posted January 30, 2018 2:32 pm

      Great news from you about your Dad. He’ll be home in time for New Year’s if all goes well. What a blessing that would be. Prayers for you at school. That situation needs a great remedy very soon. The confusion you feel transfers to the students and that’s not healthy. God is with you, Mary, or you wouldn’t be where you are.

      • Mary Ng Shwu Ling Posted January 30, 2018 9:23 pm

        Yes, Robert

        Thanks for understanding

  • Joan Posted January 30, 2018 7:54 am

    Beautiful and transforming to sink into this prayer

  • Julie Posted January 30, 2018 8:05 am

    Prayers for each of you. Yes, Jill and Robert, I echo your beliefs and thought of this warm, loving and faith filled community. We support one another with true Christian love. I gain much from each one of you, your thoughts, reflections, cares, worries and concerns. And yes Robert, even your railroad updates. They are a part of you and as I value you I value that portion of you comments. May we love with the love of Christ, wholly and completely.
    Blessings and thanks and prayers my family

  • Julie Posted January 30, 2018 8:05 am

    In Christ

  • Andrea Posted January 30, 2018 12:11 pm

    Thank you, Betsy. I pray for your discernment about a service possibility.
    Prayers for Jill’s and Mary’s mother and father, for Jill’s health, for Mary’s guidance and support at work, for Robert, Erich, and Anneliese,
    and for those Robert names in his comment today, for Marcy’s and Julie’s health and pain relief and for their support in their home circumstances, for Connie and her grieving, for Joan, and for all who visit UR. Marcy, you give us a model of deep faith, prayer service to others, and forbearance in a time of trial, and I am grateful for your caring presence here.

    Robert, I would be sad were you to stop sharing your train hobby with us. I enjoy hearing about it and seeing the joy it gives you.

    Thank you for your prayers. I had a lovely day with my grandson and daughter yesterday. I am grateful that my daughter and I are closer now than we ever were before the conflict we had earlier this morning. My grandson has an awful hacky dry cough. My daughter uses alternative remedies and I know I must be very careful in giving advice. Please pray for my grandson. I am fighting to keep my coughing under control.

    Truly, I believe the prayers we pray for each other are a deep blessing. I feel surrounded by prayers. It is a blessing to know that this prayer community is a faithful community of prayer warrior friends praying for one another.

    From Isaiah 40:31 – “but those who wait for the LORD shall renew their strength, they shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint.”

    • robert moeller Posted January 30, 2018 2:38 pm

      Prayers full of strength Anadrea, very glad you went on that retreat. hope you are recovering from your cough. Prayers for your grandson’s health and improving relations with your daughter. Mothers, all mothers, are strong defenders of the methods they believe work best with their children.

      I’m not afraid to answer questions about my trains, but don’t want to overstay my welcome. Yes, I enjoy them immensely, but not everyone else does, so I don’t want to be a burden.

      • robert moeller Posted January 30, 2018 2:39 pm

        Andrea not the mispelled version.

      • Julie Posted January 30, 2018 6:26 pm

        I reiterate what I said above.
        We love you as Christ loves, wholly and completely. All of your joys are our joys.
        Please feel free to share your love of trains freely. You are among friends.

        • robert moeller Posted January 31, 2018 12:37 am

          Thanks Julie, Andrea, and Marcy for the encouragement of trains, grateful to be among friends. My operating layout is inspired by a train, the Hersfeld District Railroad, that runs through an area called Landecker Amt in East Hessen not so far from the former East German border and the Wartburg where Luther translated the Bible in to German. Trains from German model makers Märklin and Fleischmann represent the early 1900s. My great grandfather and his twin brother were already in the US, 1885 and 1875 respectively, but their sister remained in Germany in a house that still exists today.

    • Mary Ng Shwu Ling Posted January 30, 2018 9:24 pm

      Thanks Andrea

      Blessings

  • Trackback: “Follow Me”
  • robert moeller Posted January 31, 2018 8:56 am

    Can’t post to Follow Me even though I can read it.
    Yes, the call to “Follow Me” is a strong one, very hopefully I am doing that.
    Interesting how the US Army also uses that phrase in officer training. It’s not quite the same. Our trust in God is and should be much stronger, deeper, and, from the moment we commit, last the rest of our lives.

    Thankful for this news from Anneliese. The pay on time but cantankerous and abusive tenant is moving out today, a walk through inspection to tomorrow. A possible new tenant is coming to see the apartment and from what Anneliese writes could be the long awaited answer to our prayers. There has been interest in the condo, Anneliese might hold the mortgage and thus have income. Time will tell.

    Prayers of thanks for the Christian friendship found here at the UR. You are my everyday close and helpful fellowship. Prayers for Marcy, Julie, Andrea,
    her grandson, and all who have health and pain issues. Thankful for the progress made by Jill’s and Mary’s Dads. Prayers for Jill’s Mom. God guide Betsy as she has decisions to make. Peace between moms and daughters, fathers and sons. The divide between belief and unbelief is huge. Faith is an enormous leap for many when they cling so hard to facts, proof, science, and the lack of historical evidence. The truth of faith evades them.

    Thankful for a sunny day despite chilly temps. A new month tomorrow.

    The Lord bless and keep you now and always. Thank You, Lord.

  • Marcy Posted January 31, 2018 7:44 pm

    Yes, God, help me to see, to hear, to taste, to smell, to touch, to love everything Christ!

    Love and blessings to Jill, Betsy, Robert, Mary, Joan, Julie and Andrea. To all here in the UR family and beyond.

    And these three remain: Faith, Hope and Love, and the greatest of these is LOVE!

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