A Dancer’s Prayer

September 15, 2019 1 Comment

Nixon Inauguration, 1971 — Inauguration, 1971

By Stephen W. Hiemstra

Heavenly Father,

All praise and honor are yours for you are the light of the world and the darkness has not overcome it (John 1).

Forgive us for preferring the darkness when we should share your light.

We give thanks that the future is in you and in your Holy Trinity we witness your divine dance–Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.

In the power of the Holy Spirit, teach us to be able dance partners in your eternal celebration.

In Jesus’ precious name, Amen.

A Dancer’s Prayer

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Author site: http://www.StephenWHiemstra.net, Publisher site: http://www.T2Pneuma.com.

Newsletter: http://bit.ly/TakingCare_2019

Prayer

Prayer of Thanks for Family

September 8, 2019 No Comments

Maryam and Stephen Wedding 1984 — Wedding 1984

By Stephen W. Hiemstra

Heavenly Father,

All praise and honor be to you for you have surrounded us with family that shares our joys and sorrows and give life meaning.

Forgive us when we let each other down and focus more on ourselves than those around us.

Thank you for special days and dinners and all the time that we have together.

In the power of your Holy Spirit, open our hearts, illumine our minds, and grant us hands to help one another.

In Jesus precious name, Amen.

Prayer of Thanks for Family

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Prayer

Lament over Creation

September 1, 2019 No Comments

By Stephen W. Hiemstra

Heavenly Father,

I mourn over your creation

that displays your glory,

but here on earth often seems

like flowers out of focus.

Why is the water unfit for drinking and the air neither fresh nor clear?

Do song birds still sing or have obese house kitties carried them away?

I miss the pleasure of gardening and hearing kids playing in the yard.

Yet, you are the God

that brings the sunshine and the rain that waters the land.

The dragonflies know your name and

even the stars and moon display your light.

Holy Spirit,

in your gentle wisdom,

restore balance to the heavens and earth

before our provision

becomes the stuff of myths and legends

long forgotten in a distance past.

In Jesus precious name, Amen.

Lament over Creation

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Author site: http://www.StephenWHiemstra.net, Publisher site: http://www.T2Pneuma.com.

Newsletter: http://bit.ly/TakingCare_2019

Prayer

Guidance Prayer

August 25, 2019 No Comments

Stephen W. Hiemstra, First Car, 1975

By Stephen W. Hiemstra

Merciful Father,

To you be the glory loving father for you illumine our path and peer beyond ever bend protecting us from unseen black-ice and pot holes and inebriated devils that threaten our very existence.

Forgive our habit of taking your provision for granted and acting as if we are in control.

Thank you for blessings beyond measure, the things and people we take for granted, and the luxury of being your people in a prosperous land.

In the power of your Holy Spirit, grant us eyes that see, ears that hear, and an abiding faith that our foot-steps would remain secure in a volatile time and place.

In Jesus’ precious name, Amen.

Guidance Prayer

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Author site: http://www.StephenWHiemstra.net, Publisher site: http://www.T2Pneuma.com.

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Prayer

Crisis Prayer

August 18, 2019 No Comments

By Stephen W. Hiemstra

Almighty Father,

Praise be to you oh Lord for you have covered me with you wings

even as my heart and mind have been weary and body fails me and

the sun’s heat bears down on me days and

cold winds whip about me through the night.

Forgive my weakness though it tears my soul and leaves me an embarrassment to my family and friends.

Thank you for your protection and comforting presence that remind of your goodness and mercy.

In the power of your Holy Spirit, grant me renewed strength,

that my joints and ligaments may bear my weight

as I strive to run the good race all the days of my life.

In Jesus’ precious name, Amen.

Crisis Prayer

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Prayer

Prayer for Strength and Protection

August 11, 2019 No Comments

By Stephen W. Hiemstra

Almighty and Omniscient Father,

All glory and honor are yours for you protect me from hidden dangers and from temptations that would destroy me.

Forgive me for harboring so many weaknesses and yielding so quickly to every snare and pit that Satan lays in my path–the hidden pride, the sin I ignore, and my impatience with life.

Thank you for your hedge of protection that guards my heart and mind, keeping me focused on you, and sparing me the pain and death of those around me.

In the power of your Holy Spirit, grant me the strength and desire to honor your healthy boundaries and to live within your will for my life. Remind me daily of my baptism and to keep my heart pure, ever prepared for communion with you and the church.

In Jesus’ precious name, Amen.

Prayer for Strength and Protection

Also see:

Prayer for Healthy Limits

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Author site: http://www.StephenWHiemstra.net, Publisher site: http://www.T2Pneuma.com.

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Prayer

Prayer for Others

August 4, 2019 No Comments

Steps of Lincoln Memorial — Lincoln Memorial, July 2019

By Stephen W. Hiemstra

Merciful father,

To you be all glory and honor, because you created us, provisioned, and protected us in spite of our many transgressions.

If that were not enough, from the beginning you planned for our salvation through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, our great role model and redeemer.

Forgive us for focusing mostly on ourselves when so many of the blessings in this life are provided for us by our families, friends, and even complete strangers, who value our presence, our life, and our health through no merit of our own.

Thank you for the invisible people in our lives who grow our food, build our homes, and take care of us quietly doing jobs that we cannot do for ourselves.

Bless their lives, their families, and all that they hold dear. You alone know their names, their dreams, and they abilities. Let them never feel taken for granted. Send your Holy Spirit into their lives and bless them. In Jesus’ precious name, Amen.

Prayer for Others

Also see:

Prayer for Healthy Limits

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Author site: http://www.StephenWHiemstra.net, Publisher site: http://www.T2Pneuma.com.

Newsletter: http://bit.ly/HotWeather_2019

Prayer

Holiness Prayer

July 28, 2019 No Comments

FPCA Avian-Spirit Cross By Stephen W. Hiemstra

Holy and Loving Father,

Holy, holy, holy art thou, righteous king of the universe who has created, guided, and protected us from the day of our birth.

Forgive us in our fallen state of caring too much for ourselves and too little of those around us, even our friends and family.

Thank you for being who you are and for sending Jesus Christ to be our holy example in life and our redeemer in his death. Have mercy on us for His name’s sake.

In the power of your Holy Spirit, walk with us and guide us each and every day, that will may grow more like Christ, now and always. In Jesus’ precious name, Amen.

Holiness Prayer

Also see:

Prayer for Healthy Limits

Other ways to engage online:

Author site: http://www.StephenWHiemstra.net, Publisher site: http://www.T2Pneuma.com.

Newsletter: http://bit.ly/HotWeather_2019

Prayer

Prayer for the Afflicted

July 21, 2019 No Comments

Vietnam Memorial By Stephen W. Hiemstra

Almighty Father,

All praise and honor be to you for you hear our cries for mercy and have compassion on those who suffer affliction.

Forgive us for we seldom do either being wrapped up in our own worries and often turn a deaf ear to the suffering of others.

We thank you for the hedge of protection that you offer us through faith and the love you show to sinners who do not know you.

In the power of your Holy Spirit, stay your hand in punishing those that sin repeatedly and do not attend to your commandments. Lift them gently from the recompense of their sin and show them another path. May sin not destroy their lives, their hopes, and the their opportunities, but may their pain turns their eyes to you that they might find a saving faith.

In the precious name of Jesus, your son and our savior. Amen.