morning prayer

Awake, my soul, and with the sun
thy daily stage of duty run;
shake off dull sloth, and early rise
to pay thy morning sacrifice.

Lord, I my vows to Thee renew.
Disperse my sins as morning dew;
guard my first springs of thought and will,
and with Thyself my spirit fill.

Direct, control, suggest, this day,
all I design or do or say,
that all my pow'rs, with all their might,
in Thy sole glory may unite.

Pray for the nation...

I have some questions - the whole free will thing is a little confusing.  Does praying for the nation really help?  If our very own salvation is dependent on a personal relationship with Christ, is it possible to deliver others from evil with prayer when in fact they deny Christ?  If God grants all men free will, how can it be possible to turn a man from Satan if that is his choice?  Getting prayers answered is a tricky thing and it doesn't just happen automatically.  Several conditions must be met by even true believers in order to at least have their prayers heard...much less answered.  Do non believers "even have a prayer" when it comes to asking favors from God?  There is a lot in the bible about believers being given authority in Jesus' name to cast out demons.  That might work for the head spinning / soup spewing kind - but I am not so sure you can change a man's heart if it is against his will.  Does man have the power over others' free will when in fact God refrains from forcing the issue?

2 Chronicles 7:14  If (all) my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and (only then) will heal their land.

Pray

Prayer

My earliest memory of religion in my family was a nightly prayer my parents taught me:
Now I lay me down to sleep, I pray the Lord my soul to keep,
If I shall die before I wake, I pray the Lord my soul to take....which would follow with blessings for various family members.

When I was older, my family would join hands and say this prayer before our dinner meal.  (We always had dinner together as a family every night, and the rule was that out of respect, no one took a bite until mom did since she worked to prepared the meal )
We thank the Lord for this our food, in Jesus name...Amen.

I seem to remember that my Aunt and Uncle in Colorado said a different evening meal prayer...and I always wondered why theirs was different...
God is Great, God is Good; Let us thank Him for our food.
By His hands we all are fed, Give us Lord our Daily Bread.

Growing up, we would pray together but my parents really never explained to me about their beliefs...it was just part of the routine. When I started attending my church out here, Bonnie emphasized the importance of the congregation praying for one another.  A good friend sent me this poem that is a constant reminder of the importance of giving God my undivided attention when I pray.

I knelt to pray but not for long,
I had too much to do.
I had to hurry and get to work
For bills would soon be due.
So I knelt and said a hurried prayer,
And jumped up off my knees..
My Christian duty was now done
My soul could rest at ease......
All day long I had no time
To spread a word of cheer
No time to speak of Christ to friends,
They'd laugh at me I'd fear..
No time, no time, too much to do,
That was my constant cry,
No time to give to souls in need
But at last the time, the time to die.
I went before the Lord,
I came, I stood, full of strife.
For in his hands God held a book;
It was the book of life.
God looked into his book and said

Your name I cannot find
I once was going to write it down...

but never found the time.

82,90,43,0,C, .68

James 1:22 But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves. 23 For if any be a hearer of the word, and not a doer, he is like unto a man beholding his natural face in a glass: 24 For he beholdeth himself, and goeth his way , and straightway forgetteth what manner of man he was . 25 But whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and continueth therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed.26 If any man among you seem to be religious, and bridleth not his tongue, but deceiveth his own heart, this man's religion is vain.