Praise of God

God of Wind and Rain

2006-11-06T14:23:00.000-08:00

Thank you, God, for windy, rainy days;
For the feeling of warmth, when it howls outside;
And one can here the sound of rain on the rooftop;
Thank you for today.

Praise

2006-10-06T12:54:00.000-07:00

Dear God,

I praise your might;
And I praise your gentleness;
I praise your grandeur;
And your ready availability;
I praise you as you are eternal;
And I praise you for being here in this very minute;
I praise you for blue skies and gray;
For happy times, and sad;
For summer, for winter;
For spring and autumn;
For equinox and solstice;
I praise you for plants;
And I praise you for the animals;
For the modern;
And for the ancient;
For great and impressive buildings;
And cozy warm homes;
For the Grand Canyon;
And the ravine behind my house.
Amen

Fear

2006-10-05T15:06:00.000-07:00

Dear God,

When I am afraid;
I feel your comforting presence near me;
As long as you are there;
I am fine;
Whose arrow can find my flesh?
While you are protecting me?
Whose perjured words succeed?
When you are there to enlighten the judge?
You stand behind me;
Clothed in armor;
And wielding a mighty sword;
So those unfairly opposing me are the ones who should be afraid.
Amen

Dear God,

2006-10-04T15:56:00.000-07:00

Dear God,

I don't feel much like praising you today;
I feel weary and unloved;
Not even liked;
And I find myself worrying about where my next job will come from;
But God, it is only by your grace that I am here today;
And that I can do anything to contribute to this world;
So I praise you, because you have the power to renew my spirit;
And rededicate my purpose;
To your glory.
Amen

Music

2006-10-03T16:29:00.000-07:00

Dear God,

Thank you for music;
Notes to scratch a weary cerebellum;
To dig deep into the folds of my cerebral cortex;
Renewing and revitalizing;
And at other times;
Renewing my spirit;
with words and notes.
Amen

God of Clouds

2006-10-02T16:12:00.000-07:00

Dear God,

When you make the clouds;
Do you shape them with your hands;
Or blow them into the sky;
And let the wind do its handiwork?
Do you enjoy being surprised by the strange shapes?
If we are made in your image;
You also must have a sense of wonder;
To your eternal glory.
Amen

God is Ever Present

2006-10-01T14:46:00.000-07:00

Dear God,
I praise you for your constancy;
When we sing and when we cry;
When we dance and when we mourn;
When we admire beauty and when we recoil from a harsh reality;
You are there to comfort and guide us;
An everpresent source of strength;
You are perhaps most present when it seems that you are most absent;
In a raucous bar scene, you remind a young father to head home;
And care for his family;
In war, you are there to comfort the soldiers;
Calm on the outside;
So very afraid on the inside;
In heated argument, when hatred flashes from the eyes of those locked in verbal combat;
You stay the hand, you introduce a note of friendship;
Because of you there is a chance that understanding will grow;
When there is deceit, you calm the tongue of the liar;
Lest worse lies be told;
We do not understand why there are things as horrible as war, hatred and deceit;
But as there is war and hatred and deceit, we thank you for being there too;
Without you could not win against this vile array;
With you, we cannot lose.
Amen

A Forgiving God

2006-09-30T12:07:00.000-07:00

Dear God,

I praise you, as you are a kind and forgiving God;
Others may blame us;
People can be cruel and unthinking in their judgments;
And we may blame ourselves;
With a cruel sense of self hate;
But you are ever kind;
You judge from the inside, you see the entire story;
It has been said that "to know all is to forgive all;"
You do know all;
You know each feeling that we have;
The pain, and the pleasure;
All is yours;
And knowing all;
You forgive those who turn to you in penitence;
To your eternal glory.
Amen

Fir Trees

2006-09-27T15:42:00.000-07:00

Dear God,

You are the creator of the fir trees;
In the day a pattern of green against the blue sky;
And at sunset;
An intricate black;
Backlit by the setting sun;
So stark;
And ominous;
Distant giants, etched in the sky;
To your eternal glory.
Amen

My Wall Against Temptation

2006-09-26T16:40:00.000-07:00

Dear God,

When I feel the hot, sticky breath of temptation;
On the back of my neck;
And it seems that the future of the next few minutes;
Is far more important then the future of the next few years;
Your presence is like a wall of brick and steel;
It is like a bright beam of light;
A promise that my refusal of temptation will be worth it;
That the future of the next few years;
Is not so hopeless that my resistance to temptation will make no difference;
Anyway;
But that strength now will yield happiness later;
And I praise you, oh God;
That your strength can complement my weakness;
And that together we will prevail.
Amen

Cool Autumn Day

2006-09-25T13:58:00.001-07:00

Dear God,

You are the author of the cool autumn day;
Gentle wind brushing my cheek;
Green and yellow branches swaying gently;
Sky so blue;
Makes me feel alive;
Thank you for the breeze, and the branches;
The sky and the feeling;
For all is yours;
Amen

God is Close

2006-09-24T16:59:00.000-07:00

God you are closest when things seem darkest;
When we have no friends, we have you;
When the world seems a strange, dark place;
This draws us closer to you;
When we are beset by worries;
Your strong hand is there to protect us;
You are entirely powerful;
And entirely good;
Entirely holy;
And entirely just;
Although we do not always understand your ways;
Your presence is always about us;
Your eternal justice is secure;
For ever;
Amen

It is Always Right to Trust in God

2006-09-23T10:50:00.000-07:00

God can do anything;
He can reconcile enemies;
Bring spirit to the lifeless;
Bring help to the hopeless;
His strength is equal to any task;
Although bad things happen in our world;
We have carried on and triumphed because of God;
Any situation, no matter how hopeless it seems;
Can be set right by God;
No matter how dangerous a situation is;
Faith in God can pull us through;
No matter how painful;
Faith in God will comfort us;
Maybe not in the way we had thought;
But in a good and beautiful way.
Amen

God is Mightier

2006-09-22T14:12:00.000-07:00

Dear God,

You are mightier than any problem;
The thought of you, of your mightiness;
Your holiness and perfect justice;
Will reduce any problem, in its perception;
And for every problem the perception is at least half the problem;
The thought of you is like a balm that heals every wound;
Your might is real, and the image of your might is mighty in itself;
Let the thought of your greatness heal every wound;
And make me strong, where I was weak;
To the benefit of my friends;
And to confound my enemies.
Amen

The Miracle of Fellowship

2006-09-21T08:38:00.000-07:00

Dear God,

Thank you, God;
For the miracle of fellowship;
Of being able to tell what is on your mind;
To a friendly and supportive group;
Let us remember that all fellowship is your creation;
And give honor back where honor is due;
To the eternal almighty.
Amen

God of Inspiration

2006-09-20T09:47:00.000-07:00

Dear God,

On a day like today;
When I desperately need inspiration;
How will you inspire me?
When I look out my window;
And I see the flag waving;
First one way;
then the other;
curling slightly;
in a little bit of breeze;
the sky a steeel grey;
and I think of all my various duties;
and then I think of your greatness;
for you are entirely mighty;
and in your might, there is something to move me to do;
every little thing I must;
to your eternal honor.
Amen

God With Us

2006-09-19T09:44:00.000-07:00

Dear God,

When we face danger;
How good it is to know that you are there with us;
Your comforting hand on my shoulder;
Your presence all around;
In your presence, there can only be safety;
Amen

God of Monday Morning

2006-09-18T09:12:00.000-07:00

Dear God,

You are the god of great miracles;
Of oceans, and waterfalls and lives saved from certain death;
And you are the god of small miracles;
The steam rising from my coffee;
Curling in a pattern so intricate and unique;
It could never be repeated;
And of getting through a rainy Monday morning;
Spirit intact;
Somehow, for another day, another week;
To the glory of your name.
Amen

Worship

2006-09-17T06:39:00.000-07:00

Dear God,

You bring the people, each with different concerns;
To hear your word, in worship;
To sing, in worship;
To pray, in worship;
You bring the people;
And make them one in your praise;
And to your praise;
World without end;
Amen

God of Autumn

2006-09-15T15:17:00.000-07:00

Oh, God of Autumn:
You make the leaves;
and you make them yellow and fall and crunch beneath our feet;
You quickin our pulse to the chill in the air;
The mystery of seasons;
And of time;
What ancient instinct makes the cool air feel so exciting;
And full of portent;
Thank you for Autumn;
And for mystery;
Oh God.

God is Mightier Than Evil

2006-09-15T09:58:00.000-07:00

God you are completely mighty;
and completely holy;
Evildoers might believe that they have succeeded;
But they will learn that they have failed;
For your mighty arm will bring to ruin, all who defy you;
You are the God of Abraham, and of Job;
Your justice on earth may not be understandable to man;
But in heaven we will see clearly;
How perfect is your justice;
For ever and ever;
Amen

God Can Do Anything

2006-09-14T16:29:00.000-07:00

Lord I praise you;
For you can do anything;
You created the universe with the sweep of your hand;
And you cause every petal on every flower to open;
And most miraculous;
You can fix the broken heart;
Fix mine, Oh God, fix mine;
For you are the God of the broken hearted and the mighty alike;
All come before you as equals, for you see the saint in the sinner;
And no saint can hide his sin from you;
The world's judgment means nothing to you;
For your eye pierces where no human eye can see;
Your ears hear the scheming of the outwardly righteous;
And the pleas of the inwardly righteous;
And with time, you fix all;
No human mind can know how;
No human mind can know when;
But your holiness and your justice are perfect;
And rule over all creation for all eternity.