Prayers on a Wintry Day

Dear Lord; Good morning Father.  Well, the storm came and went Lord and while those North of us got hit quite a bit harder, we were spared the bulk of it’s magnitude.  We got just enough snow to keep the kids home from school and for Shannon’s workplace to close for the day, but not too much for me to make it out to the office.  Thank You so much for that balance!

As you know Father, I’ve had quite a bit on my mind and in my heart as of late so I thought today I’d use our time together to cover some of those thoughts in prayer.

Heavenly Father, several days ago a friend of some friends of mine and his family suffered a horrendous house fire and lost all their earthly possessions.  While I don’t know them personally, several of my friends know him quite well and are working diligently to try and help them with getting the necessities his family requires.  Please provide Your Comfort and Healing to this troubled family Lord, and Bless those working to help them get back on their feet.

As we’ve discussed quite a lot recently Lord, many of Your Children are living with heightened levels of financial and occupational uncertainly in their lives.  Please send them Your Strength and Fortitude, and help them quiet the “noise” that fear and doubt places in their minds so that Your Voice can guide them down the proper path.

An old friend of my wife is fighting a battle with ALS, and has suffered one setback after another the last couple of months.  This is a truly terrible disease Father, and has caused him and his family significant pain and turmoil.  Please give them the Comfort and Peace that can only come from Your Presence Lord.  Help him see Your Light, and know Your Love in this difficult time.

As always Father, thank You so much for being the guiding light in my life and for listening to my prayers.  In Your Loving Hands I place all my hopes, dreams and burdens secure in the knowledge that Your Path is righteous and just.  Amen.

~Phather Phil

Faster than a speeding bullet…

Dear Lord; Well Father, it never ceases to amaze me where my thoughts are led when I’m communing with You.  For whatever reason, this morning on my drive into the office I was thinking about how the news lately seems to be filled with nothing but tragedy and heartache, and the general despair and discord of our citizens.  Senseless shootings, hateful protests, skyrocketing unemployment, financial hardships, a rising crime rate, natural disasters, and the list goes on and on.  What the world needs I decided, is a Superhero.  Someone who can swoop in and inspire hope, bring some righteous justice and order to things, and act as a beacon for people to rally around.

“I gave you one.” You whispered.

So You did!  You gave us the single most impressive “Superhero” that the world could possibly know; Your Son, Jesus Christ.

how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and power, and how he went around doing good and healing all who were under the power of the devil, because God was with him.  – Acts 10:38

Wow… Even the fictional “man of steel” himself didn’t wield the Power of God.  What an amazing Hero and Role Model You’ve given us!

Ok, so if we’ve been given the Ultimate Hero why are so many people in such despair??  Unfortunately, it’s because those folks just don’t know Him, and allow themselves to focus on earthly worries instead of allowing Him to lighten their burdens.  If all of us use the “Bat-Phone” of prayer to call Him into our lives, the day (as well as our eternal souls) would indeed be Saved.

So as Christians, here’s our chance to be Heroes as well.  If we live by His example, let God’s Light show through our words and actions, and share the Praises of His Good Works then we can bring that amazing power to more people.  We can change the world, through Him.

Now that’s power.

Amen.

~Phather Phil

The Stuff that Dreams are Made of

Dear Lord; Wow Father… What a powerful morning You’ve presented me with.  I’m still not 100% sure what to make of it, but it’s got me excited nonetheless.

Now, I’ve never been a big nighttime “dreamer”.  In fact, I’m a chronic insomniac so when I do finally crash I very seldom remember what runs through my head the next morning.  Last night however, was a completely different experience for me.  Everything was so vivid, so real… When the alarm clock went off (and just FYI, I now realize that alarm clocks are one of Satan’s creations…LOL) I was truly shocked to find out that I had been asleep.  However, although I woke a bit disoriented I had an amazing sense of peace and of hope in my heart that hadn’t been there when I went to bed.  It was a wonderful feeling, but at the same time very confusing.  A little later, I was trying to make sense of it all while showering and You whispered to my heart :

“Expect something wonderful”

I’ve never put much stock in my dreams Father, but I’ve absolutely learned to be open to Your Voice.  This was such a powerful and unexpected experience for me, that I’m still having a hard time putting it into perspective.  Either way, no matter what the “something wonderful” turns out to be, I can’t thank You enough for the joyous feeling You left me with this morning.

On a different note Lord, I just had to share another piece of happiness with You.  Last night, Aidan and I finished reading the Book of Genesis in his new Action Bible.  He was beaming from the accomplishment, and went to bed with a smile on his face.  We also found and bought the DVD of the movie “The Ten Commandments” recently, and are planning to watch it this weekend so it’s a wonderful lead-in to reading the Book of Exodus.  Jonathan’s been reading Genesis as well, and I expect he’ll have it done in the next day or so as well.  Can You tell I’m proud of them Lord?  🙂

And we’re once again coming into a weekend Father.  Shannon and I are getting out for “date night” tonight, with the balance of the weekend being spent getting the Christmas decorations put away and putting our house back to some semblance of normality.  I’ll admit, I’m going to be sorry to see all the wonderful lights and embellishments get put away for another year, but it’s time.

Heavenly Father, I thank You so much for coming to me this morning.  The more I feel Your Presence with me, the more I know peace in my heart and go through the day focused on what truly matters.  Please guide me to better be Your Servant, and to shine Your Light to those around me so that they may know Your Love as I’ve come to.  Amen.

~Phather Phil

Boys to Men

Dear Lord; Good morning Father!  To start off today, I’d like to thank You for the emotional “purging” You helped me with yesterday.  Sometimes, the hidden feelings that quietly eat at our spirits are the hardest to control, and it feels absolutely wonderful to have laid that one down.  Every negative I can shed brings me that much closer to You.

As You know, for Christmas I got both my boys new Children’s Bibles.  These are lovely books Lord, which tell Your story and give Your Word to them in a way that they’re excited to read each night.  Most evenings I’ve been reading with Aidan, but he’s also taken to reading some of it on his own and has just been devouring the stories.  We’re almost completely through Genesis, and both my boys are amazed and filled with wonder at Your Power and Love for Your Children.  I’ve been thrilled to see them so enthralled with learning about You, and I pray it continues to interest and excite them.  Jonathan has taken to reading our daily conversations as well, and it warms my heart that he wants to know You so much more.  I so want to raise these boys to be God-Loving, compassionate and righteous men.

“Start children off on the way they should go, and even when they are old they will not turn from it.” – Proverbs 22:6

Heavenly Father, please help me continue to bring Your Loving Presence into my childrens’ lives.  Fill them with the Holy Spirit, and make Your Heavenly Light shine through them so all may see Your Influence.  I pray that You grant me the wisdom, the strength and the resolve to help them be the men I know they can be.  Amen.

~Phather Phil

My Kingdom for a Smile

Dear Lord; Good morning Father!  Today Lord, I’d like to talk about an experience I had last night which made quite an impact on me… I went to the Super Wal*Mart.

I only needed a few items; Some food for dinner, and I wanted to pick up a couple Christmas gifts for the kids so I thought it would be a quick and easy trip.  It was around 4:20pm, so I expected to avoid the truly heavy “after-work” traffic and in fact the parking lot was busy, but not as packed as I’ve seen before.  I grabbed a cart, went inside, looked around at the hustle and bustle and almost immediately it hit me… No one was smiling.

Not the customers, not the cashiers, not the stock people, no one in eyesight had a smile on their faces.  I’m not sure why it hit me so quickly, or affected me so significantly but the whole building suddenly seemed very cold and uninviting.  Now, it wasn’t Wal*Mart itself.  It’s certainly not my favorite place to shop, but I absolutely have nothing against it either.  This was just an overall feeling being given off that pervaded the entire premises.  And as I spent the next 45 minutes gathering what I came for, it only became more apparent to me that the people here simply were not happy.  Even attempts to garner some positive responses from others in the store failed.  I made eye contact, smiled and nodded to countless patrons, and yet all but one ignored my actions completely.  In the end, I paid for my items and left the store feeling almost distraught at the overwhelming level of despair I had just witnessed.  It hung with me for some of the evening, until I got some quiet time to contemplate and pray for guidance.  That helped calm my spirit, but the experience still lingers in my mind.

So Father, this morning my heart is crying out to You for help.  You’ve done so much for us, and yet there are so many who just can’t see past their earthly worries enough to bear witness to Your Glorious Works.  Please fill these lost souls with Your Endless Love; Make it grow and spread so that Your Light shines like a beacon for all around to behold.  Help me be an emissary for Your Word, and spread the Love of Christ and the Miracle of His Birth on to all those I possibly can.  Amen.  ~Phather Phil