Hear Our Prayers And Hymns
O Lord, We Pray
by
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JANUARY A Pilgrim's Prayers
Lord, our God, when the mountains and hills before us are steep and not made low, let your presence be our staff and strength to surmount and to conquer.
When disappointments obstruct our ways, empower us with courage and insight to turn them into stepping stones leading to unknown opportunities.
When the impossible confronts us, grant us visions and dreams of hope to renew our inspiration.
When the crooked on our journey is not made straight, be our compass lest we lose our way.
When rough places are not made plain, provide us with shoes to continue our pilgrimage without pain or fear.
When the valleys of life are deep and not made level, and all seems to fail, grant us wings to mount up like eagles, we pray . . . . Amen
O Lord, during our sojourn on earth, let despondence never be our master, for you are always near. Merciful Lord, as life is sometimes mingled with tears of sorrow, mourning, and struggle, but often also brightened by smiles of accomplishment, satisfaction, and contentment, grant us a victorious conclusion to our pilgrimage. Transform all of our experiences on earth into one melody of happiness and laughter that in the end there may break upon our spirits that distant, long awaited, triumph song of eternity, a new commencement of joy and service forever, we pray. . . . Amen.
The Open Door of a New Beginning
Almighty God, our Father, as we begin a new year, we thank you that you have so fashioned creation and our own lives as to always confront us with the challenge of new and unknown frontiers.
We thank you for the new frontiers of our time: the electronic age, the nuclear age, the space age, the age of wonder drugs, and the age of genetic engineering. We stand as insignificant, little people before the irresistible beckoning of these overwhelming frontiers of our lives. As beneficiaries of these marvelous discoveries of your handiwork, bestow upon us, the people of your creation, a double portion of the sense of our own responsibility, lasting values of integrity, humility, love, and moral stamina, lest we become arrogant, and destroy ourselves with the gifts of vast knowledge that you have intended to be of endless benefit to us.
As you guide us into the new year and as we cross the threshold of the unknown, the unexplored, and the unexpected, may your light always be a lamp unto our feet, lest we stumble and fall.
By your light that illumined the world through the wise and dedicated of the past transform us into the light of the world ourselves, set on a hill, that can not be hid, that peace and goodwill may reign on the earth, we pray . . . . Amen.
Excelsior!
Grant us, O Lord, the wisdom and confidence to know
That the shadows in life here below
Are only your Kingdom's flag up higher,
Waving with the clarion: Excelsior, Excelsior! . . . Amen.
Ora et Labora
Grant, O Lord, that we shall not only make our desires known to you in our prayers, but that we shall also discipline ourselves and work unceasingly and diligently so that our labors will become part of the answers to our prayers, for you have summoned us in this life, not only to be your servants, but also to be your colaborers . . . . Amen.
Spiritual Growth
Dear Lord, implant and nourish within us the high resolve and ability to grow and to become mature and strong. Liberate us from the fear or unwillingness of climbing out of the cradle. Liberate us from the immaturity that refuses to grow beyond being fed with milk, lest we languish, remain soft, and live as children when we should mature to full manhood and womanhood in our relationship with you and with our fellow human beings.
And once out of the nursery, Dear Lord, enable us to continue to grow lest we languish in staleness; enable us to continue to grow lest we degenerate and decay; enable us to grow lest we become spiritually old.
Open the depth of your mysteries that our hearts and our roots may tap into the springs of living water that are continually refreshed by your presence.
So enable us to mature like giants in the forest season after season renewing our hearts and our minds, that we may flourish from strength to strength, even into eternity. . . . Amen.
The Comfort of God's Presence
Almighty God, our Father, in our universe and on the earth in which we live, you have made us part of time and of eternity. As in your mercy we find ourselves once again at the portals of a new year, we thank you, despite the vastness of your creation, that we are never alone; that you are as close to us as the touch of our hands, as the sight of our eyes, as the sound in our ears, as fragrance and taste in our senses, and above all, that you are not only close to us, but within us, even as you created us and continue to dwell in us and to speak to us.
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About the Book
This book is one of considerable variety, dealing mainly with prayer, worship, and song to a minor degree. "Prayer," the author states, " . . . is the fourth dimension of human existence, a dimension of mystery--a spiritual dimension, for God is Spirit, and God dwells in us as Spirit. This dimension becomes especially manifest in silent prayer . . ." Prayer is part of the pilgrimage of life. Small wonder, through many years the book has grown to some 145 prayers covering a vast variety of subjects, some most serious, dealing with fundamental, human struggles and fundamental questions; some are even humorous--sport, the Kentucky Derby, God’s humor in creation. Pastoral prayers touch on the worship service and its danger of becoming stereotyped. So he even ventures in giving fifteen new benedictions, which he says is not intended to be a wimpy prayer of dismissal to go home now to have a nap, but an authoritative culmination of the worship service, sending people out into the world as laborers. The lyrics deal with the essential elements of life: praise to the Almighty (Psalm 146), love, faith, hope, God’s goodness, and ends with a song to America. Prayer, the author says, is the universal language of all religions, and he anticipates that people of diverse religious persuasions will find in the book guidance in trying situations, comfort, joy, and inspiration.
About the Author
Daniel J. Theron was born in the Orange Free State in the Republic of South Africa. He grew up in the southeastern Transvaal, went to school at Greylingstad and Standerton High School, and graduated from the University of Pretoria, A. B., M. A., and B. D. in the Theological Faculty, Section B. He was lecturer in the Department of Classics at the University of Pretoria. He received a Th./Ph.D. Degree from Princeton Theological Seminary with a thesis on Paul's Concept of Truth. Here he served on the faculty for several years during the 1940s and 1950s, in the New Testament division. He was ordained in the Presbyterian Church U. S. A. He is the author of several books and articles, Evidence of Tradition, a textbook for graduate students in New Testament and Patristic Studies, several articles on the theology of the Apostle Paul, a number of other articles, many book reviews, and Out of Ashes, The Boers' Struggle for Freedom during the English War of 1899-1902. He is also well versed in finances, spent many years in the investment business, and still continues his interest in this field. He has always been writing, and has several manuscripts in their final stages. He served as chaplain for many years, especially in the service club organization of Civitan International.