August 25, 2008
Friends, I feel compelled to write a prayer for those who struggle with commitment. Whether it’s at work or on the internet, some are threatening their relationship with those they claim to love by completely destroying the trust their loved one has in them, by forming affairs of the heart and/or mind. These are not normal friendships. Bonding with someone, other than your spouse, fiancee, or committed other, is to permanently damage your relationship. How can you avoid hurting your spouse or fiancee? - By avoiding caustic relationship - relationships that burn a hole in the heart of the one you claim to love. How do you avoid those outside relationships? 1. When you begin to feel attracted to another - and believe me throughout life, you will feel attracted to others - immediately stop the other contact. 2. Do not keep secrets from your loved one. The power of secrets, strengthen the acidic bond. 3. If you can’t be interrupted by your loved one, break off the relationship with the other. 4. If you are talking to the “other person” on the phone, in person, or on the internet and your loved one comes in or interrupts and you feel irritated or guilty, break off the other relationship immediately. Your loved one ALWAYS has first place in your heart and with your attention. You are ALWAYS a couple, even when they are not present. This is just a short list to begin but you get the idea. This is written in the first person so you can pass it on, to those who would benefit from praying it. Let’s pray:
“Father, God, lover of the family which is our heavenly unit, we bow before your holy name. May your love fill our homes and relationship to overflowing so there is no room for bonding with others that throw knives into the hearts of those we love: our spouse, our children, our fiancee, and our extended families who have taken our loved ones into their hearts as well. Build a shield around us so that attractions, to and from others, bounce off us, even before we are aware. If, or when, we become aware of an attraction to or from others, give us the character and strength to turn our backs on intruders into the safety of our family and loved ones. Forgive us for the pain that we have caused. We know how weak we can be but we trust in your strength and the power of the precious name of your son, our savior, Jesus Christ to deliver us from the evil of betraying our loved ones, of killing their trust and crippling their belief in love. In the name or Jesus we pray. Amen”
Doris
Copyright 2008 Doris Gaines Rapp, Ph.D.
“God gives us stories that testify to His love. Let me tell you mine.”
Monday, August 25, 2008
Monday, August 18, 2008
Prayer For Our Youth - August 18, 2008
August 18, 2008
Good morning dear friends. I want to lift up our young people today. Our 13-year-old grandson, Tanner, broke his left femur last Monday during school football, the day before school started. One tackle, months and months of healing - no football, no basketball, and perhaps no baseball next summer. Also, our great-niece started college last week, and our granddaughter begins college in a week or two, others begin school, and our last daughters begin college in a week. Friends have children and grandchildren in the military around the world. We ask a lot of our children. Let’s support them daily with our prayers. Perhaps you’ll want to go on my blog and pray this prayer daily for the youth of our country. Let’s pray:
“Our loving Father, God, we humbly bow before you, for you are our All-in-all. We try to understand you with our own logic, when you are outside of our logic, our reason, our understanding. Without fully knowing your plans for ourselves, our families, and our friends, we trust you and pray that your perfect plan may manifest itself in our lives and the lives of our loved ones. We pray today for our young people everywhere: school, college, work, and around the world. Heal their bodies, their souls, and keep them safe. We pray for their needs and ask that you tame their wants. Give them grateful hearts and keep them safely within your outstretched arms, cradled there like the children you have claimed as your own. May they find you in college, school, and everywhere, for you are there with them. Forgive us if we have not prepared them well. We also know that your work through us and in us is not done. Our children will need our love and guidance all the days of our lives and beyond. Give us insight into the wisdom we are to leave with them. When they seek your face and find you smiling, we will shout, “Glory to God,” for your presence, your healing, and love. We pray this all in the power of the name of Jesus Christ, your precious son, our redeemer. Amen.”
Doris
Copyright 2008 Doris Gaines Rapp, Ph.D.
“God gives us stories that testify to His love. Let me tell you mine.”
Good morning dear friends. I want to lift up our young people today. Our 13-year-old grandson, Tanner, broke his left femur last Monday during school football, the day before school started. One tackle, months and months of healing - no football, no basketball, and perhaps no baseball next summer. Also, our great-niece started college last week, and our granddaughter begins college in a week or two, others begin school, and our last daughters begin college in a week. Friends have children and grandchildren in the military around the world. We ask a lot of our children. Let’s support them daily with our prayers. Perhaps you’ll want to go on my blog and pray this prayer daily for the youth of our country. Let’s pray:
“Our loving Father, God, we humbly bow before you, for you are our All-in-all. We try to understand you with our own logic, when you are outside of our logic, our reason, our understanding. Without fully knowing your plans for ourselves, our families, and our friends, we trust you and pray that your perfect plan may manifest itself in our lives and the lives of our loved ones. We pray today for our young people everywhere: school, college, work, and around the world. Heal their bodies, their souls, and keep them safe. We pray for their needs and ask that you tame their wants. Give them grateful hearts and keep them safely within your outstretched arms, cradled there like the children you have claimed as your own. May they find you in college, school, and everywhere, for you are there with them. Forgive us if we have not prepared them well. We also know that your work through us and in us is not done. Our children will need our love and guidance all the days of our lives and beyond. Give us insight into the wisdom we are to leave with them. When they seek your face and find you smiling, we will shout, “Glory to God,” for your presence, your healing, and love. We pray this all in the power of the name of Jesus Christ, your precious son, our redeemer. Amen.”
Doris
Copyright 2008 Doris Gaines Rapp, Ph.D.
“God gives us stories that testify to His love. Let me tell you mine.”
Tuesday, August 5, 2008
The Long Leaving
I was thinking about someone with Alzheimer’s disease this morning. As I watch him, I think of it as the “Long Leaving.” His personality comes through from time to time and I thank God for the snippets of the one I knew but who has already started for Home. Let us pray:
“Oh Loving Father, the God of all that is good and right and beautiful, we sing your praises for the opportunity to know, and to have known, those who struggle with this world as they journey Home. We call its name Alzheimer’s and ask that you cast out our fear when we hear it mentioned. We know not why some reach the doorsteps of Heaven in a flash as the result of an accident or sudden death, and others linger along the way, neither here nor totally there. But, as we watch their eyes and see them leaving us, we know they are nearing your arms and we shout for joy for their arriving Home. We miss them and sometimes grow impatient with their Long Leaving, but we also rest assured that, if they are not here with us, they are there with you. It is our own impatience that is the hard part of their journey. Let us not grow weary in taking care of the body, as we watch the Spirit leave. We, your children, are not long on patience and for that we seek your forgiveness. We pray for a full measure of love, so we can see our loved ones safely leave this earth. We thank you for being at the door, calling them home, to insure they don’t lose their way. Thank you, Father, for all your blessings. We praise you and give you glory and honor and praise. In the name of your son, our redeemer, Jesus Christ, we pray. Amen”
Doris
Copyright 2008 Doris Gaines Rapp, Ph.D.
“Oh Loving Father, the God of all that is good and right and beautiful, we sing your praises for the opportunity to know, and to have known, those who struggle with this world as they journey Home. We call its name Alzheimer’s and ask that you cast out our fear when we hear it mentioned. We know not why some reach the doorsteps of Heaven in a flash as the result of an accident or sudden death, and others linger along the way, neither here nor totally there. But, as we watch their eyes and see them leaving us, we know they are nearing your arms and we shout for joy for their arriving Home. We miss them and sometimes grow impatient with their Long Leaving, but we also rest assured that, if they are not here with us, they are there with you. It is our own impatience that is the hard part of their journey. Let us not grow weary in taking care of the body, as we watch the Spirit leave. We, your children, are not long on patience and for that we seek your forgiveness. We pray for a full measure of love, so we can see our loved ones safely leave this earth. We thank you for being at the door, calling them home, to insure they don’t lose their way. Thank you, Father, for all your blessings. We praise you and give you glory and honor and praise. In the name of your son, our redeemer, Jesus Christ, we pray. Amen”
Doris
Copyright 2008 Doris Gaines Rapp, Ph.D.
Monday, July 28, 2008
ANNIVERSARY - July 28, 2008
Last Friday was our anniversary and I thought of all the milestones along our way. We never made a million dollars, but we made millions of friends and acquaintances along the way; we have cherished children; and both of us are blessed with wonderful families of origin. We never saw the Red Sea part, but we had miracles, designed just for us, that gathered around us, knee-deep, when we took the time to see them. We didn’t have our every prayer answered, praise the Lord, but He did answer every prayer that fulfilled His plan for us. Come to think of it, I guess we did see the red Sea part, as situation made way for even us to serve Him. Let’s pray:
“Our Father God, Heaven and earth are full of thee. May we each have a heart and eyes to see your presence here on earth. We come before the footstool of your thrown to ask that we may be blessed with the awareness of your revealed heart around us. Let us have a glimpse of your glory each day, not for our benefit but for your glorification, so that we might praise you even more. You are the ‘all-in-all” oh Father, the beginning and the end, and the rapture of our heart. Forgive us when we have said, “Your blessings have not been enough; I want more,” when we haven’t even acknowledged the blessings we have already received. Forgive us when we cry to you out of our loneliness, and fail to recognize the beautiful friends you have put in our path. Our loneliness isn’t physical, it is spiritual, for we keep ourselves from fully embracing you, our Father. Keep us close to you, even when we have drifted from your path. In the Holy, precious name of your son, our Savior, Jesus Christ we pray. Amen”
Doris
Copyright 2008 Doris Gaines Rapp, Ph.D.
“God gives us stories that testify to His love. Let me tell you mine.”
“Our Father God, Heaven and earth are full of thee. May we each have a heart and eyes to see your presence here on earth. We come before the footstool of your thrown to ask that we may be blessed with the awareness of your revealed heart around us. Let us have a glimpse of your glory each day, not for our benefit but for your glorification, so that we might praise you even more. You are the ‘all-in-all” oh Father, the beginning and the end, and the rapture of our heart. Forgive us when we have said, “Your blessings have not been enough; I want more,” when we haven’t even acknowledged the blessings we have already received. Forgive us when we cry to you out of our loneliness, and fail to recognize the beautiful friends you have put in our path. Our loneliness isn’t physical, it is spiritual, for we keep ourselves from fully embracing you, our Father. Keep us close to you, even when we have drifted from your path. In the Holy, precious name of your son, our Savior, Jesus Christ we pray. Amen”
Doris
Copyright 2008 Doris Gaines Rapp, Ph.D.
“God gives us stories that testify to His love. Let me tell you mine.”
Monday, July 21, 2008
Property Tax Day Celebration - July 21, 2008
Today is Property Tax Day here in Indiana. I have capitalized it so we might see it as a celebration day, a holiday, rather than an expensive obligation. Holiday? Doris, you’ve got to be kidding! I believe it is a privilege to live in a city in the United States of America. I consider it a blessing that water comes into my home through pipes rather than from a pitcher pump in the back yard from which I must fetch it. I feel blessed that my children receive a free education from the time they are five-years-old until they are 18+, and other blessings I can not number. I am sure you can make your own list. Please take the time to do so as you pay your property tax today. Let us pray:
“Oh loving Father, we praise your name above all names. May we see your kingdom come and dwell within us this very day, so your plan for our lives may be fulfilled in your time. We pray today to receive a blessing as we pay our property tax, a blessing of joy and thanksgiving. We thank you for clean water, smooth roads, safe neighborhoods, free education, help in time of fire and disaster, and so much more. We have an abundance of everything and are so blessed. Forgive us when what we have is not enough, not big enough or fancy enough for our own sense of entitlement. Open our eyes to your blessings that fall around us freely, like the gentle rain from Heaven, refreshing and nourishing our very souls. Keep us from self-centeredness, self-praise, and self-interest. Deliver us to a right relationship with you, oh Father, where we are God-centered, full of God-praise, and seeking God’s-interest. Let there rise up a new generation, not the me-generation, the You-generation, where You, Father God, are at the center of our lives. In your precious sons’s name, Jesus Christ, our Savior and Redeemer, we pray. Amen.”
Doris Rapp
Copyright 2008 Doris Gaines Rapp, Ph.D.
“God gives us stories that testify to His love. Let me tell you mine.”
“Oh loving Father, we praise your name above all names. May we see your kingdom come and dwell within us this very day, so your plan for our lives may be fulfilled in your time. We pray today to receive a blessing as we pay our property tax, a blessing of joy and thanksgiving. We thank you for clean water, smooth roads, safe neighborhoods, free education, help in time of fire and disaster, and so much more. We have an abundance of everything and are so blessed. Forgive us when what we have is not enough, not big enough or fancy enough for our own sense of entitlement. Open our eyes to your blessings that fall around us freely, like the gentle rain from Heaven, refreshing and nourishing our very souls. Keep us from self-centeredness, self-praise, and self-interest. Deliver us to a right relationship with you, oh Father, where we are God-centered, full of God-praise, and seeking God’s-interest. Let there rise up a new generation, not the me-generation, the You-generation, where You, Father God, are at the center of our lives. In your precious sons’s name, Jesus Christ, our Savior and Redeemer, we pray. Amen.”
Doris Rapp
Copyright 2008 Doris Gaines Rapp, Ph.D.
“God gives us stories that testify to His love. Let me tell you mine.”
Tuesday, July 15, 2008
Happiness in Our Blessings - July 15, 2008
Today we saw the movie, Kit Kittredge, An American Girl. The movie is based on the American Girl books about a ten-year-old, Kitt, who lives in Cincinnati in 1933, during the Depression. It not only brought to mind what those who lived through those years must have gone through, but what their children endured as well. I know times are financially hard now, due to the cost of gasolene, which has raised the price of many other things as well. But, my dear ones, we do not need what we think we need. Our happiness is not based on how much we have . . . and if it is, we have our priorities all mixed up. No matter how bad Kit Kittredge found life to be, all she wanted was her father to be home. We mistakenly believe our children are as materialistic as we are. They don’t want more. They want us. Let us pray for a return to value placed on the lives of our children, our families, and our friends, not on the toys we have.
“Our loving father, you have no house or car or clothes, yet you are God Almighty. We pray that your name alone will bring joy to our hearts and wealth to our souls. May we begin to live the life of a Prince or Princess in your Kingdom, this very day. Our wealth is uncountable, for all that’s yours, is ours. Our diamonds are our children, our golden nuggets are our families, our silver jewels are our friends. Yet, we think we haven’t enough. We are shamed by those you actually had nothing, yet found joy in the abundance you gave them. Forgive us for our thirst for money, for it is unquenchable. We are gluttons for more. Our soul is bankrupt, no matter how much we have, if you are not the center of our world. Open our eyes to the joy around us, oh Father. We pray in the name of your precious son, Jesus, our redeemer. Amen”
Doris Rapp
Copyright 2008 Doris Gaines Rapp, Ph.D.
“Our loving father, you have no house or car or clothes, yet you are God Almighty. We pray that your name alone will bring joy to our hearts and wealth to our souls. May we begin to live the life of a Prince or Princess in your Kingdom, this very day. Our wealth is uncountable, for all that’s yours, is ours. Our diamonds are our children, our golden nuggets are our families, our silver jewels are our friends. Yet, we think we haven’t enough. We are shamed by those you actually had nothing, yet found joy in the abundance you gave them. Forgive us for our thirst for money, for it is unquenchable. We are gluttons for more. Our soul is bankrupt, no matter how much we have, if you are not the center of our world. Open our eyes to the joy around us, oh Father. We pray in the name of your precious son, Jesus, our redeemer. Amen”
Doris Rapp
Copyright 2008 Doris Gaines Rapp, Ph.D.
Tuesday, July 8, 2008
Prayer for Our Children
As we pray for our miliary and their safety, let’s remember the children of our land who find themselves on the “front line” with no experience to handle the frontal attack of the world. Let us pray:
“Our loving father, Daddy to our children as well as Father to all of us, Holy is your name. May your will be done in our lives as it is in Heaven. We come before your throne, oh God, asking for the safety of our children. Our little ones find themselves with a parent away at war; they find themselves in the middle of a war in their own homes; and they find themselves in the midst of war on their own streets and in their own communities. Safety, security, and predictability are what they need and deserve. We ask that you wrap your loving arms around them and give them comfort. We pray that you will send your angels, to stand guard around each of our children, to stand in the doorway to their safe place and face the world on their behalf. We pray for the safety and sanity of their parents, that these little ones may be lifted up so that their needs and security are primary in the hearts of their parents and the minds of all those around them. Forgive us when we put “self” first: self-needs, self-indulgence, and self-interests. And, deliver us and our children safely on the other side of the river called “me”. We pray that your will is welcome in our lives and we give you all the praise and glory, both now and in our future days. In the name of your precious son, Jesus, we pray. Amen.”
Doris
Copyright 2008 Doris Gaines Rapp, Ph.D.
“Our loving father, Daddy to our children as well as Father to all of us, Holy is your name. May your will be done in our lives as it is in Heaven. We come before your throne, oh God, asking for the safety of our children. Our little ones find themselves with a parent away at war; they find themselves in the middle of a war in their own homes; and they find themselves in the midst of war on their own streets and in their own communities. Safety, security, and predictability are what they need and deserve. We ask that you wrap your loving arms around them and give them comfort. We pray that you will send your angels, to stand guard around each of our children, to stand in the doorway to their safe place and face the world on their behalf. We pray for the safety and sanity of their parents, that these little ones may be lifted up so that their needs and security are primary in the hearts of their parents and the minds of all those around them. Forgive us when we put “self” first: self-needs, self-indulgence, and self-interests. And, deliver us and our children safely on the other side of the river called “me”. We pray that your will is welcome in our lives and we give you all the praise and glory, both now and in our future days. In the name of your precious son, Jesus, we pray. Amen.”
Doris
Copyright 2008 Doris Gaines Rapp, Ph.D.
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