A New Way Prayer

            Dear Lord, you are the vine and the source from which all graces flow.  I ask to receive these graces and the joy you promise to your followers.  I pray that I will stay connected to you at all times. 

            Lord, I know that there is a purpose for my struggles and while I may not understand it I ask for the grace to remain faithful and united to you no matter what.  Apart from you there is no life.  Help me to appreciate my place in your plan and to carry out your will for my life joyfully.  I am completely dependent upon you for this joy and I ask to receive it now. 

            Please pour out your Holy Spirit upon me, and everyone near and dear to me, and refresh our tired souls.  Make us new in heart, mind, body and spirit.  Clear the path for us to walk with confidence in You.  In Jesus name.  Amen.

This prayer is from our latest book, "Strength For The Weary, Finding Grace in Times of Trial." 

Our Lord knows our burdens, and He doesn't expect us to carry them alone.

We worship a living God.  Jesus is not dead.  He has risen and He gives us a chance to rise with Him, to enter into eternal life by His death and resurrection.  We all have a chance to choose life or death for our souls.  Jesus is merciful and forgiving, loving and gentle, and He calls us today to choose Him, to say yes to eternal salvation and lasting happiness.

This scripture below fills us with new hope.  We are all sinners in need of a Savior.  We are all in need of God's grace, and in this scripture we see that salvation is God's gift to us and that it is "by God's grace" that we have been saved.  Here is the full scripture reading from Ephesians 2:1-10.  I hope you find it as life-giving as I have.  No matter what our past, God has a bright future planned and we can start right now, in this very moment, to begin living our lives in a New Way.

In Ephesians Chapter 2, St. Paul, who once persecuted, tortured and killed anyone who followed Christ, speaks to us as one who's eyes were opened by grace.  In these verses "From Death to Life" St. Paul writes ...

"In the past you were spiritually dead because of your disobedience and sins.  At that time you followed the world's evil way; you obeyed the ruler of the spiritual powers in space, the spirit who now controls the people who disobey God.  Actually all of us were like them and lived according to our natural wishes of our own bodies and minds.  In our natural condition we, like everyone else, were destined to suffer God's anger.  But God's mercy is so abundant, and His Love for us is so great, that while we were spiritually dead in our disobedience He brought us to life with Christ.  It is by God's grace that you have been saved.  In our union with Christ Jesus He raised us up with Him to rule with Him in the heavenly world.  He did this to demonstrate for all time to come the extraordinary greatness of His grace in the love He showed us in Christ Jesus.  For it is by God's grace that you have been saved through faith.  It is not the result of your own efforts, but God's gift, so that no one can boast about it.  God has made us what we are, and in our union with Christ Jesus He has created us for a life of good deeds, which He has already prepared us to do."

We can't earn grace.  It's a free gift.  We can only accept it, or reject it.  Jesus has won for us the grace to achieve Heaven, eternal happiness, a joy that will never fade.  Let's open our Hearts to this grace and say Yes to God.  Jesus loves us.  And He's proven it.  By His death and resurrection may we accept the Love He offers.  

Happy Mother's Day Weekend to our Heavenly Mother!  Mother Mary, we love you and we thank you for bringing Jesus into the world for us.  Thank you for saying yes to God.  Help us to say yes to God also.  We pray straight to God through Jesus, but we also know you love us with the love of your Son, and like any mother, will love and pray for your children also.  Help us to welcome Jesus into our hearts, and by His death and resurrection, we too will live forever in Heaven.