Evening Prayer 3/31/09

Behold now, bless the LORD, all you servants of the LORD,
you that stand by night in the house of the LORD.

Lift up your hands in the holy place and bless the LORD;
the LORD who made heaven and earth bless you out of Zion.

Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit:
as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be for ever. Amen.

Midday Devotion 3/31/09

"Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves,
for the rights of all who are destitute.
Proverbs 31:8

Create in us a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within us. Cast us not from thy presence and take not thy Holy Spirit from us. Restore us to the joy of thy salvation, and uphold us with thy free Spirit.

Grace, mercy, and peace from God our Father and our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, Amen.

Why do we pray? Let’s face it, sometimes these challenges seem a bit overwhelming, it seems like there’s just too much chaos, too much pain, that the struggle is just too great. We wonder why is it that we pray? Why do we pray for the hostages when more of them are taken, or they are still held in captivity? When they are still oppressed? And there we find the words of the Lord: Open thy mouths for the dumb and for the cause of all such as are appointed for destruction. We pray because we know, and we trust in the Lord, we trust in His promises, we understand His righteousness and we know that He will never fail or forsake His children, that He will always stand beside them, that He will walk beside them. As we uplift their cause the Lord hears our prayers and He sees their plight and sees their struggle. He strengthens their hearts in all things, answering all prayers in time, all prayers according to His will and according to His design. Amidst that, ours must always be to look to the plight and look to the suffering and the affliction of those who are held captive, those who are appointed to destruction, those who live amidst chaos and the pain that can be inflicted upon their bodies, those who abide in that slavery of the soul of the unrighteous who would oppress them, that we can look upon them with compassion, love and mercy, so that we can commend their spirits unto the Lord, asking that He heals the broken places within them, in all things and through all things, according to His divine and holy will.

Philippine Military Prepares to Rescue Hostages

Urgent prayers are needed as the Philippine Army prepares to mount a rescue attempt after the deadline set by the captors for beheading one of the hostages has passed. Via AP:

MANILA, Philippines (AP) — Philippine troops and tanks advanced toward a jungle stronghold of al-Qaida-linked extremists after a deadline expired Tuesday for the beheading of one of three Red Cross hostages in a critical juncture of the 10-week crisis.

Officials redeployed government forces near the Abu Sayyaf camp in Indanan township on southern Jolo Island and put the predominantly Muslim region under a state of emergency after talks for the safe release of the hostages became bogged down and the militants threatened to behead them by 2 p.m. Tuesday.

There was no immediate indication that any of the Swiss, Italian and Filipino hostages, who have been held since Jan. 15, were killed after the deadline expired.

More than 1,000 marines, police and militiamen, who have surrounded the militants for weeks, pulled back from around the Abu Sayyaf stronghold last week to prod the gunmen to make good on their pledge to free one hostage. But the militants reneged on their promise and insisted that troops withdraw from 15 Jolo villages — a demand rejected by the government.

"We've given them everything but they didn't budge," Jolo Gov. Sakur Tan said. "The troops are returning there."

On Tuesday, tanks and truckloads of marines rolled out of a Jolo camp toward Indanan to try to surround the gunmen in a hilly jungle, Tan said. He refused to say if a military rescue was imminent or if the troops were being brought back to force the militants to resume negotiations.

"We'll make sure that these bandits cannot kidnap again," Tan said.

Please keep Eugenio Vagni, Andreas Notter and Mary-Jean Lacaba in your prayers today. I will post updates as they are available.

Previous:
Philippine Rebels Threaten to Behead Red Cross Hostages
Kidnapped Red Cross Workers Survive Gun Battle in Philippines

Morning Prayer 3/31/09

Heavenly Father, in you we live and move and have our being: We humbly pray you so to guide and govern us by your Holy Spirit, that in all the cares and occupations of our life we may not forget you, but may remember that we are ever walking in your sight; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Evening Prayer 3/30/09

O Lord God Almighty, as you have taught us to call the evening, the morning, and the noonday one day; and have made the sun to know its going down: Dispel the darkness of our hearts, that by your brightness we may know you to be the true God and eternal light, living and reigning for ever and ever. Amen.

Midday Devotion 3/30/09

13 Why does the wicked man revile God?
Why does he say to himself,
"He won't call me to account"?

14 But you, O God, do see trouble and grief;
you consider it to take it in hand.
The victim commits himself to you;
you are the helper of the fatherless.

15 Break the arm of the wicked and evil man;
call him to account for his wickedness
that would not be found out.

Psalm 10:13-15

Glory to God in the highest and on earth, peace, goodwill, to all people. We praise You, we bless You, we worship You, we glorify You, we give thanks to You for Your great glory. Grace, mercy and peace from God our Father and our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.

As we contemplate the righteousness of our Lord, as we contemplate His mercy and compassion unto the world, that love that He has for each and every one of His children, we know that the wicked shall not be left to stand for all time and in all places, that God, with His mighty arm, will break off the arm of those who would use their hands, would use their arms of strength to inflict their torment, their torture, their chaos, upon thee weak or the fragile, upon those who seek the Lord’s hope but find the wickedness and evil of men. It’s a matter of trusting in God, trusting in His time and His plan, knowing that through Him all good things shall come to pass, knowing that through Him unrighteousness shall not dwell on this Earth for all times. He shall protect the poor and the fatherless, the captives and the oppressed, those who are taken hostage by wicked men who seek nothing more than to work evil throughout this world. God hears their cries, He sees their plight, He sees their struggles each and every step of the way, and He guides them and He protects them through all things, His justice never far off. He reaches out and touches the souls of those who feel the most pain, the most anguish in this world. And He works through them, through the power of His Holy Spirit to give them comfort, and He offers unto those who inflict themselves upon others, in such wicked ways, His justice is never far off. His righteousness is never far from us, if we trust in Him, in all things and through all things.

Morning Prayer 3/30/09

Psalm 121

1 I lift up my eyes to the hills; *
from where is my help to come?

2 My help comes from the LORD, *
the maker of heaven and earth.

3 He will not let your foot be moved *
and he who watches over you will not fall asleep.

4 Behold, he who keeps watch over Israel *
shall neither slumber nor sleep;

5 The LORD himself watches over you; *
the LORD is your shade at your right hand,

6 So that the sun shall not strike you by day, *
nor the moon by night.

7 The LORD shall preserve you from all evil; *
it is he who shall keep you safe.

8 The LORD shall watch over your going out and your coming in, *
from this time forth for evermore.

Evening Prayer 3/29/09

Almighty God, we give you thanks for surrounding us, as daylight fades, with the brightness of the vesper light; and we implore you of your great mercy that, as you enfold us with the radiance of this light, so you would shine into our hearts the brightness of your Holy Spirit; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Morning Prayer: 3/29/09

O God, the King eternal, whose light divides the day from the night and turns the shadow of death into the morning: Drive far from us all wrong desires, incline our hearts to keep your law, and guide our feet into the way of peace; that, having done your will with cheerfulness during the day, we may, when night comes, rejoice to give you thanks; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Evening Prayer 3/28/09

Guide us waking, O Lord, and guard us sleeping; that awake
we may watch with Christ, and asleep we may rest in peace.