Prayer is . . . .

Prayer is not what you say....
 it is who you are.

It is the breath of the soul - the life-energy of the spirit.

It is the secret of spiritual power where no other means of grace can be substituted and the health of the soul can be preserved.

It is where we melt into God’s presence within.

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♫ 'Tis the Blessed Hour of Prayer ♫

Frances J. Crosby, pub.1880

1.    ’Tis the blessed hour of prayer, when our hearts lowly bend,
And we gather to Jesus, our Savior and friend;
If we come to Him in faith, His protection to share,
What a balm for the weary, oh, how sweet to be there!

o    Refrain:
Blessed hour of prayer, blessed hour of prayer,
What a balm for the weary, oh, how sweet to be there!

2.    ’Tis the blessed hour of prayer, when the Savior draws near,
With a tender compassion His children to hear;
When He tells us we may cast at His feet every care,
What a balm for the weary, oh, how sweet to be there!

3.    ’Tis the blessed hour of prayer, when the tempted and tried
To the Savior who loves them their sorrow confide;
With a sympathizing heart He removes every care;
What a balm for the weary, oh, how sweet to be there!

4.    At the blessed hour of prayer, trusting Him, we believe
That the blessing we’re needing we’ll surely receive;
In the fullness of the trust we shall lose every care;
What a balm for the weary, oh, how sweet to be there!

Dirty God - Jesus in the Trenches

My previous two blogs looking at  Amazing Grace  . . . how sweet the sound! have been excerpts from this book, Dirty God - Jesus in the Trenches.

It is probably one of the most compelling and eye-opening books I've read in a long time. I'd like to recommend this reading to you!

Each new day is a blessing!
Dorothy

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http://youtu.be/US2u1Q6Bna8

GRACE explained is helpful, 
but GRACE experienced changes everything.

In Dirty God, Johnnie Moore does more than explain GRACE .  Through his powerful and personal examples he helps the reader experience GRACE.

He tells us that Jesus is the author of GRACE .  But he reminds us that the Jesus of the Bible isn't the freshly showered, manicured Jesus of popular culture. Jesus, he says, “ didn't float down to planet earth like a deflating balloon. He dropped down like an atom bomb, and his very presence was a provocation.”

Jesus got dirty, from head-to-toe, as he fulfilled his mission of making a messy world clean. He smelled of sweat and soil. He had dirt under his fingernails, and calluses on his hands.

Why? He is so kind that he didn't expect us to try to climb up to him. He climbed down to us to bring us back to God. This book chronicles again that story, and it reminds us that GRACE is both GOTTEN and GIVEN.

Jesus invites us to join him in the trenches.

http://youtu.be/US2u1Q6Bna8

GRACE gotten is GRACE given

GRACE "given" - is the undeserved mercy, forgiveness and love that we have 'gotten' through Jesus Christ, whereas in return, we are to react in our life situations the way He did and give out GRACE to others.

GRACE is the ethics of heaven that governs the lives of people who love Jesus

GRACE is willing to give more than ‘second-chances’

GRACE is the power that triumphs over hate

GRACE treats people precisely not as they deserve

GRACE sees past logic

GRACE is the portal that God’s forgiveness, mercy and love comes through

GRACE is in the daily decision we make

GRACE is in the values we profess

GRACE is in what we fight for and what we concede

GRACE is in how we treat our friends − AND how we treat our enemies.

“Freely you have received – freely [we are to] give.” (Matt. 10:8b)

Amazing Grace!  . . . how sweet the sound,

That saved a wretch like me!

GRACE gotten

GRACE ‘gotten’ is the undeserved gift of God’s mercy and love given to us through Jesus Christ who came to earth to live the perfect life we couldn't and to die the death we deserved because God loved us and wanted us to spend eternity with Him.

This God, who knows everything about us, 
every thought we've had,
every step we've taken,
and every word we've spoken.

This God, who knows our every sin,
our every fault and each foolish mistake we've ever made.
The One who knows all things we've seen and done
that makes us want to run and hide.

He knows it all . . .  and yet, because of His amazing Grace - He loves us!

GRACE is the very foundation of all
God’s mercy and love offered to us.
 
Without His GRACE there would be no mercy
and there would be no love.

GRACE is that one particular, unique,
and superior quality 
that makes Christianity stand out
above all other great religions of mankind.

Amazing Grace  . . . how sweet the sound!