Be encouraged from the Word

However, as it is written:

“No eye has seen,

no ear has heard,

no mind has conceived

what God has prepared for those who love him.”

1 Corinthians 2:9, NIV

Wisdom from fellow pilgrims

One whose faith is continually stimulated by the upward look gives no ground to the attempted encroachment of despair. No matter how great the trouble or how dark the outlook, a quick lifting of the heart to God in a moment of real actual faith in Him will completely alter any situation and turn the darkness of midnight into glorious sunrise.

Mrs. Charles E. Cowman

A prayer to strengthen your day

Give us, O Lord,

thankful hearts which never forget Your goodness to us.

Give us, O Lord,

grateful hearts, which do not waste time complaining.

Thomas Aquinas 

Be encouraged from the Word

Therefore judge nothing before the appointed time; wait till the Lord comes. He will bring to light what is hidden in darkness and will expose the motives of men's hearts. At that time each will receive his praise from God.

1 Corinthians 4:5, NIV

Wisdom from fellow pilgrims

When I was young I was sure of everything; in a few years, having been mistaken a thousand times, I was not half so sure of most things as I was before; at present, I am hardly sure of anything but what God has revealed to me.

John Wesley

A prayer to strengthen your day

Lord, teach me to listen. The times are noisy and my ears are weary with the thousand raucous sounds which continuously assault them.

A. W. Tozer

Good morning, ministry partner . . .

Be encouraged from the Word

Who is wise? He will realize these things.

            Who is discerning? He will understand them.

The ways of the LORD are right;

            the righteous walk in them,

            but the rebellious stumble in them.

Hosea 14:9, NIV

Wisdom from fellow pilgrims

All growth that is not towards God is growing to decay.

George MacDonald

A prayer to strengthen your day

Lord . . . Let me learn by paradox

            that the way down is up,

            that to be low is to be high,

            that the broken heart is the healed heart,

            that the contrite spirit is the rejoicing spirit.

Arthur Bennett

Good morning, ministry partner . . .

Be encouraged from the Word

Who did this? Who made it happen?

Who always gets things started?

I did. God. I’m first on the scene.

I’m also the last to leave.

Isaiah 41:4, TM

Wisdom from fellow pilgrims

The Spirit is received, not grasped. It is not something we can rush out and seize.

James Bryan Smith

A prayer to strengthen your day

We are your willing pupils, Lord. The classroom is of your choosing, the lessons only part of your plan for us. Thank you that your Holy Spirit teaches us how to be willing to study in your school.

Corrie ten Boom

Be encouraged from the Word

Though I am free and belong to no man, I make myself a slave to everyone, to win as many as possible.

1 Corinthians 9:19, NIV

Wisdom from fellow pilgrims

Private religions are invariably non-prophetic. They do not disturb the economic and political order and so they fit easily and comfortably into the culture of capitalism. The god they offer is a private god, a wholly inward god. In the context of public enterprise and private religion, spirituality can quickly degenerate into a search for better, perhaps more thrilling and unusual experiences.

Kenneth Leech

A prayer to strengthen your day

Almighty God, bestow upon us the meaning of words, the light of understanding, the nobility of diction and the faith of the true nature. And grant that what we believe we may also speak.

St. Hilary

Be encouraged from the Word

 “This is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel

            after that time,” declares the LORD.

            “I will put my law in their minds

            and write it on their hearts.

            I will be their God,

            and they will be my people.”

Jeremiah 31:33, NIV

Wisdom from fellow pilgrims

The nature of God’s love for us is outrageous. Why doesn’t this God of ours display some taste and discretion in dealing with us? Why doesn’t he show more restraint? To be blunt about it, couldn’t God arrange to have a little more dignity? (John 8:3)

Brennan Manning

A prayer to strengthen your day

O let thy Spirit dwell with me forever, and make my soul just and charitable, full of honesty, full of religion, resolute and constant in holy purposes, but inflexible to evil.

Jeremy Taylor

Good morning, ministry partner . . .

Be encouraged from the Word

So here I am in the place of worship, eyes open,

drinking in your strength and glory.

In your generous love I am really living at last!

My lips brim praises like fountains.

I bless you every time I take a breath;

My arms wave like banners of praise to you.

Psalm 63:2-4, TM

Wisdom from fellow pilgrims

When a truth of God is brought home to your soul, never allow it to pass without acting on it internally in your will, not necessarily externally in your physical life. Record it with ink and with blood—work it into your life. The weakest saint who transacts business with Jesus Christ is liberated the second he acts and God’s almighty power is available on his behalf.

Oswald Chambers

A prayer to strengthen your day

Grant us grace, our Father, to do our work this day as workmen who need not be ashamed. Give us the spirit of diligence and honest enquiry in our quest for the truth, the spirit of charity in all our dealings with our fellows, and the spirit of gaiety, courage, and a quiet mind in facing all tasks and responsibilities.

Reinhold Niebuhr

Good morning, ministry partner . . .

Be encouraged from the Word

No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it.

1 Corinthians 10:13, NIV

Wisdom from fellow pilgrims

But when we are faithful to keep ourselves in His holy Presence, and set Him always before us, this not only hinders our offending Him, and doing anything that may displease Him, at least willfully, but it also begets in us a holy freedom, and if I may so speak, a familiarity with GOD, wherewith we ask, and that successfully, the graces we stand in need of. In time, by often repeating these acts, they become habitual, and the presence of GOD is rendered as it were natural to us.

Brother Lawrence

A prayer to strengthen your day

Show me how cooperation with You in prayer throws open infinite possibilities. And help me walk in. In Jesus’ Name I ask it. Amen.

Selwyn Hughes

Good morning, ministry partner . . .

Be encouraged from the Word

Break open your words, let the light shine out,

let ordinary people see the meaning.

Mouth open and panting,

I wanted your commands more than anything.

Turn my way, look kindly on me,

as you always do to those who personally love you.

Psalm 119:130-132, TM

Wisdom from fellow pilgrims

If you are failing to keep the least of Christ’s commands to his disciples, I pray you be disobedient no longer. All the pretensions you make of attachment to your Master, and all the devout actions which you may perform, are no recompense for disobedience. It is a blessed thing to be teachable as a little child, but it is a much more blessed thing when one has been taught the lesson, to carry it out to the letter.

C. H. Spurgeon

A prayer to strengthen your day

I have no master but Thee, no law but Thy will, no delight but Thyself, no wealth but that Thou givest, no good but that Thou blessest, no peace but that Thou bestowest. I am nothing but that Thou makest me. I have nothing but that I receive from Thee. I can be nothing but that grace adorns me. Quarry me deep, dear Lord, and then fill me to overflowing with living water.

A Puritan Prayer

Good morning, ministry partner . . .

Be encouraged from the Word

Your thoughts—how rare, how beautiful!

God, I’ll never comprehend them!

I couldn’t even begin to count them—

any more than I could count the sand of the sea.

Oh, let me rise in the morning and live always with you!

                    And please, God, do away with wickedness for good!

Psalm 139:17-19, TM

Wisdom from fellow pilgrims

Beware that you are not swallowed up in books! An ounce of love is worth a pound of knowledge.

John Wesley

A prayer to strengthen your day

O Christ, you came so that we might have life, and have it more abundantly; grant us power in our love, strength in our humility, purity in our zeal, kindness in our laughter, and your peace in our hearts at all times.

J. L. Cowie

Be encouraged from the Word

. . . call his name Jesus.

He will be great,

be called “Son of the Highest.”

The Lord God will give him

the throne of his father David;

He will rule Jacob’s house forever—

no end, ever, to his kingdom.

Luke 1:31b-33, TM

Wisdom from fellow pilgrims

Let us remember that the Christmas heart is a giving heart, a wide open heart that thinks of others first. The birth of the baby Jesus stands as the most significant event in all history, because it has meant the pouring into a sick world the healing medicine of love which has transformed all manner of hearts for almost two thousand years. . . . Underneath all the bulging bundles is this beating Christmas heart.

George Matthew Adams

A prayer to strengthen your day

Loving Father, Help us remember the birth of Jesus, that we may share in the song of the angels, the gladness of the shepherds, and worship of the wise men. Close the door of hate and open the door of love all over the world. Let kindness come with every gift and good desires with every greeting. Deliver us from evil by the blessing which Christ brings, and teach us to be merry with clear hearts.

A Christmas Prayer by Robert Louis Stevenson

Good morning, ministry partner . . .

Be encouraged from the Word

Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel;

he came and set his people free.

He set the power of salvation in the center of our lives,

and in the very house of David his servant,

Just as he promised long ago

through the preaching of his holy prophets.

Luke 1:68-70, TM

Wisdom from fellow pilgrims

“At this festive season of the year, Mr Scrooge,” said the gentleman, taking up a pen, “it is more than usually desirable that we should make some slight provision for the poor and destitute, who suffer greatly at the present time. . . . We choose this time, because it is a time, of all others, when Want is keenly felt, and Abundance rejoices.”

Charles Dickens

A prayer to strengthen your day

Lord, in this holy season of prayer and song and laughter, we praise you for the great wonders you have sent us: for shining star and angel’s song, for infant’s cry in lowly manger. We praise you for the Word made flesh in a little Child. We behold his glory, and are bathed in its radiance.

Be with us as we sing the ironies of Christmas, the incomprehensible comprehended, the poetry made hard fact, the helpless Babe who cracks the world asunder. We kneel before you shepherds, innkeepers, wise men. Help us to rise bigger than we are. Amen.

Anonymous

Good morning, ministry partner . . .

Be encouraged from the Word

There were sheepherders camping in the neighborhood. They had set night watches over their sheep. Suddenly, God’s angel stood among them and God’s glory blazed around them. They were terrified. The angel said, “Don’t be afraid. I’m here to announce a great and joyful event that is meant for everybody, worldwide: A Savior has just been born in David’s town, a Savior who is Messiah and Master.”

Luke 2:8-11, TM

Wisdom from fellow pilgrims

I am not alone at all, I thought. I was never alone at all. And that, of course, is the message of Christmas. We are never alone. Not when the night is darkest, the wind coldest, the world seemingly most indifferent. For this is still the time God chooses.

Taylor Caldwell

A prayer to strengthen your day

Though Bethlehem overlooked you in the shuffle of the census, grant me the grace, this quiet moment, to be still and know that you are God. You, whose only palace was a stable, whose only throne was a feeding trough, whose only robes were swaddling clothes.

Ken Gire

Good morning, ministry partner . . .

Be encouraged from the Word

Through the heartfelt mercies of our God,

God’s Sunrise will break in upon us,

Shining on those in the darkness,

those sitting in the shadow of death,

Then showing us the way, one foot at a time,

down the path of peace.

Luke 1:78-79, TM

Wisdom from fellow pilgrims

Isn’t it funny that at Christmas something in you gets so lonely for—I don’t know what exactly, but it’s something that you don’t mind so much not having at other times.

Kate L. Bosher

A prayer to strengthen your day

You have come to us as a small child,

but you have brought us the greatest of all gifts,

the gift of eternal love.

Caress us with Your tiny hands,

embrace us with Your tiny arms

and pierce our hearts with Your soft, sweet cries.

St. Bernard of Clairvaux

Good morning, ministry partner . . .

Be encouraged from the Word

While he was trying to figure a way out, he had a dream. God’s angel spoke in the dream: “Joseph, son of David, don’t hesitate to get married. Mary’s pregnancy is Spirit-conceived. God’s Holy Spirit has made her pregnant. She will bring a son to birth, and when she does, you, Joseph, will name him Jesus—’God saves’—because he will save his people from their sins.”

Matthew 1:20-21, TM

Wisdom from fellow pilgrims

Gloria, Gloria! they cry, for their song embraces all that the Lord has begun this day: Glory to God in the highest of heavens! And peace to the people with whom he is pleased! And who are these people? With whom does the good Lord choose to take his pleasure? The shepherds. The plain and nameless—whose every name the Lord knows well. You. And me.

Walter Wangerin, Jr.

A prayer to strengthen your day

Let the just rejoice,

for their Justifier is born.
Let the sick and infirm rejoice,

For their Saviour is born.
Let the captives rejoice,

For their Redeemer is born.
Let slaves rejoice,

for their Master is born.
Let free men rejoice,

For their Liberator is born.
Let All Christians rejoice,

For Jesus Christ is born.

St. Augustine of Hippo

Be encouraged from the Word

As the angel choir withdrew into heaven, the sheepherders talked it over. “Let’s get over to Bethlehem as fast as we can and see for ourselves what God has revealed to us.” They left, running, and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby lying in the manger. Seeing was believing. They told everyone they met what the angels had said about this child. All who heard the sheepherders were impressed.

Luke 2:15-18, TM

Wisdom from fellow pilgrims

God’s visit to earth took place in an animal shelter with no attendants present and nowhere to lay the newborn king but a feed trough. . . . For just an instant the sky grew luminous with angels, yet who saw the spectacle? Illiterate hirelings who watched the flocks of others, “nobodies” who failed to leave their names.

Philip Yancy

A prayer to strengthen your day

Father, You make this holy night radiant with the splendor of Jesus Christ our light.

We welcome Him as Lord, true light of the world.

Bring us to eternal joy in the kingdom of heaven where he lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.

International Committee on English in the Liturgy

Be encouraged from the Word

After Jesus was born in Bethlehem village, Judah territory—this was during Herod’s kingship—a band of scholars arrived in Jerusalem from the East. They asked around, “Where can we find and pay homage to the newborn King of the Jews? We observed a star in the eastern sky that signaled his birth. We’re on pilgrimage to worship him.”

Matthew 2:1-2, TM

Wisdom from fellow pilgrims

When the song of the angel is stilled,
When the star in the sky is gone,
When the kings and princes are home,
When the shepherds are back with their flock,
The work of Christmas begins:
To find the lost—To heal the broken—To feed the hungry—
To release the prisoner—To rebuild the nations—
To bring peace among brothers and sisters—
To make music in the heart.

Howard Thurman

A prayer to strengthen your day

God of love, Father of all,

the darkness that covered the earth

has given way to the bright dawn of your Word made flesh.

Make us a people of this light.

Make us faithful to your Word

that we may bring your life to the waiting world.

Grant this through Christ our Lord. Amen.

International Committee on English in the Liturgy

Be encouraged from the Word

Instructed by the king, they set off. Then the star appeared again, the same star they had seen in the eastern skies. It led them on until it hovered over the place of the child. They could hardly contain themselves: They were in the right place! They had arrived at the right time!

Matthew 2:9-10, TM

Wisdom from fellow pilgrims

A man is at his finest towards the finish of the year;

He is almost what he should be when the Christmas season’s here.

Then he’s thinking more of others than he’s thought the months before,

And the laughter of his children is a joy worth toiling for.

He is less a selfish creature than at any other time;

When the Christmas spirit rules him, he comes close to the sublime.

Edgar Guest

A prayer to strengthen your day

O thou great Chief, light a candle in my heart, that I may see what is therein, and sweep the rubbish from thy dwelling place.

An African Schoolgirl’s Prayer

Be encouraged from the Word

Simeon took him into his arms and blessed God:

God, you can now release your servant;

release me in peace as you promised.

With my own eyes I’ve seen your salvation;

it’s now out in the open for everyone to see:

A God-revealing light to the non-Jewish nations,

and of glory for your people Israel.

Luke 2:28-32, TM

Wisdom from fellow pilgrims

The Church is in the world to save the world. It is a tool of God for that purpose; not a comfortable religious club established in fine historical premises. Every one of its members is required, in one way or another, to co-operate with the Spirit in working for that great end: and much of this work will be done in secret and invisible ways.

Evelyn Underhill

A prayer to strengthen your day

Sunday’s coming, Lord . . .

            That means preaching,

            and preaching means I am to speak for you;

            that’s why I need to hear from you soon

                        so I don’t say the wrong thing

                        and embarrass both of us.

Neil B. Wiseman

Be encouraged from the Word

The eyes of all look to you,

            and you give them their food at the proper time.

You open your hand

            and satisfy the desires of every living thing.

The LORD is righteous in all his ways

            and loving toward all he has made.

The LORD is near to all who call on him,

            to all who call on him in truth.

He fulfills the desires of those who fear him;

            he hears their cry and saves them.

The LORD watches over all who love him,

            but all the wicked he will destroy.

Psalm 145:15-20, NIV

Wisdom from fellow pilgrims

The well of Providence is deep. It is the buckets we bring to it that are small.

Mary Webb

A prayer to strengthen your day

O Lord God, in whose hands are the issues of life, we thank you for the life given and the life preserved.

William Boyd Carpenter 

Back to Soul Care archives