Prayer for the Sheep by Andrea Baine

Matthew 9:36 NIV

When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.

Is my life what you had in mind?

I feel I'm fallin' behind... on the outside I look fine,

My heart is dark as wine,

I look to You, to pull me through

the quicksand of my life... I look to you...to pull me through...

Be the Shepherd of my soul, Shepherd of my soul,

Be the Shepherd of my soul.

Lyrics by Grand Prize

Prayer: Cause us, Heavenly Father, to listen for Your voice. Cause us to reach out to other sheep who need a kind gesture, or a friend. Cause us to yearn for and allow You to be the Shepherd of our souls, to give You full access without our pride putting up a wall; show us where we are trying to hold the rod and staff ourselves and trying to shepherd ourselves or allowing anything else but You to do it, and tear it down Father. Thank You that the battles are Yours LORD, if we will just let You. Thank You for doing it all for us because of Your tender mercies, compassion, and lovingkindness toward us. Thank You that we are Your righteousness by the precious blood of Your precious Son, and in that, we rest. We love You LORD!

1 Peter 2:24-25 NIV

He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; by his wounds you have been healed. For you were like sheep going astray, but now you have returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls.

Amen.

And All That's In Between

"In between the casually spoken excess and the rare void of silence is a place where our well-intended words strike a chord and hit the mark."

Heavenly Father,

When we break the sacredness of silence that we so often take for granted...may our words be worth waiting for and may they be life-giving to the hearer.

Forgive us for the times we speak and neglect to just listen.

Forgive us for the times we speak because we want people to hear us.

Forgive us for the times we speak before we should have...or didn't speak when we should have.

May we be content when no one is listening...no one is calling...no one is responding...but You.

May we be comfortable in other's silences...in the awkward moments...and in the spaces left unfilled and communication left unanswered.

May we realize our speech and our hearing are gifts from You that awaken us to the world around us and yet desensitize us to it at the same time.

May what we choose to listen to and what we speak out, both be things that honor You.

May what we do and how we live speak louder than words ever could.

Let us not defile our hearing nor waste our words...but rather let us fine-tune our hearing and spare our words so that we listen more and talk less.

And with that being said....

Thank You and Amen, LORD!

And I'll stand in awe of You, Jesus
Yes, I'll stand in awe of You
And I'll let my words be few
Jesus, I am so in love with You

Lyrics from "Let My Words Be Few" by Phillips, Craig and Dean