This prayer comes from the Book of Common Prayer, which is basically a collection of books that dates back to before the Reformation. It is used by all protestant religions and also the Catholic church to this day.
Lighten our darkness, we beseech thee, oh Lord;
And by thy great mercy defend us from all perils
and dangers of this night;
For the love of thy only son,
Our Savior, Jesus Christ.
Apr 30, 2011
Welcome to my new page
I intend for this to be a page that will be a collection of prayers gathered from around the world, from all different religions.
I was raised as a young child in a Southern Baptist Church. My mother was a Methodist. Throughout my life I have been blessed enough to attend Catholic, Christian, Assembly of God, and Pentecostal churches. Some had excellent sermons. Some had excellent music. Some had excellent rituals. They were all different and yet all someway the same. They all had God and people who loved Him.
Believe it or not, I almost became a Philosophy Major in college.
I have always been interested in prayers, and how they may have changed throughout the years. I have kind of collected them. It started when I would run across one in a book, and then look up the reference and discover many really wonderful collections.
Throughout my life, I have been struck by their beauty, and at times have found that if you know a prayer by heart, you can say it when you can't find the words to pray to God as if you were having a conversation. Sometimes there are no words. The good news is, God already knows. You don't even need words. Prayer is tool that you can use. It can almost be a way of meditation to put you into a place or frame of mind where you can get calm enough to feel God's presence. Prayer can be a way of keeping you focused, but calm.
I have always been particularly jealous of the Catholic religion because they have so many prayers. (Also, the Saturday night service option). Many of the prayers you will find here will come from there. I also have found great comfort in prayers to Mary, or the female part of God.
I believe that whatever religion you belong to, when you pray sincerely, God always hears, whatever name you use.
I will probably Title each post with the title of the prayer to make it easier to look them up later.
If you know one that you would like to see posted, feel free to send it to me or I can link it, or you could become a guest poster!! I don't have any prizes to give away, but I will glad give you a share of the $2.41 I have made from this blog so far. And I think that is kind of fitting, being as it's sharing prayers and all, don't you? Sharing prayers should be it's own reward. I have a good feeling about it, anyway.
So, since it took me all afternoon to figure out how to finally actually add a page to my blog, I will see about figuring out exactly how to do that.
Enjoy. Relax. Read a prayer.
I was raised as a young child in a Southern Baptist Church. My mother was a Methodist. Throughout my life I have been blessed enough to attend Catholic, Christian, Assembly of God, and Pentecostal churches. Some had excellent sermons. Some had excellent music. Some had excellent rituals. They were all different and yet all someway the same. They all had God and people who loved Him.
Believe it or not, I almost became a Philosophy Major in college.
I have always been interested in prayers, and how they may have changed throughout the years. I have kind of collected them. It started when I would run across one in a book, and then look up the reference and discover many really wonderful collections.
Throughout my life, I have been struck by their beauty, and at times have found that if you know a prayer by heart, you can say it when you can't find the words to pray to God as if you were having a conversation. Sometimes there are no words. The good news is, God already knows. You don't even need words. Prayer is tool that you can use. It can almost be a way of meditation to put you into a place or frame of mind where you can get calm enough to feel God's presence. Prayer can be a way of keeping you focused, but calm.
I have always been particularly jealous of the Catholic religion because they have so many prayers. (Also, the Saturday night service option). Many of the prayers you will find here will come from there. I also have found great comfort in prayers to Mary, or the female part of God.
I believe that whatever religion you belong to, when you pray sincerely, God always hears, whatever name you use.
I will probably Title each post with the title of the prayer to make it easier to look them up later.
If you know one that you would like to see posted, feel free to send it to me or I can link it, or you could become a guest poster!! I don't have any prizes to give away, but I will glad give you a share of the $2.41 I have made from this blog so far. And I think that is kind of fitting, being as it's sharing prayers and all, don't you? Sharing prayers should be it's own reward. I have a good feeling about it, anyway.
So, since it took me all afternoon to figure out how to finally actually add a page to my blog, I will see about figuring out exactly how to do that.
Enjoy. Relax. Read a prayer.
Apr 29, 2011
Time to myself....
Tonight, my house will be quiet.
Tonight, no one will stumble into my house at any hour of the night.
Tonight, no dishes will have to be done. No laundry either, unless I just feel like it. I'm not thinking that is going to happen, tonight.
Tonight, I will not have to worry about anyone coming to my door.
Tonight, dinner can be a bowl of cereal. Or popcorn. Whatever I want!!
Tonight, I will be able to take a bath without locking the door.
Tonight, I will turn off the alarm and not have to worry about what time I will get up tomorrow. This may not sound like much, especially given the fact that I wake up around 5 am every morning of the world, but it makes a big difference just knowing that I will not "have" to get up by any certain time tomorrow.
Tonight, I will be able to get on the computer anytime I want.
Tonight, no one will be killing zombies in my basement.
Tonight, no one will be saying things like "Screenpeeker!!" "Are you serious??" "Really?" "You just had to shoot me---REALLY?"
Tonight, no one who weighs more than I do will run up the stairs yelling "Nobody kill me!!!" Nobody who weighs less than I do will either. Nobody will at all.
Tonight, I will be able to watch anything I want on TV, and if it means I land upon a show about Gigolos, well, so be it. There will be no one to shield from such information. Side note: from what I've seen, men and women in this field make about the same amount of money also. IF I had wanted to upset y'all, I would have said men made more and sat back and waited for the fireworks. LOL
Tonight, I will be able to talk out loud to myself, sing, and dance around my house with no one to watch. Or record me on their phone.
Tonight, I will probably miss all my kids and smell their pillows. Except for the one who always sneaks the dogs in to sleep in his room. I can smell his room without actually entering it. All the way down the hallway. Note to self: More Febreze.
Tonight, I will not feel guilty about not cleaning that room.
Tonight, I will just shut the door and put it out of my mind, delirious with the freedom from guilt.
Tonight, I can even sneak the dogs in and let them sleep with me.
Tonight, I will have my long awaited reunion with my Laura Ashley sheets. I am new to these. A friend of mine found some and bought them for a fund raiser for our local Humane Society. I picked them up for $10 and noticed they were size "large". True story. I thought to myself, this Laura Ashley person must not know anything about sizing sheets. Well. Turns out, it doesn't matter. That Laura Ashley knows everything she needs to know about sheets. I put my "large" sheets on my queen sized bed and have had a terrible time getting out of it ever since. Either I'm depressed or that woman makes some damn fine sheets. I'm going with the latter. Best $10 I ever spent in my LIFE.
Tonight, I can stay up reading till 4 in the morning if I want. It won't matter a bit.
Tomorrow, I will get back on the ride of life.
Back into the swing of things.
I will feel guilty.
I will clean.
I will fix meals.
But TONIGHT....................Tonight is all mine.
I'm going to enjoy every second of it.
Tonight, no one will stumble into my house at any hour of the night.
Tonight, no dishes will have to be done. No laundry either, unless I just feel like it. I'm not thinking that is going to happen, tonight.
Tonight, I will not have to worry about anyone coming to my door.
Tonight, dinner can be a bowl of cereal. Or popcorn. Whatever I want!!
Tonight, I will be able to take a bath without locking the door.
Tonight, I will turn off the alarm and not have to worry about what time I will get up tomorrow. This may not sound like much, especially given the fact that I wake up around 5 am every morning of the world, but it makes a big difference just knowing that I will not "have" to get up by any certain time tomorrow.
Tonight, I will be able to get on the computer anytime I want.
Tonight, no one will be killing zombies in my basement.
Tonight, no one will be saying things like "Screenpeeker!!" "Are you serious??" "Really?" "You just had to shoot me---REALLY?"
Tonight, no one who weighs more than I do will run up the stairs yelling "Nobody kill me!!!" Nobody who weighs less than I do will either. Nobody will at all.
Tonight, I will be able to watch anything I want on TV, and if it means I land upon a show about Gigolos, well, so be it. There will be no one to shield from such information. Side note: from what I've seen, men and women in this field make about the same amount of money also. IF I had wanted to upset y'all, I would have said men made more and sat back and waited for the fireworks. LOL
Tonight, I will be able to talk out loud to myself, sing, and dance around my house with no one to watch. Or record me on their phone.
Tonight, I will probably miss all my kids and smell their pillows. Except for the one who always sneaks the dogs in to sleep in his room. I can smell his room without actually entering it. All the way down the hallway. Note to self: More Febreze.
Tonight, I will not feel guilty about not cleaning that room.
Tonight, I will just shut the door and put it out of my mind, delirious with the freedom from guilt.
Tonight, I can even sneak the dogs in and let them sleep with me.
Tonight, I will have my long awaited reunion with my Laura Ashley sheets. I am new to these. A friend of mine found some and bought them for a fund raiser for our local Humane Society. I picked them up for $10 and noticed they were size "large". True story. I thought to myself, this Laura Ashley person must not know anything about sizing sheets. Well. Turns out, it doesn't matter. That Laura Ashley knows everything she needs to know about sheets. I put my "large" sheets on my queen sized bed and have had a terrible time getting out of it ever since. Either I'm depressed or that woman makes some damn fine sheets. I'm going with the latter. Best $10 I ever spent in my LIFE.
Tonight, I can stay up reading till 4 in the morning if I want. It won't matter a bit.
Tomorrow, I will get back on the ride of life.
Back into the swing of things.
I will feel guilty.
I will clean.
I will fix meals.
But TONIGHT....................Tonight is all mine.
I'm going to enjoy every second of it.
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