DEAR GOD LETTERS
Welcome to our Christianity Oasis Dear God Letters study program. This is our Dear God Letters study taking a look into Dear God Letters and how the absolutely awesome concept of Dear God Letters and their messages affect your be-YOU-tiful Christian walk.
The key to effective prayer can be ...
PARTNERS IN PRAYER
We want to thank our
dear friends Sassy and Ditto
for sharing the photos of children praying with their partners.
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FOR AS JESUS SAID ...
Matthew 18:20
Where two or three are gathered together in my name ...
there am I, in the midst of them.
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God's Children of all ages have questions
or statements
that they would like to share with God.
Or maybe you are an adult and have your own questions and/or statements you want to share
with God.
There are so many different ways to "write" a
letter to God.
A Dear God Letter doesn't necessarily have to
be written.In fact there are many people that begin almost every
prayer they utter, whether out loud, in their mind, or written down with ...
Dear God . . .
Of course everybody prays differently. Sometimes you may pray for hours at
a time, and sometimes you may just whisper one word (like Alleluia or Thanks or
Amen). How you pray is entirely up to you. Just remember, there are no
limitations on prayer, small or large. Your Father judges your heart, and the
only thing that He wants from you, is sincerity.
Here is the sample prayer Jesus gave us ...
Matthew 6:9-13
AFTER THIS MANNER therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in Heaven,
Hallowed be thy name. Thy Kingdom come,
Thy will be done
in earth, as it is in Heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And
forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into
temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the Kingdom, and
the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen.
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Remember this is a SAMPLE prayer as the Lord said.
He is NOT suggesting you just repeat this as your
Christian prayer:
Matthew 6:7
But when ye pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do: for
they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking.
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One might call prayer the gateway to peace in
our lives. An important thing to remember when praying, is that if we pray for
God's Will to be done in all matters, things are bound to turn out right.
Jesus prayed for God's will to be done:
Matthew 26:39,42
And he went a little further, and fell on his face, and prayed, saying,
O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass
from me: nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt.
He went away again the second time, and prayed, saying,
O my Father, if this cup may not pass away from
me, except I drink it, thy will be done.
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HOW TO PRAY FOR GOD'S WILL
The more you grow in in the Lord by following His plans, the more you become
like Him. You will sense His will, because He lives through you,
guiding you and conforming you to His image. The more you become like
Him, the closer you’ll be to the center of HIS will for you and for your
life. All you have to do is follow Him, and the Holy Spirit will do
the rest. Make a sincere prayer and voluntarily surrender
your life to the Holy Spirit, who lives in you, and moment by moment, walk
in dependence upon and sensitive to His leadership and His guidance, and
surrender your body, soul, and spirit to Him with childlike faith that He
will be what Jesus promised Him to be in you … Your Comforter and your Helper.
Here is a well known
prayer that asks for God's will to work in your life:
SERENITY PRAYER
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God grant me the serenity
to accept the things I cannot change;
courage to change the things I can;
and wisdom to know the difference.
Living one day at a time;
Enjoying one moment at a time;
Accepting hardships as the pathway to peace;
Taking, as He did, this sinful world
as it is, not as I would have it;
Trusting that He will make all things right
if I surrender to His Will;
That I may be reasonably happy in this life
and supremely happy with Him
Forever in the next.
Amen.
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PRAY FOR ISRAEL
Israel is God's chosen people. He wants us to pray for
them. He wants us to be blessed and prosper and the Word
of the Lord says that if we pray for blessings upon
Israel, we will be:
Genesis 12:3
And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him
that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of
the earth be blessed.
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Psalms 122:6
Pray for the peace of Jerusalem: they shall prosper
that love thee.
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THE PSALMS
The Psalms are prayers, mostly
written by king David to God. He was the Apple of God's
eye, and probably one of the reasons was because of the
"Dear God Letters" that David wrote to Him.
You may recognize this one:
Psalms 23:1-6
A Psalm of David. The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not
want. He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he
leadeth me beside the still waters. He restoreth my
soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for
his name's sake. Yea, though I walk through the valley
of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou
art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.
Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of
mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup
runneth over. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow
me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the
house of the LORD for ever. |
A CLASSIC DEAR GOD LETTER
"NOW I LAY ME DOWN TO SLEEP"
(An excerpt from Wikipedia)
Perhaps the earliest version was
written by Joseph Addison in an essay appearing in
The Spectator on March 8, 1711. It says:
When I lay me down to Sleep,
I recommend my self to his care;
when I awake, I give my self up to his Direction.
A later version printed in The
New England Primer goes:
Now I lay me down to sleep,
I pray the Lord my soul to keep,
If I shall die before I wake,
I pray the Lord my soul to take. Amen.
Other versions
Now I lay me down to sleep,
I pray the Lord my soul to keep,
His Love to guard me through the night,
And wake me in the morning's light.
Now I lay me down to sleep,
I pray the Lord my soul to keep,
thy angels watch me through the night,
And keep me safe till morning's light.
Now I lay me down to sleep,
I pray the Lord my soul to keep,
If I should die before I wake,
Bless me Lord my soul to take.
Now I lay me down to sleep,
I pray the Lord my soul to keep.
Angels watch me through the night,
And wake me with the morning light.
Amen
Now I lay me down to sleep,
I pray the Lord my soul to keep.
Guide me safely through the night,
Wake me with the morning light.
Amen
(Additional third verse)
If I should live another day
I pray the Lord to guide my way.
Amen
A WELL KNOWN DEAR GOD LETTER
The Serenity
Prayer is the common name for an originally untitled prayer
composed by the American theologian
Reinhold Niebuhr (1892–1971). A short version of this prayer is
well known to many people. This is said to be the original
version:
God, give me grace to accept with serenity
the things that cannot be changed,
Courage to change the things
which should be changed,
and the Wisdom to distinguish
the one from the other.
Living one day at a time,
Enjoying one moment at a time,
Accepting hardship as a pathway to peace,
Taking, as Jesus did,
This sinful world as it is,
Not as I would have it,
Trusting that You will make all things right,
If I surrender to Your will,
So that I may be reasonably happy in this life,
And supremely happy with You forever in the next.
Amen.
THE PRAYER OF ST. FRANCIS
(Information from Wikipedia)
Here is
another famous prayer that can also be deemed a Dear God Letter. This prayer has
been known in the United States since 1927 when its first known translation in
English appeared in January of that year in the Quaker magazine Friends'
Intelligencer (Philadelphia), where it was attributed to St. Francis of
Assisi. Cardinal Francis Spellman and Senator Albert W. Hawkes distributed
millions of copies of the prayer during and just after World War II.
One of the
numerous English translations of the Prayer is reproduced below:
Lord, make me an instrument of Your peace;
Where there is hatred, let me sow love;
Where there is injury, pardon;
Where there is discord, harmony;
Where there is error, truth;
Where there is doubt, faith;
Where there is despair, hope;
Where there is darkness, light;
And where there is sadness, joy.
O Divine Master, Grant that I may not so much seek
To be consoled as to console;
To be understood as to understand;
To be loved as to love.
For it is in giving that we receive;
It is in pardoning that we are pardoned;
And it is in dying that we are born to eternal life.
DEAR GOD LETTERS FROM JESUS
Below
you'll find scriptures which contain words that Jesus prayed to our Heavenly
Father. What better examples of Dear God Letters could there possibly be?
Matthew 11:25-26
At that time Jesus answered and said,
I thank thee, O Father,
Lord of heaven and earth, because thou hast hid these
things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed
them unto babes. Even so, Father: for so it seemed
good in thy sight.
John 11:41-43
Then they took away the stone from the place where the
dead was laid. And Jesus lifted up his eyes, and said,
Father, I thank
thee that thou hast heard me. And I knew that thou
hearest me always: but because of the people which
stand by I said it, that they may believe that thou
hast sent me.
And when he thus had spoken, he cried with a loud
voice, Lazarus,
come forth.
John 12:23-29
And Jesus answered them, saying,
The hour is come, that
the Son of man should be glorified. Verily, verily, I
say unto you, Except a corn of wheat fall into the
ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it
bringeth forth much fruit. He that loveth his life
shall lose it; and he that hateth his life in this
world shall keep it unto life eternal. If any man
serve me, let him follow me; and where I am, there
shall also my servant be: if any man serve me, him
will my Father honour. Now is my soul troubled; and
what shall I say? Father, save me from this hour: but
for this cause came I unto this hour. Father, glorify
thy name. Then
came there a voice from heaven, saying, I have both
glorified it, and will glorify it again. The people
therefore, that stood by, and heard it, said that it
thundered: others said, An angel spake to him.
John 17:1-26
These words spake Jesus, and lifted up his eyes to
heaven, and said,
Father, the hour is
come; glorify thy Son, that thy Son also may glorify
thee: As thou hast given him power over all flesh,
that he should give eternal life to as many as thou
hast given him. And this is life eternal, that they
might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ,
whom thou hast sent. I have glorified thee on the
earth: I have finished the work which thou gavest me
to do. And now, O Father, glorify thou me with thine
own self with the glory which I had with thee before
the world was. I have manifested thy name unto the men
which thou gavest me out of the world: thine they
were, and thou gavest them me; and they have kept thy
word. Now they have known that all things whatsoever
thou hast given me are of thee. For I have given unto
them the words which thou gavest me; and they have
received them, and have known surely that I came out
from thee, and they have believed that thou didst send
me. I pray for them: I pray not for the world, but for
them which thou hast given me; for they are thine. And
all mine are thine, and thine are mine; and I am
glorified in them. And now I am no more in the world,
but these are in the world, and I come to thee. Holy
Father, keep through thine own name those whom thou
hast given me, that they may be one, as we are. While
I was with them in the world, I kept them in thy name:
those that thou gavest me I have kept, and none of
them is lost, but the son of perdition; that the
scripture might be fulfilled. And now come I to thee;
and these things I speak in the world, that they might
have my joy fulfilled in themselves. I have given them
thy word; and the world hath hated them, because they
are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. I
pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the
world, but that thou shouldest keep them from the
evil. They are not of the world, even as I am not of
the world. Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word
is truth. As thou hast sent me into the world, even so
have I also sent them into the world. And for their
sakes I sanctify myself, that they also might be
sanctified through the truth. Neither pray I for these
alone, but for them also which shall believe on me
through their word; That they all may be one; as thou,
Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may
be one in us: that the world may believe that thou
hast sent me. And the glory which thou gavest me I
have given them; that they may be one, even as we are
one: I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made
perfect in one; and that the world may know that thou
hast sent me, and hast loved them, as thou hast loved
me. Father, I will that they also, whom thou hast
given me, be with me where I am; that they may behold
my glory, which thou hast given me: for thou lovedst
me before the foundation of the world. O righteous
Father, the world hath not known thee: but I have
known thee, and these have known that thou hast sent
me. And I have declared unto them thy name, and will
declare it: that the love wherewith thou hast loved me
may be in them, and I in them.
Matthew 26:36-46
Then cometh Jesus with them unto a place called
Gethsemane, and saith unto the disciples,
Sit ye here, while I go
and pray yonder.
And he took with him
Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, and began to be
sorrowful and very heavy. Then saith he unto them,
My soul is exceeding sorrowful, even unto death: tarry
ye here, and watch with me.
And he went a little
further, and fell on his face, and prayed, saying,
O my Father, if
it be possible, let this cup pass from me:
nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt.
And he cometh unto the disciples, and findeth them
asleep, and saith unto Peter,
What, could ye not
watch with me one hour? Watch and pray, that ye enter
not into temptation: the spirit indeed is willing, but
the flesh is weak.
He went away again the second time, and prayed,
saying, O my
Father, if this cup may not pass away from me, except
I drink it, thy will be done.
And he came and found
them asleep again: for their eyes were heavy. And he
left them, and went away again, and prayed the third
time, saying the same words. Then cometh he to his
disciples, and saith unto them,
Sleep on now, and take
your rest: behold, the hour is at hand, and the Son of
man is betrayed into the hands of sinners. Rise, let
us be going: behold, he is at hand that doth betray
me.
Luke 23:32-34
And there were also two other, malefactors, led with
him to be put to death. And when they were come to the
place, which is called Calvary, there they crucified
him, and the malefactors, one on the right hand, and
the other on the left. Then said Jesus,
Father, forgive them;
for they know not what they do.
And they parted his raiment, and cast lots.
Mark 15:33-37
And when the sixth hour was come, there was darkness
over the whole land until the ninth hour. And at the
ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying,
Eloi, Eloi, lama
sabachthani?
which is, being interpreted,
My God, my God, why
hast thou forsaken me?
And some of them that stood by, when they heard it,
said, Behold, he calleth Elias. And one ran and filled
a sponge full of vinegar, and put it on a reed, and
gave him to drink, saying, Let alone; let us see
whether Elias will come to take him down. And Jesus
cried with a loud voice, and gave up the ghost.
John 19:28-30
After this, Jesus knowing that all things were now
accomplished, that the scripture might be fulfilled,
saith, I thirst.
Now there was set a vessel full of vinegar: and they
filled a sponge with vinegar, and put it upon hyssop,
and put it to his mouth. When Jesus therefore had
received the vinegar, he said,
It is finished:
and he bowed his head, and gave up the ghost.
Luke 23:44-46
And it was about the sixth hour, and there was a
darkness over all the earth until the ninth hour. And
the sun was darkened, and the veil of the temple was
rent in the midst. And when Jesus had cried with a
loud voice, he said,
Father, into thy hands
I commend my spirit:
and having said thus,
he gave up the ghost.
John 19:30
When Jesus therefore had received the vinegar, he
said, It is
finished: and he
bowed his head, and gave up the ghost.
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NOTE TO PARENTS:
Children have a natural curiosity and innocence that
are precious beyond compare. Sometimes the questions they ask are questions
that challenge the minds of even the most prudent adults. Questions that they
ask God, are especially thought provoking, so take time share thoughts with your
children about some
of the questions that your dear little ones ponder on. You might marvel at the fact
that many of them are questions that we have wondered ourselves, and seeking the
answers to them may be a rewarding experience that strengthens both your
relationship with the Lord, and with your children.
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If you would like to learn more about prayer, check out
this study:
Effective Christian Prayer
For those who are
experiencing loneliness, pain, suffering and anguish ...
Please check out this healing path:
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Would you like to become a Prayer Partner?
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Another great study about prayer:
Prayers That Avail Much
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