PRAYING HANDS

There are hands that help and comfort,
Hands that plan and teach,
Hands that rest and hands that strive
For a goal just out of reach,
Hands that grasp and hands that give,
Hands that work and play,
Friendly hands and loving hands
That soothes life's cares away.
But praying hands are dearest
In the sight of God above
For in their sweet and earnest clasp
Are reverence and love.
No hands can do an unkind act
Nor cause another care
Nor sin against Our Father's love
When they are clasped in prayer.
Author Unknown

Consequently, faith comes from hearing the message,
and the message is heard through the word of Christ.
Romans 10:17

Let me come in where you are weeping, friend,
And let me take your hand.
I, who have known a sorrow such as yours,
Can understand.
Let me come in - I would be very still
Beside you in your grief;
I would not bid you cease your weeping, friend,
Tears bring relief.
Let me come in - I would only breathe a prayer,
And hold your hand,
For I have known a sorrow such as yours,
And understand.
Grace Noll Crowell

Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their work: if one falls down, his friend can help him up. But pity the [one] who falls and has no one to help him up! . . . Though one may be overpowered, two can defend themselves. A cord of three strands is not quickly broken.
Ecclesiastes 4:9-12

Carry each other's burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ.
Galatians 6:2

I pray, O Lord, that I do not turn away from any cry for help. May I always willingly share my blessings with those in need. Help me to remember how empty our lives would be without one another. I pray that Your light will shine through me, that Your love will flow through me and that I may be ever aware of Your Spirit within me. Amen

Be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power.
Ephesians 6:10

So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.
Isaiah 41:10

The light of God surrounds me
The love of God enfolds me
The power of God protects me
The presence of God watches over me.
Wherever I am, God is.
Author Unknown

God is our refuge and strength, an every present help in trouble.
Psalm 46:1

See, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands; your walls are ever before me, says the Lord.
Isaiah 49:16

I saw God wash the world last night
With his sweet showers on high,
And then, when morning came, I saw
Him hang it out to dry.

He washed each tiny blade of grass
And every trembling tree;
He flung his showers against the hill,
And swept the billowing sea.

The white rose is a cleaner white,
The red rose is more red,
Since God washed every fragrant face
And put them all to bed.

There's not a bird, there's not a bee
That wings along the way
But is a cleaner bird and bee
Than it was yesterday.

I saw God wash the world last night.
Ah, would he had washed me
As clean of all my dust and dirt
As that old white birch tree.
William L. Stidger

Nature is man's religious book, with lessons for every day.
Theodore Parker

I love to think of nature as an unlimited broadcasting station, through which God speaks to us every hour, if we will only tune in.
George Washington Carver

Nature is the living, visible garment of God.
Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe

I am grateful Lord, for the sunshine, the rain, the green grass, the trees, birds and bees. How fortunate I am to be surrounded by them all. Thank you. Amen.

He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters, he restores my soul. He guides me in paths of righteousness for his name's sake.
Psalm 23:2-3

Everywhere I find the signature, the autograph of God, and he will never deny his own handwriting. God hath set his tabernacle in the dewdrop as surely as in the sun. No man can any more create the smallest flower than he could create the greatest world.
Joseph Parker

"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."
Jeremiah 29:11

A young, new preacher was walking with an older, more seasoned preacher in the garden one day. Feeling a bit insecure about what God had for him to do, he was asking the older preacher for some advice. The older preacher walked up to a rose bush and handed the young preacher a rosebud and told him to open it without tearing any of the petals. The young preacher looked in disbelief at the older preacher and was trying to figure out what a rosebud
could possibly have to do with his wanting to know the will of God for his life and ministry. But, because of his great respect for the older preacher, he proceeded to try and unfold the rosebud while keeping every petal intact. It wasn't long before he realized how impossible this was to do. Noticing the young preacher's inability to unfold the rosebud without tearing it, the older preacher began to recite the following poem:

It is only a tiny rosebud
A flower of God's design;
But I cannot unfold the petals
With these clumsy hands of mine.

The secret of unfolding flowers
Is not known to such as I.
GOD opens this flower so sweetly,
Then, in my hands, they die.

If I cannot unfold a rosebud,
The flower of God's design,
Then how can I have the wisdom
To unfold this life of mine?

So, I'll trust in Him for leading
Each moment of my day.
I will look to Him for His guidance
Each step of the Pilgrim's way.

The pathway that lies before me
Only my Heavenly Father knows.
I'll trust him to unfold the moments,
Just as He unfolds the rose.
Author Unknown

As flowers carry dewdrops, trembling on the edges of the petals, and ready to fall at the first waft of the wind or brush of bird, so the heart should carry its beaded words of thanksgiving. At the first breath of heavenly flavor, let down the shower, perfumed with the heart's gratitude.
Henry Ward Beecher

Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, whose confidence is in him. He will be like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream. It does not fear when heat comes, its leaves are always green. It has no worries in a year of drought and never fails to bear fruit.
Jeremiah 17:7-8

If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him
James 1:5

Like summer seas that lave with silent tides a lonely shore, like whispering winds that stir the tops of forest trees, like a still small voice that calls us in the watches of the night, like a child's hand that feels about a fast-closed door; gentle, unnoticed, and oft in vain; so is thy coming unto us, O God.

Like ships storm-driven into port, like starving should that seek the bread they once despised, like wanderers begging refuge from the whelming night, like prodigals that seek the father's home when all is spent; yet welcomed at the open door, arms outstretched and kisses for our shame; so is our coming unto thee, O God.

Like flowers uplifted to the sun, like trees that bend before the storm, like sleeping seas that mirror cloudless skies, like a harp to the hand, like an echo to a cry, like a song to the heart; for all our stubbornness, our failure and our sin; so would we have been to thee, O God.
William E. Orchard

No one is beyond the scope of My touch. I delight in rescuing the needy who cry out. I'm here to deliver those who have no one else to help. For the sake of My great name I won't reject you, because I was so pleased to make you My own.
From Matthew 19:26; Psalm 72:12; Samuel 12:22

Help me, dear Lord, to learn wisdom and compassion. May I feel Your guiding hand on my shoulder today. Lead me onto paths toward those who need my help. Amen

We must not hope to be mowers,
And to gather the ripe gold ears,
Unless we have first been sowers
And watered the furrows with tears.

It is not just as we take it,
This mystical world of ours,
Life's field will yield as we make it
A harvest of thorns or of flowers.
Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe

God frees our souls, not from service, not from duty, but into service and into duty, and he who mistakes the purpose of his freedom mistakes the character of his freedom. He who thinks that he is being released from the work, and not set free in order that he may accomplish that work, mistakes the condition into which his soul is invited to enter.
Phillips Brooks

God know the secret plan of using the things he will do for the world, using my hand.
Toyohiko Kagawa

I live for those who love me, for those who know me true;
For the heaven that smiles above me, and awaits my spirit too;
For the cause that lacks assistance, for the wrong that needs resistance,
For the future in the distance, and the good that I can do.
George Linnaeus Banks

Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth.
1 John 3:17-18

Whoever loves God must also love his brother.
1 John 4:21

Volunteer work often demands a high degree of professional competence. . . . It always demands responsibility - and because you are a volunteer the quality of service you give is squarely up to you. You cannot ask for much more in the way of individual motivation. . . . There is such a variety of opportunities that anyone should be able to use her own particular talents. The scope for realizing one's potential is broad, not confining. I found the flexibility of choice a major asset of volunteer work. I could choose jobs with the degree of responsibility that I could carry at any given time. I could make my choice also according to where I was in my life. I have found my volunteer work rewarding to me, and I hope rewarding to the organizations for which I did it and for the community at large. I find I no longer feel guilty about the pattern of my life. I have exercised my talents of mind and spirit; I have tried to make my community a better place in which to live. I have chosen to do so by involving myself for many years in activities in which my family was concerned; and I have enjoyed the activities and my family. For me, these things have been important and satisfying and good.
Marion White Southworth

As we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers.
Galatians 6:10

We do not succeed in changing things according to our desire, but gradually our desire changes. The situation that we hoped to change because it was intolerable becomes unimportant. We have not managed to surmount the obstacle, as we were absolutely determined to do, but life has taken us round it, led us past it, and then if we turn round to gaze at the remote past, we can barely catch sight of it, so imperceptible has it become.
Marcel Proust

Father, we thank thee:
For peace within our favored land,
For plenty from thy bounteous hand,
For means to give to those in need,
For grace to help in thought and deed,
For faith to walk, our hands in thine,
For truth to know thy law divine,
For strength to work with voice and pen,
For love to serve our fellow men,
For light the goal ahead to see,
For life to use alone for thee,
Father, we thank thee.
Grenville Kleiser

We are not hen's eggs, or bananas, or clothespins, to be counted off by the dozen. Down to the last detail we are all different. Everyone has his own fingerprints. Recognize and rejoice in that endless variety. The white light of the divine purpose streams down from heaven to be broken up by those human prisms into all the colors of the rainbow. Take your own color in the pattern and be just that.
Charles R. Brown

Is your place a small place?
Tend it with care; --
He set you there.
Is your place a large place?
Guard it with care; --
He set you there.
What'er your place, it is
Not yours alone, but his
Who set you there.
John Oxenham

Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.
Galatians 6:9

Love one another deeply, from the heart.
1 Peter 1:22

Lord, hold our troops in your loving hands.
Protect them as they protect us.
Bless them and their families for the selfless acts
they perform for us in our time of need.
I ask this in the name of Jesus, our Lord and Savior. Amen.

Be devoted to one another in brotherly love. Honor one another above yourselves.
Romans 12:10

You go no where by accident.
Wherever you go, God is sending you.
Wherever you are, God has put you there.
He has a purpose in your being there.
Christ who dwells in you has something
He wants to do through you where you are.
Believe this and go in His grace and love and power.
Richard C. Halverson, Chaplain of the United States Senate

O God, help me to touch someone today with my eyes, my words,
my smile, my voice, my laughter, Your word.
Change my life, so I can make a difference.
Let my actions bring someone closer to you.
Help me to make Christmas last all year.
Help me to use my gifts for Jesus.

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