Lord of my Life

Words and Music by Carol Sampson

My Master, my Friend, my Brother

Saviour, Redeemer and Lord

My father, my King, my High Priest in Him

my Peace and Refuge in the storm

My Rock, my Fortress, my Deliverer

My Shield, my Salvation, my Strength

My Shepherd, my Healer, my Joy and my Peace

My Hope and the Light of my Life

You are the Lord of my life

and in You I'm alive

and I set my gaze on You

trust only in You

hide Your Word in my heart.

Lord of my life

Music by Linda Louisa

This is a prayer for those who are going through times of near intolerable pressure.

If the Lord is moving the stage sets of our lives around,

it is only because He is changing the scenery –

and by His mercy the new scenarios will be good.

By His grace may we let Him do whatever it takes to keep us moving forward.

To those who are feeling overwrought and pummelled,

and only just keeping going,

the Lord says,

Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit,'

says the LORD Almighty.

"What are you, O mighty mountain? You will become level ground.

Then he will bring out the capstone to shouts of `God bless it! Grace to it!’

“Don’t despise the day of small beginnings!”

My children, many have come

and many have gone

without finding the place of inner release.

There are reasons for the blocks that keep them

from standing on the Rock.

Some plans miscarry through

failing to seek My plans and purposes;

and insufficient tarrying in My presence.

So come, My child,

over the shards, through the narrow places

and across the broad slow plains

until you find some quickening ray as you pray;

for I too am paying a heavy cost

to keep you in the fray.

Lord, with joy I receive Your love,

for nothing else can satisfy my heart,

and nothing less shall fill my day.

I receive Your love;

deep within my soul.

You do not give us a spirit of timidity,

but of power and love and self control.

Rally our defences when the devil intrudes;

challenge our complacency

when we are tempted to go our own way.

You want us to seek You,

even in the most ordinary of events.

Therefore as you go,

may you know His power in your life;

as you live, may you yield up more of your heart

and so receive His love –

which nurtures like a mother

and teaches like a father.

Celtic 1 by Francis Cummings

Lord Jesus by Your birth

You earthed eternal love

and sparked something new in each heart that You touched.

The heart of the downcast disciples burned within them

as You joined them on the road to Emmaus.

Just so do You shepherd our souls,

exalting the humble

but leaving the proud to stumble;

for nine times out of ten

the essence of judgement lies less in some external act

than in the silent shrivelling of the soul.

Not knowing all You can do in the hearts of excluded ones,

the teachers of the law browbeat those they regarded as scum;

but You exalted them to be the salt and light of the world.

Since You delight to evoke some higher way of seeing

help us to tease out hidden gifts and talents

in the hearts of valiant souls.

It is the way of love,

and its deepest pain,

that one partner often loves more than the other –

and this is still more true for You, Lord.

Help me play my part to requite,

at least in part, this love

that never shrinks from pouring out

so much in return for so little.

Lord Jesus, You know what I must do

to further Your work in my soul.

Don’t let me skimp on spending time with You,

or walk with a spiritual limp;

If I have allowed anything to die within my soul,

reclaim that ground and fan the gift into flames –

for You are my pilot through all my reefs and griefs.

Lord Jesus, You know what You must do

to further Your work in the heart of the Church.

Don’t let us skimp on spending time with You,

or walk with a spiritual limp;

We dedicate the projects You would have us undertake –

orchestrate them to Your pulsating glory;

for You are our pilot through all our reefs and griefs.

Increase the scope of our concern

and send us where You will –

but may we always have a special heart

for the oppressed, misunderstood,

excluded ones.

And when our particular race is run,

You will welcome us to our place,

removing every trace of all that is misplaced;

for everything goes deeper

as we deepen by Your grace.

Music by Linda Louisa

Lord Jesus, as surely You saved the wedding from disaster,

You’re never short of plans for leading us on,

so help us to look less at circumstances that oppress,

and our own lack of resources,

and more at the assurance of Your presence.

With what authority You sent Your disciples out,

demonstrating that one plus You is still a majority.

Show us where we have under performed

by being too slow to act on what You have bestowed.

Time and again You reproved Your disciples for their profound unbelief.

May we make it our absolute priority to stretch out Your rod of authority,

so You may never have to chide us for failing to move in the power You provide.

When we know not what to pray,

may Your Spirit point the way,

bidding us ask, seek and knock;

to bind and release,

in order that Heaven may have the increase.

Spirit of prayer,

saturate our hearts with joy and fervour,

so that whether we are giving birth through hardened earth

or dancing for the sheer romance of loving You,

our prayers may range wide and far,

and match Your generous stride.

Come light that knows no night,

whether we be introverts or extroverts,

keep us in Your Spirit’s flow;

so that all we do, and even think may be carried out beneath the banner of Your authority.

For You have given us today and eternity.

And though it is right to take proper steps and to make proper plans

You would rather have us fully engaged from day to day

rather than holding out for some mythical moment

when it all begins to happen.

Stir up in us this most precious habit of prayer,

so that we may catch the many things we see and hear

and unlatch them all in prayer.

You keep no record of our wrongs,

but the recording of Your deeds and doings is a mighty springboard for our faith.

We direct our spirits now to lift places and people before Your throne,

who may even be unknown to us,

but who are deeply known and loved by You.

SELAH

Mozart oboe quartet slow movement

In the beginning, You laid the foundations of the earth,

and the heavens are the work of Your hands.

They will perish, but You remain the same,

and Your years will never end.

Lord, You never change,

but I would not be the poet and prophet that I am

were every day to be just as yesterday.

On dank drab winter’s days,

when the sunlight lies hidden in the haze,

keep me from the myth of the ‘but what if’s’,

and the lonely ‘if only’s’.

Lift me afresh upon your shoulders,

to behold Your power over all these boulders.

Intervene in my daily routine whenever I am straying towards the ravine

and whisper, ‘this is not the way.’

Thank You for the many ways you convey Your pleasure

when I overcome self doubt and push the boat right out.

May I never become so entrenched

that I quench Your Spirit's fire

or treat true prophecy with contempt.

Give me the wisdom not just to hold on to what is true

but to press through and appropriate that which comes from You.

High and mighty one, so glorious in apparel,

from the storehouse of Your unseen observation dome

send Your prime shalom.

And Lord, reshape every peril on the anvil of Your love.

Impart fresh new dreams within our hearts

on those long and dusty climbs

when nothing seems to rhyme.

Celtic 2 by Francis Cummings

"What causes fights and quarrels among you? Don’t they come from the evil desires at war within you?" (James)

"A patient man calms a quarrel, but starting a quarrel is like breaching a dam." (Proverbs)

"The Lord’s servant must not quarrel; instead, he must be kind to everyone, able to teach, not resentful but patient with difficult people." (2 Timothy 2)

Paul reminds us that it is no longer we that live but Christ who lives in us. Since we are no longer our own, Christ’s interests should be our concern, and we should be willing to lay down the things that lead to quarrels and division.

Father, Your word says,

Woe to him who quarrels with his Maker.

You sent the Lord Jesus full of grace and truth,

veering now in the direction of grace

and now more towards truth,

as wisdom required.

Grant us more of this divine authenticity that moves in great simplicity

more one way and then the other as wisdom requires,

reconciling souls with their Maker.

Give us courage to contend for the faith,

but keep us from flaring up in ire

when people snipe and gripe,

lest we end up fighting fire with fire.

Infuse Your grace and truth to defuse each of our temptations,

but guard the flashpoints in our hearts

lest the enemy’s battering ram

appoints a quarrel that seeks to breach the dam.

Lord, we give you full permission

to define and realign our onward mission.

Grant us grace to embrace this glorious truth,

that we were bought at a price to be our Beloved’s –

and He is ours for ever.

Lord,

am I the man of peace that you would have me be,

or do I still both fret and regret?

The man who lives and moves in peace

reaches out to lend Your strength,

so let Your life breathe through me today,

transforming the churnings of my heart,

augmenting the spirit of quiet content.

The woman who lives and moves in peace

surrenders everything to God.

She is patient and interruptible;

she neither fears nor fawns

but draws near to the sad and withdrawn.

Lord, am I a woman who lives and moves in peace,

or do I still both judge and grudge?

Is there anything that I must yield afresh to You?

I declare war on all in me that opposes You.

and ask You to mould my temperament

in the spirit of Your quiet content.

And Lord, where there is stress and sterility

as the result of apparent incompatibility,

help us develop ways of coping

that will give us the ability to help each other through,

and transform our differences into much appreciated features:

a profoundly complimentary kaleidoscope.

Marcello 3rd movement oboe concerto in D minor

Lord, I cannot put this too strongly:

I want to declare it to the deep places of my heart:

I am not in charge!

For every time I begin to act

as though everything depends on me,

I end up making mistaken demands:

Forgive me every time I miss vital warning signs.

and cross these hidden boundary lines.

My desire to follow Your will gives me no right to reproach or encroach

for when I judge outward deeds and dealings it only serves to trigger unwise judgements that polarise matters still more;

and though I see people’s faults so clearly,

I often miss their inward humility.

Lord, You allow the most irksome things

to come my way to reveal my tendency to fix.

Help me move beyond the outward need for conflicts

and to realise that what You actually want

is for me to relinquish all control.

I pray for that quality of grace that refrains from running down

and gives to others far more space,

honouring them to receive Your crown.

When everything inside is screaming

that some extreme thing needs removing,

You sometimes shelve my plea,

permitting scenarios that appear to threaten everything.

Let’s not hear these words and think they must apply

to some other soul who has gone awry –

but rather pause awhile to confess our deadly soul attack.

Music by by Francis Cummings

Lord, drop Your still dews of quietness, till all our strivings cease;

take from our souls the strain and stress,

and let our ordered lives confess the beauty of Your peace.

Lord, I’ve often sung those words,

but since dew never falls on stormy nights

let my heart be still enough to receive the whispers of Your love.

Sometimes, Lord, Your silence is as eloquent as words,

for You know what You are planning to do,

as surely as You stilled the hunger of the crowds who followed You up the hill. You want us to trust You beyond all immediate signs of comfort.

Fishermen catch no fish until they cast their net,

and since I will know no peace of mind

until I place my burdens into Your powerful hands

I cast all variety of anxiety upon You now,

undeterred Shepherd of my soul.

King David said, “I delight to do Your will”;

let his words be also true of me.

If You had let me follow the devices and desires of my heart,

I would never have reached the places You had in mind.

So You have allowed strange disappointments to come my way

in order to fulfil Your higher vision;

and You want me to trust You in what comes next.

May we leave no stone unturned in following up Your leads;

for though we never know which ones will succeed

You give growth to the seeds we sow.

It’s so often when we go the extra mile that Your power breaks through,

so help us follow every sign of Your Kingdom

as we give You the people and situations we are involved in.

Music by Linda Louisa

Father, it is as natural for You to give of Your fullness

as it is for us to breathe,

for You are the very image of plentifulness,

and when it comes to serving You,

help us to put first things first, and last things last,

lest anything become an idol or a snare;

for You are from everlasting to everlasting,

and Your years will never end.

Since You make use of even the trials and residues of life

You declared: “Let nothing be wasted,” (John 6:12) –

and the baskets were filled with the loaves that remained.

You remind us to launch out into the deep

and to let down our nets for the catch. (Luke 5:4)

It isn’t skill alone that will catch these fish

but obedience to Your voice;

so where would you have us cast our nets today, Lord?

It sometimes feels as though my giving to the poor and needy,

and even to your Kingdom warriors,

is but a drop in the ocean,

yet even the Pacific is made up of so many drops,

and Your word tells us to give and it will be given back to us:

everything added because Your hand has guided;

so I bow my knee afresh

and await Your further instructions

on who and what You wish me to support.

Grant us too the inner strength and resilience

to reject the enemy’s assessment of the way things are –

and to press on beyond every disappointment.

Challenge and confront the ‘no go’ areas in our thinking patterns

in order to give free course to Your thoughts and insights.

Grant us spiritual fathers, mothers and mentors –

and the willingness to serve in this way ourselves,

with steadily increasing influence

in all the work You see fit to give us –

and that we are seeking to do for You, abundant God.

The Lord's my Shepherd by Francis Cummings

Come to Me, My child;

rest awhile from all the wild perplexing things

that are robbing you of peace.

Rest awhile, for My sake as well as yours,

for even when you’re feeling really down

you will not drown;

I am still your Guide and Counsellor,

who provides my child with all she needs.

Lord,

You know all that has happened,

what I have done,

and what others have done to me;

the profound hurts that have tossed my life this way and that.

I know these sufferings will not thwart Your final plan,

but right now I need to give expression to my pain.

Selah

Lord, You’ve brought me to this place

where I need your healing embrace;

Let Your refining love console me

when I am feeling out of control,

and struggling to define my role.

When I feel exposed,

and hanging by a thread

You want to see me fight –

but I can’t go on unless You send

gold threads to stitch my rended heart.

So as we seek Your face,

Refresh us with Your grace