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<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">The Captain Is My Daddy</DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"> </DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">A little boy was standing on the banks of the
Mississippi River waving and shouting at a steamboat that was going by. He was
beckoning the steamboat to come to shore. A stranger came by and said, "That's
foolish young man. The boat will never come ashore because of your request. The
captain is too busy to notice your waving and shouting." Just then the boat
turned and headed for shore. The little boy grinned and said to the stranger,
"The captain is my daddy."</DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"> </DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">The captain of the universe is our Abba. He
pays attention to our petitions because he loves us. The first word in the
Lord's Prayer encourages us to believe in the affectionate intimacy of the Lord
of the universe, but that doesn't mean we should take God for granted.</DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"> </DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">Ron Lavin, Sermons for Sundays After Pentecost
(Middle Third): Only the Lonely, CSS Publishing Company, Inc.</DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">_________________________________________</DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"> </DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">Prayer Loosens Up the Heart</DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"> </DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">In her book The Closter Walk, Protestant author
Kathleen Norris writes about the ways that the Catholic monastic tradition
provides a rhythm and depth for spirituality that many Protestants have never
explored. When she says that the life of prayer works "the earth of the heart,"
she means that prayer is like the act of cultivation. In order to work the soil,
one must break up the hardened dirt clods, water the ground, free it from weeds
and then plant a crop. Prayer is the way to "loosen up" the heart. During the
natural course of our lives the "earth of our hearts" becomes parched,
weed-infested and hard as flint. Unless we take care to break it up to run our
fingers again through the rich soil that we know is there, our lives become as
destitute and as desiccated as a desert.<BR> <BR>William R. Long, adapting
Kathleen Norris, Teach Us to
Pray<BR>_____________________________________<BR><BR> </DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">Active Prayer</DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"> </DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">God is not passive, and neither are we. In
fact, Jesus calls us to an active life. We tend to think of prayer as a passive
affair, which in many ways it is. After all, prayer is listening before it is
speaking. However, it is active listening. You know the difference between
passive and active listening? Passive listening is the husband who has one ear
to the television when his wife speaks. Passive listening is the wife who has
her "to do" list between her and her spouse. Passive listening is the young
person who hears everything through ears that are "bored" with anything and
everything that isn’t more exciting than what is possible.</DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"> </DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">Active listening, on the other hand, is giving
100% attention, and facing toward the One who speaks, putting aside
remote-controls, "to do" lists, and boredom. Active listening is anything but
passive. It’s really hard work, when you think about it. It’s not "zoning out."
Far from it. Prayer is, in part, active listening. How do you receive daily
bread from God, if you’re not faced in his direction, attentively reaching out?
How does forgiveness become a reality if we don’t step into it - and how are we
to step into it if we’re not walking in the direction of, toward the One from
whom forgiveness flows? The Lord’s prayer, whether it be the version Matthew
remembers, or the one Luke recalls, encourages active movement toward God on our
part.</DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"> </DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">Peter L. Haynes,
Asking...Seeking...Knocking</DIV>
<DIV
style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">_____________________________________________</DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"> </DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">Prayer to the Outside Observer</DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"> </DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">Father Barry Foster, a priest in Dublin,
Ireland, parked his car on a rather steep slope close to his church. His little
cairn terrier was lying on the rear seat and could not be seen by anyone outside
the vehicle. Father Foster got out of the car and turned to lock the door with
his usual parting command to the dog. "Stay!" he ordered loudly, to an
apparently empty car. "Stay!" An elderly man was watching the performance with
amused interest. Grinning, he suggested, "Why don't you just try putting on the
emergency brake?" <BR><BR>Our subject today is prayer. To the mind of the
unbeliever, watching someone pray is the equal of watching someone say "Stay,"
to their automobile fully expecting it to obey. To the unbeliever prayer is an
exercise in futility. But to the believer, prayer is the most powerful and the
most reliable force in the world today. <BR><BR>King Duncan, Collected Sermons,
<A href="http://www.sermons.com/">www.Sermons.com</A> </DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"> </DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">________________________________</DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"> </DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">Always Say a Prayer</DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"> </DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">Ever wonder about the acronym ASAP? Generally
we think of it in terms of even more hurry and stress in our lives: "As soon as
possible." Maybe if we think of this abbreviation in a different manner, we'll
begin to find a new way to deal with those rough days along the
way.<BR> <BR>There's work to do, deadlines to meet, you've got no time to
spare, But as you hurry and scurry, ASAP: Always Say a Prayer. In the midst of
family chaos, quality time is rare. Do your best; let God do the rest, ASAP:
Always Say a Prayer. It may seem like your worries are more than you can bear.
Slow down and take a breather, ASAP: Always Say a Prayer. God knows how
stressful life is; he wants to ease our cares, And he'll respond to all your
needs, ASAP: Always Say a Prayer. <BR> <BR>Leonard Sweet, Collected
Sermons, <A href="http://www.sermons.com/">www.Sermons.com</A></DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"> </DIV>
<DIV
style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">__________________________________________</DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"> </DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"> The Perfect Prayer</DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"> </DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">The Lord's Prayer is the most perfect of
prayers... In it we ask, not only for all the things we can rightly desire, but
also in the sequence that they should be desired. This prayer not only teaches
us to ask for things, but also in what order we should desire them.</DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"> </DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">St. Thomas Aquinas, as quoted in Catechism of
the Catholic Church, 2763</DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"> </DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">_________________________</DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"> </DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">Prayer and Forgiveness</DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"> </DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">We cannot come to God in honest prayer when we
have not forgiven one another transgressions: A young boy saw a pack of
cigarettes on the ground and decided to try them. He went to a field near his
home and, after several fumbling attempts, got one to light up. It didn't taste
good; indeed, it burned his throat and made him cough. But it made him feel very
grown up.</DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"> </DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">Then he saw his father coming. Quickly he put
the cigarette behind his back and tried to be casual. Desperate to divert his
father's attention. The young Boy pointed to a nearby billboard advertising the
circus. "Can we go, Dad? Please, let's go when it comes to town."</DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"> </DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">The father quietly but firmly replied, "Son,
never make a petition while at the same time trying to hide a smoldering
disobedience."</DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"> </DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">Unknown</DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">__________________</DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"> </DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">We Do Not Want God<BR><BR> </DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">On a subway platform in one of our Eastern
states there was a large printed sign that said "God Answers Prayer." Some
experienced person had scrawled across the bottom underneath the printed letters
these words: "Sometimes the answer is NO!" This is what we have to deal with in
any discussion of prayer.</DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"> </DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">Someone says, "I felt the need of God. I prayed
for something to happen, and it didn’t. Prayer failed." No, Sir. I suggest that
you did not want God - you wanted God to do something, and that’s
different.</DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"> </DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">You have missed the purpose of prayer: to be in
harmony with God, to have a sense of God’s presence; to feel the assurance that
God is in, around and greater than any circumstance; that, come what may, we
belong to him and underneath are the everlasting arms. Prayer is not a trading
post, but a line of communication.</DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"> </DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">Carveth Mitchell, The Sign in the Subway, CSS
Publishing Company.</DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><BR>_______________________<BR> </DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">Humor: Persistence in Prayer</DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"> </DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">Paul Harvey told about a 3-year-old boy who
went to the grocery store with his mother. Before they entered she had certain
instructions for the little tike: "Now you’re not going to get any chocolate
chip cookies, so don’t even ask."</DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"> </DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">She put him in the child's seat and off they
went up and down the aisles. He was doing just fine until they came to the
cookie section. Seeing the chocolate chip cookies he said, “Mom, can I have some
chocolate chip cookies?” She said, “I told you not even to ask. You’re not going
to get any at all.”</DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"> </DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">They continued down the aisles, but in their
search for certain items she had to back track and they ended up in the cookie
aisle again. “Mom, can I please have some chocolate chip cookies?” She said, “I
told you that you can’t have any. Now sit down and be quiet.”</DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"> </DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">Finally, they arrived at the checkout. The
little boy sensed that the end was in sight, that this might be his last
chance…</DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"> </DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">The conclusion to this illustration and for
many additional illustrations and sermons for the Proper 12 can be accessed at
<A href="http://www.Sermons.com">www.Sermons.com</A>.</DIV>
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