Prayer for Today, Tuesday, April 5

God of Abundant Mercies,

We life our hearts up to You because You are our God and we are your faithful ones. You reach out to us and we respond. You call us by name and send us forth to proclaim the Good News to all the world. You empower us to be agents of peace, reconciliation and love. Forgive us, Loving God, when we miss the mark. Forgive us when we hear the call and turn the other way. Forgive us, we pray, when we turn our backs on those in need. . .family, friends, neighbors, even strangers. Help us to understand that in so doing we turn our backs on You. We desire, Divine Presence, to commune with You. May our hearts be open and our self centeredness subdued so that we can see the way You call us to follow. In Jesus name we pray, AMEN.
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Chuck Crites is having heart bypass surgery this morning at Bass Hospital. Please pray for Chuck and his family.

Jana Davis has asked that we keep her mother, Joan Ingmire, in our prayers. She broke her tailbone as a result of a fall in February and she is very isolated. If you are so inclined, please give her a call or send her a card. Joan Ingmire 3701 Bland Drive, Enid 73703 233-9938. Also, keep Joan in your prayers.

Henry Stuever, son of Jason and Jill, had a chest x-ray yesterday to check for RSV. Please keep the Stuever’s in your prayers.

Please continue to pray for Laura Deatherage, Maggie Bartlett, and Willo Clark.

The scripture for today is Matthew 17:14-23:
When they came to the crowd, a man came to him, knelt before him, and said, “Lord, have mercy on my son, for he is an epileptic and he suffers terribly; he often falls into the fire and often into the water. And I brought him to your disciples, but they could not cure him.”Jesus answered, “You faithless and perverse generation, how much longer must I be with you? How much longer must I put up with you? Bring him here to me.”And Jesus rebuked the demon, and it came out of him, and the boy was cured instantly. Then the disciples came to Jesus privately and said, “Why could we not cast it out?”He said to them, “Because of your little faith. For truly I tell you, if you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move; and nothing will be impossible for you.”
As they were gathering in Galilee, Jesus said to them, “The Son of Man is going to be betrayed into human hands, and they will kill him, and on the third day he will be raised.” And they were greatly distressed.

Grace and peace,

John McLemore