|
|
|
| Morningside Church -- Inglewood, CA |
|
|
| Rev. Rohrbaugh and Morningside Members |
Morningside Church
"Praying in the Key of Jazz"
Bay Heart Music Prayer Room is inspired in part by the
Morningside Church Jazz Vespers. The "house band" is the John Scott Trio, who
are often joined by guest vocalists and musicians. Morningside Church
in Inglewood, CA celebrates
70 years as an interracial congregation. The pastor for over twenty-three years is Rev. Mark Rohrbaugh. Click below to
hear his greeting and a John Scott Trio musical selection. Then, enjoy the gift of musical prayer in the Prayer Room.
REV. MARK ROHRBAUGH
MORNINGSIDE UNITED CHURCH OF CHRIST
Pastor's Prayer of Prosperity
"Blue Bossa"-- John
Scott Trio
Click the play button to hear prayer and music. [3:32]
|
When you can't remember scripture or a sermon,
worship songs will do just fine.
—Cheryl Farrell
Quotations for Thoughts on Prayer
Sometimes prayer changes
me
more than the circumstances.
Even in the midst of my
daily schedule
I can call out to God.
I need to spend time with
God even when
I do not know what to pray.
From 199 Treasures of Wisdom on Talking with
God, published by Barbour Publications, Inc. Andrew Murray compilation. Used by permission.
My prayer for today is to be
at peace with the little piece
of the world I can affect today.
I pray for the way.
—Cheryl Farrell
“If you
want God to listen to you when you pray,
shouldn't you
listen to God when he speaks to you?”
—Reverend
Ikechukwu Ikeocha
Today's Prayer:
"Amen. I start my prayer today, perhaps I as I should start them all,
with the admission, right up front, that no matter what I pray for, the intent of my heart should be ‘Amen’ to
your will, ‘so be it.’"
--Rev.
Tom Purdy,
St. Peters Episcopal Church, Poolesville, MD
“We must accept finite disappointment,
but never lose infinite hope.”
—Martin Luther King, Jr.
"Forgiving Those Who are Hard to Love"
by Cheryl Farrell
9-23-09
For a long time, I really wanted to forgive people who are hard to love—especially,
those who hurt me. I also wanted to rid myself of bitterness I carried from the hurt. My efforts to forgive others yielded
inconsistent results at best. Yet, I’ve come to see how the very desire to forgive opened my heart. It allowed me to
work on behalf of those in need. However, the beneficiaries were primarily the “nice needy”—no one with
whom I had an unpleasant history.
Ten days ago, a life-long enemy needed dire medical and emotional support. As God
would have it, the clarion call for help was blaring in my ear. Never in my wildest imagination did I see myself helping this
person in any form or fashion. I didn’t waste syllables uttering the person’s name. Yet, it resided on my prayer
list and by reading it, I acknowledged my hope to forgive.
My hope-induced open heart allowed forgiveness to enter confidently and assuredly
into a welcoming space. I noticed it as I helped my former enemy, who I now regard as one of God’s children. I am God’s
ambassador, fully equipped with forgiveness and able to use it in daily opportunities to forgive others…and myself.
It’s an amazing turn of events! The circumstances and details of how I provide help are for another story—and
it’s a humdinger. The point here is to show how forgiveness works. The peace in my heart is far better than the justice
I thought I needed. I enjoy the peace of forgiveness.
Click the play button below to hear Rev. Rohrbaugh's prayer about forgiveness. [00:15]
Quotations
for Thoughts on Prayer
“Where you set out to go is meaningless if you’re
walking in the dark.
Make your plans ... and pray for God to illuminate your path.”
—Cheryl
Farrell
Quotations
for Thoughts on Prayer
The grand essentials of happiness:
something to do, something to love, and something to hope for.”
—Allan K. Chalmers
Romans 5:3-5
More than that, we rejoice in our sufferings,
knowing
that suffering produces endurance,
and endurance
produces character,
and character
produces hope,
and hope does not put us to shame,
because God's love has been poured into our hearts
through
the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.
—ESV
Bible
Quotations
for Thoughts on Prayer*
"When you find time on your hands, put them together in prayer."
Our Daily Bread [10-20-08]
*Our Daily
Bread visit http://www.rbc.org/devotionals/our-daily-bread/2008/10/20/devotion.aspx
Quotations
for Thoughts on Prayer*
God
is with you when the going gets tough, but He's a perfect gentleman.
He
won't carry your load unless you ask Him to.
"Bruce & Stan"
(Bruce Bickel & Stan Jantz)
*From God Is in the Hard Stuff,
published by Barbour Publishing, Inc. Used by permission.
Green pastures are before
me, which yet I have not seen.
Bright skies will soon be
over me, where darkest clouds have been.
My hope I cannot measure,
my path to life is free.
My savior has my treasure,
and he will walk with me.
—Author Unknown
Why A Prayer Room?
“Music and Prayer”
Bay
Heart Music Prayer Room
I recall
reading a magazine article in April 2007 about a young woman professing the need to pray throughout the day. I would like
to give proper attribution, but research indicates Jane Magazine folded a few months after the article appeared. [If anyone
knows the woman’s name, please advise.] The writer was Muslim, and she worked in an office setting. She was resourceful
in her ways to pray discreetly. I believe she described office closets and cubicle encampments to accomplish her goal. I was
able to retrieve a quote from the article: “Some people sneak off to smoke, I sneak off to pray.”
I was
moved by this woman’s discipline and determination to fully live her faith. Her diligence reminded me of the daily health
rituals my teenage son conducts because he has type 1 diabetes. He takes insulin injections several times a day to live. This
young woman took prayer several times a day to live.
I pray
often, but my daytime conversations with God tend to be crisis driven. In those times, there’s often flailing and wailing
going on. I began to wonder if the tone would change if I had “easy access” to God during the day. I know... he’s
only a thought away. However, a device to trigger prayer other than
panic was my desire... and ironically, my prayer. The answer came to me, and I now share it with you. Check out my web page:
www.bayheartmusic.com/prayerroom
You
will find short pages with eclectic music, scripture and messages of hope to inspire your conversations with God. For now,
the songs are performed by my friends and me.
If you’re
sitting at your PC and you get stressed from the world, click on Bay Heart’s Prayer Page and relax. If you’re
up late at night surfing the Internet for a respite, check us out. If you’re trying to figure out how to respond to
a troubling email, view this page before you reply. Better yet, if you want to thank God or need a reminder to "count
your blessings," here's a place to do it.
The
power of prayer is available regardless of how often you pray. It just seems that praying unceasingly reminds us of the assured
reply. It also cuts down on the flailing and the wailing.
—Cheryl Farrell
"Race, Music,
and Resolution"
A Layperson's
Sermon on Race Relations and Prayer
Morningside United Church of Christ
Delivered by Cheryl Farrell
May 2008
"Music originating from
the African American experience
is a metaphor for the good
that comes from difficult times.
Just as musical chord progressions
must resolve, so too can human relations."
“The power of prayer is not the result of the person praying.
Rather, the power resides in the God who is being prayed to.
When we pray passionately and purposefully, according to God's will,
God responds powerfully!"
—Author Unknown
Quotations
for Thoughts on Prayer*
We
need never shout across the spaces to an absent God.
He
is nearer than our own soul, closer than our most secret thoughts.
—A. W. Tozer
*A.W. Tozer: “The Pursuit of God,” found in "A Day Brightener" product from Garborg’a Heart
‘n Home. Bloomington, MN. [SPCN 5-5044-0052-X]
Quotations
for Thoughts on Prayer*
"When
we work, we work.
When
we pray, God works."
—J. Hudson Taylor
"Every
work of God can be traced to some kneeling form."
—D.L.
Moody
"The
faith we bring to prayer must include a trust
that
God is able to hear our prayers
and that
He is disposed to answer them.
Yet,
when God says no to our requests,
this
faith also trusts in His wisdom."
—R.C.
Sproul
*Taken from “God Bless America: Prayers & Reflections For Our Country” by Gwen Ellis, Senior Editor.
Copyright © 1999. Used by permission of Zondervan, www.zondervan.com.
Quotations for Thoughts on Prayer
"On the Matter of Success"
"To
laugh often and much;
to
win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children;
to earn
the appreciation of honest critics ...
to appreciate
beauty; to find the best in others;
to leave
the world a bit better
whether
by a healthy child, a garden patch, or a redeemed social condition;
to know
even one life has breathed easier because you have lived.
This is
to have succeeded."
—Ralph
Waldo Emerson
Quotations for Thoughts on Prayer
Security is mostly a superstition.
It does not exist in nature,
nor do the children of men as a whole experience it.
Avoiding danger is no safer in the long run than outright exposure.
Life is either a daring adventure, or nothing.
—Helen Keller
If there is light in the soul, there will be beauty in the person
If there is beauty in the person, there will be harmony in the house
If there is harmony in the house, there will be order in the nation
If there is order in the nation, there will be Peace in the World.
—Chinese Proverb
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I,
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.
—Robert Frost / The Road Not Taken
National Day of Prayer
The
National Day of Prayer is a day designated by the United States Congress as a day when all Americans regardless of faith are asked to come together and pray in their own way. It is held on the first Thursday in May. The "National Day of Prayer" Task Force coordinates many local
observances of the National Day of Prayer; however, it is an independent non-profit organization and does not act on behalf
of the federal government. [Source: Wikipedia]
National Day of Prayer Official website:
http://www.ndptf.org/home/home.html
|
|
Prayer and Hope
“What
Does Hope Look Like?"
Bay Heart Music Prayer Room
April
25, 2008
There’s a humorous credit card ad campaign that has gruff characters from another time asking a tag line, “What’s
in your wallet?” I believe it’s becoming as familiar as a competitor’s slogan, “Don’t leave
home without it.” In both cases, the message is to stay equipped with negotiable instruments to purchase your desires.
As enamored of advertising creativity as the next gal, the persuasive message lingers in my mind. So much so, that
a variation of the ad slipped into my thoughts. Know what it said?
“What’s in your wallet … of hope?”
It asks, what currency do you use to negotiate change? (No pun intended—the frustrated wannabe ad exec in me
emerges at times.) For all the talk about hope, what do we carry around in order to obtain hope? My answer is to fill
my spiritual pocketbook with the following:
- Dreams of what hope looks like in order to recognize its fruit when I see it.
- Investments in tomorrow’s memories with good thoughts today. (Inspired by Marianne Williamson.*)
- Meditation and prayer—being still in order to hear what I'm called to do.
I know all this sounds like lofty
niceties. We’ve got to start somewhere. It’s my attempt at a start.
—Cheryl Farrell
* “The Age of Miracles: Embracing the New Midlife,” by Marianne Williamson.
ISBN-13: 9781401917197 Publisher Hay House, Inc. (2008)
"What's in your wallet?"® Capital One Credit Card
"Don't leave home without it." American Express
Prayer as Conversation
Submitted by Rev. Mark Rohrbaugh,
Minister
"A saintly man named A. W. Tozer wrote an essay about honesty in prayer. Prayers are conversations with
God. Our prayers should sound like our conversations with our friends. They should reflect our true emotions,
feelings and thoughts. They should be candid and honest. Our prayers should not be limited to what we think is
possible–for God can do the impossible. And,
our prayers should not be proposals about how we think God should respond.
Our prayers should express our joy, our sorrow and all the negative thoughts and emotions that we humans
are capable of experiencing. Dr. Tozer in this essay said if you are angry with God, you should even express your anger.
It is essential that we should not complicate our prayers by using phrases or words or whatever that we have heard others
say. Just be yourself when you talk with God.
And, one other thought... while nothing is impossible with God, it is important for us to understand
that God uses many resources to respond to our prayers: friends, professional people, medications, and personal discipline."
Aiden
Wilson Tozer (April 21, 1897 - May 12, 1963) was an American Protestant pastor, preacher, author, magazine editor, Bible conference speaker, and spiritual mentor. For his work, he received two honorary doctorates. Prayer was of vital personal importance for Tozer. "His preaching as well as his writings were but extensions of his prayer
life," comments James L. Snyder, his biographer in the book, In Pursuit of God: The Life of A.W. Tozer. " [Source: Wikipedia]
|
