{"id":1719,"date":"2011-10-18T11:43:48","date_gmt":"2011-10-18T16:43:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/customwordpresssites.com\/mjb\/?p=1719"},"modified":"2026-02-26T13:54:21","modified_gmt":"2026-02-26T19:54:21","slug":"the-prayer-box","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/customwordpresssites.com\/mjb\/2011\/10\/18\/the-prayer-box\/","title":{"rendered":"the prayer box"},"content":{"rendered":"

Guest blogger Liz Diedrich<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

Praying is hard. It is hard to find time to pray. It is hard to stay focused. It is hard to quiet\u00a0one\u2019s mind and listen for the subtle movements of God. It is hard when we feel far from\u00a0God, and it is hard when God asks things of us that we do not want to hear.<\/p>\n

I wish a prayer upon my little sister Molly. She has become an alcoholic. I love her.<\/em>\u00a0Amen<\/em><\/p>\n

At Andr\u00e9 House one the most important things we do is pray for our guests. In the\u00a0main dining room of the hospitality center we have a prayer table. Here we have paper,\u00a0pens, and a prayer box where guests (and volunteers and staff) can write their prayer\u00a0intentions. At our noontime prayer we pray the intercessions from the prayer table.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
"Jesus of the Electrical Boxes" (In the main dining room at Andre House)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

I pray Lord, please help me know where to live, where to start the journey, where to end\u00a0<\/em>the journey. Thanks. Amen.<\/em><\/p>\n

It is very intimate to share the prayer intentions. A person\u2019s prayers come from the\u00a0silent longing of their hearts and are raw expressions of their deepest desires. We see\u00a0prayers of hope, despair, joy, and thanksgiving.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m such a sucker. I get paid and throw it away on others. I am so tired. Death would be<\/em>\u00a0a welcome relief. Lord, help me learn to help me. Amen. -Nick<\/em><\/p>\n

Sometimes, I find the hardest part of prayer is honesty with God. In prayer we are\u00a0called to let go of the walls we put around ourselves and let go of our worldly self-consciousness. We are called to authentically and completely open ourselves to the\u00a0grace of God.<\/p>\n

Help, God, I am begging, I need to stay clean. Amen.<\/em><\/p>\n

In prayer we are called to continually deeper our relationship with God and to become\u00a0self aware of our shortcomings and our needs. We are called to honestly look at\u00a0ourselves and humbly ask God for the grace to lead us according to God\u2019s dream for\u00a0our lives.<\/p>\n

Dear most gracious father God I ask in your son Jesus name that my children come<\/em>\u00a0home to me and papa. Amen.<\/em><\/p>\n

As we discover the areas of our lives where we fall short, prayer is an occasion to bring\u00a0these things before God and ask for help.<\/p>\n

I ask the Lord for a special anointing \u2013 the kind of anointing that whatsoever I touch or<\/em>\u00a0whomsoever I walk by, they would be blessed. Please also pray that God humbles me<\/em>\u00a0and makes me like Christ through and through. Amen.<\/em><\/p>\n

Often when I am having a hard time with prayer, when I cannot stay focused or I am\u00a0frustrated by my day, I turn my prayer into a prayer of thanksgiving. At the end of the\u00a0day I work to quiet my mind by recalling the moments throughout the day that I am\u00a0thankful for, the moments where God was present in my day.<\/p>\n

Thank you God for everything, even the things I don\u2019t see and help the little girl I saw on<\/em>\u00a0the bus today. Amen.<\/em><\/p>\n

It is a blessing and privilege to share these prayers with our guests and in our\u00a0community. This last prayer was a prayer left on the prayer table in thanksgiving for\u00a0Andr\u00e9 House for all of those who pass help with our ministries.<\/p>\n

A prayer for Andr\u00e9 House – may God find you in his mercy and his grace for all you\u00a0<\/em>have done for everyone. Amen.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Guest blogger Liz Diedrich Praying is hard. It is hard to find time to pray. It is hard to stay focused. It is hard to quiet\u00a0one\u2019s mind and listen for the subtle movements of God. It is hard when we feel far from\u00a0God, and it is hard when God asks things of us that we...","protected":false},"author":20022957,"featured_media":1782,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_kad_blocks_custom_css":"","_kad_blocks_head_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_body_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_footer_custom_js":"","episode_type":"","audio_file":"","podmotor_file_id":"","podmotor_episode_id":"","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"","filesize":"","filesize_raw":"","date_recorded":"","explicit":"","block":"","_kad_post_transparent":"","_kad_post_title":"","_kad_post_layout":"","_kad_post_sidebar_id":"","_kad_post_content_style":"","_kad_post_vertical_padding":"","_kad_post_feature":"","_kad_post_feature_position":"","_kad_post_header":false,"_kad_post_footer":false,"_kad_post_classname":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[115341],"tags":[4921546,28140,324493,214,698755374,401,5362108,7816,5411,1100099,66721002,80077,9379,853,116,30351,17266,1494,15318],"series":[698756626],"class_list":["post-1719","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-equity-and-justice-equity-and-justice","tag-andre-house","tag-blessings","tag-catholic-worker","tag-christianity","tag-community","tag-faith","tag-focused-prayer","tag-god","tag-gratitude","tag-intercessions","tag-noontime-prayer","tag-phoenix","tag-poverty","tag-prayer","tag-religion","tag-service","tag-simplicity","tag-spirituality","tag-thanksgiving","series-messy-jesus-business"],"acf":[],"episode_featured_image":"https:\/\/customwordpresssites.com\/mjb\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/10\/julias-blog_prayer-box1.jpg","episode_player_image":"https:\/\/customwordpresssites.com\/mjb\/wp-content\/plugins\/seriously-simple-podcasting\/assets\/images\/no-album-art.png","download_link":"","player_link":"","audio_player":false,"episode_data":{"playerMode":"dark","subscribeUrls":{"apple_podcasts":{"key":"apple_podcasts","url":"","label":"Apple Podcasts","class":"apple_podcasts","icon":"apple-podcasts.png"},"stitcher":{"key":"stitcher","url":"","label":"Stitcher","class":"stitcher","icon":"stitcher.png"},"google_podcasts":{"key":"google_podcasts","url":"","label":"Google Podcasts","class":"google_podcasts","icon":"google-podcasts.png"},"spotify":{"key":"spotify","url":"","label":"Spotify","class":"spotify","icon":"spotify.png"}},"rssFeedUrl":"https:\/\/customwordpresssites.com\/mjb\/feed\/podcast\/messy-jesus-business","embedCode":"

the prayer box<\/a><\/blockquote>