Friday Countdown

Good morning everyone! Well, Friday is here and the end of the work week for most of you. For you that work the weekend, I pray that God give you strength and refresh you in spirit and mind.

Remember, this Saturday morning KP serves breakfast at the Rescue Mission downtown Cincinnati. Please try to go if possible. Everyone leaves from the church at 4:30 am. I can personally tell you that you will feel more blessed than those that you will serve. Also, the men have prayer Saturday morning at 9 am and the ladies at 6 pm at the church. Participating in these ministries will spiritually wet your apetite for a great Sunday of worship!

It's hard to believe this is the last weekend in June already. The summer is flying by. I encourage you to join us this weekend for what I am sure will be two great worship services. I am praying for you and I look forward to sharing God's Word with you.

Hey, try this prayer (below) today as you get ready to leave work or after you leave your work. It works...God will answer you and make your time at home truly "a place of refuge and refreshment."

Make it a great weekend!

- Pastor Randy


Prayer at Quitting Time

Father, I thank You for this day. Now I step out of the role of employee and into the role of husband and father/mother and wife.

Lord, I thank You that I do not carry the baggage of the day home with me, but I leave it at my work. Whatever responsibilities, problems or situations I had to face there, however difficult the day may have been for me, I give it all to You. By an act of my will, I choose not to think about it, meditate on it or allow it to control my life.

With the same zeal, enthusiasm and fervor that I started this day, I now turn toward home. My spouse and children deserve a husband and father/wife and mother who is happy to see them, someone who is filled with energy, happiness and joy. I refuse to drag across the threshold weary, worn out and beaten down by the day’s activities.

Father, grant me a refreshing now, for the second part of my day. Thank You that Your joy overflows in my heart so that I come home as a solution, not a problem. As I enter the doorway, let me bring with me joy and peace and life, not misery, frustration and fatigue.

Lord, I ask You to strengthen me: spirit, soul and body. Fill my heart with Your love and grace. Clear my mind of the cobwebs of the day. Thank You that I can choose to put a smile on my face and joy in my heart, that I can determine in advance to have a wonderful evening with my family. Thank You that I can bring with me the character and personality of one who is in love with You and in love with his/her spouse and children.

Lord, help me to be sensitive to the needs of my mate. Help me to listen as he/she tells me about his/her day. Help me to be excited with him/her in his/her moments of triumph, to be sympathetic with him/her in his/her moments of stress and anxiety. I understand that there is no harder work or more difficult job than balancing the daily demands of life and the raising of and providing for young children.

Help me to be sensitive to the needs of my spouse. Help me to express to him/her that I do value his/her contribution to the family, that I do love him/her and appreciate everything he/she does for me and for our children.

Lord, help me never—under any circumstances, either by word or deed—to be condescending or to insinuate that I think less of his/her responsibilities than I do my own or that I consider them in any way subordinate to mine. Help me to encourage and strengthen him/her, to be his/her best friend and closest confidant.

Lord, I know that no one has the influence over our children’s lives that my spouse and I do. Help me to be that role model that they need as a parent. Thank You for physical strength in my body so I can play with my children in the evening. Thank You for clarity of mind so I can be sensitive to their conversations and attuned to the events of their day. Help me not to consider the details of their lives and their daily activities trivial, but help me to see things from their perspectives and viewpoints.

Lord, help me to respond with excitement and enthusiasm to whatever made them happy today. Help me to be tenderhearted and sympathetic to whatever challenges they had to face in their world today. Help me, Lord, to instill within them a confidence, a trust and surety in You, and a dependence upon You.

Help me to present what I do in such a way that they never resent my work but realize that my job is a gift from You and that through it You bless our family so that it is a positive contribution to our lives.

Help me never to speak ill about anyone in my work place, or say anything that will give my family wrong thoughts or ideas or attitudes toward my work. Help me to be a full-time spouse and a full-time parent this entire evening. Thank You for the gift of Your Holy Spirit to empower me for the work You have called me to do and to fulfill the role at home that You have entrusted to me.

In Jesus’ name I pray, amen.