prayer – Claire's Prayer

Our Daily Bread

April 7, 2025 Claire's Prayer

“𝑮𝒊𝒗𝒆 𝒖𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒅𝒂𝒚 𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒅𝒂𝒊𝒍𝒚 𝒃𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒅.” Matthew 6:11

This part of the prayer seems so simple, and really it is! But it is in the acknowledgement of our daily needs that we will realise our absolute dependance on Him. It’s a cry for provision in every area of our lives, for all our needs. It’s also a reminder from the LORD that we are not to worry about tomorrow, or next week, or next year. 𝗢𝘂𝗿 𝗱𝗮𝗶𝗹𝘆 𝗯𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗱.

My husband will often say to me “𝙳𝚘𝚗’𝚝 𝚋𝚘𝚛𝚛𝚘𝚠 𝚝𝚛𝚘𝚞𝚋𝚕𝚎,” when I’m voicing some of my worries and fears and he is absolutely right. I often do that, worrying about things that I can’t do anything about, except of course take it to the LORD in prayer. In the very same chapter of the LORD’s prayer, Jesus tells us; “𝑻𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒆 𝒅𝒐 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒘𝒐𝒓𝒓𝒚 𝒂𝒃𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒕𝒐𝒎𝒐𝒓𝒓𝒐𝒘, 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒕𝒐𝒎𝒐𝒓𝒓𝒐𝒘 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒘𝒐𝒓𝒓𝒚 𝒂𝒃𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒊𝒕𝒔𝒆𝒍𝒇. 𝑬𝒂𝒄𝒉 𝒅𝒂𝒚 𝒉𝒂𝒔 𝒆𝒏𝒐𝒖𝒈𝒉 𝒕𝒓𝒐𝒖𝒃𝒍𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝒊𝒕𝒔 𝒐𝒘𝒏.” (Matthew 6:34) And so, as we ask the Father for our 𝗱𝗮𝗶𝗹𝘆 bread it becomes a reminder to leave those troubles at His feet, not worrying about tomorrow.

Something the LORD’s prayer tells me is that God’s provision for my life is not dependent on me. He doesn’t provide for me because I’m all prayed up, have done good deeds, or have done anything at all. His provision is not contingent on me doing the right thing, because I am a sinner saved by grace! It is the righteousness of Christ that God sees, not my righteousness. He provides for me because he loves me.

Our Abba Father has an open-door policy. Whenever you want to go to Him whether for comfort, for guidance, for your daily bread, or simply for a chat, He is there waiting. There are no rituals needing to be done before He will hear or before He will give. It is all done by the blood of Jesus, our perfect Savior and Redeemer.

Today, as you pray, remember that your Abba Father is waiting for you, longs to spend time with you, and will indeed give you your daily bread, providing for everything that you have need of.

The LORD’s Prayer

April 3, 2025 Claire's Prayer

Today’s a good day for an honest truth, sometimes I find prayer difficult! There are days the words don’t seem to flow, or all the words are about me and what I think I need, or even days when I skip praying all together because of my inability to say no to people or the busyness of the day. There is never a time when the LORD is not in my thoughts and short prayers are peppered throughout my day. The prayer I’m talking about is time spent before the Father, waiting on Him, intentional, focused prayer. Can anyone else relate?

Something often forgotten is that Jesus himself taught us how to pray, He gave us an example, telling us to pray in this way. We call this The LORD’s Prayer, and I like so many others learned to recite this prayer when I was just ‘knee-high to a grasshopper!’ Or really little! You can find this way of praying in Matthew 6:9-13.

“𝑰𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒎𝒂𝒏𝒏𝒆𝒓, 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒆, 𝒑𝒓𝒂𝒚:

𝑶𝒖𝒓 𝑭𝒂𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒊𝒏 𝒉𝒆𝒂𝒗𝒆𝒏, 𝑯𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒐𝒘𝒆𝒅 𝒃𝒆 𝒀𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒏𝒂𝒎𝒆.

𝒀𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒌𝒊𝒏𝒈𝒅𝒐𝒎 𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒆. 𝒀𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒃𝒆 𝒅𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝑶𝒏 𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒕𝒉 𝒂𝒔 𝒊𝒕 𝒊𝒔 𝒊𝒏 𝒉𝒆𝒂𝒗𝒆𝒏.

𝑮𝒊𝒗𝒆 𝒖𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒅𝒂𝒚 𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒅𝒂𝒊𝒍𝒚 𝒃𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒅.

𝑨𝒏𝒅 𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒈𝒊𝒗𝒆 𝒖𝒔 𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒅𝒆𝒃𝒕𝒔, 𝑨𝒔 𝒘𝒆 𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒈𝒊𝒗𝒆 𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒅𝒆𝒃𝒕𝒐𝒓𝒔.

𝑨𝒏𝒅 𝒅𝒐 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒍𝒆𝒂𝒅 𝒖𝒔 𝒊𝒏𝒕𝒐 𝒕𝒆𝒎𝒑𝒕𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏, 𝑩𝒖𝒕 𝒅𝒆𝒍𝒊𝒗𝒆𝒓 𝒖𝒔 𝒇𝒓𝒐𝒎 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒆𝒗𝒊𝒍 𝒐𝒏𝒆.

𝑭𝒐𝒓 𝒀𝒐𝒖𝒓𝒔 𝒊𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒌𝒊𝒏𝒈𝒅𝒐𝒎 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒑𝒐𝒘𝒆𝒓 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒈𝒍𝒐𝒓𝒚 𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓. 𝑨𝒎𝒆𝒏.”

Studying this sacred prayer, this roadmap to a fulfilling and fervent prayer life has helped me in so many ways, especially on the days I find difficult. It is a prayer that is breathtaking in its beauty, resplendent in revelation, and packed with power. If you take the time to focus on the words, consider what you are saying and not merely repeat it by routine you will rediscover the precious words of Jesus that will breathe new life into your rhythm of prayer. Interesting to note that just a few verses earlier Jesus said, “𝑨𝒏𝒅 𝒘𝒉𝒆𝒏 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒑𝒓𝒂𝒚, 𝒅𝒐 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒖𝒔𝒆 𝒗𝒂𝒊𝒏 𝒓𝒆𝒑𝒆𝒕𝒊𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒔 𝒂𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒉𝒆𝒂𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒏 𝒅𝒐.” (vs 7) Mindlessly repeating the LORD’s prayer without thought will not achieve anything.

Tomorrow we’ll dive a little deeper into this prayer and see what God unfolds, but today, I invite you to take a moment and say the LORD’s Prayer with me and as we do really think about the words we are saying. Say it out loud so that it echoes through your soul – “𝑶𝒖𝒓 𝑭𝒂𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓…”

I Am Prayer

March 26, 2025 Claire's Prayer

𝗪𝗼𝗿𝗱𝘀 𝗵𝘂𝗿𝘁. Especially words spoken against you by a friend. They cut deep and can become a festering wound. When I was young, if someone was being mean we used to chant the phrase; “𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘬𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘴 𝘮𝘢𝘺 𝘣𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘬 𝘮𝘺 𝘣𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘴, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘥𝘴 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘯𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘩𝘶𝘳𝘵 𝘮𝘦!” But the fact of the matter is – that simply isn’t true. Words that are spoken have great power, the bible tells us the power of life or death! (Prov 18:21)

Powerful King David, the man after God’s own heart, wasn’t immune to the wounding of words from those he considered friends. Psalm 109:4-5 tells us this, “𝑾𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒘𝒐𝒓𝒅𝒔 𝒐𝒇 𝒉𝒂𝒕𝒓𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒚 𝒔𝒖𝒓𝒓𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒅 𝒎𝒆; 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒚 𝒂𝒕𝒕𝒂𝒄𝒌 𝒎𝒆 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒄𝒂𝒖𝒔𝒆. 𝑰𝒏 𝒓𝒆𝒕𝒖𝒓𝒏 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒎𝒚 𝒇𝒓𝒊𝒆𝒏𝒅𝒔𝒉𝒊𝒑, 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒚 𝒂𝒄𝒄𝒖𝒔𝒆 𝒎𝒆, 𝒃𝒖𝒕 𝑰 𝒂𝒎 𝒂 𝒎𝒂𝒏 𝒐𝒇 𝒑𝒓𝒂𝒚𝒆𝒓.” David felt surrounded by words of hatred, attacked for no apparent reason, accused, maligned, and criticized. Sound familiar? He was hurt and his soul was downcast. No-one would have blamed him if he had risen up and retaliated in kind. I am amazed at David’s response – “𝒃𝒖𝒕 𝑰 𝒂𝒎 𝒂 𝒎𝒂𝒏 𝒐𝒇 𝒑𝒓𝒂𝒚𝒆𝒓.”

“𝑰 𝒂𝒎 𝒂 𝒎𝒂𝒏 𝒐𝒇 𝒑𝒓𝒂𝒚𝒆𝒓!” David took it to the LORD in prayer. Even when they attack me and accuse me, I will pray. Even when they shout words of hatred at me, talk about me behind my back, I will pray. Even when they lie about me, slander my name, or smear my name, I will pray. I am a man of prayer. I for one can certainly learn something from David as so often I react immediately instead of taking the time to pray and asking the LORD what my response should be.

The Hebrew meaning behind David’s phrase, “𝑰 𝒂𝒎 𝒂 𝒎𝒂𝒏 𝒐𝒇 𝒑𝒓𝒂𝒚𝒆𝒓,” is interesting. Translated it becomes, ‘𝑰 𝒂𝒎 𝒑𝒓𝒂𝒚𝒆𝒓.” David’s whole life was characterized by prayer, it was that important to him. Charles Spurgeon puts it this way, “𝘏𝘦 𝘥𝘪𝘥 𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘦𝘭𝘴𝘦 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘱𝘳𝘢𝘺. 𝘏𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘢𝘺𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘮𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘤𝘦.” David became prayer as they became hatred, he became prayer as they became discontent.

And so, the question becomes, which do we want to be? We have to choose. We can choose to become people of prayer or people that are marked by the unkind words we say, by the gossip that we speak. In my heart of hearts, I want to be prayer but today is a good day to take stock of the things I say, to consider my actions and reactions, and to remember to take everything to God in prayer.

Giants in Prayer

March 24, 2025 Claire's Prayer

Have you ever heard of David Livingstone? As a child I loved the story of how this incredible Scottish missionary discovered Victoria Falls in Zimbabwe, he thought the falls were so beautiful that he stated, “𝘴𝘤𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘴 𝘴𝘰 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘭𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘮𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘨𝘢𝘻𝘦𝘥 𝘶𝘱𝘰𝘯 𝘣𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘭𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘧𝘭𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵”. After many years of not hearing from Livingstone a reporter was sent out to Africa to find him, upon locating him he declared the famous quote, “𝘋𝘳. 𝘓𝘪𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘐 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘶𝘮𝘦?!” As young preteens we just loved this phrase and would repeat it to each other in the best British accent we could muster and then collapse in fits of giggles! However, this is not the story that I want you to remember.

David Livingstone was sent a note by one of the chiefs in the surrounding area where he was working. The message said that they would lose their lives that very night as he was coming with his warriors to slaughter them all. As you can imagine Dr. Livingstone was very afraid and cried out to the LORD for protection. That night, nothing happened! Some months later the same chief gave his life to the LORD and Livingstone asked him why he hadn’t killed them as they had said they would. The chief looked at him and told him, “𝘞𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘮𝘦, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘸𝘦 𝘥𝘪𝘥, 𝘸𝘦 𝘴𝘢𝘸 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘥 𝘣𝘺 39 𝘨𝘪𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘴, 𝘮𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘺 𝘸𝘢𝘳𝘳𝘪𝘰𝘳𝘴, 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘵𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘮𝘱!”

Many years later, David Livingstone returned to Scotland, to the small rural church that had sent him to Africa, and he told them the story. After the meeting the church secretary approached him and asked, “𝘋𝘰 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘳𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘮𝘣𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘦𝘧 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘬𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘺𝘰𝘶?” Livingstone did and gave it to her. Looking through the church records she came to that very day and showed him the entry. 𝗢𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗱𝗮𝘆 𝟯𝟵 𝗰𝗵𝘂𝗿𝗰𝗵 𝗺𝗲𝗺𝗯𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝘄𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗰𝗵𝘂𝗿𝗰𝗵 𝗽𝗿𝗮𝘆𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗗𝗮𝘃𝗶𝗱 𝗟𝗶𝘃𝗶𝗻𝗴𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗻𝗲! Coincidence? I think not.

Sometimes we don’t realize what the scripture, “𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝒆𝒇𝒇𝒆𝒄𝒕𝒊𝒗𝒆, 𝒇𝒆𝒓𝒗𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝒑𝒓𝒂𝒚𝒆𝒓 𝒐𝒇 𝒂 𝒓𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕𝒆𝒐𝒖𝒔 𝒎𝒂𝒏 𝒂𝒗𝒂𝒊𝒍𝒔 𝒎𝒖𝒄𝒉,” really means! (James 5:16) What is the much? I would think much more than we could ever even begin to imagine. I do know that our prayers don’t have to be fancy ones, they don’t have to be long ones, or even ones with flowery words, but they have to be effective and fervent. Led by the Holy Spirit.

The far-reaching effects of our prayers we may never fully know, but we do know that great things are achieved by prayer, there is power in our prayer, and God hears and acts on every effective, fervent prayer!

Peace That Surpasses Understanding

October 23, 2024 Claire's Prayer

Fall. One of the most stunning times of the year. The trees are awash in gold, red, orange, and yellow. A time that brings back to my remembrance the scripture from Isaiah 55:12; “𝒀𝒐𝒖 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒈𝒐 𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒊𝒏 𝒋𝒐𝒚 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒃𝒆 𝒍𝒆𝒅 𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒕𝒉 𝒊𝒏 𝒑𝒆𝒂𝒄𝒆; 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒎𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒕𝒂𝒊𝒏𝒔 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒉𝒊𝒍𝒍𝒔 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒃𝒖𝒓𝒔𝒕 𝒊𝒏𝒕𝒐 𝒔𝒐𝒏𝒈 𝒃𝒆𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒆 𝒚𝒐𝒖, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒕𝒓𝒆𝒆𝒔 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒇𝒊𝒆𝒍𝒅 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒄𝒍𝒂𝒑 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒊𝒓 𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒅𝒔.” Almost as though the trees are rejoicing, their glory bringing glory to Almighty God!

With all the beauty that ushers us into a new season I am reminded too that this time can be so hard for many. A season where there is little joy and no peace. As the days get shorter peace can be elusive. And yet, doesn’t God’s Word tell us that we can have peace? “𝑩𝒆 𝒂𝒏𝒙𝒊𝒐𝒖𝒔 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒏𝒐𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈, 𝒃𝒖𝒕 𝒊𝒏 𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒚𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒃𝒚 𝒑𝒓𝒂𝒚𝒆𝒓 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒔𝒖𝒑𝒑𝒍𝒊𝒄𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏, 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒌𝒔𝒈𝒊𝒗𝒊𝒏𝒈, 𝒍𝒆𝒕 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒓𝒆𝒒𝒖𝒆𝒔𝒕𝒔 𝒃𝒆 𝒎𝒂𝒅𝒆 𝒌𝒏𝒐𝒘𝒏 𝒕𝒐 𝑮𝒐𝒅; 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒑𝒆𝒂𝒄𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝑮𝒐𝒅, 𝒘𝒉𝒊𝒄𝒉 𝒔𝒖𝒓𝒑𝒂𝒔𝒔𝒆𝒔 𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒖𝒏𝒅𝒆𝒓𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒏𝒅𝒊𝒏𝒈, 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒈𝒖𝒂𝒓𝒅 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒉𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒕𝒔 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒎𝒊𝒏𝒅𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒓𝒐𝒖𝒈𝒉 𝑪𝒉𝒓𝒊𝒔𝒕 𝑱𝒆𝒔𝒖𝒔.” (Phil 4:6-7) We all know this scripture, in fact Amazon released data stating this is the most highlighted passage of scripture in the Kindle Bible!

I don’t need to point out the obvious, that we need to pray about everything, raising our voices in thanksgiving to the God of the Universe, to the One who deserves all our thanks, I know you know that. But there is something in this scripture that speaks loudly to me. “𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝒑𝒆𝒂𝒄𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝑮𝒐𝒅 𝒘𝒉𝒊𝒄𝒉 𝒔𝒖𝒓𝒑𝒂𝒔𝒔𝒆𝒔 𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒖𝒏𝒅𝒆𝒓𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒏𝒅𝒊𝒏𝒈.” As we pray and seek the LORD with thanksgiving, 𝘄𝗲 𝗺𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝗿𝗲𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗾𝘂𝗶𝘀𝗵 𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗿𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁 𝘁𝗼 𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗿𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗻𝗱, releasing our questions to Him and giving up our need to understand it all, acknowledging that we don’t need to understand, just trust. Then peace will rise above and surpass our need to understand and guard our hearts and minds! Herein lies the secret to peace during this busy season, 𝗽𝗿𝗮𝘆𝗶𝗻𝗴, 𝘀𝗲𝗲𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗚𝗼𝗱, 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗸𝘀𝗴𝗶𝘃𝗶𝗻𝗴, 𝗴𝗶𝘃𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘂𝗽 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗿𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁 𝘁𝗼 𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗿𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗻𝗱.

My prayer for you as we dive into this holiday season is that you would be able to trust, find God’s peace, and with that peace would come joy, overwhelming thanksgiving, that you would be like the trees of the field clapping their hands in praise to our Beautiful Savior, Jesus Christ!

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