Bending Angel

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Prayer for Margins on Each Page of Our Lives – May 5, 2019

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Lord – How many of us are so busy we find ourselves fretting over not having had enough time to do what the soul asks of us? Where is the time to pray? To go to church? To sit uninterrupted to read a book? To take a walk in the woods? To write a note to someone who is ill? To send a thank you card to show appreciation for an act of kindness or sympathy given for the loss of a loved one? Or be still long enough to make sense of a problem and find calm wisdom?

God – The book of our lives are the days we have to love and serve You. There must be enough margin or room on each of those pages for us to live the full, purposeful, and joyful life You gifted us.

Lord, please grant each of us the ability to do as religious columnist, Rick Brown, recently wrote, to make room for some margin in our lives. If we do not leave enough margin on the pages we write, reading becomes difficult. Without margin on the pages of our lives, life becomes hard to live and love difficult to receive and give. The days are full, but we are left empty.

Lord, I thank You for my brother in Christ and outstanding family lawyer, Michael Craig. Without Michael, I would not have read Rick Brown’s column, heard about Dr. Richard Swenson’s book, Margin, or written this prayer.

Lord, in granting this prayer, may I and all Your children find a way to slow down, to be less anxious, and to rest our bodies each day. Then, in the margins, may we listen to You and learn how You want us to spend our days in the book of our lives. Amen

If you like this prayer, please share.

If you want to purchase for yourself or a friend a copy of Bending Angels: Living Messengers of God’s Love or Prayerful Passages: Asking God’s Help in Reconciliation, Separation or Divorce, please click on here to go to Amazon.

Jack H. Emmott is a Senior Counsel of Gray, Reed & McGraw, LLP, a 120-lawyer full service firm in Houston, Texas, a Board-Certified Family Law and Master Credentialed Collaborative Law Professional Divorce Attorney, Mediator, Author, Entrepreneur and Inspirational Speaker. For more information about Jack or his latest book, Bending Angels: Living Messengers of God’s Love, go to the Bending Angel website.

Prayer for the Self Conscious – April 28, 2019

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Lord – At birth You poured into our bodies perfect spirits of Your creation. You have loved us as we are without condition. Yet, I and Your children are often self-conscious.

We dwell on whether we are too short, too tall, too thin, or too heavy. If only we did not have freckles. If only we were blonds and not redheads. If only our hair was curly and not straight. In high school how many of us feared ridicule or teasing over our pimples? Fever blisters? The number of our preoccupations over our looks seem limitless.

What we most want is to be accepted by others. What we fear most is rejection by others if they see who we truly are. The real us.

Lord, in prayer please help each of us to love ourselves as You love us. If You accept us unconditionally, why can’t we accept our God given and unique physical differences or even wounds caused by injury or disease?

Lord, if we can accept the differences in ourselves, I pray that we may be more able to accept the differences of others.

Lord, when we see with our eyes the multitude of others who look different than ourselves, those differences pale in contrast to what we have in common. We all share the same Father in You. We are all brothers and sisters in Christ. When we make our journeys home, we cannot take our bodies with us. Just our perfect spirits to be loved unconditionally forever by You. Amen

If you like this prayer, please share.

If you want to purchase for yourself or a friend a copy of Bending Angels: Living Messengers of God’s Love or Prayerful Passages: Asking God’s Help in Reconciliation, Separation or Divorce, please click on here to go to Amazon.

Jack H. Emmott is a Senior Counsel of Gray, Reed & McGraw, LLP, a 120-lawyer full service firm in Houston, Texas, a Board-Certified Family Law and Master Credentialed Collaborative Law Professional Divorce Attorney, Mediator, Author, Entrepreneur and Inspirational Speaker. For more information about Jack or his latest book, Bending Angels: Living Messengers of God’s Love, go to the Bending Angel website.

Prayer to Bear Our Crosses – April 21, 2019

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Lord – Today, we celebrate the birth, death, and resurrection of Your Son, our Savior, who bore the Cross for us and for our salvation.

Religious scholars and historians may debate whether Christ could or could not have avoided being crucified on the Cross. Yet, unquestionably, Jesus, the human child of You, God, submitted to the Cross. Your love for Him and His love for us was Christ’s Cross to bear.

How many of us have our own crosses to bear?  

We suffer, hurt, and pray daily for those who struggle with mental illness, disease, drug or alcohol addiction, and uncontrolled anger.

We lose sleep and anguish over children, grandchildren, and friends who are in the darkness of depression. What can we do to make a real difference?  To shed Your light on them?  It is so hard to stand at the foot of their crosses and helplessly witness the suffering they bear.

In our imperfections and sin we say or do things which hurt others. Afterwards, we must ask You and those we have offended for forgiveness. In our walks of faith, we must not refrain from crawling up on the cross. We must humbly display our weaknesses and our human fallibility to be seen by others.

Some of us have troubled marriages. We must bear great pain and hardship in acceptance of what we need to do to save the marriage and honor the vows we made before You at the altar on wedding day.

Lord, on this Easter Day and every day thereafter, we must acknowledge that love is our cross to bear.

Lord, please strengthen us in the knowledge that, in Your Son’s example in bearing the Cross for us, we can face with hope and prayer the crosses we must bear in our own earthly lives. Christ gave His life for us. May we respond by giving our lives to Him by bearing the crosses of love. Amen

If you like this prayer, please share.

If you want to purchase for yourself or a friend a copy of Bending Angels: Living Messengers of God’s Love or Prayerful Passages: Asking God’s Help in Reconciliation, Separation or Divorce, please click on here to go to Amazon.

Jack H. Emmott is a Senior Counsel of Gray, Reed & McGraw, LLP, a 120-lawyer full service firm in Houston, Texas, a Board-Certified Family Law and Master Credentialed Collaborative Law Professional Divorce Attorney, Mediator, Author, Entrepreneur and Inspirational Speaker.  For more information about Jack or his latest book, Bending Angels: Living Messengers of God’s Love, go to the Bending Angel website.

Prayer to Be Prepared for the Unexpected – April 14, 2019

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Lord – Last Friday my family celebrated the life of Carolyn Swartwout Tynan. She was the last of four remarkable siblings. She was my Mother’s sister.

Often Aunt Carolyn spoke about the time she spent in the Rio Grande Valley at her Uncle Bob’s house and in his large citrus orchard next to the Colorado Arroyo.

To her, at age five, sailing on the Colorado Arroyo with her older brother, Les, at the helm and with her sisters, Lucile and Margaret on board was magical. A prelude and in contrast to what the future held in store for her. For a few months, time was timeless. Her hopes unbounded. Happiness was surely to be discovered just around the next river bend of life.

A short time later on September 2 the Cuba-Brownsville Hurricane of 1933 took an unexpected turn to the west and stuck the orchard with 140 mile per hour winds causing devastation and loss of life in the Valley.

Aunt Carolyn soon faced many unexpected turns in her life too. Her mother dying in 1942 when Carolyn was just 14 years old. A dad absent and ill with TB. The Great Depression. A failed marriage. The death of her devoted second husband, Allen Brown, due to leukemia. The untimely death of her third husband, Bob Tynan, due to a weakened heart and a stepson, Steve, from a seizure.

Aunt Carolyn faced all these unexpected turns with dignity, grace, and faith in You, Lord.

As I looked at the urn which held her ashes on the table in front of Your altar, I did not see the dear aged and ill Aunt who recently received Last Rites from Father David Price. Rather, I saw Your child with her siblings pictured here in Easter white in front of their Uncle Bob’s orchard long ago.

God, I know that on Palm Sunday those who witnessed the celebration of Your Son riding in the streets of Jerusalem did not foresee or expect what would follow on Calvary.

Lord, please help all of us to be prepared for the unexpected turns in our own lives. To have unfailing faith in You as my Aunt Carolyn did. That when all that’s left of us are our ashes that our spirits find their way back to You.

I know Aunt Carolyn’s spirit has sailed into Your arms. She has surely discovered the treasure which all Your faithful people find at the end of their earthy lives–Your Eternal love and the Light of Your Son, our Savior, the Risen Christ. Amen

If you want to purchase for yourself or a friend a copy of Bending Angels: Living Messengers of God’s Love or Prayerful Passages: Asking God’s Help in Reconciliation, Separation or Divorce, please click on here to go to Amazon.

If you like this prayer, please share.

Jack H. Emmott is a Senior Counsel of Gray, Reed & McGraw, LLP, a 120-lawyer full service firm in Houston, Texas, a Board-Certified Family Law and Master Credentialed Collaborative Law Professional Divorce Attorney, Mediator, Author, Entrepreneur and Inspirational Speaker. For more information about Jack or his latest book, Bending Angels: Living Messengers of God’s Love, go to the Bending Angel website.

Prayer to Find Beauty in the Ashes – April 7, 2019.

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Deanne Mistretta

Lord, when I was 9 years old, I met Deanne Mistretta, my cousin, age 14, who lived in California. As I looked at Deanne with her long blond hair, green eyes, tanned skin and wearing a white summer dress and sandals, I thought I had seen the most beautiful girl You ever created on Earth.

No words could adequately express what the beauty You created in Deanne did for me as I struggled with the ashes of polio and the ugliness of surgery, scars, casts, deformities, braces, bedpans, and urinals.

Years later at Methodist Hospital I woke up from surgery to have lengthened a steel rod in my back. My pain was diminished and my spirits were uplifted upon seeing the poster my Mother placed on the wall above my bed. It was of Deanne who had just been selected Miss Santa Barbara.

God, please help all Your children find the beauty which always dwells in the ashes of life and the living of it. That beauty is just as present as You are in the lives we live.

May we see beauty as a gift You give us as part of Your grace. Beauty in a young girl or a handsome boy. In witnessing a simple act of kindness. A warm embrace. The blooming of a rose. The Bluebonnets and Indian Paintbrushes along country roads. The rays of the morning sun. The beams of a full moon.

In our own ashes at the end of our days on Earth, may we have faith that we will find the beauty of Your eternal love and the radiant light of Your Son, the Risen Christ. Amen

If you want to purchase for yourself or a friend a copy of Bending Angels: Living Messengers of God’s Love or Prayerful Passages: Asking God’s Help in Reconciliation, Separation or Divorce, please click on here to go to Amazon.

If you like this prayer, please share.

Jack H. Emmott is a Senior Counsel of Gray, Reed & McGraw, LLP, a 120-lawyer full service firm in Houston, Texas, a Board-Certified Family Law and Master Credentialed Collaborative Law Professional Divorce Attorney, Mediator, Author, Entrepreneur and Inspirational Speaker. For more information about Jack or his latest book, Bending Angels: Living Messengers of God’s Love, go www.BendingAngel.com.

Prayer to See God’s Face – April 1, 2019

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God – Today is my Mother’s birthday. In Heaven she has been in Your arms for nine years. But, I can still remember being held in hers. Hearing her angelic voice singing hymns in church with me. Listening to her heart beat as she warmed me in her rocking chair. Savoring the smells of the food she cooked for me in her kitchen. Kneeling with me at bedtime to say The Lord’s Prayer. Healing with her love the wounds from polio which medicine could never mend.

My Mother’s love and care were my very first glimpse of You, my Father.

May all Your children see Your Face as I did as my Mother’s child.

Your Face is always near and to be seen. May we open our hearts to others and see the spirit You ensouled them and Your light which shines on us every day on Earth and in Heaven. Amen

If you want to purchase for yourself or a friend a copy of Bending Angels: Living Messengers of God’s Love or Prayerful Passages: Asking God’s Help in Reconciliation, Separation or Divorce, please click on here to go to Amazon.

If you like this prayer, please share.

Jack H. Emmott is a Senior Counsel of Gray, Reed & McGraw, LLP, a 120-lawyer full service firm in Houston, Texas, a Board-Certified Family Law and Master Credentialed Collaborative Law Professional Divorce Attorney, Mediator, Author, Entrepreneur and Inspirational Speaker. For more information about Jack or his latest book, Bending Angels: Living Messengers of God’s Love, go to the Bending Angel website.

Prayer to Live Simply and Love Deeply – March 23, 2019

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Almighty Father, I am struggling with the complexities of daily living and earning a living. I am called by You to serve others in need. Yet, I must do so and still find time to pray, to worship You and make sure my own needs of rest and good mental health are met. I have so many possessions and electronic devices that call out to me for attention. I find myself spending less and less time with those I love and those who love me.

Lord, in daily prayer, please help me to live simply and love deeply each day: to take time to pray; to say ‘I love you’; to hug those in need of warm embrace; to hold hands. Help me, Heavenly Father, to do such mindful, generous, and uncomplicated actions every day in my walk of faith to You. Amen

If you want to purchase for yourself or a friend a copy of Bending Angels: Living Messengers of God’s Love or Prayerful Passages: Asking God’s Help in Reconciliation, Separation or Divorce, please click on here to go to Amazon.

If you like this prayer, please share.

Jack H. Emmott is a Senior Counsel of Gray, Reed & McGraw, LLP, a 120-lawyer full service firm in Houston, Texas, a Board-Certified Family Law and Master Credentialed Collaborative Law Professional Divorce Attorney, Mediator, Author, Entrepreneur and Inspirational Speaker. For more information about Jack or his latest book, Bending Angels: Living Messengers of God’s Love, go to the Bending Angel website.

Prayer to Get into Heaven – March 17, 2019

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Lord – This week I was disheartened to learn that over 600 parents used money to buy admission for their children to universities in America. The scope of the unlawful practices and the amounts of money involved are staggering. The persons who paid the money and those who benefitted from the graft are among America’s wealthiest, most popular, and privileged citizens.

Lord, although money from the college admission scandal opened the doors to certain colleges in America for students, can money, influence, popularity or status buy Your children’s admission into Your Heavenly Kingdom? Will there be a Brinks truck waiting for each of us when we end our earthly lives and begin new and eternal lives with You?

Lord, I pray that You help each of us every day get prepared to pass Your test to get into Heaven when our hearts stop beating. In Scripture You have told us what we need to do to pass the test. It will not be the possessions we own, the wealth we have accumulated, the value or address of our homes, the country clubs in which we are members, the fancy cars we drive or the status we hold in our communities.

Lord, please remind all Your children that to pass the ultimate test at the end of our lives we all must do one thing—love and serve You and others in need with our whole hearts.

In being admitted into Heaven we shall learn a lesson not experienced at any college on Earth. We shall learn firsthand what it means to be loved by You forever. Amen

If you like this prayer, please share.

Jack H. Emmott is a Senior Counsel of Gray, Reed & McGraw, LLP, a 120-lawyer full service firm in Houston, Texas, a Board-Certified Family Law and Master Credentialed Collaborative Law Professional Divorce Attorney, Mediator, Author, Entrepreneur and Inspirational Speaker. For more information about Jack or his latest book, Bending Angels: Living Messengers of God’s Love, go to the Bending Angel website.

Prayer to Open Our Hearts to Hope – March 10, 2019

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Lord – The life You have gifted us is tough. There are so many seemingly insurmountable challenges we face. Family members in poor health. Friends suffering with addiction. Devastating tornadoes. Cancer and other diseases taking or threatening to take from us those we love. Children You have brought into the world not getting the nourishment they need to survive. Losing people we love just to name a few.

It is easy to understand how we can get discouraged. How we can be so burdened by the gravity of depression that the Light and Spirit You ensouled us with at birth cannot escape, be seen or shared with others.
But, You, our Lord, are all about turning bad into good. Transforming even death into eternal life in the birth, death, and resurrection of Your Son, Jesus.

Lord, please open our hearts to hope. To not be discouraged. For a life without hope is not what You have planned for us on Earth or in Heaven.
Lord, I pray that You help all Your children to open their hearts to holy hope. That they each come to know what I have learned in facing paralysis, deformity, and polio. That with You and with prayer what first seemed like the end of my life was just when it truly began. Amen

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Jack H. Emmott is a Senior Counsel of Gray, Reed & McGraw, LLP, a 120-lawyer full service firm in Houston, Texas, a Board-Certified Family Law and Master Credentialed Collaborative Law Professional Divorce Attorney, Mediator, Author, Entrepreneur and Inspirational Speaker. For more information about Jack or his latest book, Bending Angels: Living Messengers of God’s Love, go to the Bending Angel website.

Prayer in Thanksgiving for the Promise of Spring – March 3, 2019

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Dear God – As I make plans to enjoy Spring Break with my family and to replenish the energy I have expended in serving others, my spirits are buoyed by the blossoming of the Earth.  Recently, we have had dark, wet, and dreary cold days. Yet, the promise of new life is evident in the magnificent blossoms around me.

Each year at this time, amidst the beauty of Nature You have gifted me, my thoughts are always centered on newly born children and the loved ones I have lost. On Good Friday and Easter Sunday.  On death and resurrection.  Between ashes in the earth and hope and life eternal.

I give thanks to You for the promise of Spring–for in the cascading of bridal veil, in the glory of the blossoming red buds, azaleas, mountain laurel, gardenias, daffodils, and the Katy Road rose along Tres Palacios Bay.  In the sweet smell of wisteria blooms, I am reminded that life goes on.

Although every human life ends, there is a spring, a holy well.  A resting place in which I too and all your children will one-day flower forever in the Glory of Your eternal love.  Amen

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Jack H. Emmott is a Senior Counsel of Gray, Reed & McGraw, LLP, a 120-lawyer full service firm in Houston, Texas, a Board-Certified Family Law and Master Credentialed Collaborative Law Professional Divorce Attorney, Mediator, Author, Entrepreneur and Inspirational Speaker.  For more information about Jack or his latest book, Bending Angels: Living Messengers of God’s Love, go to the Bending Angel website.