Bending Angel

Prayer to Exit Spiritual Darkness and Domestic Violence – October 20, 2019

October 21, 2019 by Jack Emmott Leave a Comment

**Click on the photo to go to the complete story on ESPN**

Prayer to Exit Spiritual Darkness and Domestic Violence – October 20, 2019

Lord – As a family law attorney I witness firsthand the profound and everlasting effects of domestic violence.

Domestic violence is not confined to the wives of a few high profile professional athletes. It exists across all social-economic groups, all races, and from the least to the most educated couples in America. Men can be abused by their wives as well.

In many ways one who has not personally experienced physical and verbal abuse cannot understand why the abused do not leave the abuser. But, I have learned that those caught in the most abusive relationships have the most difficulty separating from it.

Victims find themselves in a kind of spiritual darkness without hope and with hearts that are unable to distinguish between love and hate: where stepping out of the cycle of violence appears much worse that staying in it. A place contrary to reason and common sense, where the more violent the relationship is, the harder it is to leave.

Sadly, children who have witnessed the abuse within their parent’s marriages often unwittingly seek out and marry spouses who recreate the violence in their own married relationships.

Lord, in prayer please help the abused to step out of spiritual darkness and into your healing light and everlasting love.

Lord, in prayer please help the abusers to find the strength to control their anger and allow Your will of peace and compassion to replace their will to do more violence and harm.

Lord, in prayer please help the children caught in the underbrush of violence to break the cycle of violence in their own marriages by not coupling with spouses who do not possess kind and loving hearts.

Last, Lord, may You please bless Sabrina Greenlee and her son, DeAndre Hopkins with the Houston Texans, and their amazing work on and off the field to help others exit spiritual darkness and domestic violence as described in ESPN Cover Story, “The Unbreakable Bond” by Mina Kimes.

Sabrina was blinded by a bucket of bleach mixed with lye. But, Sabrina after many of years of struggle, still saw the way to find You and lead others to victory over abuse and to Holy peace. Amen

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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 145-lawyer full service firm in Houston, Dallas, and Waco, 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 Parents to Break Bread with Their Children – October 13, 2019

October 13, 2019 by Jack Emmott Leave a Comment

Lord, when my son, John, attended St Francis Episcopal Day School, he invited a middle school classmate to spend the night in our home. His friend was a fine young and respectful boy. By all accounts he had everything he needed. He lived in a million dollar home in Memorial. He had very successful professional parents who were involved at his school, in their church and in his extracurricular activities.

John had told us that his friend had a nanny and the best clothes, the best toys and the best video games.

As was customary, at 6 o’clock in the evening, everyone was summoned to the dinner table. Our family, including John’s friend, stopped what they were doing and gathered round the table. There was no need to “dress for dinner”. Everyone came to the table as they were. Everyone took their places. We bowed our heads. We held hands. We asked God to bless our food and those who prepared it. We thanked God for the fruits of our labors and for the circle of family, friendship and love sitting around the table.

Years later, I no longer remember what was said or the number of times we laughed. But, I will never forget what happened next. At the end of the meal, my son’s middle school guest raised his head with a look of longing and an aching heart and said, “I wish my mom and dad would come home from work and have dinner with me each day. I wish we could do this in my home.”

That’s when I realized that this young man had every material thing he could wish for except for the spiritual and loving thing he needed–a time each day to sit and enjoy a meal with his parents, to hold their hands and pray. To just enjoy being together.

God, please help parents to make time daily to break bread with their children.

May every child and parent make lasting and cherished memories of love and connectedness at the table together. Times in prayer and in sharing a meal when You are present with them. When they are present with You. And they are present with each other to the nourishment of their bodies, their souls, and one another. Amen

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Prayer to Separate Us from Our Stuff – October 6, 2019

October 5, 2019 by Jack Emmott Leave a Comment

God – This week Dorothy and I are making room in our home for a dear family member who needs to live with us for a while. We have had to focus on decluttering, giving away, and pitching items we have acquired and which take up space in our rooms, closets and drawers.

The sheer magnitude of this task and the size of the piles of stuff we have to deal with is overwhelming. Thankfully, it is at the time in our lives when we truly want simplicity. To find joy and the sacred in the simple and in the ordinary. Not yielding to the belief in advertising that long-lasting happiness is found in getting the latest gadget, the newest iPhone, the newest car, an expensive piece of furniture or high priced fashion.

We discover items we bought years ago, but never used. Items saved for later use, but never needed. Moneys spent on possessions which could’ve been better spent on others in need. Hours spent at the office to pay for possessions, time we could have used looking at more sunsets and rising moons, walking through the Houston Arboretum and Emmott Circle, or taking family trips, going to concerts, and being with others we love, just to name a few.

Lord, like millions of others, we love our stuff. But, except for the joy at time of purchase, things are not what make us happy. We find happiness in our experiences. We find value not in what we own but in who we share our lives with – our families and friends.

God, please help separate us from our stuff so we can be closer to others and nearer to You.

For those of us with too much stuff, please help us give it to others who have so much less.

With serving and working for our stuff less, we can spend more time in our service to You.

God, please help us refrain from buying things we do not really need. To clear the clutter from our lives and in our homes.

In doing so we make room for others in our hearts, for You and for Your love and light which bring us everlasting joy. 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 Thanks for Forever – September 29, 2019

September 30, 2019 by Jack Emmott Leave a Comment

Casey O’Brien
Photo by Minnesota Gophers Athletics

Lord, last Saturday on ESPN College Game Day I was moved beyond words on a segment devoted to Casey O’Brien, the University of Minnesota’s Football Team third string placeholder.

Against all odds, Casey has been cancer free for 15 months. As Casey kept his childhood dream alive to play football, over the last six years he has experienced cancer four times, survived 17 operations, 500 stitches, cancer in his knee and lung, loss of hair and chemotherapy to cure his cancer.

In visiting pediatric cancer victims in the hospital Casey has given hope to children and their parents of continued life. Casey said that, in his work with the kids who’ve lived and died, he learned that “Tomorrow is not promised.”

God, please bless all your children who suffer cancer. Those who care for them. Those who’ve lost loved ones to this deadly disease.

God, let us rejoice that, even though “Tomorrow is not promised”, thanks to You, Forever is. Amen
Click here to see the ESPN segment on Casey O’Brien.

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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 for Barbara Runge and Rusty Howard – September 15, 2019

September 16, 2019 by Jack Emmott Leave a Comment

Lord – This morning I learned that Rusty died after a courageous battle against cancer.

Barbara and Rusty were and are much more than a remarkable married couple. They are an inspiration to others in what can be overcome with devotion to each other and to You.

Throughout the years Rusty faced stem cell transplants, blood transfusions, traditional and experimental treatments to kill this deadly disease; Barbara showed Rusty that nothing was more important to her than him and her love for him.

The faith in You that anchored Barbara and Rusty in Holy hope provided Rusty the strength to stay strong and to reflect Your peace to others in an unbelievable and inconceivable way.

Rusty was an extraordinary land man. No doubt his greatest discovery was Barbara. His richest find was the love deposited in the deep well of Barbara’s heart for him.

Lord, today let us pray for Rusty that Your angels guide him Home to You in Heaven.

Lord, let us pray that Your angels wrap their wings of light and love around Barbara’s grief.

Lord, we thank You for the love given by Barbara to Rusty before and after contracting cancer.

For when there was less and less of Rusty’s health, there was more and more of Barbara and her love and care of him.

Rusty may have lost the war against cancer. But, thanks to You, Rusty won the ultimate victory of everlasting life in You due to Your sacrifice in the death and resurrection of Your precious Son, Jesus Christ. Amen

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

May 6, 2019 by Jack Emmott Leave a Comment

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 to Be Prepared for the Unexpected – April 14, 2019

April 15, 2019 by Jack Emmott 1 Comment

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 in Thanks for Margaret’s Smile – January 27, 2019

January 28, 2019 by Jack Emmott 1 Comment

Lord – When I was only four, my mother took me to the Airola’s home to give them homemade chocolate chip cookies. Mother warned me that inside the door was their daughter, Margaret, who was laying inside an Iron Lung. Mom said, “It is a big yellow machine. Do not be afraid.” We stepped in the front door. I stood silently beside Margaret who was dependent on the lung to breathe due to polio.

Amidst the horror and bewilderment of the moment what I remembered then and now was the radiant smile on Margaret’s sweet face.

I could never have comprehended that I would later catch polio like her or be in the Iron Lung for a time each day for 5 years.

Little sweet Margaret, the home in which she lived, the Airola dairy, and the Iron Lung which cradled her in its arms, are no longer in the physical. But, beyond the physical, what remains is Margaret’s radiant and everlasting smile.

God, thanks for Margaret’s smile. That was Your gift to me. For in that gift You let me know there are no limits on what Your children can do or face armed with a smile and the power of Your love. Amen

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Prayer in Thanksgiving for Music – October 14, 2018

October 14, 2018 by Jack Emmott 1 Comment

The Minutemen. Photo by Legendary Drummer
Buzzy Gruen.

God – I met You first in my mother’s warm embrace and in her song.

As a young boy I sat next to Mom in the church pew on Sunday mornings.

Adorned in a hat, a veil over her lovely face and white gloves on her hands which held the hymnal, I listened to her sing like an angel.

After polio, my infirm body felt firmly part of God’s family as I sang in the Cherub Choir. I had felt so different and alone. Yet, as I precariously stood beside the other choir members, I knew God loved me. I was part of something far greater and more powerful than polio could ever be.

In the awkward years in high school of wanting to fit in while feeling out and of having pimples and scoliosis that made me feel like a leper, I played the keyboard in a local band, The Minutemen.

In our tri-cornered hats and in black attire as I played beside Bob Vaden, Mike McGauhey, and Steve Glover on their Fender electric guitars and Buzzy Gruen on his Ludwig drums, I received and re-experienced the joy of being in church with my mother, and in the Cherub Choir.

God, today and every day may we thank You for the gift to us of music, of voice, and of song.

In the melody and rhythm of song, of string, and wind may we hear the voices of angels.

May we hear the beat of Your ever present heart.

May we feel the pulse of Your never-ending love for us.

May the joyful noise we make together in Your Name rise above the deafening sounds of ordinary days.

May we follow the voices of Your angels who lead us nearer and nearer to You. Amen

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Prayer to Let Go of Outcomes – September 30, 2018

September 30, 2018 by Jack Emmott 1 Comment

God – In our prayers to You we ask for what we need or want from You. We ask You for the outcomes we want. We do so without considering the outcomes You want for us.

After polio and during my rehabilitation from paralysis, in daily prayer I asked You, my Lord, to cure me, to grant me the miracle I wanted.

As I petitioned You to be cured, I also asked You to strengthen my trust in You to accept the outcome You wanted for me.

In the end, because of Your love and plans for me, I was healed instead of cured.

I have come to believe that You thought that I could be a better servant to others and You while I was seated in a chair with four wheels and not standing on two strong legs. The plans the polio virus intended for me were uprooted by Your Divine Will for me.

Lord, as we all pray for the outcomes we want, please help us let go of the ultimate outcomes. Rather, let us trust that Your Will for us will be done on Earth and in Heaven.

Lord, let Thy will for each of us be done, now and forever. Amen

This prayer was inspired by today’s sermon by Stuart Bates, Rector, St. Francis Episcopal Church, Houston. Stuart, thanks to you for your inspiration and that of all ministers of all denominations to focus our hearts on what great plans the Father has for all His children.

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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.