Bending Angel

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Google+
  • Home
  • About
    • About Jack H. Emmott
    • About Bending Angel Publications
    • About Emmottville
  • BookShop
    • Schorre Christmas Cards
    • Bending Angels
    • Prayerful Passages
    • Prayerful Passages Companion Guide Book
    • Note Cards
  • In The News
  • Weekly Prayer
  • Contact

Prayer, the Escape Ladder on the Wall of Worry – July 18, 2021

July 18, 2021 by Jack Emmott Leave a Comment

Photo credit: soundofheart.org

I believe in a perfect, always listening and ever-present God.  Yet, God created us as His perfectly imperfect children.  One of my imperfections and probably yours too is worry.

What good does worry accomplish for me?  For you?  What are the benefits of worrying?

The most annoying aspect of worry is that it happens at the most inappropriate and inconvenient times.  Like when I am trying to enjoy family time, or watching a movie or when I should be enjoying the moment. When I should be fully present in the now; but I am hijacked to a far off location.  A place where my mind thinks way too much but nothing is ever accomplished. The rocking chair rocks faster and faster but goes nowhere.

Even worse is when that worry begins at night.  I just lie in bed.  Then, a little worry begins and it grows and grows until I am consumed by it.  Sleep is no longer possible.  The frustrating thing about worry is that in the middle of the night I am completely unable to do anything about what bothers me.  I am robbed of sleep.  That allows worry to take greater hold of me the next time.

Attorneys like me have a common suffering.  It is the night before a trial. Even if one is fully prepared, as sleep should begin the questions pop up. “Am I really ready?  What will the judge think of my advocacy?  Will the jury care about me, my client or the case?  Will my client appreciate how I try the case?  Even though I am a collaborative divorce attorney I worry about those I serve and what personal struggles there are navigating.  The crescendo of anxiety causes me to climb an insurmountable wall of worry. Boy do I need an escape ladder to get me safely down from that wall.

That escape ladder for me is prayer.  Relief from prayer is free and immediate.  We may not be able to do something about what we are obsessing on at the time.  But God is always listening and God can handle what we cannot.  In the light of day.  In the darkness at 2:00 am.  That escape ladder is not acquired on QVC.  It is our lifeline given to us from God.  That is why I pray to God every time every day when worry gets the best of me.  Prayer is always the answer for me to find the still, quiet place to be with God and others.

What if each of us could just surrender our worries to God?  What if our first action to all our worries was to pray to God?  What if our worries were surrendered to and borne by God alone?   What would that escape ladder mean to you?  To me?  The result would be that you and I would surely receive the peace from God that passeth all understanding.

God has spoken to us in Scripture about finding God’s peace.

Philippians 4:6-7, 9

Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.  And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus…….. Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice.  And the God of peace will be with you.

Let us pray together.

Dear God, in prayer please help us to surrender to You all our worries and the anxieties which cause us distress.

God, please empower us to let go of the things we worry about and let us trust in You to bear what we cannot.

God, thanks for hearing our prayers and granting us thereby Your heavenly peace on Earth so that we can be fully present in our service to You and to our brothers and sisters in Your name, now and forever.  Amen

Filed Under: Weekly Prayers Tagged With: Bending Angels, Jack Emmott, prayer, the Escape Ladder on the Wall of Worry - July 18

Prayer for Room in the Manger in My Heart – December 24, 2018 – by Jack Emmott

December 23, 2018 by Jack Emmott Leave a Comment

Birth of Christ with Angels, Pedro Berruguete, Italian 15th century

Heavenly Father – As I pray in Advent darkness please help me make room in the manger of my heart for the light of Christ to soon dwell. I have brothers and sisters in Christ who have little or no food to eat or water to drink or a stable for comfort or shelter. Out of the fruit of my labors may I generously give in Your Holy Name my time and money to Your less fortunate children who have so much more of so much less. As Mary borne baby Jesus, the King of Kings, please make room in the manger of my heart for me to carry the love and light of Your blessed Son to others so in need of Holy hope, healing and sustenance. 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.

Filed Under: Weekly Prayers Tagged With: Bending Angel, healing sustenance, holy hope, Jack Emmott, manger of my heart, prayer

Prayer for Civility – October 21, 2018

October 21, 2018 by Jack Emmott Leave a Comment


God – The angelic Mother You sent me had many words of wisdom to live and love by. One of the simple yet profound ones was, “Jack, if you cannot say something nice about someone else, please say nothing at all.”

My Mother is in Heaven, but her words live on in my heart on Earth.

As a divorce attorney I learn of parents who speak to their spouses and their children in angry tones and hateful demeaning words. God, one of Your ministers, Wes Seeliger, said such words of incivility hurt forever and are hard to forget or forgive.  Over time Wes said they become “tapeworms of the soul.”

Tapeworms of the soul deprive the spirit of the nutrient it needs to thrive and live. That nutrient is love.

Lord, today and every day, please help us speak with dignity and respect to our spouses and our children, family members, and all others we come into contact with in our personal, business, social, political, and international relationships. For when we do that, others will see You in us and we will shine Your light of civility and love on others in our service to You.  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.

Filed Under: Weekly Prayers Tagged With: Bending Angel, civility, Jack Emmott, prayer, tapeworms of the soul, Wes Seeliger

 Prayer to God for Prayer to Be the Best Part of My Day – January 12, 2018

January 12, 2018 by Jack Emmott Leave a Comment

 

God – Please help me find time each and every day to pray. In prayer I disconnect from all my worries, demands and obligations.   In prayer I reconnect with You, Your peace, wisdom and love. To sustain my life on Earth every day my heart beats. My lungs breathe. I take in nourishment for my body. Please help me to remember that prayer and feeding my soul is no less important for my spiritual well-being. A well-developed soul is required to live out a purposeful life in service to You.

May prayer be the best part of my day. In prayer I feel closest to You and enveloped in Your love for me.  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 BendingAngel.com.

 

Filed Under: Weekly Prayers Tagged With: Jack Emmott, prayer, purposeful life, spiritual nourishment

Prayer for the Golden Rule to Rule Our Hearts – January 30, 2017

January 30, 2017 by Jack Emmott Leave a Comment

 

 

Heavenly Father – You have said through the Bible that we should do to others as we would have them do to us.  In this age of threats to our safety from terrorism, please have Your angels bend over us and those we love to protect us from harm.  As we take steps around the world to shield us from terror, please help us at the same time to honor Your Golden Rule.  We cannot truly love You if we do not also honor and love Your children according to Your command.  Please give our hearts the strength to follow this Golden Rule as we pray and act to make the Earth a safer place for all Your children.  Amen

Jack H. Emmott is a Member of Gray, Reed & McGraw, Houston, Texas and a Board-Certified family law 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 BendingAngel.com.

 

 

Filed Under: Weekly Prayers Tagged With: golden rule, prayer, terror

About Jack H. Emmott

Jack H. Emmott

I am a polio survivor. The fact that I suffered paralysis at the age of six is, in some ways, unimportant. Bad things happen to everyone. Viewed differently...

Read more...

Weekly Prayer

Prayer to Call Out His Name – March 18, 2023

Today kids obsess over getting the next Grand Theft Auto game. Or purchasing tickets to see Taylor Swift. Or buying a Tesla Y.

  • Read more...
  • Receive a weekly prayer via email
©2023 Bending Angel · Developed by Hero House Creative

Receive a Weekly Prayer Via Email
  • This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.