The Prayer Podcast Matt and Sara

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If you have any specific prayer intentions, questions, or feedback for The Prayer Podcast, please check out: ⁠theprayerpodcast.fm/welcome⁠ or theprayerpodcast@gmail.com to connect with us or sign up to be a part of our prayer chain email list.

If you are interested in supporting this ministry, please visit ⁠theprayerpodcast.fm/support⁠ or ⁠patreon.com/theprayerpodcast⁠.

Thank you and may God bless you!

Lord, I believe in you: increase my faith.I trust in you: strengthen my trust.I love you: let me love you more and more.I am sorry for my sins: deepen my sorrow.I worship you as my first beginning,I long for you as my last end,I praise you as my constant helper,And call on you as my loving protector.Guide me by your wisdom,Correct me with your justice,Comfort me with your mercy,Protect me with your power.I offer you, Lord, my thoughts: to be fixed on you;My words: to have you for their theme;My actions: to reflect my love for you;My sufferings: to be endured for your greater glory.I want to do what you ask of me:In the way you ask,For as long as you ask,Because you ask it.Lord, enlighten my understanding,Strengthen my will,Purify my heart,and make me holy.Help me to repent of my past sinsAnd to resist temptation in the future.Help me to rise above my human weaknessesAnd to grow stronger as a Christian.Let me love you, my Lord and my God,And see myself as I really am:A pilgrim in this world,A Christian called to respect and loveAll whose lives I touch,Those under my authority,My friends and my enemies.Help me to conquer anger with gentleness,Greed by generosity,Apathy by fervor.Help me to forget myselfAnd reach out toward others.Make me prudent in planning,Courageous in taking risks.Make me patient in suffering, unassuming in prosperity.Keep me, Lord, attentive at prayer,Temperate in food and drink,Diligent in my work,Firm in my good intentions.Let my conscience be clear,My conduct without fault,My speech blameless,My life well-ordered.Put me on guard against my human weaknesses.Let me cherish your love for me,Keep your law,And come at last to your salvation.Teach me to realize that this world is passing,That my true future is the happiness of heaven,That life on earth is short,And the life to come eternal.Help me to prepare for deathWith a proper fear of judgment,But a greater trust in your goodness.Lead me safely through deathTo the endless joy of heaven.Grant this through Christ our Lord. Amen.

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Thank you so much again for praying along with us and all of The Prayer Podcast listeners. Our hope is that we are able to provide you with another tool to bring you closer to God.

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This is what we call an intercessory decade of the Rosary. We both enjoy this form of prayer very much and use it often in our own prayer lives. Each intercessory decade that we produce will focus on specific prayer intentions that we feel moved to pray for or from our listeners. Join us on Patreon or email us at theprayerpodcast@gmail.com with your prayer intentions.

We ask for protection...
from pride.
from greed.
from lust.
from envy.
from gluttony.
from wrath.
from sloth.
from near occasions of sin.
from temptations to sin.
from spiritual death.

Don't forget to follow or subscribe to us on your favorite podcast platform to be notified when new prayers are released!

Thank you so much again for praying along with us and all of The Prayer Podcast listeners. Our hope is that we are able to provide you with another tool to bring you closer to God.

If you have any specific prayer intentions, questions, or feedback for The Prayer Podcast, please check out: theprayerpodcast.fm/welcome to connect with us or sign up to be a part of our prayer chain email list.

If you are interested in supporting this ministry, please visit theprayerpodcast.fm/support or patreon.com/theprayerpodcast.

Thank you and may God bless you!

*We may earn a small commission on qualifying purchases through links in this post at no additional cost to you.

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Don't forget to follow or subscribe to us on your favorite podcast platform to be notified when new prayers are released!

If you have any feedback for The Prayer Podcast, please check out: theprayerpodcast.fm/welcome to connect with us or sign up to be a part of our prayer chain email list.

If you are interested in supporting this ministry, please visit our Patreon page at patreon.com/theprayerpodcast. If you liked this lectio divina, there are more on our Patreon page exclusively for our patrons.

Thank you and may God bless you!

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Matthew 6:5-8

When you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, who love to stand and pray in the synagogues and on street corners so that others may see them. Amen, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you pray, go to your inner room, close the door, and pray to your Father in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will repay you. In praying, do not babble like the pagans, who think that they will be heard because of their many words. Do not be like them. Your Father knows what you need before you ask him.

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Don't forget to follow or subscribe to us on your favorite podcast platform to be notified when new prayers are released!

If you have any feedback for The Prayer Podcast, please check out: theprayerpodcast.fm/welcome to connect with us or sign up to be a part of our prayer chain email list.

If you are interested in supporting this ministry, please visit our Patreon page at patreon.com/theprayerpodcast.

Thank you and may God bless you!

-------- Affiliate Links*
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Find Catholic books worth reading at TANBooks.com. Free Shipping on orders over $50!

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A Christmas Prayer by Fr. Karl Rahner

Now God says to us
What He has already said to the earth as a whole
Through His grace-filled birth:
I am there. I am with you.
I am your life. I am your time.
I am the gloom of your daily routine. Why will you not hear it?
I weep your tears - pour yours out to me.
I am your joy.
Do not be afraid to be happy; ever since I wept, joy is the standard of living
That is really more suitable than the anxiety and grief of those who have no hope.
I am the blind alley of all your paths,
For when you no longer know how to go any farther,
Then you have reached me,
Though you are not aware of it.
I am in your anxiety, for I have shared it.
I am in the prison of your finiteness,
For my love has made me your prisoner.
I am in your death,
For today I began to die with you, because I was born,
And I have not let myself be spared any real part of this experience.
I am present in your needs;
I have suffered them and they are now transformed.
I am there.
I no longer go away from this world.
Even if you do not see me now, I am there.
My love is unconquerable.
I am there.
It is Christmas.
Light the Candles! They have more right to exist than all the darkness.
It is Christmas.
Christmas that lasts forever.
Amen.

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Don't forget to follow or subscribe to us on your favorite podcast platform to be notified when new prayers are released!

If you have any feedback for The Prayer Podcast, please check out: theprayerpodcast.fm/welcome to connect with us or sign up to be a part of our prayer chain email list.

If you are interested in supporting this ministry, please visit our Patreon page at patreon.com/theprayerpodcast. If you liked this lectio divina, there are more on our Patreon page exclusively for our patrons.

Thank you and may God bless you!

-------- Affiliate Links*
Find great Catholic gifts at The Catholic Company - https://theprayerpodcast.fm/catholic-gifts - Free Shipping on orders over $75! 

Find Catholic books worth reading at TAN Books - https://theprayerpodcast.fm/catholic-books - Free Shipping on orders over $50!

Find your Catholic match on CatholicMatch - https://theprayerpodcast.fm/find-your-match!
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Luke 2:1-20

Now there were shepherds in that region living in the fields and keeping the night watch over their flock. The angel of the Lord appeared to them and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were struck with great fear. The angel said to them, “Do not be afraid; for behold, I proclaim to you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. For today in the city of David a savior has been born for you who is Messiah and Lord. And this will be a sign for you: you will find an infant wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger.” And suddenly there was a multitude of the heavenly host with the angel, praising God and saying: “Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.” When the angels went away from them to heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let us go, then, to Bethlehem to see this thing that has taken place, which the Lord has made known to us.” So they went in haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the infant lying in the manger. When they saw this, they made known the message that had been told to them about this child. All who heard it were amazed by what had been told to them by the shepherds. And Mary kept all these things, reflecting on them in her heart. Then the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, just as it had been told to them.

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Looking to learn more about Marian theology? TAN Books has a great selection.

Don't forget to follow, subscribe to, and rate this podcast!

If you have any feedback for The Prayer Podcast, please check out: theprayerpodcast.fm/welcome to connect with us or sign up to be a part of our prayer chain email list.

If you are interested in supporting this ministry, please visit our Patreon page at patreon.com/theprayerpodcast.

Thank you and may God bless you!

-------- Affiliate Links*
Find great Catholic gifts at TheCatholicCompany.com. Free Shipping on orders over $75! 

Find your Catholic match on CatholicMatch.com!
--------

Matthew 1:18-24

Now this is how the birth of Jesus Christ came about. When his mother Mary was betrothed to Joseph, but before they lived together, she was found with child through the holy Spirit. Joseph her husband, since he was a righteous man, yet unwilling to expose her to shame, decided to divorce her quietly. Such was his intention when, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary your wife into your home. For it is through the holy Spirit that this child has been conceived in her. She will bear a son and you are to name him Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.” All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: “Behold, the virgin shall be with child and bear a son, and they shall name him Emmanuel,” which means “God is with us.” When Joseph awoke, he did as the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took his wife into his home.

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