Romans 15:4 "For whatever was written in earlier times was written for our instruction, so that through perseverance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope."
15 1-2 Those of us who are strong and able in the faith need to step in and lend a hand to those who falter, and not just do what is most convenient for us. Strength is for service, not status. Each one of us needs to look after the good of the people around us, asking ourselves, “How can I help?”
3-6 That’s exactly what Jesus did. He didn’t make it easy for himself by avoiding people’s troubles, but waded right in and helped out. “I took on the troubles of the troubled,” is the way Scripture puts it. Even if it was written in Scripture long ago, you can be sure it’s written for us. God wants the combination of his steady, constant calling and warm, personal counsel in Scripture to come to characterize us, keeping us alert for whatever he will do next. May our dependably steady and warmly personal God develop maturity in you so that you get along with each other as well as Jesus gets along with us all. Then we’ll be a choir—not our voices only, but our very lives singing in harmony in a stunning anthem to the God and Father of our Master Jesus!
7-13 So reach out and welcome one another to God’s glory. Jesus did it; now you do it! Jesus, staying true to God’s purposes, reached out in a special way to the Jewish insiders so that the old ancestral promises would come true for them. As a result, the non-Jewish outsiders have been able to experience mercy and to show appreciation to God. Just think of all the Scriptures that will come true in what we do! For instance:
Then I’ll join outsiders in a hymn-sing; I’ll sing to your name!
And this one:
Outsiders and insiders, rejoice together!
And again:
People of all nations, celebrate God! All colors and races, give hearty praise!
And Isaiah’s word:
There’s the root of our ancestor Jesse, breaking through the earth and growing tree tall, Tall enough for everyone everywhere to see and take hope!
Oh! May the God of green hope fill you up with joy, fill you up with peace, so that your believing lives, filled with the life-giving energy of the Holy Spirit, will brim over with hope!
The Word of God for the Children of God.
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost; as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen, amen.
Each one of us needs toask ourselves, “How can I help?”
Romans 15:7 Amplified Bible
7 Therefore, [continue to] accept and welcome one another, just as Christ has accepted and welcomed us to the glory of [our great] God.
Have you ever been invited into Christian community?
It is so refreshing to feel accepted and welcomed.
When people go out of their way to say hi, introduce themselves, and connect, it means a lot.
It can be easy over time when we reach out, become comfortable in our current community and neglect to see others who are nearby as well.
We can become routine in our church circles and forget the calling as Christians to love and welcome new people.
It is easy to do, and we all have to is pray, ask the Holy Spirit to check our hearts and reveal sin in our lives (Psalm 139:23-24). He will surely work His way into into our hearts, souls, convict and gently lead us to love others around us better.
I love how Romans 15:7 tells us to welcome others as Christ has welcomed us.
Jesus is always our example and role model.
We were sinners who He easily could have ignored but He chose to love us. We welcome others in Christ because He first welcomed us all for the glory of God.
It honors the Lord when we take the time to get to know others, love them well. We should pray for special thoughts as well to those who are different from us.
James 2 teaches us to show no partiality. We are called to show kindness to all others, and our friendship should automatically extend to a variety of people.
Matthew 22:36-39 says, “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?” Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’”
Loving God and loving people are the two greatest commandments. When we welcome others, we love them. The best part is that we can often end up making wonderful new friends, meet new families who could teach us more about God.
We were created to pray for each other, to encourage each other, welcome each other and to share our hardships with each other. This has to start somewhere.
Why not in the parking lots, at the accessibility ramp, at the steps and the front doors of our churches, with wide and wider smiles, with open hands extended?
In the name of God, the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit,
Let’s pray:
Psalm 134 The Message
134 1-3 Come, bless God, all you servants of God! You priests of God, posted to the night watch in God’s shrine, Lift your praising hands to the Holy Place, and bless God. In turn, may God of Zion bless you— God who made heaven and earth!
My Dear Savior Jesus,
Thank You for the gift of community. Thank you for helping us by Your Spirit to get to know new faces and people around us we do not know. Help us to be motivated to seek out relationships with others in our church communities. We pray against the sinful decisions to isolate and ignore. We pray for confidence to reach out and love others with our words and actions. We confess where we have been too cliquey and selfish. Forgive us for making “our” churches and neglecting Your church. Help us to reach out and see You at work. Enable us to have open hearts. Please help us not to show partiality or favoritism. Help us remember that we are all one in Christ Jesus. Thank you, Jesus, for welcoming us and helping us to live out of gratitude for Your hospitality. Open our hearts to have the willingness to get to know others as brothers and sisters. Open the door to new friendships that are founded on you and prayer.
Lord, thank you for the people who have welcomed us into community. We celebrate Your goodness in providing friendships in our lives. Thank you for that one person who was kind enough to say hello. Empower us to meet one new person at church this week and even every week from here on out. Help us go the extra mile and get numbers or meet for coffee. Lead us into creative ways to have community. Lord, You say that everyone is not a hand and that being the body means there is great value in different parts. Help us to see that when we get to know others we get to be a better picture of what You intended for us to be. We were not meant to be alone; we were made for this. Help us to fight the enemy and our flesh that would tell us otherwise and choose to welcome others around us. Help this not to be an individual effort, but a church-wide movement to multiply and grow. In Your name, Jesus, Amen.
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost; as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen, amen.
A Psalm of David. When he fled from Absalom his son.
3 O Lord, how my enemies have increased! Many are rising up against me. 2 Many are saying of me, “There is no help [no salvation] for him in God.” [a]Selah.
3 But You, O Lord, are a shield for me, My glory [and my honor], and the One who lifts my head. 4 With my voice I was crying to the Lord, And He answered me from His holy mountain. Selah. 5 I lay down and slept [safely]; I awakened, for the Lord sustains me. 6 I will not be intimidated or afraid of the ten thousands Who have set themselves against me all around.
7 Arise, O Lord; save me, O my God! For You have struck all my enemies on the cheek; You have shattered the teeth of the wicked. 8 Salvation belongs to the Lord; May Your blessing be upon Your people. Selah.
The Word of God for the Children of God.
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost; as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen, amen.
If your relationship with Jesus doesn’t put a spring in your step and cause you to dance a happy dance once in awhile, maybe you’ve hit a spiritual funk?
Maybe it’s time to re-evaluate your realization of how much Jesus loves you and exactly what you should be expecting from your relationship with God?
Sometimes we, and I say we as the church collectively, forget our salvation belongs to the Lord.
Far too often we want to defeat ourselves, beat ourselves up, work out our own situations and bring our own answers to the table. By doing so, our efforts fit our own agenda, personal narrative better, to the dilemma we may be facing.
The human will is powerful and our genuine willingness to try to work out our own truer answers without God’s help, only ends in the self deprecating, self defeating spiritual exhaustion, a frustration of our own inability and failure!
Re-read what David writes:
“Lord, how they have increased who trouble me! verse 1
Many are they who rise up against me. verse 1
Many are they who say of me, verse 2
“There is no help for him in God.” verse 2
Psalm 3:1-2 The Message
3 1-2 God! Look! Enemies past counting! Enemies sprouting like mushrooms, Mobs of them all around me, roaring their mockery: “Hah! No help for him from God!”
Not unlike David in his problem, we who are Christians today face similar situations. Our liberties, our morals, our values and our way of life as we know it are substantially threatened by those who mock, say, act as if there is no God!
The atmosphere created by what some want to call a new normal, a progressive normal, a socialist normal, is repeatedly trying to be established! Without God being any substantial part of it! Some say, get used to what we’re witnessing.
God would have me tell you, “things are not always as they appear to be!”
Matthew 6:4-13 The Message
2-4 “When you do something for someone else, don’t call attention to yourself. You’ve seen them in action, I’m sure—‘playactors’ I call them—treating prayer meeting and street corner alike as a stage, acting compassionate as long as someone is watching, playing to the crowds. They get applause, true, but that’s all they get. When you help someone out, don’t think about how it looks. Just do it—quietly and unobtrusively. That is the way your God, who conceived you in love, working behind the scenes, helps you out.
Pray with Simplicity
5 “And when you come before God, don’t turn that into a theatrical production either. All these people making a regular show out of their prayers, hoping for fifteen minutes of fame! Do you think God sits in a box seat?
6 “Here’s what I want you to do: Find a quiet, secluded place so you won’t be tempted to role-play before God. Just be there as simply and honestly as you can manage. The focus will shift from you to God, and you will begin to sense his grace.
7-13 “The world is full of so-called prayer warriors who are prayer-ignorant. They’re full of formulas and programs and advice, peddling techniques for getting what you want from God. Don’t fall for that nonsense. This is your Father you are dealing with, and he knows better than you what you need. With a God like this loving you, you can pray very simply. Like this:
Our Father in heaven, Reveal who you are. Set the world right; Do what’s best— as above, so below. Keep us alive with three square meals. Keep us forgiven with you and forgiving others. Keep us safe from ourselves and the Devil. You’re in charge! You can do anything you want! You’re ablaze in beauty! Yes. Yes. Yes.
As in David’s time and in the moment as we watch history in the making, fear is still the primary propellant and pusher of the enemies agenda and plans today.
After all the different diversions of attack throughout history, the devil is still stuck with the same playbook of lies, being manipulate, steal, kill and destroy!
Only God has the ability to create new, only God knows what the future holds and only God wants you to have an abundant life! Only Jesus came to give life.
2 Timothy 1:4-7 The Message
To Be Bold with God’s Gifts
3-4 Every time I say your name in prayer—which is practically all the time—I thank God for you, the God I worship with my whole life in the tradition of my ancestors. I miss you a lot, especially when I remember that last tearful good-bye, and I look forward to a joy-packed reunion.
5-7 That precious memory triggers another: your honest faith—and what a rich faith it is, handed down from your grandmother Lois to your mother Eunice, and now to you! And the special gift of ministry you received when I laid hands on you and prayed—keep that ablaze! God doesn’t want us to be shy with his gifts, but bold and loving and sensible.
Sometimes it’s far too easy for us to get caught up in the moment like David by the rise of circumstances and lose our focus of how big God is. When we focus exclusively on all our circumstances, the opportunity for fear not only raises its ugly head, but gains the confidence to become our primary center of attention!
Isaiah 55:11-13 The Message
8-11 “I don’t think the way you think. The way you work isn’t the way I work.” God’s Decree. “For as the sky soars high above earth, so the way I work surpasses the way you work, and the way I think is beyond the way you think. Just as rain and snow descend from the skies and don’t go back until they’ve watered the earth, Doing their work of making things grow and blossom, producing seed for farmers and food for the hungry, So will the words that come out of my mouth not come back empty-handed. They’ll do the work I sent them to do, they’ll complete the assignment I gave them.
12-13 “So you’ll go out in joy, you’ll be led into a whole and complete life. The mountains and hills will lead the parade, bursting with song. All the trees of the forest will join the procession, exuberant with applause. No more thistles, but giant sequoias, no more thorn bushes, but stately pines— Monuments to me, to God, living and lasting evidence of God.”
Right there my friend proclaims the promise of our standing on Gods word!
Giving every believer the right to go through life doing the happy dance!
Gods word assures us He is willing to pull out all the stops in the removal of the burdens of life, if we let Him search our hearts, test us, to be a part of our lives!
If your relationship with Jesus doesn’t put a spring in your step and cause you to dance a happy dance once in awhile, just maybe you’ve hit a spiritual funk?
Maybe it’s time to re-evaluate your realization of how much Jesus loves you and exactly what you should be expecting from your relationship with God?
God’s word is still the full truth and will always be looking for ways to prosper God’s people, establish joy for their lives and accomplishing the impossible!
Constantly searching for those who want to become aware of His Promises and are willing to believe, and 100% trust that “nothing is impossible for God!”
Fear is the opposite of faith!
Fear’s main driving force is self efforts lack of ability!
Faiths driving force is resting in the strength of Gods ability and the peace of mind stemming from it!
David had faced a similar situation of faith and fear we read of in
1 Samuel 30:1-7 The Message
David’s Strength Was in His God
30 1-3 Three days later, David and his men arrived back in Ziklag. Amalekites had raided the Negev and Ziklag. They tore Ziklag to pieces and then burned it down. They captured all the women, young and old. They didn’t kill anyone, but drove them like a herd of cattle. By the time David and his men entered the village, it had been burned to the ground, and their wives, sons, and daughters all taken prisoner.
4-6 David and his men burst out in loud wails—wept and wept until they were exhausted with weeping. David’s two wives, Ahinoam of Jezreel and Abigail widow of Nabal of Carmel, had been taken prisoner along with the rest. And suddenly David was in even worse trouble. There was talk among the men, bitter over the loss of their families, of stoning him.
6-7 David strengthened himself with trust in his God. He ordered Abiathar the priest, son of Ahimelech, “Bring me the Ephod so I can consult God.” Abiathar brought it to David.
There was definite fear that all was lost, by all of David’s men including David.
There was also a glimmer of hope, stemming from the God given faith they all possessed!
Remember these men were warriors of many battles and triumphs following David and his pursuit of becoming King of Israel! They had no doubt many miraculous displays of David’s walk, connection and relationship with God!
Many a lesser man would have contemplated a different strategy resulting in failure and possibly great loss of life, as faced with the same circumstances.
But David, didn’t look to his own ability.
David looked only to Gods amazing ability!
I’m sure there was talk among his men, saying something to the effect of look what doing the Lords work has gotten us!
The voices of those grew against David to the point of the talk of Stoning him!
TBS.
David strengthened himself in the Lord and God answered him with a victory over his adversary’s and the returning of everything that had been taken from him and his men!
David’s realization of his own humility, allowed God to fully work out an amazing end to what seemed a hopeless situation!
David chose to do same again, with complete reliance on God, as we read from verse three again of our text.
3 But You, O Lord, are a shield for me,
My glory and the One who lifts up my head.
4 I cried to the Lord with my voice,
And He heard me from His holy hill. Selah
5 I lay down and slept;
I awoke, for the Lord sustained me.
Selah, means to pause. David paused, or rested and strengthened himself in the amazing ability of God.
David could’ve been mad, he could have been thinking of retribution against Absalom. David could’ve been thinking a lot of things, but what he chose to be calm, do was rest and strengthen himself in what he knew to be his salvation.
David realized looking to God for his salvation, was what had sustained him every time he had ever faced any circumstance!
God had never let David down before!
His adversaries were too powerful and too numerous to count, but David remembered what God had helped him to be victorious over in the past!
David knew God had never let him down before and God would be willing to accomplish the impossible for him again, in the moment of his great needs!
Lions, bears, giants, adversaries, warriors, enemies, yes God had sustained David through each and every one!
Gods calling and anointing is without repentance!
Romans 11:29 The Message
A Complete Israel
25-29 I want to lay all this out on the table as clearly as I can, friends. This is complicated. It would be easy to misinterpret what’s going on and arrogantly assume that you’re royalty and they’re just rabble, out on their ears for good. But that’s not it at all. This hardness on the part of insider Israel toward God is temporary. Its effect is to open things up to all the outsiders so that we end up with a full house. Before it’s all over, there will be a complete Israel. As it is written,
A champion will stride down from the mountain of Zion; he’ll clean house in Jacob. And this is my commitment to my people: removal of their sins.
From your point of view as you hear and embrace the good news of the Message, it looks like the Jews are God’s enemies. But looked at from the long-range perspective of God’s overall purpose, they remain God’s oldest friends. God’s gifts and God’s call are under full warranty—never canceled, never rescinded.
Today because of God’s loving act of grace to the world, We look to Jesus and our connectional relationship with Savior Jesus for our sustaining salvation and promise of deliverance!
We have David’s example, to not look at our circumstance, but to the one who controls and determines the outcome of our circumstances!
Knowing when we humble ourselves and ask for God’s help, God hears and responds to our needs!
Reading on from verse seven
7 Arise, O Lord;
Save me, O my God!
For You have struck all my enemies on the cheekbone;
You have broken the teeth of the ungodly.
Your blessing is upon Your people. Selah
David calls on God to rescue him and bring salvation to the situation!
And then reflects on the times that God has rescued him and rescued Israel, and to seemingly have done the impossible time after time.
Asking for Gods blessing once again, and then pauses or rest in the assurance God will deliver!
Is it really that easy?
Under who’s ability?
Under mans ability, what David ask was impossible!
Under God’s ability, our requests really are that easy!
We repeatedly have the tendency to try making things for God harder than what they are!
Philippians 4:6-7 The Message
6-7 Don’t fret or worry. Instead of worrying, pray. Let petitions and praises shape your worries into prayers, letting God know your concerns. Before you know it, a sense of God’s wholeness, everything coming together for good, will come and settle you down. It’s wonderful what happens when Christ displaces worry at the center of your life.
Paul tells us, to let God know what we need and have faith God will meet the need and to rest in the peace that passes all understanding God supplies through Christ Jesus until the need is no longer a need!
There is no harder or easier for God!
God can do anything He wants, anytime He wants, for anyone who has the faith the size of the tiniest mustard seed, which God has also already miraculously has provided and is willing to believe God can meet the need!
We find our true identity in Jesus Christ our Saviour and Lord, when we finally kick fear to the curb and take our rightful place of resting in Jesus willingness, to show us unmerited favor!
Have we earned it? No!
Are we worthy of such reward?
If Jesus is our Savior then yes we are worthy!
Because of the cross, Jesus has made us worthy and able to receive the Favor God freely offers to all!
The only thing there is no room for in a Christians life today and what we face in the never ending onslaught of condemnation and attack by the accuser, is fear!
Because fear triggers and is fuel for doubt and unbelief!
Whatever you’re facing today doesn’t matter, because nothing is out of the realm of the possibilities of the One True Living God!
Whether it’s an addiction, or a financial need, or a physical condition makes absolutely no difference! If you’re trusting the results and outcome of what you’re facing to God!
Don’t let the fear caused by the failure of self effort, keep you from receiving the miracle your seeking.
Put your mustard sized God given seed of faith in the God of all things possible and rest in God’s willingness to split your mountain in half while making those same mountains of adversity sing for joy, while the trees clap with thunderous applause, in the glorious midst of clearing the pathway to your victory!
Do you know how much God loves you today?
Jesus established on the cross amount of Gods love for you is immeasurable.
God willingly gave His very best, so you could live in, walk in and experience His very best, all along your way to eternity!
Aren’t you glad you know Him?
In the name of God, the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit,
Let us Pray,
Psalm 23 The Message
23 1-3 God, my shepherd! I don’t need a thing. You have bedded me down in lush meadows, you find me quiet pools to drink from. True to your word, you let me catch my breath and send me in the right direction.
4 Even when the way goes through Death Valley, I’m not afraid when you walk at my side. Your trusty shepherd’s crook makes me feel secure.
5 You serve me a six-course dinner right in front of my enemies. You revive my drooping head; my cup brims with blessing.
6 Your beauty and love chase after me every day of my life. I’m back home in the house of God for the rest of my life.
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost; as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen, amen.
To the director: With stringed instruments, on the sheminith. A song of David.
6 Lord, don’t punish me. Don’t correct me when you are so angry. 2 Lord, be kind to me. I am sick and weak. Heal me, Lord! My bones are shaking. 3 I am trembling all over. Lord, how long until you heal me?[a] 4 Lord, come back and make me strong again. Save me because you are so loyal and kind. 5 If I am dead, I cannot sing about you. Those in the grave don’t praise you.
6 Lord, I am so weak. I cried to you all night. My pillow is soaked; my bed is dripping wet from my tears. 7 My enemies have caused me such sorrow that my eyes are worn out from crying.
8 Go away, you wicked people, because the Lord has heard my cries. 9 The Lord has heard my request for mercy. The Lord has accepted my prayer.
10 All my enemies will be filled with fear and shame. They will be sorry when disgrace suddenly comes upon them.
The Word of God for the Children of God.
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost; as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen, amen.
Troubled Souls and the Glory of God
The wailing cry of anguish is the tone of Psalm 6.
The emotional expression in it reaches a fever pitch.
And yet here is the remarkable thing that we’re going to look at about this psalm: the motivating factor for David’s deliverance from the state of his troubled soul is not primarily comfort and reprieve.
What David’s troubled soul longed for the most was the glory of God.
Have you ever been so overwhelmed at the circumstances of your life that all you can do is curl up in the fetal position on your bed and cry?
I know we are trying to be the church and the sun is sometimes shining and then sometimes the dark clouds of an impending Category 5 storm are nearby.
Most of us are pretty strong looking on the outside today, but let’s not pretend or play games here.
For one reason or another, at one time or another – you’ve been there.
Completely in distress – whether it be from the consequences of your own sin, grief over the loss of a loved one, or guilt, or fear, or the utter inability to vent your anger, or debt, or danger.
Anguish in this life is universal.
If I dropped you in a remote part of the world where they spoke another language, you’d not need an interpreter to understand the wailing cry of anguish – it is pretty much a universally recognized, understood sound.
Someone somewhere is in a desperate state of needing immediate assistance.
So, we have David, somewhere in sometime of his life desperately calling out.
Psalm 6 The Message
6 1-2 Please, God, no more yelling, no more trips to the woodshed. Treat me nice for a change; I’m so starved for affection.
2-3 Can’t you see I’m black-and-blue, beaten up badly in bones and soul? God, how long will it take for you to let up?
4-5 Break in, God, and break up this fight; if you love me at all, get me out of here. I’m no good to you dead, am I? I can’t sing in your choir if I’m buried in some tomb!
6-7 I’m tired of all this—so tired. My bed has been floating forty days and nights On the flood of my tears. My mattress is soaked, soggy with tears. The sockets of my eyes are black holes; nearly blind, I squint and grope.
8-9 Get out of here, you Devil’s crew: at last God has heard my sobs. My requests have all been granted, my prayers are answered.
10 Cowards, my enemies disappear. Disgraced, they turn tail and run.
What was causing David this extreme trouble in his body and soul?
Some have wondered if he was ill because of the reference to his bones.
But as one commentator put it: “neither the reference to bones in agony nor the ambivalent word heal necessarily implies some sort of illness.
The agony of “my bones” means the same as “my soul is in anguish.”
The truth is… regardless of his state of health, there are two things that are certainly implied as background to the psalmist’s anguish.
The Primary One is his sin.
In verses 2 and 9 we see that he needs God’s mercy and in verse 1 we see that he fears God’s anger.
So David’s anguish is a compound anguish of his own sinfulness and the sinfulness of others.
A lot of you can testify from experience that both the guilt from our own sin and the ill-intended accusations of others can make us feel physically sick at times.
David had them both going on.
Interestingly – the malice of others appears to be God’s means of discipline for David’s sin.
Here in this psalm David does not cry out to God and ask him to withhold correction and discipline. Instead, because of David’s uneasy conscience he appeals to God’s grace to temper the discipline he knows he deserves.
David knows that his only plea…his only hope… is the mercy of God.
Our Praying When It Hurts
We’ve sung this song by Matt Redman called “Blessed Be Your Name.”
The first verse says,
Blessed Be Your Name, in the land that is plentiful, where Your streams of abundance flow. Blessed be Your name.
The 2nd verse starts out: Blessed be Your name, when the sun’s shining down on me, when the world’s ‘all as it should be.’ Blessed be Your name.
Every blessing You pour out I’ll turn back to praise!
But there are other lines in that song too – lines that deal with real life:
Blessed Be Your name when I’m found in the desert place, though I walk through the wilderness
Blessed be Your name on the road marked with suffering. Though there’s pain in the offering,
Blessed be Your name.
I love the honesty and validity of that song.
When everything in life is as it should be, prayer is easy.
It tends to be vague and general.
It rolls out of our mouths, and it doesn’t even have to come from very deep inside.
You know the prayer – the one you don’t really think about, but you’re supposed to pray out loud so you end up saying something like,
“God, thank You for this day and thank You for everything.” Really? It’s like tossing a hand grenade. It’s so unspecific, you’re bound to hit something!
But then there are prayers like the one where you say,
“God, whatever it takes to change my completely messed up life, just do it!”
There are prayers in the hard times.
There are prayers in the harder times.
There are prayers in the hardest times.
There are prayers in the most catastrophic of times.
Those prayers are all different.
Prayer in the hard times is more like an arrow shot straight for the mark.
We tend to get very specific.
We tend to speak more from our hearts.
Psalm 6 is a prayer that David fired off that’s more like an flaming arrow.
It was obviously written during one of his many hard times in his life:
O LORD, do not rebuke me in your anger or discipline me in your wrath. Be merciful to me, LORD, for I am faint; O LORD, heal me, for my bones are in agony. My soul is in anguish. How long, O LORD, how long? Turn, O LORD, and deliver me; save me because of your unfailing love. No one remembers you when he is dead. Who praises you from the grave? I am worn out from groaning; all night long I flood my bed with weeping and drench my couch with tears. My eyes grow weak with sorrow; they fail because of all my foes.
At first glance, David may just sound like someone who’s going through a devastating hardship in life.
I want something a little more upbeat – something that isn’t written in a minor key! Let’s read something David wrote when life was peachy, sunshine, roses!”
But I want us to see there’s something for us to do in regards to praying in the hard times of life – something besides swallowing them, just ignoring them.
In other words, I want each of us to get more skilled at praying when it hurts.
I believe that this Psalm can help us with that.
First, it will help us to…
I. Get In Touch With the Reason for Sorrow
Why does David ask God to turn to him?
(verse 4) Where has God gone?
Why is David’s couch soaked with tears?
Look again at verse 1:
“O LORD, do not rebuke me in your anger or discipline me in your wrath.”
Rebuke…discipline.
David recognized that sizable part of the problem in his life were his own sins.
The fact is much of the sorrow we’re faced with in life is mostly our own doing.
Look at the faces of inmates down a row of prison cells and understand that our own wrong choices can bring us sorrow.
Look at the faces of the homeless aimlessly walking the streets or in a shelter. It grieves me greatly that nearly all of them go to great lengths to hide their face.
It can bring us sorrow because we don’t like the consequences: We don’t like traffic tickets, stitches, or being grounded by our parents when we are wrong.
Those things happen to us, with resolve, we suffer through them, and if we’ll be honest with ourselves, they’ll happen because we chose to do what was wrong.
“If you suffer, it should not be as a murderer or thief or any other kind of criminal, or even as a meddler.”
1 Peter 4:15-16 The Message
14-16 If you’re abused because of Christ, count yourself fortunate. It’s the Spirit of God and his glory in you that brought you to the notice of others. If they’re on you because you broke the law or disturbed the peace, that’s a different matter. But if it’s because you’re a Christian, don’t give it a second thought. Be proud of the distinguished status reflected in that name!
That’s not the only reason our sin makes us sorry.
There’s a very real form of suffering called guilt that David seems to speak of in this Psalm.
Most of us are familiar with that concept of Guilt.
Have you noticed; dogs have a unique way of looking guilty.
Now, scientists tell us that they don’t really “feel guilty.”
They just put on that face because it has a tendency to stop the yelling when you find out what they did.
We don’t like it, but the feeling of guilt is truthfully a good thing, if you’re a guilty person – and Romans 3:23 admonishes us that we are all guilty of sin.
Romans 3:23-24 Easy-to-Read Version
23 All have sinned and are not good enough to share God’s divine greatness. 24 They are made right with God by his grace. This is a free gift. They are made right with God by being made free from sin through Jesus Christ.
It’s like the light on the car dashboard that comes on when there’s a problem.
Now, that red light on the dashboard may have been annoying – maybe even distressing – but it has a purpose.
It indicates that there’s a problem.
Driving on down the road absent addressing the problem could damage the car.
Guilt is that way.
That stressful feeling that you get when you lie, that nervous feeling you get when you see someone you’ve mistreated, that uneasiness that sweeps over you when you cheat someone – that feeling is guilt, and it’s a warning light that you have a problem, definitely something which needs to be fixed and forgiven too.
The answer isn’t to ignore it or run from it.
You need to get in touch with the reason for your sorrow, deal with the reason.
Guilty feelings shouldn’t be wasted!
They’re supposed to send us to God.
The way we get rid of them is for Him to take away our guilt, so that we don’t have to feel guilty anymore!
I love the passage in II Corinthians 7 where Paul talks about some of the strong words in a previous letter he wrote to them. Make a note Paul did not say God wants you happy. In fact, he says the opposite.
2 Corinthians 7:8-13 Easy-to-Read Version
8 Even if the letter I wrote you made you sad, I am not sorry I wrote it. I know that letter made you sad, and I was sorry for that. But it made you sad only for a short time. 9 Now I am happy, not because you were made sad, but because your sorrow made you decide to change. That is what God wanted, so you were not hurt by us in any way. 10 The kind of sorrow God wants makes people decide to change their lives. This leads them to salvation, and we cannot be sorry for that. But the kind of sorrow the world has will bring death. 11 You had the kind of sorrow God wanted you to have. Now see what that sorrow has brought you: It has made you very serious. It made you want to prove that you were not wrong. It made you angry and afraid. It made you want to see me. It made you care. It made you want the right thing to be done. You proved that you were not guilty in any part of that problem. 12 The main reason I wrote that letter was not because of the one who did the wrong or the one who was hurt. I wrote so that you would realize, before God, how very much you care for us. 13 And that is what was so encouraging to us.
When you are feeling sorrow, consider if you yourself are the reason for it.
If so, you have some Psalm 51 level of changing to do.
There’s another source of sorrow, though, and we don’t control it. It’s…
2. Other Peoples’ Sin
In verse 7 David says, “My eyes grow weak with sorrow; they fail because of all my foes.”
Life has always had its share of sorrow caused by other people.
Someone steals your money, you suffer because of their theft.
Someone bullies you at school, you suffer because of their meanness.
Someone says something mean to you, you suffer because of their words.
Someone treats you rudely, you suffer because of their selfishness.
There are definitely times when our sorrow is caused by someone else’s sin.
Even diseases and natural disasters and death itself are a part of a creation that has been tainted by Adam and Eve’s sin – just because they beat me to it.
But even in the middle of all that unfair suffering that you didn’t cause, God is doing something with you.
In your struggle against sin, you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood. And you have forgotten that word of encouragement that addresses you as sons: “My son, do not make light of the Lord’s discipline, and do not lose heart when he rebukes you, because the Lord disciplines those he loves, and he punishes everyone he accepts as a son.”
Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as sons…God disciplines us for our good, that we may share in his holiness.
No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful.
Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been disciplined and trained by it.
Do you realize that when you suffer at the hand of someone else’s sin it’s an opportunity for God to grow you and mature you?
When we get in touch with the reason for sorrow in our life, we are far better equipped to handle it.
David’s Psalm here is an open study of the source of our sorrows.
It’s also a way that we can…
II. Restudy the Reasons We Can Ask for Help
From a very young age, our parents teach us that if we are ever lost or in trouble, and we find a sheriff or a policeman, you can go to him for help.
He will be a safe person, and he’s there to help you.
By the way, parents, I’m glad that’s still a good thing we can teach our children.
We can ask for help when someone is there to help us.
If I go to visit my doctor at her office, and I look at her medical school diploma on the wall, that’s a sign to me she’s someone who can help me with medical issues.
I find 3 reasons in this Psalm that reassure us that we can ask for God’s help in hard times.
The first one has to do with ourselves, and then the next 2 have to do with something that’s true about God.
Do you want to be able to ask God for help?
Then come to Him with…
1. A right heart
When David writes Psalm 6, he’s not only acknowledging that he needs help from God, he’s also acknowledging he needs forgiveness and mercy from God.
Jesus said, “Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.”
Being sorry for our sin – to the point where it causes us to mourn, is one of the first prerequisites for asking God for His help.
If you’re heart isn’t right in this matter, if you think you can ask God to help you feel better without ever wanting Him to change you, you’ve neglected to pay closest attention to the first reason you can ask God for help.
Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me.
If you can’t have genuine heartfelt regret for your sin against God, then you have no place to ask Him to help you with it.
I wonder how often we’ve failed to ask God’s help because, deep inside, we’re unwilling to deal with something in our lives that we know shouldn’t be there.
Satan somehow convinces us to hang onto it, and the result is we forfeit God’s help because we know we can’t ask for it.
Let it go!
Get rid of it.
Bring a heart to God that’s ready to be whatever He wants you to be, and you’ll find that you can ask Him for the help you need. That one is very much up to us.
2. God’s mercy
David was very open with God about his sin and his littleness. He said,
Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight, so that you are proved right when you speak and justified when you judge.
So often we get frustrated that there isn’t more justice on the earth.
I’m pretty sure I don’t want to plead with God for justice for me.
What we need to appeal to is God’s mercy.
We need to be thanking Him daily He hasn’t dealt with us according to our sins.
I can tell you, there’s a whole lot more peace to be found in appealing to God’s mercy than trying to convince Him He owes me better than what I’m getting!
A 3rd reason we can ask for God’s help is His glory. Actually, the basis for all true requests that we make to God is His glory. That’s the point of v5 “No one remembers you when he is dead. Who praises you from the grave?” In other words, “Lord, if I’m killed off, there will be one less person on earth to bring you glory.” Someone put it this way, “Churchyards are silent places; the vaults of the sepulcher echo not with songs; Damp earth covers dumb mouths.”
Even though he was asking God for help, David realized that the reason he could do that was because he was seeking God’s glory. Think about that the next time you want to ask God for something. James said,
When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures.
Our lives need to be lived to bring glory to God.
You are not your own, you were bought with a price.
The reason for all true prayer is ultimately to bring God glory.
You can ask for help.
If you need some reassurance of that, Psalm 6 is a prayer of David, a man who had frequently, magnificently messed up, asking God for help! Does he get it? …
III. Look at the Difference Prayer Makes
David’s struggling through.
He realizes his own failings.
His enemies are pressing in.
He realizes he’s going to need to throw himself on God’s mercy, that there are some reasons he’s even able to do this at all.
Away from me, all you who do evil, for the LORD has heard my weeping. The LORD has heard my cry for mercy; the LORD accepts my prayer. All my enemies will be ashamed and dismayed; they will turn back in sudden disgrace.
(1. Real repentance)
One of the ways you can tell if someone has truly changed from his former way of life is by the changed attitude he has toward sin.
In fact, that’s the main change in the life of anyone who accepts Jesus – your whole attitude toward sin. Someone who has repented of sin may still stumble, but that person will hate the sins that cost His Savior’s blood.
It will make you want to say, “Away from me, all you who do evil! Get it away from me!” Like Jesus, we have to cleanse the temple!
We have to throw out the money changers!
Look at the difference that prayer makes here in David’s words!
(2. Genuine Tears)
In other cultures, even though the language is quite different from English, there are some things that are universal.
One is the word, “Hey!” Another is a smile.
That’s the same everywhere.
Another one is tears. When you look into the eyes of someone who’s deeply suffering, there’s no need for an interpreter. Tears mean the same in every language. David knew that his tears were something God truly understood.
Psalm 56:8Record my lament; list my tears on your scroll…
Too often we’re taught to hide our tears – especially if you’re a man.
Tears are an admission. Tears mean weakness. Tears mean dependence.
I want to tell you, the manliest of men ever to live cried real tears. John 11:35
And if we’re engaging in real, effective prayer, it’s going to involve some tears sometimes.
God isn’t turned off by that.
“…the LORD has heard my weeping. The LORD has heard my cry for mercy; the LORD accepts my prayer…”
Genuine tears are a definite part of the picture here. And so is the last part!
In conclusion, Psalm 6:3 is a emotionally poignant expression of the psalmist’s very deepest anguish, loudest pleading with God and longing for deliverance.
This verse, along with the larger context of Psalm 6, offers a powerful reflection on human suffering, trust in God, and the timeless significance of lament. It too serves as a source of encouragement and comfort for believers, reminding them of God’s faithfulness, God’s mercy and compassion in the midst of life’s trials.
In the name of God, the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit,
Let us Pray,
Psalm 16 The Message
16 1-2 Keep me safe, O God, I’ve run for dear life to you. I say to God, “Be my Lord!” Without you, nothing makes sense.
3 And these God-chosen lives all around— what splendid friends they make!
4 Don’t just go shopping for a god. Gods are not for sale. I swear I’ll never treat god-names like brand-names.
5-6 My choice is you, God, first and only. And now I find I’m your choice! You set me up with a house and yard. And then you made me your heir!
7-8 The wise counsel God gives when I’m awake is confirmed by my sleeping heart. Day and night I’ll stick with God; I’ve got a good thing going and I’m not letting go.
9-10 I’m happy from the inside out, and from the outside in, I’m firmly formed. You canceled my ticket to hell— that’s not my destination!
11 Now you’ve got my feet on the life path, all radiant from the shining of your face. Ever since you took my hand, I’m on the right way.
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost; as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen, amen.
13-18 Be prepared. You’re up against far more than you can handle on your own. Take all the help you can get, every weapon God has issued, so that when it’s all over but the shouting you’ll still be on your feet. Truth, righteousness, peace, faith, and salvation are more than words. Learn how to apply them. You’ll need them throughout your life. God’s Word is an indispensable weapon. In the same way, prayer is essential in this ongoing warfare. Pray hard and long. Pray for your brothers and sisters. Keep your eyes open. Keep each other’s spirits up so that no one falls behind or drops out.
19-20 And don’t forget to pray for me. Pray that I’ll know what to say and have the courage to say it at the right time, telling the mystery to one and all, the Message that I, jailbird preacher that I am, am responsible for getting out.
The Word of God for the Children of God.
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost; as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen, amen.
Warfare of any kind doesn’t normally involve just individuals; it engages whole communities. This is also true with spiritual warfare. In spiritual battle, we are to be righteously concerned not only for ourselves but for all of God’s people.
Christians need to have a global perspective of who is at the forefront of the spiritual battles with the forces of evil. It is not uncommon to pray for people who are ill, who are facing hardened times, or who live in an environment of persecution. Prayers for people in physical need can be heard in many places.
It is less common to pray for someone’s spiritual well-being. But in this world, as Paul puts it, “our struggle is … against the spiritual forces of evil” (Ephesians 6:12). And when spiritual warfare is a big part of our daily experience, it is very difficult for any of us to legitimately claim that we have a sense of well-being.
So we all need each other’s prayers always.
Praying in the Spirit for others is itself a faith-building exercise. It involves giving of ourselves for the benefit of others who are part of the body of Christ.
We may not know precisely the nature of the battle, or the piece of armor that is most needed in a situation, but we know of the struggle—and that is sufficient reason to pray. It is an unselfish and blessed thing to do. Praying this way is also an exercise in obedience because we’re each instructed to be intercessors for all.
“And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests.”
Ephesians 6:18-20Amplified Bible
18 With all prayer and petition pray [with specific requests] at all times [on every occasion and in every season] in the Spirit, and with this in view, stay alert with all perseverance and petition [interceding in prayer] for all [a]God’s people. 19 And pray for me, that words may be given to me when I open my mouth, to proclaim boldly the mystery of the good news [of salvation], 20 for which I am an ambassador in chains. And pray that in proclaiming it I may speak boldly and courageously, as I should.
Prayer reveals three facts:
When we pray we recognize, first, the existence of an invisible kingdom.
We would never pray at all if we did not have some awareness that someone is listening, that there is behind the realm of visibility an invisible kingdom.
It is not far off in space somewhere; it is right here. It surrounds us on every side. We are constantly in touch with it, though we do not always recognize it.
It lies behind the façade of life, and all through the Scriptures are exhortations to take heed of this, reckon with it, deal with it, and acknowledge that it exists.
The second fact prayer reveals is that we Christians have assurance, confidence that the kingdom of God is immeasurably significant, that it affects our lives directly, that the visible things which are happening in our world are a direct result of something happening in the realm of invisibility. Therefore, if you and I want to change the visibilities, you and I must start with the invisibilities.
Third, our prayers play an essential part in bringing God’s invisible power to bear on visible life. God answers prayer. Prayer is purposeful and powerful; it is not pitiful and pathetic pleading with only a rare chance it might be answered.
No, it is powerful. God answers! Prayer is an essential link in the working of God in the world today. Without it he does not often work; with it, he certainly does.
These three facts are all revealed in the matter of prayer.
But we must immediately add God answers prayer according to his promises.
This is so necessary to say today, for there is a very vague but widespread concept that God answers any kind of prayer, that no matter what you want or why and when, where and how you ask for it, he commits himself to give it.
This, of course, results frequently in disappointments and gives rise to the widespread belief that prayer is ineffectual. The truth is, God answers every prayer which is exclusively based upon a promise of God and the Will of God.
1 Kings 3:6-14 Amplified Bible
Solomon’s Prayer
6 Then Solomon said, “You have shown Your servant David my father great lovingkindness, because he walked before You in faithfulness and righteousness and with uprightness of heart toward You; and You have kept for him this great lovingkindness, in that You have given him a son to sit on his throne, as it is today. 7 So now, O Lord my God, You have made Your servant king in place of David my father; and as for me, I am but a little boy [[a]in wisdom and experience]; I do not know how to go out or come in [that is, how to conduct business as a king]. 8 Your servant is among Your people whom You have chosen, a great people who are too many to be numbered or counted. 9 So give Your servant an understanding mind and a hearing heart [with which] to judge Your people, so that I may discern between good and evil. For who is able to judge and rule this great people of Yours?”
God’s Answer
10 Now it pleased the Lord that Solomon had asked this thing. 11 God said to him, “Because you have asked this and have not asked for yourself a long life nor for wealth, nor for the lives of your enemies, but have asked for yourself understanding to recognize justice, 12 behold, I have done as you asked. I have given you a wise and discerning heart (mind), so that no one before you was your equal, nor shall anyone equal to you arise after you. 13 I have also given you what you have not asked, both wealth and honor, so that there will not be anyone equal to you among the kings, for all your days. 14 If you walk in My ways, keeping My statutes and My commandments, as your father David [b]did, then I will lengthen your days.”
This is what Paul means by his reminder we are to pray at all times in the Spirit.
In the Spirit!
Many will take this phrase as though it describes the powerful emotions we should have whenever we pray.
They think it is necessary to be greatly moved before prayer can be effectual.
Now this is possible at times, but it isn’t essential to the effectiveness of prayer.
And it is certainly not what is meant by this phrase, in the Spirit.
Praying in the Spirit means to pray according to the promises which the Spirit has given, and the character of God which the Holy Spirit has made known.
God has never promised to answer just any prayer, but he does promise to answer prayer in a way that he has already carefully outlined for each of us.
When you learn to pray on this basis, you and I will discover that exciting and unexpected things are constantly happening, and that there is a quiet but an indescribably mighty power busy at work upon which you can steadfastly rely.
As you and I learn to pray in this way, you find there is put at your disposal a tremendous weapon, a mighty power to influence your own life and the lives of others, especially as it relates to withstanding the hard attacks of the enemy.
Take some time to pick up your Bible and make a list of the promises of God.
How can those promises you identified will surely transform your prayer life?
In the name of God, the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit,
Let us Pray,
Psalm 138 Amplified Bible
Thanksgiving for the Lord’s Favor.
A Psalm of David.
138 I will give You thanks with all my heart; I sing praises to You before the [pagan] gods. 2 I will bow down [in worship] toward Your holy temple And give thanks to Your name for Your lovingkindness and Your truth; For You have magnified Your word together with Your name. 3 On the day I called, You answered me; And You made me bold and confident with [renewed] strength in my life.
4 All the kings of the land will give thanks and praise You, O Lord, When they have heard of the promises of Your mouth [which were fulfilled]. 5 Yes, they will sing of the ways of the Lord [joyfully celebrating His wonderful acts], For great is the glory and majesty of the Lord. 6 Though the Lord is exalted, He regards the lowly [and invites them into His fellowship]; But the proud and haughty He knows from a distance.
7 Though I walk in the midst of trouble, You will revive me; You will stretch out Your hand against the wrath of my enemies, And Your right hand will save me. 8 The Lord will accomplish that which concerns me; Your [unwavering] lovingkindness, O Lord, endures forever— Do not abandon the works of Your own hands.
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost; as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen, amen.
7-15 Soak me in your laundry and I’ll come out clean, scrub me and I’ll have a snow-white life. Tune me in to foot-tapping songs, set these once-broken bones to dancing. Don’t look too close for blemishes, give me a clean bill of health. God, make a fresh start in me, shape a Genesis week from the chaos of my life. Don’t throw me out with the trash, or fail to breathe holiness in me. Bring me back from gray exile, put a fresh wind in my sails! Give me a job teaching rebels your ways so the lost can find their way home. Commute my death sentence, God, my salvation God, and I’ll sing anthems to your life-giving ways. Unbutton my lips, dear God; I’ll let loose with your praise.
The Word of God for the Children of God.
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost; as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen, amen.
A Daily Prayer for Every Christian
Psalm 51:10-13 Complete Jewish Bible
10 (8) Let me hear the sound of joy and gladness, so that the bones you crushed can rejoice. 11 (9) Turn away your face from my sins, and blot out all my crimes.
12 (10) Create in me a clean heart, God; renew in me a resolute spirit. 13 (11) Don’t thrust me away from your presence, don’t take your Ruach Kodesh away from me.
“It happened to me because I did not think it could happen to me.”
That’s what a homeless man said to me after getting involved in a relationship that almost destroyed his marriage, his children almost being taken from him.
Taking the “reasonably good” life he had made for himself and his family for granted, He never thought anything like that could, would, ever happen to him.
He’s not alone.
It’s easy to think we are immune to sin and temptation. Many of us go to church and try to live right. Sometimes we even shake our heads when others fall into sin, and more than one Christian has said, “That will never happen to me.”
But that’s when we become extremely vulnerable. Paul warns against that when he says, “Watch yourselves, or you also may be tempted” (Galatians 6:1).
We would do well to make David’s prayer in verses 10-11 our daily prayer.
No matter how strong we might think we are or however good our intentions might be, in our own strength we are never going to be a match for Satan.
David was speaking from life long experienced when he prayed, “Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. Do not cast me from your presence or take your Holy Spirit from me.”
Take some time over the next few days to memorize that prayer, or write it out and put it on your refrigerator door or bathroom mirror. Pray it often. Only with God, Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit do we have the power to resist temptation.
In the face of sin and separation from God, grace is a refreshing stream that restores salvation. But the joy of salvation is found only when we realize and accept the forgiveness, grace, and restoration God has given us — when we drink from the stream of grace. The joy of salvation is sustained in a changed lifestyle, changed mindset, and an ongoing recognition that we walk with God.
Search Me, Investigate Me, Test Me, and Uphold Me
I believe that deep, abiding joy is largely missing in much of the church today.
I have heard Christians say, “We did not do enough when we had the chance, We prayed down a revival in our church, we did not give revival a real chance.”
Yet revival cannot happen by prayer alone. There cannot be any such awakening unless people hunger diligently for God’s Word. And they must wholly commit, sacrifice their lives to being guided and governed by the Scriptures. We cannot obtain heaven’s joy until the pure Word has convicted us of our backslidings.
When David was disobedient, he tried to hide it from everyone, he tried to cover it up and in doing so, all of his bones felt like they were crushed within him, he utterly lost the joy of the Lord, a joy would only be restored by true repentance.
David knew this, so he prayed, “Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin. For I acknowledge my transgressions, and my sin is always before me. . . . Purge me” (Psalm 51:2–3, 7). David also prayed to regain what he had lost: “Restore to me the joy of your salvation” (Psalm 51:12).
Ezra told the people rebuilding Jerusalem, in essence, “You have hungered so long for God’s Word and allowed it to work in your hearts. You have repented and mourned, and God is pleased. But now it is time to rejoice! Take out your handkerchiefs and wipe away your tears. It is a time for uncompromising joy!”
The glory of the Lord fell on Israel, and the people spent the next seven days rejoicing: “All the people went their way to eat, and to drink . . . and to make great mirth, because they understood the words that were declared unto them” (Nehemiah 8:12, KJV).
The Hebrew word for “mirth” here means “gladness, happiness.” This isn’t just a good feeling, but a deep, inner exuberance. It is clear to everyone around that this wellspring of uncompromising joy has only come from God in heaven.
When God’s Word is revered, the result is an outpouring of genuine “Jesus joy.”
Test Me, Cleanse Me, Uphold Me With A Willing Spirit
Psalm 51:7-13 Complete Jewish Bible
7 (5) True, I was born guilty, was a sinner from the moment my mother conceived me. 8 (6) Still, you want truth in the inner person; so make me know wisdom in my inmost heart.
9 (7) Sprinkle me with hyssop, and I will be clean; wash me, and I will be whiter than snow. 10 (8) Let me hear the sound of joy and gladness, so that the bones you crushed can rejoice. 11 (9) Turn away your face from my sins, and blot out all my crimes.
12 (10) Create in me a clean heart, God; renew in me a resolute spirit. 13 (11) Don’t thrust me away from your presence, don’t take your Ruach Kodesh away from me.
David’s request to be sustained (thoroughly supported) with a willing spirit (a heart quick and ready to respond) could be viewed as a culmination of the Lord creating in him a clean heart, giving him an unwavering spirit of obedience, not grieving the Holy Spirit (Ephesians 4:30) and a restoration, renewal of his joy.
The Evidence of Being Sustained by the Lord with a Willing Spirit:
1. Remembering and rejoicing (vv.1-3) that the Lord:
Stooped down,
Drew the believer out of the pit of despair and destruction,
Gave a place to stand and a path that leads to flourishing, and
Gave a new song to the Lord of all mercy.
2. Understanding foundational truths:
Happy/blessed is the one who trusts in the Lord (whose ultimate confidence is in the Lord). Those who TRUST/DEPEND upon the Lord display trust by not turning to, or seeking counsel from, the self-sufficient proud or those who believe lies.
The Lord has multiplied our joys beyond measure and we continuously recount the tender mercies of the Lord (vv.5, 11).
The Lord delights in heart-felt obedience. We are to delight to do the will of the Lord with an open ear (receiving the Scripture) and treasuring the Word in our hearts.
We are to speak of his tender mercies, proclaiming the goodness/mercy of the Lord (vv. 9a, 9b, 10a, 10b).
QUESTIONS:
1. How does the reality of verses 5 and 11 lead to an “unspeakable obligation” on the part of those who have received mercy?
2. What lies do we most readily believe in our current culture?
3. How do we speak of the mercies of the Lord (Malachi 3:16)?
4. To whom should you speak within the next two weeks regarding the mercies of Jesus in their life?
In the name of God, the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit,
Let us Pray,
Psalm 32 Complete Jewish Bible
32 (0) By David. A maskil:
(1) How blessed are those whose offense is forgiven, those whose sin is covered! 2 How blessed those to whom Adonai imputes no guilt, in whose spirit is no deceit!
3 When I kept silent, my bones wasted away because of my groaning all day long; 4 day and night your hand was heavy on me; the sap in me dried up as in a summer drought. (Selah)
5 When I acknowledged my sin to you, when I stopped concealing my guilt, and said, “I will confess my offenses to Adonai”; then you, you forgave the guilt of my sin. (Selah)
6 This is what everyone faithful should pray at a time when you can be found. Then, when the floodwaters are raging, they will not reach to him.
7 You are a hiding-place for me, you will keep me from distress; you will surround me with songs of deliverance. (Selah)
8 “I will instruct and teach you in this way that you are to go; I will give you counsel; my eyes will be watching you.”
9 Don’t be like a horse or mule that has no understanding, that has to be curbed with bit and bridle, or else it won’t come near you.
10 Many are the torments of the wicked, but grace surrounds those who trust in Adonai. 11 Be glad in Adonai; rejoice, you righteous! Shout for joy, all you upright in heart!
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost; as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen, amen.
8 For we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers and sisters, about [a]our trouble in [the west coast province of] Asia [Minor], how we were utterly weighed down, beyond our strength, so that we despaired even of life [itself]. 9 Indeed, we felt within ourselves that we had received the sentence of death [and were convinced that we would die, but this happened] so that we would not trust in ourselves, but in God who raises the dead. 10 He rescued us from so great a threat of death, and will continue to rescue us. On Him we have set our hope. And He will again rescue us [from danger and draw us near], 11 while you join in helping us by your prayers. Then thanks will be given by many persons on our behalf for the gracious gift [of deliverance] granted to us through the prayers of many [believers].
The Word of God for the Children of God.
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost; as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen, amen.
Truth: Jesus Always Lives to Intercede and Intervene
Today, I find myself reflecting on the indelible truth that Jesus intercedes for us, and that encourages us to intercede for others. As we pray for others, we lift them up to God, asking that in Jesus’ name God’s blessings pour into their lives.
As we contemplate the magnitude of that truth, as we pray for others, it’s important to know that our requests are not limited by time and space.
In today’s passage we read of Paul’s greatest struggles, both physical and spiritual, in carrying out his calling as the Apostle to the Gentiles. Time after time Paul suffered severe life threatening beatings, a few assassination plots, shipwrecks, imprisonment, the imminent threat of immediate beheading.
I do not guess that there are many people who will come to read this will have experienced the breadth of suffering Paul did. However, it is a distinct reality that this devotional will encounter someone who has suffered a deep measure of personal injury, sacrificed far more than their “fair share” for their faith.
For them, we lift them up in our prayers knowing God through Jesus answers.
Yet we also read throughout his letters it did not prevent him from asking God to fill the lives of his fellow believers there with the power of spiritual blessing.
When we pray for others, we ask, plead, God to pour out his resources on them, showering them with his limitless love and grace. It’s because we recognize our own limits we’ll ask God to do for others what we are powerless to do ourselves.
Intercessory prayer demonstrates our love for others.
We forget ourselves in prayer and seek God’s best for others—even going so far as to pray for those whom we consider our enemies.
Matthew 5:43-48 Amplified Bible
43 “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor (fellow man) and hate your enemy.’ 44 But I say to you, [a]love [that is, unselfishly seek the best or higher good for] your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, 45 so that you may [show yourselves to] be the children of your Father who is in heaven; for He makes His sun rise on those who are evil and on those who are good, and makes the rain fall on the righteous [those who are morally upright] and the unrighteous [the unrepentant, those who oppose Him]. 46 For if you love [only] those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do that? 47 And if you greet only your brothers [wishing them God’s blessing and peace], what more [than others] are you doing? Do not even the Gentiles [who do not know the Lord] do that? 48 You, therefore, will be perfect [growing into spiritual maturity both in mind and character, actively integrating godly values into your daily life], as your heavenly Father is perfect.
One of the kindest, most powerful things someone can ever say to us is
“I’m praying for you.”
It means they want us to thrive in ways that only God can accomplish.
Whom is the Lord leading you to pray for today?
Contemplating Powerful Truths Paul’s Prayers Reveal about Spirit-Led Living Today.
2 Corinthians 1:8-11 The Message
8-11 We don’t want you in the dark, friends, about how hard it was when all this came down on us in Asia province. It was so bad we didn’t think we were going to make it. We felt like we’d been sent to death row, that it was all over for us. As it turned out, it was the best thing that could have happened. Instead of trusting in our own strength or wits to get out of it, we were forced to trust God totally—not a bad idea since he’s the God who raises the dead! And he did it, rescued us from certain doom. And he’ll do it again, rescuing us as many times as we need rescuing. You and your prayers are part of the rescue operation—I don’t want you in the dark about that either. I can see your faces even now, lifted in praise for God’s deliverance of us, a rescue in which your prayers played such a crucial part.
I deeply believe that one can tell a lot about a person based on how they pray.
Thankfully, God invites us to come to Him authentically, laying bare our souls before Him, expressing our heaviest and rawest emotions. (Psalms 13, 51, 63)
Unveiling the deepest parts of us to the One who loves us unconditionally, when we praise Him, when we cry out in frustration, is an indelibly beautiful thing.
In fact, the greater our intimacy with Christ, the less filtered our words become.
This is precisely why I find Paul’s prayers so empowering and deeply inspiring.
Through them, the first century church planter demonstrates what it looks like to live in the depths of full blown crisis and to fully yielded to God and His plans.
His prayers recorded in Scripture reveal characteristics of a Spirit-led Christian.
1. They Make Intercessory Prayer a Lifestyle Choice
As we grow closer to Christ, our desire to connect with Him, hear from Him, and participate with Him in His kingdom plans increase.
Matthew 9:36-38 Amplified Bible
36 When He saw the crowds, He was moved with compassion and pity for them, because they were dispirited and distressed, like sheep without a shepherd. 37 Then He said to His disciples, “The harvest is [indeed] plentiful, but the workers are few. 38 So pray to the Lord of the harvest to send out workers into His harvest.”
We also recognize we cannot love Him and others well in our own strength. We realize, in progressively deepening, thought provoking, spirit quickening ways, just how much we and our world need His wisdom, power, presence, and grace.
In discussing Paul, his biblical letters, late Reverend Dr. Timothy Keller wrote,
“He does not see prayer as merely a way to get things from God but as a way to get more of God himself.”
He turned to the Lord, his closest companion and ever-present source of strength, for every need, with every frustration, and with every praise.
His prayers reveal a quickened heart that remained vitally connected to Christ, in both joyous and frightening moments, and that at the sacrifice of everything he held dear, wanted others to experience the same intimacy with the Savior.
Numerous times, he mentioned how he “always” prayed for various people or “constantly” remembered them in his prayers.
In his letters to the Romans and to the Colossians whom he never saw, he thanked God for the witness of their faith, in 2 Corinthians 1:11 for the Lord’s comfort for the hurting, and in Philippians for their partnership in the gospel.
In his letter to Timothy, he urged the leader to pray for all the people, and in Ephesians he asked for all prayers that he might fearlessly share the gospel.
In each of these instances and more, Paul demonstrated his humble, ongoing communication with His Savior and how much he absolutely prioritized this in his life and ministry.
How much of a priority is intercessory prayer for you in these challenging days?
2. They Celebrate God and Celebrate Evidence of Grace
John 14:12-14 Amplified Bible
12 I assure you and most solemnly say to you, anyone who believes in Me [as Savior] will also do the things that I do; and he will do even greater things than these [in extent and outreach], because I am going to the Father. 13 And I will do whatever you ask in My name [[a]as My representative], this I will do, so that the Father may be glorified and celebrated in the Son. 14 If you ask Me anything in My name [as My representative], I will do it.
I know it is said somewhere in the bible “when we celebrate God, we multiply.”
Consider some of your most motivating experiences — the teacher who spoke words of affirmation that led to your current career.
Or, perhaps a coach saw and called out one of your emerging talents.
Most likely, such encouragement motivated you to try harder, work harder, study harder — to become the student or athlete they envisioned. I imagine we can all think of times when a critical statement produced the opposite effect.
Perhaps Paul, a thriving early church leader, understood this, or maybe he was simply overjoyed by the spiritual progress he witnessed.
Regardless, he always seemed to recognize God’s hand in people’s lives.
To the believers in ancient Corinth, he wrote,
“I always thank my God for you because of his grace given you in Jesus. For in him you have been enriched in every way — with all kinds of speech and with knowledge — … Therefore you do not lack any spiritual gift as you eagerly wait for our Lord Jesus Christ to be revealed”(1 Corinthians 1:4-7).
In Colossians, he thanked God for the people’s faith in Christ and love for all others, both of which sprung “from the hope stored up” in heaven (Col. 1:3-6).
3 We give thanks to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, as we pray always for you, 4 for we have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus [how you lean on Him with absolute confidence in His power, wisdom, and goodness], and of the [unselfish] [a]love which you have for all the saints (God’s people); 5 because of the [confident] hope [of experiencing that] which is reserved and waiting for you in heaven. You previously heard of this hope in the message of truth, the gospel [regarding salvation] 6 which has come to you. Indeed, just as in the whole world the gospel is constantly bearing fruit and spreading [by God’s power], just as it has been doing among you ever since the day you first heard of it and understood the grace of God in truth [becoming thoroughly and deeply acquainted with it].
He expressed similar gratitude for those in Thessalonica, stating,
“We always thank God for all of you and continually mention you in our prayers. We remember before our God and Father your work produced by faith, your labor prompted by love, and your endurance inspired by hope in our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Thessalonians 1:2-3).
To the church in Rome, he wrote, “First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for all of you, because your faith is being reported all over the world” (Romans 1:8).
I find these words particularly significant when I consider how some of the first century Christians to whom he wrote behaved.
Although some of the churches, such as the one in Thessalonica, were thriving, others were experiencing serious problems.
For example, in Corinth, people were excusing blatant sexual immorality – including temple prostitution and incest – as being permissible because of one’s freedom in Christ. The community was also plagued with division fueled by not so choice rhetoric, finger pointing, wild accusations and favoritism.
The church in Rome, comprised of Jews and Greeks, was divided as well.
People argued about the right way to follow Jesus and what and how Gentiles were to participate in religious sacraments.
But, while Paul addressed these issues, calling believers to holiness, he didn’t allow their sinful behaviors to overshadow God’s grace.
Plus, most of these men and women were relatively new in their faith.
Likely, Paul understood that it takes time for one to change from deep pagan, polytheistic mentalities to a gospel-infused worldview that permeated every area of one’s life.
I’m reminded of my early twenties. Although I somewhat responded to the word of God as a child, I didn’t grow in my faith until my early to mid forties, when I connected with a group of committed bible believing Christ-followers.
My perspective, formed by popular culture for over those intervening two decades, changed slowly, one Bible lesson, sermon, and prayer at a time.
This held as true for first century believers, especially those with deep pagan backgrounds, as it does for the men and women sitting in the pews beside us each Sunday. And if in a crowded gym, what is the assortment of their beliefs?
One morning when I was working out on a treadmill, I saw a young lady with a rainbow t-shirt on which said; “ask me what real inclusion means.” Genesis 9
May we, like Paul, remember, wherever they, or we, are at in our journey, where they live into their journey as we are always lavished with grace on top of grace.
3. They Yearn for Everyone to Come to Know Jesus
2 Corinthians 9:13-15 Amplified Bible
13 Because of this act of ministry, [a]they will glorify God for your obedience to the gospel of Christ which you confess, as well as for your generous participation [in this gift] for them and for all [the other believers in need], 14 and they also long for you while they pray on your behalf, because of the surpassing measure of God’s grace [His undeserved favor, mercy, and blessing which is revealed] in you. 15 Now thanks be to God for His indescribable gift [which is precious beyond words]!
God’s love has a multiplying effect.
The more we take it in, the more we have to give.
Scholars also teach us to teach others that we become like the thing we worship.
Therefore, the closer and longer we follow Jesus, the more we resemble Him.
His desires become ours, and His driving focus, outside of bringing glory to the Father, is bringing life to souls once dead.
His passion for me, you, his church and the world was so great that He willingly endured one of the cruelest executions known to man, to bring us salvation and entrance directly into God’s global, eternal family.
Paul embraced hardship and intense persecution for the same reason.
He was willing to endure anything, everything even intense pain, if through it, others might turn to Christ.
Philippians 3:7-9 Amplified Bible
7 But whatever former things were gains to me [as I thought then], these things [once regarded as advancements in merit] I have come to consider as loss [absolutely worthless] for the sake of Christ [and the purpose which He has given my life]. 8 But more than that, I count everything as loss compared to the priceless privilege and supreme advantage of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord [and of growing more deeply and thoroughly acquainted with Him—a joy unequaled]. For His sake I have lost everything, and I consider it all garbage, so that I may gain Christ, 9 and may be found in Him [believing and relying on Him], not having any righteousness of my own derived from [my obedience to] the Law and its rituals, but [possessing] that [genuine righteousness] which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness which comes from God on the basis of faith.
That included those who with animosity, envy and jealously followed him from town to town, hoping to immeasurably increase the intensity of his difficulties.
But he refused to waste time on bitterness. Instead, he wrote:
Philippians 1:15-17 Amplified Bible
15 Some, it is true, are [actually] preaching Christ out of envy and rivalry [toward me—for no better reason than a competitive spirit or misguided ambition], but others out of goodwill and a loyal spirit [toward me]. 16 The latter [preach Christ] out of love, because they know that I have been put here [by God on purpose] for the defense of the gospel; 17 but the former preach Christ [insincerely] out of selfish ambition [just self-promotion], thinking that they are causing me distress in my imprisonment.
In Romans 9:3, he wrote, “For I could wish that I myself were cursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my people, those of my own race.”
These words gain significance when one recognizes that the men following Paul from one village or city to another were, like him very Jewish, Paul’s people.
While they ultimately longed to increase Paul’s persecution, and incited a mob to help, Paul, instead, prioritized God and Jesus and prayed for their salvation.
Throughout his letters, the evangelist taught many important lessons and spoke powerful, life-changing truths. He encouraged, inspired, and corrected.
But most importantly, he routinely turned to God – in every season, whether hungry or fed, joyous or discouraged. Sprinkled throughout his New Testament letters, his intercessory prayers reveal patterns and passions of a Spirit-led life.
In the name of God, the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit,
Let us Pray,
Thank you, Lord, for putting neighbors in my life who pray for me. You bless and strengthen me by their prayers. Help me to pray for others too. For Jesus’ sake, Amen.
‘Our Father, who is in heaven, [b]Hallowed be Your name. 10 ‘[c]Your kingdom come, Your [d]will be done On earth as it is in heaven. 11 ‘Give us this day our [e]daily bread. 12 ‘And forgive us our [f]debts, as we have forgiven our debtors [letting go of both the wrong and the resentment]. 13 ‘And do not [g]lead us into temptation, but deliver us from [h]evil. [i][For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.]’
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost; as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen, amen.
73 1-5 No doubt about it! God is good— good to good people, good to the good-hearted. But I nearly missed it, missed seeing his goodness. I was looking the other way, looking up to the people At the top, envying the wicked who have it made, Who have nothing to worry about, not a care in the whole wide world.
6-10 Pretentious with arrogance, they wear the latest fashions in violence, Pampered and overfed, decked out in silk bows of silliness. They jeer, using words to kill; they bully their way with words. They’re full of hot air, loudmouths disturbing the peace. People actually listen to them—can you believe it? Like thirsty puppies, they lap up their words.
11-14 What’s going on here? Is God out to lunch? Nobody’s tending the store. The wicked get by with everything; they have it made, piling up riches. I’ve been stupid to play by the rules; what has it gotten me? A long run of bad luck, that’s what— a slap in the face every time I walk out the door.
15-20 If I’d have given in and talked like this, I would have betrayed your dear children. Still, when I tried to figure it out, all I got was a splitting headache . . . Until I entered the sanctuary of God. Then I saw the whole picture: The slippery road you’ve put them on, with a final crash in a ditch of delusions. In the blink of an eye, disaster! A blind curve in the dark, and—nightmare! We wake up and rub our eyes. . . . Nothing. There’s nothing to them. And there never was.
21-24 When I was beleaguered and bitter, totally consumed by envy, I was totally ignorant, a dumb ox in your very presence. I’m still in your presence, but you’ve taken my hand. You wisely and tenderly lead me, and then you bless me.
25-28 You’re all I want in heaven! You’re all I want on earth! When my skin sags and my bones get brittle, God is rock-firm and faithful. Look! Those who left you are falling apart! Deserters, they’ll never be heard from again. But I’m in the very presence of God— oh, how refreshing it is! I’ve made Lord God my home. God, I’m telling the world what you do!
The Word of God for the Children of God.
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost; as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen, amen.
Is God out to Lunch or Taking a Long Vacation?
Psalm 73:10-14 New American Standard Bible 1995
10 Therefore [a]his people return to this place, And waters of abundance are [b]drunk by them. 11 They say, “How does God know? And is there knowledge [c]with the Most High?” 12 Behold, these are the wicked; And always at ease, they have increased in wealth. 13 Surely in vain I have [d]kept my heart pure And washed my hands in innocence; 14 For I have been stricken all day long And [e]chastened every morning.
Verse 11 … They say, “How does God know? And is their knowledge with the Most High?” Verse 13 … Surely in vain I have kept my heart pure and washed my hands in innocence; verse 14 For I have been stricken all day long and chastened every morning …”
This is indeed, quite the lament of a heart and soul that is securely padlocked into doubt – One might believe this heart and soul is confined to a solitary cell.
Alone, and deep into its own thoughts by something hardcore, whatever it is.
Something is drawing someone’s faith into a state of doubt, deep questioning.
Someone’s faith journey is taking a whole bunch of body blows to their guts.
Someone’s faith seems to be on a heavily greased descent into someplace it definitely does not want to be. Its descent seems to be growing unstoppable.
Is this somewhere we ourselves find ourselves slipping and sliding into? Is our faith unable to gain any traction of any kind that we might stop its fast descent?
Are we asking ourselves, shouting to ourselves at the very top of our lungs to God for answers to questions which are going through our souls at warp speed?
Except that the slipping and sliding is only getting much faster by the moment?
11-14 What’s going on here? Is God out to lunch? Nobody’s tending the store. The wicked get by with everything; they have it made, piling up riches. I’ve been stupid to play by the rules; what has it gotten me? A long run of bad luck, that’s what— a slap in the face every time I walk out the door.
Psalm 73: Psalm for a Slippery, Sliding Faith
Doubt is guaranteed. We will doubt.
Psalm 73 begins by affirming a core teaching: “Surely God is good to Israel.”
Then doubt comes in tidal waves. The psalmist faith is slipping. He’s trying to keep faith, but he’s tottering on a miles deep precipice. He has a bad case of vertigo, that dizziness some people feel when they look down from a high place.
The psalmist thought God was good to Israel, but something he saw made his head start spinning.
We’ve seen things like that too.
The baseball team with the most respectable players doesn’t necessarily win the World Series.
The quarterback with the best moral character doesn’t always start on the college team.
The stock market takes a sudden nose dive taking someone’s education fund.
Someone’s spouse suddenly walks out without any notice, taking the children and the bank accounts are suddenly empty and the spouse in not taking calls.
Upheaval at the 2019/2024 General Conference of the United Methodist Church.
Disarray …. Disarray …. Disarray …. Every measure of it is flung off the charts!
Oddly, seems some arrogant, ungodly people often prosper with the greatest of ease and have no troubles or suffering. But then people who love God and try to serve him seem to get nowhere, slapped, face all kinds of trouble and suffering.
Whole bunch of people are severely questioning: “Is God taking a lunch break?”
Asaph, the writer of this psalm saw this. So do we.
A common reaction to unhappiness is to wonder, “does God even know what’s happening?”
When He doesn’t intervene as we’d prefer, our habit is to question His goodness and His power.
According to the writer Asaph, those who abandon faith (Psalm 73:10) tend to soon follow the prosperous wicked (Psalm 73:1–3) also will tend to rationalize their decision to follow the wicked, question God’s knowledge of the situation.
In one sense, this means questioning whether God is aware of their pain. In another, it’s an expression of arrogance: that God isn’t going to notice their sin.
The truth is … God notices everything …
Psalm 139:1-12 New American Standard Bible 1995
God’s Omnipresence and Omniscience.
For the choir director. A Psalm of David.
139 O Lord, You have searched me and known me. 2 You know [a]when I sit down and [b]when I rise up; You understand my thought from afar. 3 You [c]scrutinize my [d]path and my lying down, And are intimately acquainted with all my ways. 4 [e]Even before there is a word on my tongue, Behold, O Lord, You know it all. 5 You have enclosed me behind and before, And laid Your hand upon me. 6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; It is too high, I cannot attain to it.
7 Where can I go from Your Spirit? Or where can I flee from Your presence? 8 If I ascend to heaven, You are there; If I make my bed in [f]Sheol, behold, You are there. 9 If I take the wings of the dawn, If I dwell in the remotest part of the sea, 10 Even there Your hand will lead me, And Your right hand will lay hold of me. 11 If I say, “Surely the darkness will [g]overwhelm me, And the light around me will be night,” 12 Even the darkness is not dark [h]to You, And the night is as bright as the day. Darkness and light are alike to You.
Even today, those who find themselves undergoing times, seasons of great pains of doubt, may question whether God knows or cares what is happening.
That’s an understandable reaction, but it’s deeply flawed.
This verse Psalm 73:11 is purposefully ironic.
It’s self-defeating to address God as “the Most High” while also questioning His knowledge. God not only knows what happens to His people, He also cares.
James 5:1-12 New American Standard Bible 1995
Misuse of Riches
5 Come now, you rich, weep and howl for your miseries which are coming upon you. 2 Your riches have rotted and your garments have become moth-eaten. 3 Your gold and your silver have rusted; and their rust will be a witness against you and will consume your flesh like fire. It is in the last days that you have stored up your treasure! 4 Behold, the pay of the laborers who mowed your fields, and which has been withheld by you, cries out against you; and the outcry of those who did the harvesting has reached the ears of the Lord of [a]Sabaoth. 5 You have lived luxuriously on the earth and led a life of wanton pleasure; you have [b]fattened your hearts in a day of slaughter. 6 You have condemned and [c] put to death the righteous man; he does not resist you.
Exhortation
7 Therefore be patient, brethren, until the coming of the Lord. The farmer waits for the precious produce of the soil, being patient about it, until [d]it gets the early and late rains. 8 You too be patient; strengthen your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is near. 9 Do not [e]complain, brethren, against one another, so that you yourselves may not be judged; behold, the Judge is standing [f]right at the [g]door. 10 As an example, brethren, of suffering and patience, take the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord. 11 We count those blessed who endured. You have heard of the [h] endurance of Job and have seen the [i]outcome of the Lord’s dealings, that the Lord is full of compassion and is merciful.
12 But above all, my brethren, do not swear, either by heaven or by earth or with any other oath; but [j]your yes is to be yes, and your no, no, so that you may not fall under judgment.
James addressed the rich, wicked farmers who abused their Christian workers; he told them, “the cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord of hosts” (James 5:4).
1Peter 5:6-9 urges us to cast all our anxieties on the God because He cares for us.
6 Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you at the proper time, 7 casting all your anxiety on Him, because He cares for you. 8 Be of sober spirit, be on the alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. 9 [a]But resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same experiences of suffering are being accomplished by your [b]brethren who are in the world.
The end of the wicked (be very careful about who you call or refer to as being “wicked” Matthew 7:1-3) is ruin.
Matthew 7:1-3 New American Standard Bible 1995
Judging Others
7 “Do not judge so that you will not be judged. 2 For in the way you judge, you will be judged; and [a]by your standard of measure, it will be measured to you. 3 Why do you look at the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye?
And while God doesn’t promise to make his people wealthier or healthier, he does promise he is always working for the heart and restoration for the soul.
John 5:14-17 New American Standard Bible 1995
14 Afterward Jesus *found him in the temple and said to him, “Behold, you have become well; do not sin anymore, so that nothing worse happens to you.” 15 The man went away, and told the Jews that it was Jesus who had made him well. 16 For this reason the Jews were persecuting Jesus, because He was doing these things on the Sabbath. 17 But He answered them, “My Father is working until now, and I Myself am working.”
In Father, Son, Spirit’s presence and care, we have everything we truly need.
We are under God’s constant continuous observation … Psalm 23, Psalm 121
In the name of God, the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit,
Let us Pray,
Psalm 23 The Message
23 1-3 God, my shepherd! I don’t need a thing. You have bedded me down in lush meadows, you find me quiet pools to drink from. True to your word, you let me catch my breath and send me in the right direction.
4 Even when the way goes through Death Valley, I’m not afraid when you walk at my side. Your trusty shepherd’s crook makes me feel secure.
5 You serve me a six-course dinner right in front of my enemies. You revive my drooping head; my cup brims with blessing.
6 Your beauty and love chase after me every day of my life. I’m back home in the house of God for the rest of my life.
Psalm 121The Message
121 1-2 I look up to the mountains; does my strength come from mountains? No, my strength comes from God, who made heaven, and earth, and mountains.
3-4 He won’t let you stumble, your Guardian God won’t fall asleep. Not on your life! Israel’s Guardian will never doze or sleep.
5-6 God’s your Guardian, right at your side to protect you— Shielding you from sunstroke, sheltering you from moonstroke.
7-8 God guards you from every evil, he guards your very life. He guards you when you leave and when you return, he guards you now, he guards you always.
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost; as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen, amen.
To the Chief Musician. With [a]flutes. A Psalm of David.
5 Give ear to my words, O Lord, Consider my [b]meditation. 2 Give heed to the voice of my cry, My King and my God, For to You I will pray. 3 My voice You shall hear in the morning, O Lord; In the morning I will direct it to You, And I will look up.
4 For You are not a God who takes pleasure in wickedness, Nor shall evil [c]dwell with You. 5 The boastful shall not stand in Your sight; You hate all workers of iniquity. 6 You shall destroy those who speak falsehood; The Lord abhors the bloodthirsty and deceitful man.
7 But as for me, I will come into Your house in the multitude of Your mercy; In fear of You I will worship toward [d]Your holy temple. 8 Lead me, O Lord, in Your righteousness because of my enemies; Make Your way straight before my face.
9 For there is no [e]faithfulness in their mouth; Their inward part is destruction; Their throat is an open tomb; They flatter with their tongue. 10 Pronounce them guilty, O God! Let them fall by their own counsels; Cast them out in the multitude of their transgressions, For they have rebelled against You.
11 But let all those rejoice who put their trust in You; Let them ever shout for joy, because You [f]defend them; Let those also who love Your name Be joyful in You. 12 For You, O Lord, will bless the righteous; With favor You will surround him as with a shield.
The Word of God for the Children of God.
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost; as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen, amen.
At one place in his book Mere Christianity, C. S. Lewis suggests that each morning starts the same way for everyone. When we wake up, rise up, all the thoughts about what we hope to accomplish that day flood our mind. Lewis writes that our plans for the day resemble wild animals that rush toward us.
I don’t know, nor can I speak, if this describes how a day typically begins for you. But Lewis goes on to describe something that everyone should experience each morning. He encourages us to pay attention to another reality: the deeper, more intimate life we have in our Savior Jesus Christ. Instead of all our fretting over the concerns of the new day, we should allow God’s peace to flow into us.
That sounds like a wonderful description of morning prayer.
It’s what David, in Psalm 5 describes as being a two-way conversation between us and God our Father. We wake up, We rise up, We speak up, and we listen up.
We pray it up, and we wait. We act, and we receive. We begin our day with God.
We are informed by God Morning prayers sets the tone for the day that follows.
If the morning begins with worry first, that will only increase as the day moves along. But if we start out by “Good Morning God!” enjoying time with God and receiving strength from God, we will more likely remain in his peace as the day continues. God teaches there’s no better way to begin the day than with prayer.
“God, as I pass through my day …” Transformative Things That Will Enhance Your Prayer Life Today
Psalm 34:17-19 New King James Version
17 The righteous cry out, and the Lord hears, And delivers them out of all their troubles. 18 The Lord is near to those who have a broken heart, And saves such as [a]have a contrite spirit.
19 Many are the afflictions of the righteous, But the Lord delivers him out of them all.
As I opened my morning devotional first thing this morning, the Scripture for the day is from Psalm 34 of which I have pulled out the verses that spoke to me.
It wasn’t long before I was reminded of the many issues before me, struggling with responses to the chaos in the world with grace-filled thoughts, prayers.
I felt the Lord whispering unto me that I should be deepening my prayer life.
I was surprised since I thought I had a consistent prayer time every morning before I sit down, gather my thoughts, engage the Lord, and write my blog.
What could the Lord possibly mean by this?
Soon, God started revealing exactly how my prayer life was going to be enlarged and enhanced, which would hopefully, prayerfully, also fill me with more grace and appropriate responses to situations. Let me share with you ways the Lord led me to try enhancing my prayer life that will perhaps resonate with you also.
Actively Anticipate and Expect that the Lord will be Moving in Your Prayer Life.
Philippians 1:3-7 New King James Version
Thankfulness and Prayer
3 I thank my God upon every remembrance of you, 4 always in every prayer of mine making request for you all with joy, 5 for your fellowship in the gospel from the first day until now, 6 being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ;7 just as it is right for me to think this of you all, because I have you in my heart, inasmuch as both in my chains and in the defense and confirmation of the gospel, you all are partakers with me of grace.
Sometimes, we allow ourselves to become overwhelmed by everything happening in our personal lives and in the world.
Things that might cause anxiety, worry, doubt, fear, maybe even hopelessness in our soul.
It’s easy to forget that those are the very times we need to take everything to the Lord in prayer.
I mean everything!
I’ll readily confess that’s not always my normal response, but it should be. So many occurrences in our daily lives are actually calls from the Lord to pray about them instead of trying to figure out how to fix them ourselves. God is trying to move us all to a deeper dependence on him in all circumstances.
I’m not saying the Lord purposely puts situations in your path to pray over, but sometimes we stumble over them instead of lifting them up to God for answers.
We’ve all been around prayer warriors who break out into prayer continuously and spontaneously. Petitioning and praising. I have friends like that and when I’m around them, as a consequence, I soon realize just how little I actually pray.
Many of us relegate our prayers to morning devotionals and before meals, but then we might set God aside for the day while we busily deal with life instead of anticipating opportunities to call on God like the Scriptures remind us to do.
Romans 12:3-8 New King James Version
Serve God with Spiritual Gifts
3 For I say, through the grace given to me, to everyone who is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think soberly, as God has dealt to each one a measure of faith. 4 For as we have many members in one body, but all the members do not have the same function, 5 so we, being many, are one body in Christ, and individually members of one another. 6 Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us, let us use them: if prophecy, let us prophesy in proportion to our faith; 7 or ministry, let us use it in our ministering; he who teaches, in teaching; 8 he who exhorts, in exhortation; he who gives, with liberality; he who leads, with diligence; he who shows mercy, with cheerfulness.
Do Not be Afraid and Follow Through When Prayer Assignments Are Discerned and are then Revealed
James 5:13-18 New King James Version
Meeting Specific Needs
13 Is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray. Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing psalms. 14 Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. 15 And the prayer of faith will save the sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven. 16 [a]Confess your trespasses to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The effective, [b]fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much. 17 Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed earnestly that it would not rain; and it did not rain on the land for three years and six months. 18 And he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain, and the earth produced its fruit.
A prayer assignment occurs every time we sense someone, something, or even an issue which is in need of prayer. It could be illness, job loss, death, problem children, finances, work decisions even world events…really the list is endless.
Our tendency is to express an appropriate measure of concern or condolences and say, “I’ll pray for you,” whether it’s in person, by phone or on social media.
But could it be that our assignment is to pray in the moment?!
Ask the person if you could pray for them right at the time. If it’s on social media, text, or email, write out a short prayer response. When you hear bad news on the media, drop to your knees and pray, especially when you want to throw something or yell at the monitor screen. Take it to God in prayer instead.
Seek His Kingdom First, A true Watchman for God, Be on the Alert Look for the Opportunities to Pray More.
2 Samuel 18:24-27 New American Standard Bible 1995
24 Now David was sitting between the two gates; and the watchman went up to the roof of the gate by the wall, and raised his eyes and looked, and behold, a man running by himself. 25 The watchman called and told the king. And the king said, “If he is by himself there is good news in his mouth.” And he came nearer and nearer. 26 Then the watchman saw another man running; and the watchman called to the gatekeeper and said, “Behold, another man running by himself.” And the king said, “This one also is bringing good news.” 27 The watchman said, “I [a]think the running of the first one is like the running of Ahimaaz the son of Zadok.” And the king said, “This is a good man and comes with good news.”
It’s wonderful to stop, watch and pray for those revealed prayer opportunities, but our prayer life will become even more vibrant when we also consciously and consistently seek out opportunities to observe and declare when to pray. With the chaos, upheaval in our world today, it is not hard to find occasions to pray.
With practice and diligence, we can all become beacons of hope, courage, love, compassion and grace when we extend to others and to ourselves the gift of offering prayers to our Lord and Savior. How that blesses him, others, and us.
Ask yourself How much larger, More beautiful, could God’s Kingdom become?
In the name of God, the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit,
Let us Pray,
Psalm 16 New American Standard Bible 1995
The Lord the Psalmist’s Portion in Life and Deliverer in Death.
16 Preserve me, O God, for I take refuge in You. 2 [b]I said to the Lord, “You are [c]my Lord; I have no good besides You.” 3 As for the [d]saints who are in the earth, [e]They are the majestic ones in whom is all my delight. 4 The [f]sorrows of those who have [g]bartered for another god will be multiplied; I shall not pour out their drink offerings of blood, Nor will I take their names upon my lips.
5 The Lord is the portion of my inheritance and my cup; You support my lot. 6 The lines have fallen to me in pleasant places; Indeed, my heritage is beautiful to me.
7 I will bless the Lord who has counseled me; Indeed, my [h]mind instructs me in the night. 8 I have set the Lord continually before me; Because He is at my right hand, I will not be shaken. 9 Therefore my heart is glad and my glory rejoices; My flesh also will dwell securely. 10 For You will not abandon my soul to [i]Sheol; Nor will You [j]allow Your [k]Holy One to [l]undergo decay. 11 You will make known to me the path of life; In Your presence is fullness of joy; In Your right hand there are pleasures forever.
22 A good name is to be more desired than great wealth, Favor is better than silver and gold. 2 The rich and the poor [a]have a common bond, The Lord is the maker of them all. 3 The prudent sees the evil and hides himself, But the [b]naïve go on, and are punished for it. 4 The reward of humility and the [c]fear of the Lord Are riches, honor and life. 5 Thorns and snares are in the way of the perverse; He who guards himself will be far from them. 6 Train up a child [d]in the way he should go, Even when he is old he will not depart from it.
The Word of God for the Children of God.
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost; as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen, amen.
Parents, Tell Your Children, Teach Your Children
Proverbs 22:1-6 The Message
The Cure Comes Through Discipline
22 A sterling reputation is better than striking it rich; a gracious spirit is better than money in the bank.
2 The rich and the poor shake hands as equals— God made them both!
3 A prudent person sees trouble coming and ducks; a simpleton walks in blindly and is clobbered.
4 The payoff for meekness and Fear-of-God is plenty and honor and a satisfying life.
5 The perverse travel a dangerous road, potholed and mud-slick; if you know what’s good for you, stay clear of it.
6 Point your kids in the right direction— when they’re old they won’t be lost.
Well, Memorial Day weekend is here and summer is right around the corner.
Soon children will be out of school – some will be graduating high school, and some will be graduating from college and still others will be getting ready for the next grade level and some will just be getting old enough for kindergarten.
Summer time and summer vacations, now parents will too often face a moral dilemma in the lines at the admission gates of theme parks and sporting events.
If a child is in a more expensive age bracket but looks young enough to pass for a cheaper rate, the parents are probably tempted just a wee bit to lie about the child’s age, tell the child to be quiet, thinking it might be better to save money.
22 A sterling reputation is better than striking it rich; a gracious spirit is better than money in the bank.
2 The rich and the poor shake hands as equals— God made them both!
Character, Character, Character!
Integrity, Integrity, Integrity!
Honesty, Honesty, Honesty!
Fairness, Fairness, Fairness!
Because if we let one “wee little innocent” sin in the door, others follow.
A parent’s lie at the admission gate amounts to stealing from the company.
It suggests to a child who is watching that it’s no big deal to lie to Mom or Dad or to steal from them or others.
And if a lying, stealing parent tries to use discipline on a lying, stealing child, that only drives a wedge between the generations.
“Do as I say, not as I do” does not meet God’s standard for raising children being; “6 Train up a child [d]in the way he should go, Even when he is old he will not depart from it.” “6Point your kids in the right direction—when they’re old they won’t be lost.”
Children’s lives, regardless of how old they are can mirror their parents’ lives in frightfully convicting ways—or, conversely, truly wonderfully affirming ways.
Forgiveness from God is the only way forward.
Parents prove each day that they are sinners, and their admitting this to their children clears the air and points them to Jesus. It’s never too late to apologize.
What a fine Christian Parent witness it is when parents, regardless of their age, readily admit even their need for God`s grace! The way to God is the way to go.
Regardless of their Age, Please Teach Your Children a just Few Powerful Prayers to Fill Them with Wisdom.
James 1:5-8 The Message
5-8 If you don’t know what you’re doing, pray to the Father. He loves to help. You’ll get his help, and won’t be condescended to when you ask for it. Ask boldly, believingly, without a second thought. People who “worry their prayers” are like wind-whipped waves. Don’t think you’re going to get anything from the Master that way, adrift at sea, keeping all your options open.
Wisdom can be defined as the quality of having experience, knowledge, and good judgment. Some forms of wisdom come naturally as our kids grow up and experience more of life. Other forms can be taught. My prayer is for my children to be open to wisdom, recognize it for what it is, and learn to love living it out.
The book of Proverbs is full of simple, profound wisdom for living. In fact, I’ve read and prayed through the Proverbs many times, for many different reasons.
I’ve used it to pray for my marriage.
I’ve used it to pray for friends and family, and as I read it each time, I almost always found myself pausing to pray specific verses for my children. The older I get and the older they get, the more convinced I am wisdom and understanding, and knowledge are some of the most treasured, valuable gifts I can give them.
In my present state of age and God’s grace I have found that there are basically only two types of people—the foolish and the wise.
The foolish man says in his heart, “there is no God,” (Psalm 14:1, 53:1) and does as exactly as he pleases all his days. The wise man so fears the Lord, and follows Him (Proverbs 1:7), keeps his character, integrity and honor front and at center.
Choose which do you want your child to be—foolish or wise?
The older they get, the more I desire for my children to have wisdom, and the Proverbs are where I turn most often.
They serve as a guide, helping us know how to make decisions, which paths to take, and how to understand the life God has called us to live as believers.
Doesn’t that sound exactly like what you want God to accomplish in your child’s heart? But, just how do we ensure that our children will choose God’s wisdom?
I invite you to start the process with prayer.
Prayer is one of the most important parts of Christian parenting today.
Unfortunately, it’s also one of the most overlooked and underutilized and under developed, under taught, under emphasized lessons parents teach the children.
God has assured us that when we need wisdom, He’ll give it (James 1:5).
I suggest praying God’s Word for your children (and yourself).
Reason being it’s, “living and active…able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart” (Hebrews 4:12), and because despite all circumstances, it will do exactly what God purposes for it to do in the heart of your child (Isaiah 55:8-11).
Prayer is a partnership between you, your child and the God Who loves your child more than you do. He will use your prayers in the life of your child, and in your own heart to give you His place of comfort and direction in times of need.
With that in mind, here are three scriptures to pray for your child to have wisdom:
1. A Prayer for Our Children to Walk in Awe of the Lord
“The proverbs of Solomon son of David, king of Israel: For learning wisdom and discipline; for understanding insightful sayings; for receiving prudent instruction in righteousness, justice, and integrity; for teaching shrewdness to the inexperienced, knowledge and discretion to a young man…The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge; fools despise wisdom and discipline.” –Proverbs 1:1-4 & 7
A Prayer for Our Children to Walk in Awe of the Lord
Father, help my child to learn Your wisdom and discipline, and make them open to patience, self control, understanding insight. May they have deep reverential fear of You, Lord, so they can receive wisdom, truly begin to have knowledge.
2. A Prayer for Our Children to Listen to the Lord
“My son, if you accept my words and store up my commands within you, listening closely to wisdom and directing your heart to understanding; furthermore, if you call out to insight and lift your voice to understanding, if you seek it like silver and search for it like hidden treasure, then you will understand the fear of the Lord and discover the knowledge of God. For the Lord gives wisdom; from his mouth come knowledge and understanding.” –Proverbs 2:1-6
A Prayer for Our Children to Listen to the Lord
Father, help my child accept your words and commit your commands to heart. Help them to keep their mouth shut, listen closely to wisdom and direct their heart to understanding. May they seek Your wisdom like it’s a precious jewel.
3. A Prayer for Our Children to Trust God
“Never let loyalty and faithfulness leave you. Tie them around your neck; write them on the tablet of your heart. Then you will find favor and high regard with God and people. Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not rely on your own understanding; in all your ways know him, and he will make your paths straight. Don’t be wise in your own eyes; fear the Lord and turn away from evil. It will be healing to your body And refreshment to your bones.” – Proverbs 3:3-8
A Prayer for Our Children to Trust God
Father, make my child, children, loyal and faithful, finding favor and highest regard with God and others. Help them to implicitly trust in You with all their heart and not lean on his own understanding. May they acknowledge You in all his ways, may they then be healed And as he do, God makes their paths straight.
Learning to Pray for Our Children
If your child needs God’s wisdom (and who doesn’t?), begin praying right away.
Look to God’s Word to show you what to pray, and bring your petitions to the Lord on their behalf night and day.
You might not always know what to do, but you can always know what to pray.
Ask God to give you compassion for what your children are going through, for strength to follow Him faithfully in your own life, for wisdom for the next step.
In the name of God, the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit,
Let us Pray,
Psalm 119:1-16 The Message
119 1-8 You’re blessed when you stay on course, walking steadily on the road revealed by God. You’re blessed when you follow his directions, doing your best to find him. That’s right—you don’t go off on your own; you walk straight along the road he set. You, God, prescribed the right way to live; now you expect us to live it. Oh, that my steps might be steady, keeping to the course you set; Then I’d never have any regrets in comparing my life with your counsel. I thank you for speaking straight from your heart; I learn the pattern of your righteous ways. I’m going to do what you tell me to do; don’t ever walk off and leave me.
* * *
9-16 How can a young person live a clean life? By carefully reading the map of your Word. I’m single-minded in pursuit of you; don’t let me miss the road signs you’ve posted. I’ve banked your promises in the vault of my heart so I won’t sin myself bankrupt. Be blessed, God; train me in your ways of wise living. I’ll transfer to my lips all the counsel that comes from your mouth; I delight far more in what you tell me about living than in gathering a pile of riches. I ponder every morsel of wisdom from you, I attentively watch how you’ve done it. I relish everything you’ve told me of life, I won’t forget a word of it.
* * *
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost; as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen, amen.
19 Then they arose early in the morning and worshiped before the Lord, and returned again to their house in Ramah. And Elkanah [a]had relations with Hannah his wife, and the Lord remembered her. 20 It came about [b]in due time, after Hannah had conceived, that she gave birth to a son; and she named him Samuel, saying, “Because I have asked him of the Lord.”
21 Then the man Elkanah went up with all his household to offer to the Lord the yearly sacrifice and pay his vow. 22 But Hannah did not go up, for she said to her husband, “I will not go up until the child is weaned; then I will bring him, that he may appear before the Lord and stay there forever.” 23 Elkanah her husband said to her, “Do what seems best [c]to you. Remain until you have weaned him; only may the Lord confirm His word.” So the woman remained and nursed her son until she weaned him.
The Word of God for the Children of God.
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost; as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen, amen.
A Message to Hannah … I See You This Mother’s Day!
In the days of Elkanah, Peninnah, and Hannah, polygamy was acceptable.
Also in those days a woman’s worth was measured mainly by how many sons she had.
As the years crawled by and Hannah remained infertile, her sorrow grew.
But her pain made fertile soil for spiritual growth.
She prayed fervently.
Many people find that their deepest trials draw them closer to God.
Hannah learned that God is the one to whom all people and all things belong.
One day Hannah was praying so intensely that when a man of God, Eli, saw her, he thought she was drunk.
He ordered her to get rid of her wine.
But she had not been drinking.
She said to him, “I was pouring out my soul to the Lord… I have been praying here out of my great anguish and grief.”
Then Eli encouraged her and said, “Go in peace.”
“In the course of time” little Samuel was born to Hannah and Elkanah.
Because Samuel was a gift of God, Hannah dedicated him to the service of the Lord.
He became one of the most faithful leaders of God’s people.
Infertility still cuts deep into the lives of many couples.
This story does not promise that all infertile couples will have children.
It does reassure us that those who stay close to the heart of God in the their pain and pray for the face of God will see God work things out for his good purpose.
God’s 2024 Message To Our Hannah Moms: “Surely, As I saw Hannah, I See You This Mother’s Day too!”
1 Samuel 1:19-23 Complete Jewish Bible
19 They got up early in the morning and worshipped before Adonai, then returned and came to their house in Ramah.
Elkanah had sexual relations with Hannah his wife, and Adonai remembered her. 20 She conceived; and in due time she gave birth to a son, whom she named Sh’mu’el, “because I asked Adonai for him.”
21 The husband, Elkanah, went up with all his household to offer the yearly sacrifice to Adonai and fulfill his vow. 22 But Hannah did not go up, explaining to her husband, “Not till the child has been weaned. Then I will bring him, so that he can appear before Adonai and live there forever.” 23 Her husband Elkanah answered her, “Do what seems good to you; stay here until you have weaned him. Only may Adonai bring about what he said.” So the woman stayed behind and nursed the child, until she weaned him.
Mother’s Day is today, and in the name of our Savior, I want to say “I see you, and more importantly, God sees you. He honors the important work you are doing.”
I see you, Momma-To-Be…
As you are waiting, expecting, and anticipating this whole new world to come.
May the joy of the Lord be your strength. May you know that God is with you and God will touch you as you help to usher miraculous new life into this world. Your strength is impressive and miraculous. Your ability to co-create with God is beyond stunning.
I see you, Expectant Momma…
Who feels unsure, unwell, unready, scared of how to bring life into the world.
Would our strong God equip you with all you need to mother his Creation. Would God’s supernatural provision be for you a significant part of your story. Would you know that every child is made in the image of God. He will guide you on this journey and help you even in the moments that feel so heavy you surely think you may break.
I see you, Birth Momma…
As you wonder, miss, pray, and grieve this Mother’s Day.
God sees your heart. God upholds, strengthens, your heart. He is there to care for all your children, even as they are growing up with another mother that also loves them. Giving the gift of life is an amazing gift. Your willingness to love a child by carrying, nurturing them in your body and giving birth is so noble. Your motherhood matters.
I see you, Grieving-Yet-Hopeful Mother…
Wishing, watching, waiting, worshiping, pondering, praying, persevering for the day, that by God’s grace, you get to join the ranks of Mothers that came before you.
God knows the deepest desires of your heart and is close to you as you walk through those disappointments, medical appointments, loss, and waiting.
May God give you strength and purpose as you walk this tough road. May God remind you that you are so valuable just as you are. No matter what the future holds for you and your family you are strong, beautiful, and God loves you.
I see you, Mom-Who-Has-Lost…
Miscarriage… the loss of a child before their time… stillborn, seeing a child slip away to tumultuous waves, storms or lifestyle choices… other losses that burden your soul.
The God of all comfort is with you always. God is there to hold your hand, God is there to uphold. May God whisper his sustaining love into your ears, may you know you are never alone even when life feels heavier than your soul can bear.
I see you, Foster Mother…
As you stand in the gap for children and families who are in need of support.
As God heard, remembered Hannah, captured all of her tears in a bottle,God sees your love, your prayers, and your sacrifice. He knows you are so attached and loves your willingness to pour out your life for the sake of the least of these around you. May He give you the strength and wisdom you need to walk this stretching road.
I see you, Single, Separated, Divorced Momma…
As you try to meet so many needs all on your own.
May God bring a supportive community around you that steps in to offer you all their prayers, friendship and material support you need on your mothering journey. Would you’ll know that you are doing good and meaningful work. You are strong, beautiful, capable, and by all your prayers, may God give you wisdom for each and every day.
I see you, Empty-Nesting-Momma…
As you do the work of letting go of the little birds you sacrificed everything for, poured every resource of your life into, with hopes they would one day soar.
May you one day delight in seeing how your sacrificial investment into your children is now producing beautiful fruit in their lives. In due time and in the seasons to come, Would you know too that there is true purpose and truest joy to be found in this new season. That evolving, changing, letting go, gives way to God’s guidance to new life.
I see you, New-Oh-So-Tired-Momma…
As you wonder how much more you can give before you actually give out.
May God bring you His supernatural rest this Mother’s Day. Remember, this too shall pass. Allow, permit yourself, the grace to find rest, without carrying that sneaky Mom guilt. Mom, this is a marathon, not a sprint. Breaks are required to do this job well.
I see you, Adoptive Mom…
As you went through the long and expensive process of adoption, as you love so fiercely, as you look upon a child you did not give birth, and wonder if your love is going to be enough, if you are going to be strong enough, courageous enough and bold enough, able enough, to raising them, doing this adoption thing well.
Would God give you the knowledge and wisdom you need to navigate the triad of your adoptee, their first family, and your home. Would you have peace to know that even when your love isn’t enough, God is! He is the healer of our wounds and the keeper of our children. He promises them a hope and a future. God’s got you!
I see you, Kinship Care Momma…
As you love and care for children you never expected to care for as your own.
Your courage and willingness to step up for the children in your family or community is miraculously beautiful. May God be with you in this utmost challenging, sacrificial role. Would God, through His presence. strengthen you when the work feels heavy.
I see you, Stepmom…
As you work to create a home that blends different stories into one unit.
In His time, Would God make something beautiful in your home. May he do abundantly more than you could ask or ever imagine, on your family’s behalf.
To all the mothers out there; no matter your story, loss, place on this journey, if you feel like you are rocking it at this job or if you feel like you are failing or are a failure … The eternally beautiful truth is God sees you upholds and loves you!
Galatians 6:9 says, “Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.”
Galatians 6:9-10The Message
9-10 So let’s not allow ourselves to get fatigued doing good. At the right time we will harvest a good crop if we don’t give up, or quit. Right now, therefore, every time we get the chance, let us work for the benefit of all, starting with the people closest to us in the community of faith.
The work of motherhood is good work.
Don’t give up.
The reward is one that is counted in sweet tender embraces, in milestones met, through forgiveness, grace, lessons learned, and memories made.
Motherhood is a lifetime of prayers, sacrifice, service, unconditional love, apologies, growth, tears, laughter, joy, worship of God and so much more.
Please remember this Mother’s Day, that Isaiah 40:11 says,
“He tends his flock like a shepherd: He gathers the lambs in his arms and carries them close to his heart; he gently leads those that have young.”
Isaiah 40:11 Amplified Bible
11 He will protect His flock like a shepherd, He will gather the lambs in His arm, He will carry them in His bosom; He will gently and carefully lead those nursing their young.
The God who comforts and guides is faithful to lead you on this wild journey.
Momma, always Celebrate God as God always Celebrates You!
Everyone else, always Celebrate Momma as God always Celebrates Her!
In the name of God, the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit,
Let us Pray,
“Dear Lord, on this day dedicated to celebrating and honoring You, honoring and celebrating mothers, we thank You for the blessings of motherhood. We are grateful for our mothers’ love, strength, and guidance in the shaping our lives. Guide them and Bless them all with joy, peace, and love on this special day and always. Amen.”
Psalm 139:13-18 Complete Jewish Bible
13 For you fashioned my inmost being, you knit me together in my mother’s womb. 14 I thank you because I am awesomely made, wonderfully; your works are wonders — I know this very well. 15 My bones were not hidden from you when I was being made in secret, intricately woven in the depths of the earth. 16 Your eyes could see me as an embryo, but in your book all my days were already written; my days had been shaped before any of them existed. 17 God, how I prize your thoughts! How many of them there are! 18 If I count them, there are more than grains of sand; if I finish the count, I am still with you.
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost; as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen, amen.
Loving God, Living God, Loving Hope, Living Hope, Loving Living Life His Way! "Many things are possible for the person who has hope. Even more is possible for the person who has faith. And still more is possible for the person who knows how to love. But everything is possible for the person who practices all three virtues." - Brother Lawrence (1605-1691), Practicing the Presence of God (1692). 