Your words…

¹³ When Joshua was near Jericho, he looked up and saw a man standing in front of him with a drawn sword in His hand. Joshua approached Him and asked, “Are You for us or for our enemies?”¹⁴ “Neither,” He replied. “I have now come as commander of the Lord’s army.” Then Joshua bowed with his face to the ground in worship and asked Him, “What does my Lord want to say to His servant?”¹⁵ The commander of the Lord’s army said to Joshua, “Remove the sandals from your feet, for the place where you are standing is holy.” And Joshua did so. Joshua 5:13-15

My words…

Praise

Jesus, is that You? Standing outside Jericho holding a sword? Scholars seem to think so since no other heavenly being would accept Joshua’s act of worship. No other heavenly being except the Lord God would make dusty ground holy. But a sword? I shouldn’t be surprised: You always say and do what is right in every situation. Joshua needed to see You, needed to hear You. There he stood, surveying one of the most fortified walled cities of the ancient world. His army of inexperienced wilderness wanderers posed zero threat to Jericho and its wall. Then You appear, armed. Joshua asks a fitting question: Are You for us or against us? Will You show Your allegiance to us or to our enemies? When I read Your answer for the first time, it just didn’t sound right. Neither? Why wouldn’t You be for Joshua and the Israelite army? But You had assumed a title that dispelled all my doubt and confusion. You are the Commander. You lead a heavenly army. The outcome is decided. Joshua’s allegiance is to You. Not the other way around.

Your response is a beacon with its origin at Jericho, beaming across the centuries with no end in sight. You are my Commander. You fight for me. My allegiance is to You. Not the other way around.

Prayer for me

When I read passages such as this, I realize how narrow a focus I have of You, Jesus. You are the Suffering Servant, the Prince of Peace, the Good Shepherd. You are meek. You are gentle. But as Commander of the Lord’s army, You take up arms against the powers that would harm me. How many times have You already rescued me from an unseen foe? How many, Lord?

Forgive me

There are times when I have faced my own wall of Jericho. I stand outside the wall and despair. The wall is too big, too strong. I can’t breach it by myself. But there I stand, despairing. Forgive me for not casting off despair and stepping in cadence with my Commander. Forgive me for being a deserter instead of a sure believer in the power of the Captain of the Lord’s army.

Prayer for Others

I learned this week that a special person I know has just stepped up to her Wall of Jericho. Cancer is marching through her body, leaving mutated cells in its wake. Another friend – a single mother- stands in the shadow of her Wall of Jericho, unable to control the abusive actions of her teenage son. And a dear friend who is dedicated to her Alzheimer-afflicted mother even though her mother has no idea it is her daughter who continues to visit – has been standing at her wall for years. Fight for these servants, Lord! Remind them that You have brandished Your sword for them! You are their Commander. The wall will come down, and what lies beyond the wall is victory – Your victory. Give us the faith to see Your victory as our victory as well.

Thank You

There is no one else who can fight for us the way You do. Thank You for taking up the sword on our behalf. Thank You for keeping it unsheathed, in Your hand, at the ready.

More Praise

Lord, Jesus, You stare down the forces of evil in the heavenly places; Your sword strikes powerfully and sure. You fight for me. You fight for all who declare You as their Commander. We praise You, our Steadfast Leader, our Tireless Captain, our Almighty Commander.

Your words…

⁸ Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden at the time of the evening breeze, and they hid themselves from the Lord God among the trees of the garden. ⁹ So the Lord God called out to the man and said to him, “Where are you?”

¹⁰ And he said, “I heard You in the garden and I was afraid because I was naked, so I hid.”

¹¹ Then He asked, “Who told you that you were naked? Did you eat from the tree that I commanded you not to eat from?”

¹² Then the man replied, “The woman You gave to be with me—she gave me some fruit from the tree, and I ate.”

¹³ So the Lord God asked the woman, “What is this you have done?”

And the woman said, “It was the serpent. He deceived me, and I ate.” Genesis 3:8-13

Now Abel became a shepherd of flocks, but Cain worked the ground. ³ In the course of time Cain presented some of the land’s produce as an offering to the Lord. ⁴ And Abel also presented an offering—some of the firstborn of his flock and their fat portions. The Lord had regard for Abel and his offering, ⁵ but He did not have regard for Cain and his offering. Cain was furious, and he looked despondent.

⁶ Then the Lord said to Cain, “Why are you furious? And why do you look despondent? ⁷ If you do what is right, won’t you be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at the door. Its desire is for you, but you must rule over it.”

⁸ Cain said to his brother Abel, “Let’s go out to the field.” And while they were in the field, Cain attacked his brother Abel and killed him.

⁹ Then the Lord said to Cain, “Where is your brother Abel?”

“I don’t know,” he replied. “Am I my brother’s guardian?” 

¹⁰ Then He said, “What have you done? Your brother’s blood cries out to Me from the ground! Genesis 4:2-10

My words…

God, you know it all – every answer to every question. Yet you posed questions to Adam and Eve and their son, Cain – questions to which You already knew the answers. You knew the hiding place of Adam and Eve, yet You called out to them. You witnessed the deception and knew the origin of their shame, yet You inquired after the details. You knew the source of Cain’s fury and the result of his actions, yet You questioned the whereabouts of Abel. Why? I think it’s because they needed to answer You in order for them to learn the condition of their hearts. Something You already knew, but they hadn’t figured out. You asked the perfect questions to lay open the hearts of this family and bring their sin out in the open. No more hiding. No more deception. They messed up, and they didn’t want to re-live it. I don’t blame them. But You’re all about the condition of the heart – shining a light into every corner so it can be cleansed.

A Prayer for Me

The questions You posed in Genesis transcend time; each of these could be asked of me every day. Many of them I really don’t want to answer. I squirm. Sadly, we’ve had conversations such as this before:

God: Did you do something I commanded you not to do?

Me:  You talkin’ to me?

God: Why are you acting this way?

Me: Uh, because it’s what I want to do.

God: Where is your brother?

Me: What brother?

Father, I pray that You continually question me. Question my intentions. (Why am I doing this?) Question my actions. (What am I doing here?) Force me to examine my own heart and realize my intentions, so that when You question me again, I will have a ready answer – an answer worthy of Your question.

Forgive Me

Forgive me when I close my ears to Your voice or drown it out with my own pathetic excuses or smart rebuttals. I realize that the only reason You question me is to lay open my heart for me to see…and repent. I repent.

A Prayer for Others

Oh God, I pray for the hearts of those who refuse to seek You. They certainly know who You are. They have heard Your name from the lips of many. But they are shackled by arrogance, ignorance, or fear. Break the shackles, Lord! Set Your questions on their hearts and in their minds, leading them to sincerely ponder the answers. Bring them into the path of your servants here on earth who will lovingly guide them toward the truth.

 Thank you

Thank You for being the God who questions. With You, there’s no lecture, sermon, or tirade but a series of nudges moving me in the direction I should go. You make me think and wonder, and Your gentle Spirit is my teacher.

 More Praise

Lord, You are the God of reason. You are not arbitrary or fickle, hurling thunderbolts like the gods created by man. You are changeless and constant. I praise You for your faithfulness to me. You will not leave me, I know that. Your questions are placed on my heart to draw me closer. Only a God of unsearchable love would act that way.

Your Words…

Yahweh, our Lord,
how magnificent is Your name throughout the earth!

You have covered the heavens with Your majesty.
² Because of Your adversaries,
You have established a stronghold
from the mouths of children and nursing infants
to silence the enemy and the avenger.

³ When I observe Your heavens,
the work of Your fingers,
the moon and the stars,
which You set in place,
⁴ what is man that You remember him,
the son of man that You look after him?
⁵ You made him little less than God
and crowned him with glory and honor.
⁶ You made him lord over the works of Your hands;
You put everything under his feet:
⁷ all the sheep and oxen,
as well as the animals in the wild,
⁸ the birds of the sky,
and the fish of the sea
that pass through the currents of the seas.

⁹ Yahweh, our Lord,
how magnificent is Your name throughout the earth! Psalm 8

My Words… 

I Praise You

 You know everything, Lord. Everything! You know all there is to know about stuff that man doesn’t even know exists. I heard it announced just this week that scientists have detected the sound of gravitational waves emitted from two black holes merging 1.3 billion years ago. One point three billion years ago! And we’re just hearing it! I always think of You at times like this. The whole universe is at Your feet. You not only hear gravitational waves every day, You know everything there is to know about them. And that’s because You know everything. This truth directs me to another truth: You can do anything. You could pull together the four corners of the universe, tie them to the end of a stick, rest the stick on Your shoulder and carry us off to another place – and we wouldn’t even know it.

You could.

Or You could stop all matter from moving, keeping every particle, every molecule perfectly still – like pressing the PAUSE button on creation. Then You could rest again.

You could. 

My existence compared to Yours shouldn’t register on the life-o-meter. My life could be just another tiny whiff of space and time to You.

It could.

A Prayer for Me

King David’s inspired words remind me that You assigned me dominion over parts of Your creation. I have dominion over the blue whale. He could crush me with a flip of his fin. You would not have given me this assignment if I did not hold a special place in Your heart. Me – in Your heart! What an honor! But I flit away my time contemplating what I think about myself and what others think of me instead of what You think of me. Will You remind me, Lord? In Your own way, in Your own time, place on my heart reminders that I hold a special place in Your creation.

Forgive Me

 Forgive me when I fail to appreciate my place in Your kingdom. You have crowned me with glory and honor. How dare I take that for granted. How dare I.

A Prayer for Others

Father, today I pray for those who feel as if they have no worth. Like the college freshman I heard crying in the hallway outside my office. Thinking no one was nearby, she pleaded with her boyfriend, “Don’t break up with me! Did I do something wrong? I’ll change!” The young man mumbled something and left her alone, weeping in the hallway. I could not get to her in time to tell her that she did not need to change. She was loved by Someone so much greater than the one who was causing her heartbreak. Lord, there are millions of such souls around the world – those who have never been told they are priceless children – children of the Almighty Father God. You love us just the way we are. Send comfort to those who have yet to realize their worth as Your children.

Thank You

It’s times like this that I am thankful for math and science. I never thought I would thank You for subjects I barely passed in school.  Scientists rely on numbers and formulas to learn about Your universe, and when I learn more about Your universe, I learn more about You – Your order, Your design, Your omnipotence. Thank You for creating a way for us to catch a glimpse of the magnitude of what You have created.

More Praise

All praise to the One who listens to the symphony of gravitational waves in harmony with other tones yet to be discovered by man. Yahweh, my Lord, how magnificent is Your name throughout the earth.

Your Words…

¹¹ Soon afterward He was on His way to a town called Nain. His disciples and a large crowd were traveling with Him. ¹² Just as He neared the gate of the town, a dead man was being carried out. He was his mother’s only son, and she was a widow. A large crowd from the city was also with her. ¹³ When the Lord saw her, He had compassion on her and said, “Don’t cry.” ¹⁴ Then He came up and touched the open coffin,^[d] and the pallbearers stopped. And He said, “Young man, I tell you, get up!” ¹⁵ The dead man sat up and began to speak, and Jesus gave him to his mother.¹⁶ Then fear came over everyone, and they glorified God, saying, “A great prophet has risen among us,” and “God has visited His people.” ¹⁷ This report about Him went throughout Judea and all the vicinity. Luke 7:11-17

 ⁴ But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love that He had for us, ⁵ made us alive with the Messiah even though we were dead in trespasses. You are saved by grace! Ephesians 2:4-5

You have received free of charge; give free of charge. Matthew 10:8

My Words…

I Praise You

Lord, You know there is nothing more painful for a mother than attending the funeral of her child. Long ago, You crossed paths with a grieving mother bringing her dead son to his tomb. Coincidence? I doubt it. You had never met her, yet You knew her. You knew she had already endured the loss of her husband. Now, with the death of her son, she would be at the mercy of her friends and neighbors for her very existence. In the open coffin lay her boy, stagnant blood in his veins; his skin, gray and cold; his eyelids, closed over sightless eyes. You asked her to do something unheard of in this situation: “Don’t cry.” With a touch and a command, You sent death fleeing from Nain. As much as I love my 21^st century life, I would give it all up to have been a Nainite that day! (or is it Nainian?) The townspeople witnessed a cold, stiff body warming up and gaining color right before their eyes. The young man’s chest rose and fell as air once again passed through his lungs. His eyelids opened, and he saw the crowd. He sat up and spoke. I wonder what he said. Maybe, “Why am I wrapped in cloth and smelling of spices?” The mother’s heart experienced a resurrection of its own – one moment, heavy as stone, the next, light and leaping in her chest. Everyone must have cheered, danced, and hugged as they witnessed the Son of God throwing his glory around Nain! And I would guess that many fell on their faces at Your feet.  I can see in my mind’s eye the joyful mother smothering her son with kisses, holding him close, not wanting him out of her reach. The young man’s friends probably asked him, “Hey, what’s it like being dead?”  It’s so like You, Lord, to turn a funeral dinner into a celebration of new life.

Forgive me

Forgive me when I take for granted the grace You bestowed on me. It’s the same grace You poured out on the dead son of Nain. I should be experiencing the same joy that young man and his mother experienced. I was dead, but now I am alive!

Prayer for all of us

You see me writing this sitting in an airport – people all around me. Those who are not staring at their phones are hurrying to be somewhere. I see dreadlocks, yarmulkes, walking canes, head scarves, tattoos. It’s breakfast time, but a line has formed at the Pizza Hut counter. We are a bizarre bunch. But we’re Your bizarre bunch. You love us all, complete with dreadlocks, yarmulkes, walking canes, head scarves and tattoos. I board the plane and greet the man seated beside me. He ignores me. But You love him, too. We are Your people, and we pray for Your daily blessing of love and mercy. How we need it!

Thank you

I’m sure the mother in Nain struggled with how to thank You for Your act of compassion toward her and her son. She was given a gift beyond worth, and the most eloquent words strung together would never be enough to express her gratitude. I’m in the same boat. But You don’t want words, do You? You want action – on my part. I have freely taken. As a response, I must freely give.

More Praise

I lift perfect praise to the God who raises the dead!  It’s not a magic potion or true love’s kiss – it’s the power of The Almighty at work! I was once stone cold dead, but now I live – saved by grace.  Hallelujah!

Your Words…

¹ Lord, how long will You forget me?
Forever? How long will You hide Your face from me?
² How long will I store up anxious concerns within me,
agony in my mind every day?
How long will my enemy dominate me?

³ Consider me and answer, Lord my God.
Restore brightness to my eyes;
otherwise, I will sleep in death.
⁴ My enemy will say, “I have triumphed over him,”
and my foes will rejoice because I am shaken.

⁵ But I have trusted in Your faithful love;
my heart will rejoice in Your deliverance.
⁶ I will sing to the Lord
because He has treated me generously. Psalm 13:1-6

²² Then He said to His disciples: “Therefore I tell you, don’t worry about your life, what you will eat; or about the body, what you will wear. ²³ For life is more than food and the body more than clothing. ²⁴ Consider the ravens: They don’t sow or reap; they don’t have a storeroom or a barn; yet God feeds them. Aren’t you worth much more than the birds? ²⁵ Can any of you add a cubit to his height by worrying? ²⁶ If then you’re not able to do even a little thing, why worry about the rest?

²⁷ “Consider how the wildflowers grow: They don’t labor or spin thread. Yet I tell you, not even Solomon in all his splendor was adorned like one of these!²⁸ If that’s how God clothes the grass, which is in the field today and is thrown into the furnace tomorrow, how much more will He do for you—you of little faith? ²⁹ Don’t keep striving for what you should eat and what you should drink, and don’t be anxious. ³⁰ For the Gentile world eagerly seeks all these things, and your Father knows that you need them. Luke 12:22-30

My Words…

I Praise You

Lord, You see my past, present, and future at once, which is both comforting and mind-bending. No one knows me better than You. When You created me, You made me a promise: You will take care of me. You already know what I need. You have given me examples of how You care for the flowers in the field and birds in the air. Flowers don’t work to be more beautiful. Just by being flowers they are splendid. And a bird is content with the nest she builds. She doesn’t kick it out of the tree to build a bigger one. You use simple lessons from creation to teach me how important I am to You. You are the supplier of my needs.

Prayer for Me

When I’m anxious, I come to You with all sorts of questions: Why is this happening to me? Why aren’t You doing something about it? Have You forgotten about me? And obviously, this question pattern has been around since King David’s time. But what David seemed to work through in six verses would take me six days, six months, maybe six years. It’s only when I take my eyes off myself that I see Your answer to my questions: “Take your eyes off yourself.” Each time I see a flower or a bird, bring to my mind Your promise to care for me. Help me recognize and control my tendencies to rely on my own smarts and abilities to fix everything. You’re not going to leave me hanging. You’ll be there to prop me up. I need not worry.

Forgive Me

Paths are wonderful when I am in unfamiliar territory, and I want to find my way through. But when the way is familiar, and I’ve walked through it a thousand times before, I tend to want to make my own path – just to see some different scenery. We both know how dangerous that can be. But lately I need forgiveness for avoiding the path altogether. I saw people on that path who needed me, and I didn’t want to expend the time and energy to help them. I knew if I waited long enough, someone else would come along and take care of it. But I know You meant for me to do something, and I preferred to keep my eyes on me. Straying from the path and focusing on myself – the breeding ground for my anxiety.

A Prayer for Others

C.S. Lewis said anxiety is not a lack of faith. It’s an affliction. If that’s true, then we are an afflicted people. We worry. We worry about worrying. And guess what? There’s a drug for that. All of that anxiety is bred from what we think about – what we consider. David said, “Consider me…” And all these years later, we’re saying the same thing: “Consider us, Lord!” We need this. We need that. But do we really know what we need? You’ve asked us to consider the ravens and wildflowers. It’s a spiritual prescription that doesn’t cost anything except some time to re-focus. We board the “anxiety train” and ride it for a while until the pills and therapy take effect. Help us to open the windows of the train and let in some birds and flowers. Help us surrender our will to Yours so we can get off at the next stop.

Thank You

Thank you for those who have spent years turning to You for wisdom. Their hair has turned white and their bones brittle, but they are the least anxious people on the planet. They’ve lived long enough to know how futile it is to worry. They have figured out what to consider and what to ignore. Bless them in their work to be the balm for an anxious generation.

More Praise

You are a God who listens to Your creation. You hear the first chirp of each baby bird as it breaks through its shell, the crash of each wave as it tumbles to the shore, the prayer of each soul who reaches out to You. You delivered King David from the hand of his foes, and he rejoiced. You have delivered me, not from an enemy with a sword and shield, but from the agony that is a result of an anxious heart. Your path is the way to peace. And like King David – I rejoice.

Your Words…

¹¹ Then God said, “Let the earth produce vegetation: seed-bearing plants and fruit trees on the earth bearing fruit with seed in it according to their kinds.” And it was so. ¹² The earth produced vegetation: seed-bearing plants according to their kinds and trees bearing fruit with seed in it according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good. Genesis 1:11-12

¹⁴ The farmer is like a person who plants God’s teaching in people. ¹⁵ Sometimes the teaching falls on the road. This is like some people. They hear the teaching of God. But Satan quickly comes and takes away the teaching that was planted in them. ¹⁶ Others are like the seed planted on rocky ground. They hear the teaching and quickly accept it with joy. ¹⁷ But they don’t allow the teaching to go deep into their lives. They keep it only a short time. When trouble or persecution comes because of the teaching, they quickly give up. ¹⁸ Others are like the seed planted among the thorny weeds. They hear the teaching. ¹⁹ But then other things come into their lives: worries, the love of money, and wanting all kinds of other things. These things stop the teaching from growing. So that teaching does not produce fruit in their lives. ²⁰ Others are like the seed planted in the good ground. They hear the teaching and accept it. Then they grow and produce fruit—sometimes 30 times more, sometimes 60 times more, and sometimes 100 times more.” Mark 4:14-20

 ⁶ I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth. ⁷ So then neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth.  ⁸ Now the one planting and the one watering are one in purpose, and each will receive his own reward according to his own labor.  ⁹ For we are God’s coworkers.  You are God’s field… I Corinthians 3:6-9

My Words…

I Praise You

I extol You, Father, for creating seeds – something so small with so much life inside.  Only You could come up with such an idea: blending sun, rain, earth and seed to produce all sorts of plants for me to eat and admire. (I especially like Your peaches.)  Of course, there’s a lesson in this little iota of creation. What’s inside is alive. The outside may look dead, ugly, unappealing, but inside is the assurance that life continues.  Something will grow.  And with tilling, something will grow strong and useful.  All is not lost as long as there is a seed. Just one will do.  There is order in what you create – an apple seed in an apple to make more apples. Throw the core on the ground, add photosynthesis and a little time, then, wonder of wonders, another apple tree.

You created each of us with an invisible, acutely personal patch of heart where Your word belongs – where Your message is planted. You gave us the freedom to do what we desire with that message. Your Spirit stands ready to grow the seed into an abundant crop, a lush orchard, a burgeoning vineyard that feeds not only our own spirits but the spirits of all we know and have yet to meet.

A Prayer for Me

There is a seed inside me: Your message and instructions on how to live intentionally holy. You planted the seed in my heart- that one special place created by You that only You can know fully.

Help me, Father, to give the seed fertile ground to grow into a strong vine, growing and climbing through my body, around my heart, out of my ears and through my fingers.  I pray for Your word to bind my thoughts and actions.

Forgive Me

Forgive me when I do not tend to the soil of my heart – refusing the presence of Your Spirit’s green thumb. I allow the seed to lie there – a dormant seed in a fallow field. I pray for your Spirit’s fertilizer to strengthen my roots (my faith) and produce limbs full of fruit (my works) that nourish both my soul and others.

A Prayer for Others

I pray for Your farmers, Your mission field workers who plant and water Your seed in the hearts of Your children. Their work is exhausting – days, months, and years of toil, with no assurance of the yield. These mission workers are ridiculed, accosted, abused, and sometimes murdered. Yet they embrace their tasks with joy because they have a heart like Yours – a heart filled with love for those who do not know You. Bring them a bed of comfort when they sleep at night and the strength to rise the next day with a refreshed spirit. Some people on this earth have yet to be blessed with Your word placed on their hearts. They have been barred from hearing Your words. Throw open the doors of their homes, their cities, their countries so Your field workers can reach them! But even more than that, bust down the wall surrounding their hearts so Your seed can be scattered. Once it’s scattered, You can do Your work.

Thank You

I thank You for speaking Your words so they could be recorded and used as seeds for our souls. Scripture is finite: books, chapters and verses. But the message is timeless. Where would we be without this ageless blessing? Thank you for leaving us a really good book to read.

More Praise

You are Botanist Supreme. The innumerable plants of the earth are a reflection of Your beauty, Your power, Your joy in variety. You could have stopped at 1,000 different species. You could have stopped at 100,000. But why stop there? Scientists can’t catalog fast enough! The whole of Your plant creation is a symbol of Your love for me: It is incomprehensibly vast, and I couldn’t survive without it.

Your Words… 

Isn’t the fact I choose:
To break the chains of wickedness,
to untie the ropes of the yoke,
to set the oppressed free,
and to tear off every yoke?
Is it not to share your bread with the hungry,
to bring the poor and homeless into your house,
to clothe the naked when you see him,
and not to ignore your own flesh and blood?
Then your light will appear like the dawn,
and your recovery will come quickly.
Your righteousness will go before you,
and the Lord’s glory will be your rear guard.
At that time, when you call, the Lord will answer;
when you cry out, He will say, ‘Here I am.’  Isaiah 58:6-9

Then the King will say to those on His right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry
and you gave Me something to eat; I was thirsty and you gave Me something to drink;
I was a stranger and you took Me in;  I was naked and you clothed Me; I was sick and you took care of Me; I was in prison and you visited Me.’  “Then the righteous will answer Him, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry and feed You, or thirsty and give You something to drink?  When did we see You a stranger and take You in, or without clothes and clothe You?  When did we see You sick, or in prison, and visit You?’  “And the King will answer them, ‘I assure you: Whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of Mine, you did for Me.’   Matthew 25:34-40

My Words…

I Praise You

You are the God of all who suffer. You – who have witnessed every abominable act ever committed by mankind – are well acquainted with suffering. You don’t just witness it, You feel it. You are a God of limitless love who mourns over every instance of humans acting inhumanely. I can barely listen to the news anymore. Yet You see it all – thousands of years of misery laid out before you like a carpet. Murder, war, rape, hunger, neglect – over and over again. How can You stand it? It’s that unsearchable love, isn’t it? You not only love and mourn over those being hurt but over those doing the hurting. So, I’ve been reading about how all of this affects me. I see that many of Your words are directed not to those who are hurting, but to me – the one who is supposed to do something about it. Not through legislation or delegation, but through hands-on care – my hands easing someone’s discomfort. Just as fasting prepares one for worship, so does showing compassion to those who suffer. This message of care for the hurting is why I love being your child. I brag about You being a God who cares. Really cares. As a loving father, You bless Your children when they show Your love to those who are battered, damaged, persecuted, and defenseless.  You love first then ask me to emulate You. Praise be to God who made comforting others an act of worship.

A Prayer for Me

It is because Your Spirit struggles with mine that I know my weaknesses (and my strengths). But today I am petitioning Your Spirit to blow open my heart and fill it with the kind of love that notices the hurt around me, in other words – Your love. I pray I will not just notice it, but I will act on it.

Forgive Me

Forgive me for being so unwilling to offer my hands in place of Yours. Humans in need can be so needy. Surely, You know!  It doesn’t take much interaction with needy people before I’m finding an excuse to avoid them. I am a fool to do so when I know that by sharing my bread with the hungry and my home with the homeless, I will experience the peace that comes from having You as my rear guard. Who wouldn’t want that?

A Prayer for Others

Lord, I know, at this moment there is a starving child praying for food, a refugee praying for a safe place to call home, a prisoner praying for a visitor. (A list of just three in a world full of hurt)  I add my prayer to theirs. Place someone in their paths who will be Your hands, Your ears, Your arms. I am not praying for a sprinkling or a shower. I am praying for a deluge of comfort that only You can supply. Send Your people, Lord!

Thank You

Although I often neglect the needs of others, there are those who never just walk on by. I thank You for those whose hearts are seared when they see a soul in need and offer a part of themselves expecting nothing in return. These servants often go unnoticed by man, but not by You. You know their names. It comforts me that You have made a promise to them: When they call on you, they will hear You answer, “Here I am.”

 More Praise

I pulled up to a convenience store one day and saw a very large and dangerous-looking man get out of his car. He was huge. He wore a t-shirt with the sleeves cut off, revealing his tattooed biceps and forearms. His thick neck supported his shaved head. The passenger door of his car opened and a skinny school-aged boy climbed out, wearing shorts and an Iron Man t-shirt. As he hurried to catch up to the large man, the boy tripped, skinning his knee. The boy’s crying prompted the man to stop and turn. The man knelt and the boy almost disappeared inside the man’s muscular arms tenderly encircling him. At the sound of the man’s whisper in his small ear, the boy stopped crying. He whisked a tear from his cheek, took hold of the man’s little finger, and the two walked into the store. I thought of You, God. You’re the big, strong guy, and the world is the kid in the Iron Man t-shirt. You have the power to do anything, yet you choose to encircle us in Your embrace. Amazing.

Your Words…                             

Then they sailed to the region of the Gerasenes, which is opposite Galilee. When He got out on land, a demon-possessed man from the town met Him. For a long time he had worn no clothes and did not stay in a house but in the tombs. When he saw Jesus, he cried out, fell down before Him, and said in a loud voice, “What do You have to do with me, Jesus, You Son of the Most High God? I beg You, don’t torment me!” For He had commanded the unclean spirit to come out of the man. Many times it had seized him, and though he was guarded, bound by chains and shackles, he would snap the restraints and be driven by the demon into deserted places. “What is your name?” Jesus asked him. “Legion,” he said—because many demons had entered him. And they begged Him not to banish them to the abyss. A large herd of pigs was there, feeding on the hillside. The demons begged Him to permit them to enter the pigs, and He gave them permission. The demons came out of the man and entered the pigs, and the herd rushed down the steep bank into the lake and drowned. Luke 8:26-33

My Words…                                                                                                                              

I Praise You

I marvel when I read stories of You, Son of God, living on earth but interacting with the unearthly. Like the time You saw the naked, possessed man hanging out in the cemetery. Everyone else was afraid of him. I would have been, too. They chained him up so they wouldn’t have to deal with their fears. But You weren’t afraid of him. You weren’t afraid of who possessed him. (I had never thought about it before – but You aren’t afraid of anything. Nothing!) Legion was, understandably, very afraid of You. You could have assigned that band of demons a front row seat in the abyss. (I am not sure what that is, but if demons are afraid of it, then so am I.) But you opted to act out mercy, even toward those harming the crown of Your creation. Whether it be the spiritual realm or the earthly, You have the last word. That is praiseworthy.

A Prayer for Me

I have never seen a demon-possessed person, and I don’t want to. Demons scare me. I have read how they completely take over the lives of their hosts, barricading them from the hope, healing, and compassion You provide. Lately, I am convicted (through Your Spirit) that I am possessed by a different kind of Legion: complacency, apathy, and discontent. And this Legion is beginning to scare me. These “demons” have taken up residence, and I pray You will cast them out. I understand I can’t sit back and let You do all the work. It’s my job, too. So when I try to convince myself that I need a break from doing good, or I can’t make a difference, or I deserve a better life – give me a slap upside the heart. I need it.

Forgive Me

I can’t imagine anyone was surprised when You, Jesus, showed compassion to the man in whom Legion had taken up residence. You’re not one to pass by on the other side when you see a suffering soul. But when you showed mercy to Legion, You did something I would not have done if I had the power. Legion asked you to take it easy: “Don’t torment me.” But Legion had been tormenting his host for years, forcing him to live naked among the dead, seizing him so violently as to make him an outcast among his people, yet Legion had the gall to ask You for leniency. I would have given him a one-way ticket to abyss-ville. But You didn’t react like I would have (big surprise). You showed mercy to a demon, yet I struggle to be merciful to those around me. Forgive me, Lord, when I pick and choose who will receive my morsels of mercy. Open my heart to allow Your mercy to flow through me and on anyone who crosses my path – even when I feel they don’t deserve it. None of us does.

A Prayer for Others

 I recently read an account of a four-year-old girl whose mother believed the girl was demon-possessed. The child would often cry, whine, and act out when it was time to sleep. (If that were the criteria, then I raised three demon-possessed children and never knew it.) The mother’s boyfriend murdered the little girl. Problem solved. Demon conquered. The news site posted a photo of the little girl, and, upon seeing her small, smiling face, I was overcome with rage toward the adults who had ended her young life. And Lord, this kind of horror happens every single day. You see it all, yet You are willing to forgive it all. If the man who murdered that innocent child came to you in a state of complete repentance, You would forgive him. No questions asked. I pray he does just that. And I pray that little girl is smiling at You right now.

Thank You

I am so grateful you are a God who knows all my “demons” and loves me anyway. You endure disappointment, humiliation and just plain sorrow because of me, yet you have never regretted creating me. I could write a billion eloquent phrases of thanksgiving to You yet never feel I have expressed it adequately. Thank you for being the God who knows me and loves me anyway.

More Praise

Praise be to You God who casts out poison so we can enjoy life to the full, in our bodies and in our spirits. Praise be to You who is never afraid or intimidated. You are all-powerful over what I can see and what I can’t.

Your Words…

And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever— the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you.  John 14:16-17                           

…we do not know what to pray for as we should, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with unspoken groaning.  Romans 8:26                                                                                               

My Words…

The body of a lowly, unworthy human carrying around the Spirit of God.  Only You, Father, would come up with such a plan. Your Spirit hangs out with my spirit, teaching me, nudging me, expecting me to grow. And I want to grow! I’m weary of living dormant, fallow. The landscape never changes. Clods of dirt close in around my feet and there I stand, brittle and tilted. But that season has ended. A spiritual springtime is dawning.

Your Spirit groans for me when I am tongue-tied before You. What does He say, I wonder? I have often felt there are too many words to sift through, to line up in the right order, to express the fullness of my impressions of You, my gratitude to You, and my need for You. So I just didn’t take the time. But I have learned there are not enough words. The time has come to line them up, put them in the right order, and craft a response to Your words. The conversation shall no longer be one-sided.

Perhaps there are others who wish to shake off the clods of dirt and join me.

Amen.