My eyes are awake

  before the watches of the night,

that I may meditate

           on Your promises.

                Psalm 119. 148

(What should I do

when I awake in the night?

Worry

          or pray?

Panic

  or meditate on the Almighty?

Fear and despair

  or listen to His still small voice?

God's purposes are embedded

   even in what we see

   as a disruption.)

O LORD,

Every moment,

    turn my eyes to You.

Help me to know Your Presence

     even in the dark,

to be embraced by You

    even in the silence,

not losing sleep

but gaining strength

           for the coming day.

Whatever sleep I get,

O LORD, make it enough.

...where God was worshiped...

               2 Samuel 15. 32

(Wherever we are,

in whatever we do,

          in His name,

   in worship of the Almighty,

nothing can remain the same.

Worship changes

                 everything.

Worship changes us.)

O LORD,

Please help me

to see the opportunities

to worship You today

         in unexpected places

and to love others

     outside the lines.

You are in this place

         and we did not know it.

In what only appears

                    as ordinary,

     O LORD be honored

       and glorified.

Blessing Your name,

                   even here,

                   even in this,

I can't help but be changed

                      by it.

The heart of man plans his way,

but the LORD

      establishes his steps.

              Proverbs 16. 9

("Follow Me into this."

Faithfulness to God

  is always the clearest direction.

God knows where He is

                 going with this.)

O LORD,

Please guide me

through Your Word

    and by Your Presence

      on this path

      You have placed me.

Please help me

   to be faithful to You

   every step,

   every detail,

   every day.

Keep me from distractions

  and ambushes along the way.

Establish Your steps

                        for me.

In Your name.

For Your Kingdom.

For Your glory alone.

I glorified You on earth,

having accomplished the work

that You gave me to do.

                   John 17. 4

(In whatever God places

      before me today.

Nothing is insignificant

      in God's economy.

I can bring Him glory

in every detail of my day,

     even in my attitude.)

O LORD,

Please help me

to see my work

         as worship to You,

in the big stuff

and in what I can only see

             as mundane.

My relationship with You

impacts everything I do,

changes what I think,

and profoundly influences

         everyone around me.

Be glorified, O LORD,

          even in this day.

The LORD has made

   everything for its purpose...

            Proverbs 16. 4

(Letting God's purposes

                infiltrate,

deepen roots,

bear fruit,

ripen,

fulfill beyond

          my limited vision.

No matter the situation,

       ministry there.

God's purposes are

            never singular.)

O LORD,

Even in the stuff of life

I do not understand,

   You are already here.

In the joy,

in the shadows,

   Your purposes prevail.

Please help me

  to walk with You through

  and be incredibly aware of

        Your appointments.

Commit your work to the LORD,

and your plans

      will be established.

            Proverbs 16. 3

(Commit literally means

dedicating work to Him

       as we undertake it,

     not as an afterthought.

God changes you through

                  what you do

     and how you do it

                  for His glory.

"Follow Me into this.")

O LORD,

Please help us to follow You

into what You have

      placed before us

and even into what

      is not yet on our radar.

Grant us the courage

            to bring You glory

and be honoring to You.

We have seen but a glimpse

        of what You can do.

And the LORD

gave victory to David

wherever he went.

                 2 Samuel 8. 14

(Victory is not dependent

on trophies,

the highest score,

the most applause,

but most often,

   in ways we will never see.

Faithfulness and fruitfulness

   is not limited by time,

place,

my own inadequacies,

       or by visible signposts.

The biggest triumph may be

God changing my heart

                    towards Him,

    even in this.)

O LORD,

You know our battles,

You know our hearts,

You know our fears

and worries

and anxieties,

      those ancient foes.

Give us a heart

           to follow You,

    Your banner before us,

    Your strength sustaining us,

    Your Spirit within.

Help us to seek You alone.

And above all things,

   for You to be glorified in this,

                O Father.

And he said,

"The LORD has burst through

my enemies before me

         like a bursting flood.

Therefore the name of that place

    is called Baal-perazim.

                 2 Samuel 5. 20

(Baal-perazim literally means

"the Lord of bursting through."

What impossible situation

               surrounds me?

What adversaries and fears

     threaten on every side?

"Follow Me through this.")

O LORD,

We can lay these things

            before You,

we can trust You,

we can follow You

    into and through

    the most difficult places,

beyond all odds,

  because You are

  not constrained by them.

                      Ever.

Burst through

        for Your glory, O Father.

You are the Almighty One,

working wonders

deeper than I will ever know,

beyond what I will ever see.

                  

He laid aside

     His outer garments,

and taking a towel,

tied it around His waist.

Then He poured water

          into a basin

and began to wash

      the disciples' feet

and to wipe them

             with a towel

that was wrapped

                   around Him.

..."you also ought to wash

          one another's feet.

For I have given you

                 an example,

that you should also do

just as I have

               done to you.

        John 13. 4-5, 14-15

(Take your towel and basin

with you into your day,

          ready for anything.

Use them generously.

What does washing feet

    look like in what I do

                      today?)

O LORD,

Please help me

to bring your grace and love

to dirty stinky feet,

to messy relationships,

and into the miry bogs

            all around me.

Open my eyes

          to opportunities.

For Your glory.

In Your name.

"Sir,

we wish to see Jesus."

           John 12. 21

(How do I handle this situation

differently

     because I am a believer?

Am I letting Jesus

reveal Himself

             through me?

Does the way I live my life,

how I respond to others,

how I respond to need

                  or pain,

adversity or attacks,

            anger or insult,

how I love,

             what I love,

     point others to Him?)

O LORD,

Live out Your grace

              through me.

Bring Your name

               to this.

Even to this.

...all the people

   were bitter in soul...

But David strengthened himself

   in the LORD his God.

              1 Samuel 30. 6

(I may not be able

to change circumstances

--what has happened,

  what is to come,

  what I am wading through now--

but I can choose

             to trust the LORD

and let Him

     change my heart in this.)

O LORD,

You are my strength.

You are my song.

You are my salvation.

You are more powerful

    than this situation

         or my anxieties.

What is Your way in this,

                O God?

Redeem,

provide,

multiply,

and be glorified,

              dear LORD.

But when Jesus heard it

He said,

"This illness does not

  lead to death.

It is for the glory of God,

so that

the Son of God

  may be glorified

                through it."

             John 11. 4

(What is this difficulty,

this pain,

            this hardship?

That which God

     is already redeeming

for His glory.)

O Almighty One,

Please help us

to not get caught up in

       "Why, God?"

But to seek You,

to trust You,

       "What, God?"

Be glorified, O LORD,

              through this.

No matter what.

Would we face this differently

if we knew

       You were in this?

You are.

               

Yet the men

were very good to us,

and we suffered no harm...

They were like a wall to us

both by night and by day,

all the while we were with them

       keeping the sheep.

            1 Samuel 25. 15-16

(Others are always watching

to see if our God

    makes us any different.

Unexpected grace

     and deliberate love

--the marks of a believer--

are a strong witness

   as to Who dwells in us.

All we do

      points others to Him.)

O LORD,

May the works we do

and the works

      You do in us

point others continually

            toward You.

Please make us aware

    to bring

    the name of Jesus here.

There are no mundane tasks

        in Your economy,

    nothing insignificant,

only that which

    You can profoundly use

for Your purposes,

for Your kingdom,

for Your glory.

           Even in this.

Then David

inquired of the LORD again.

And the LORD answered him...

                1 Samuel 23. 4

(A daily pattern

that changed

   the trajectory of his life,

unfathomable significance

           in the tiniest details.

The path and the outcome

are far beyond my understanding

       and way out of my reach,

                      but I can pray.

And that changes everything.

Even my heart in this.)

O LORD,

Please help me

    to seek You in this,

not just an answer.

May praying to You

     be my first response,

not my last resort.

I pray Your triumph

     in unexpected ways

and unlikely places

      for Your glory alone.

Then David said to Ahimelech,

"Then have you not here

a spear or a sword at hand?".....

And the priest said,

"The sword of Goliath

                the Philistine,

whom you struck down..."

              1 Samuel 21. 9

(Faithfulness to God always

comes back to provide,

protect, redeem

-- no expiration date,

not constrained by time

     or dire circumstances.

There are

    no insignificant obediences.

Far more is at stake at the time

      than we can ever know,

God's profound purposes

                  and His glory.

Even in this.)

O LORD,

Help me to respond to You today,

to trust,

to follow You,

even in what I cannot yet see,

even in what is difficult,

even in my inadequacies,

      even for Your glory alone.

Please change my heart in this,

     providing for me Your strength,

not just for the rigors of this day

   but profoundly for the future

and for the welfare of people

     I may not ever know.

And David had success

in all his undertakings,

for the LORD

        was with him.

             1 Samuel 18. 14

(If I am faithful to God

in all that I do,

      for His glory,

      for His kingdom,

      in His name,

God brings the fruitfulness,

    even in unexpected ways.)

O LORD,

Lay Your day before me.

Please help me

    to be faithful and hardworking

in whatever is before me,

knowing that You use work

       to transform me

and to help me to grow in You.

Be glorified in my work today,

               O Almighty One.

Nothing is insignificant,

no task too small

               in Your eyes,

      no task too large,

               in Your strength.

      

You come to me

with a sword

and with a spear

and with a javelin,

but I come to you

   in the name

   of the LORD of hosts,

the God of the armies

                of Israel.

            1 Samuel 17. 45

(What am I bringing

into this volatile situation

or among impossible people

                       today?

Live unexpectedly

with grace, peace,

and in the name of Jesus.)

O LORD,

Help me not to fear

or flee,

but to bring a boatload

       of unexpected grace.

Not to wear armor

         and carry ammunition,

but put on something new,

       a deep infectious love

       for You and for others.

Not that which is deserved

             but surprises everyone.

Even me.

Behold,

        to obey

is better than sacrifice,

and to listen 

than the fat of rams.

             1 Samuel 15. 22

(How can I serve

and worship God today?

What does God want me

to do in this situation?

Listen and respond 

                 to Him.

That is what 

faithfulness looks like.

Even in the hard stuff.

Even in what turns out

   not so ordinary after all.)

O LORD,

Please guide me

in what to do,

what to say,

how to pray my way

    through this day.

Help me to 

     listen to Your voice

and respond 

     to Your way in this.

It may be that the LORD 

will work for us

for nothing can hinder 

the LORD from saving 

by many or by few.

            1 Samuel 14. 6

(God breaks through

impossible places

in unexpected ways.)

O LORD,

Redeem this difficulty,

provide even in the unlikely,

multiply exponentially,

and be glorified!

Not against any odds

             at all,

but all in Your hands.

With God

we shall do valiantly;

it is He

who will tread down

               our foes.

            Psalm 108. 13

(In the Psalms,

our foes are anything

that we fear,

   both real and imagined.

When we follow God

     into what is before us,

it changes the trajectory

         of our lives.

Faithfulness to God

opens our hearts

      to what the Almighty

      can do.

Even in this.

Even with this.)

O LORD,

We are powerless

against this great horde

that is coming against us.

We do not know

           what to do,

but our eyes

    are on You.

           2 Chronicles 20.12

...God gave him

       another heart.

           1 Samuel 10. 9

(What I need

is not different circumstances,

   but a new heart in this.

That changes everything

  and everyone around me,

not just about

    my own comfort and convenience,

but God's eternal purposes.

Someone's life

             is at stake.)

O LORD,

You have strategically

             positioned me here,

nothing random in this place

   or in these relationships,

for Your purposes,

for Your kingdom,

for Your glory.

Grant me a new heart

   and fresh vision

not for what is different,

nor what is better in my eyes,

not even for what is next,

      but what is now.

And Samuel

    prayed to the LORD.

          1 Samuel 8. 6

(As I once heard someone say,

"It never occurred to me

        to pray about that."

And oh, what we miss.

Prayer is first response,

           not last resort,

first step of action,

      first line of defense,

not just a new way

   of looking at things,

but His way in this,

which may not even be

                on my radar.

Not my will

              but Yours.)

O LORD,

We cry out to you,

we lift up our burdens

and cares

and worries

         and fears

              to You.

Be glorified, O LORD,

           in this,

even in what we will

       never even realize.

Then Samuel took a stone

and set it up

between Mizpah and Shen

and called its name

               Ebenezer,

for he said,

"Thus far

    the LORD has helped us."

               1 Samuel 7. 12

(And God is not about

     to abandon you now.

Ebenezer literally means

        "stone of help."

Literally rocks of remembering

             God's faithfulness,

    a whole field of them,

that we may not forget:

"I am with you. Do not fear.

      Even also in this.")

O LORD,

You are the Almighty God.

Even in this.

Help me to chronicle

     Your faithfulness in the past,

help me to trust You alone

     in this present dilemma,

help me to know You more

     in what is yet to come,

and to visibly remember

     and verbally acknowledge

        that You are the LORD.

For those who honor Me,

        I will honor.

                1 Samuel 2. 30

(Live beneath His banner.

Seek to bring Him glory.

Even in this.

Even more so in this.

There is a lot more

                 at stake,

than we can comprehend.)

O LORD,

Bathe this day in Your glory.

Show me the way

            to honor You

in unlikely places

   and in unexpected ways.

Grant to me Your courage

to do what is good and right

          for Your name's sake,

          for Your kingdom,

          for Your power revealed.

He opened the rock,

and water gushed out of it;

it flowed through the desert

            like a river.

                   Psalm 105. 41

(Whatever the impossible situation,

whatever the barren landscape,

whatever the despair,

the LORD redeems,

the LORD provides

      in unexpected unseen ways,

the LORD is

               glorified in it.

Even in this.

"Follow Me through it.")

O LORD,

I pour out my soul

             before You.

You come to me,

and whisper,

     "Trust Me in this."

Help me to be faithful

            to You alone,

no matter what is before me,

no matter what is around me,  

          no matter what.

There is none holy like You,

none besides You,

no rock like You.

                  1 Samuel 2. 2

Grant me Your vision in this,

    not dependent on

             even a dribble of water

                  --or none at all --

             but on You.

So Ruth set out

and gleaned in the field

      after the reapers,

and she happened

  to come to the part of the field

  belonging to Boaz,

who was of the clan

           of Elimelech.

                Ruth 2. 3

(The eternal ramifications

             of daily obedience

are rooted in faithfulness,

even in what appears

     lowly and mundane,

even in the mystery of

    "what am I doing here?"

Far more is at stake

    than we can possibly grasp.

No situation insignificant,

no act of faithfulness insignificant,

no one insignificant

               in God's divine design.)

O Father God,

Help us to trust You to know

    there are no ordinary days,

no barren landscapes

          that You cannot bear fruit,

no volatile situations

          that You cannot bring peace,

that the extraordinary

   comes in unexpected packages

         and only from Your hand.

Help us to seek You

  through what You place before us,

knowing that faithfulness

             impacts generations.

Change, O LORD,

      our hearts in this.

And He had

to pass through Samaria.

          John 4. 4

(Even in what we consider

       a detour or accident,

in the totally unexpected places,

the inconvenient and

          uncomfortable,

the "I'd rather not be here,"

or the "why am I here?",

God strategically positions

   unlikely people on our path,

for His surprising appointments.)

O LORD,

You anoint

    and You appoint.

Align my heart with Yours.

Make me sensitive

       and responsive

to those You have placed

   on my path,

   on my radar,

   and on my heart.

for Your deeper purposes,

for Your grace in this,

for Your glory

         and Kingdom.

There is more at stake

           here in this,

than I can comprehend.

    

He must increase,

but I must decrease.

           John 3. 30

(How does that

           look today?

What am I going 

   to do differently?)

O LORD,

Your way,

Your will,

Your glory

         in this.

Let me not be seen,

       but You.

For God did not send

His Son into the world 

to condemn the world,

but in order

that the world might be 

      saved through Him.

                John 3. 17

(Not to condemn,

but to love people 

       to Himself.

John 3.17 underlines

   the truth in 3.16.)

O LORD,

Help us to grasp 

   Your love for us.

Help us to live out

    Your love

 for everyone around us.

And to speak the gospel 

   in every dimension,

   every direction,

   every conversation.

Bless the LORD,

        O my soul,

and all that is

           within me,

bless His holy name.

               Psalm 103. 1

(That which changes 

     the course of my day.

How does that look 

    in what is before me?

Am I seeking His blessing

             in what I do?

Or seeking to bless Him

             in all I do?)

O LORD,

Please guide me

   into Your day for me

that I may glorify You

      in unlikely places

and bring Your name

  into the unexpected.

....to the LORD,

to the One

     who works wonders...

            Judges 13. 19

(Beyond our comprehension,

       even in this.)

O LORD,

I cannot comprehend what

     You can do with this.

I cannot comprehend

    what You are already doing.

But I can follow You into it.

You do not call me

           to be successful,

but faithful.