For he held fast

         to the LORD.

He did not depart

    from following Him...

And the LORD was with him;

wherever he went out,

         He prospered.

             2 Kings 18. 6-7

(To what do I hold fast?

Wherever the LORD leads,

when we are faithful

   and hold onto Him with both hands

                   and a willing heart,

God plants big trees.

He bears fruit

     and leaves a witness there.

The Hebrew word prosper

   literally means

"to push forward,

to pass through,

to get on."

God is using you

    to bring about His purposes

    and to bring Him glory

              even in this barren place.

We are blessed

    not just in a far-off outcome,

but in the holding fast.)

O LORD,

Please help us to hold fast

       and to be faithful,

not to things or great ideas

    or favorable outcomes,

but to You.

Help us to push forward

       through the miry bog,

to pass through the thicket,

to get on even in the midst

    to the good stuff

            -- Your glory.

There is a lot more at stake

        than we will ever know.

You never promised

      that it would not be hard,

but You are with us.

His delight is

not in the strength of the horse,

nor His pleasure

   in the legs of a man,

but the LORD takes pleasure

   in those who fear Him,

in those who hope

          in His steadfast love.

                Psalm 147. 10-11

(Not in performance,

nor fleeting achievements,

nor in being the best,

    nor the unachievable perfect,

but standing assured in His grace

and in His steadfast love,

that on which I can stake my life

    and free to love Him

    every way I can.

For His glory in this,

              not my own.)

O LORD,

You call me to You.

Help me to bring blessing

and honor and glory

            to Your name today,

every word,

every action,

every all-prevailing attitude,

    (yes, even in that).

May Your deeper purposes

          be fulfilled,

because I will never see

the divine weight

              of Your glory.

And he said,

"The LORD's

     arrow of victory..."

         2 Kings 13. 17

(Follow Him into

      His victory in this,

beyond my imagination,

deeper than what I see,

His glory in the unexpected,

in unlikely places,

      in the mysteries,

even in the seamless weaving

  of the ordinary

         and extraordinary.)

O LORD,

Please help us

to follow Your arrow of victory.

There are

     no insignificant obediences.

Every detail of our days,

every step,

every attitude

     produce the profound.

I pray not just Your victory,

  but Your immense Glory

      in whatever we face today.

And the Lord said to Paul

   one night in a vision,

“Do not be afraid,

but go on speaking,

and do not be silent.

for I am with you,

and no one will

     attack you to harm you,

for I have many in this city

       who are My people.

                  Acts 18. 10

(You are surrounded

     by God’s people 

     right where you are,

even those you do not know

                        yet.

Seek them out. 

“Do not be afraid,

          for I am with you.”)

O LORD,

Surround us by Your people.

Help us to seek out

      the fellowship of believers 

           all around us,

the strength to gain

     and to share with others.

For Your Glory.

And the Lord said to Paul

   one night in a vision,

“Do not be afraid,

but go on speaking,

and do not be silent.

for I am with you,

and no one will

     attack you to harm you,

for I have many in this city

       who are My people.

                  Acts 18. 10

(You are surrounded

     by God’s people 

     right where you are,

even those you do not know

                        yet.

Seek them out. 

“Do not be afraid,

          for I am with you.”)

O LORD,

Surround us by Your people.

Help us to seek out

      the fellowship of believers 

           all around us,

the strength to gain

     and to share with others.

For Your Glory.

And the Lord said to Paul

   one night in a vision,

“Do not be afraid,

but go on speaking,

and do not be silent.

for I am with you,

and no one will

     attack you to harm you,

for I have many in this city

       who are My people.

                  Acts 18. 10

(You are surrounded

     by God’s people 

     right where you are,

even those you do not know

                        yet.

Seek them out. 

“Do not be afraid,

          for I am with you.”)

O LORD,

Surround us by Your people.

Help us to seek out

      the fellowship of believers 

           all around us,

the strength to gain

     and to share with others.

For Your Glory.

And the Lord said to Paul

   one night in a vision,

“Do not be afraid,

but go on speaking,

and do not be silent.

for I am with you,

and no one will

     attack you to harm you,

for I have many in this city

       who are My people.

                  Acts 18. 10

(You are surrounded

     by God’s people 

     right where you are,

even those you do not know

                        yet.

Seek them out. 

“Do not be afraid,

          for I am with you.”)

O LORD,

Surround us by Your people.

Help us to seek out

      the fellowship of believers 

           all around us,

the strength to gain

     and to share with others.

For Your Glory.

I will sing a new song 

    to You, O God.

               Psalm 144. 9

(Not the same old tune,

but a fresh realization 

            of His love.

His mercies 

     are new every morning,

and every day

 is a story of His faithfulness.)

O LORD,

I stand in awe of You.

I am beyond words

and fall short

     of how to express 

    my amazement of You.

It is not a matter

       of what I can say

but more than I am able.

May Your Word

          and Your glory 

be reflected today

  in all I do and say.

As we were going

  to the place of prayer...

             Acts 16. 16

(What happens along the way

as we come before

       the Lord in prayer:

    everything changes.

God opens my heart and eyes

    to what I would have missed.

A different way of seeing,

another path of doing,

a new attitude,

a strength that is

                not my own .

Too busy

       not to pray.)

O LORD,

Please remind me

to come before You,

not just for the big stuff 

  but in the details 

that don’t seem significant 

           at the time.

Intervene, O Father.

You are 

  the Lord of breaking through.

For in You I trust.

For You are my God.

For I am Your servant.

Help me to think and pray

           differently.

For Your glory in this.

And the servant said,

“Ah, my master!

     What shall we do?”

Elisha said,

“Do not be afraid,

for those who are with us

are more than those

       who are with them.”

Elisha prayed and said,

“O LORD, 

please open his eyes

     that he may see.”

So the LORD opened

the eyes of the young man,

and he saw, and behold,

the mountain was full

of horses and chariots of fire

          all around Elisha.

                   2 Kings 6. 15-17

(What shall we do?

“O LORD, open our eyes

to Your Presence with us

in this overwhelming situation.”

Awareness of His Presence 

changes my heart, my vision,

     and everything I do.

Fear just shuts out the light.

“Do not be afraid.

          I am with you.”)

O LORD,

Please open my eyes

      and my heart to You

in whatever I face today.

I don’t want to

            miss a thing.

You change

    far more than circumstances.

You redeem everything.

Open my heart

     and vision,

not just to the course of my day,

but the trajectory of my life.

For Your Glory.

And the servant said,

“Ah, my master!

     What shall we do?”

Elisha said,

“Do not be afraid,

for those who are with us

are more than those

       who are with them.”

Elisha prayed and said,

“O LORD, 

please open his eyes

     that he may see.”

So the LORD opened

the eyes of the young man,

and he saw, and behold,

the mountain was full

of horses and chariots of fire

          all around Elisha.

                   2 Kings 6. 15-17

(What shall we do?

“O LORD, open our eyes

to Your Presence with us

in this overwhelming situation.”

Awareness of His Presence 

changes my heart, my vision,

     and everything I do.

Fear just shuts out the light.

“Do not be afraid.

          I am with you.”)

O LORD,

Please open my eyes

      and my heart to You

in whatever I face today.

I don’t want to

            miss a thing.

You change

    far more than circumstances.

You redeem everything.

Open my heart

     and vision,

not just to the course of my day,

but the trajectory of my life.

For Your Glory.

And she answered,

“All is well.”

           2 Kings 4. 26

(God is at work.

        All is well.

God is redeeming,

even what I can’t see

                    yet.

We cannot determine

what or how,

         but Who.

Seek Him,

not just 

a prescribed solution.)

O LORD,

Help me to 

    come before You,

not with an answer

    of my own,

but with a willing heart.

And to live in the reality 

       of Your Presence.

All is well.

In Your Name.

For Your Glory.

And Elisha said to her,

   "What shall I do for you?

Tell me;

   what do you have in the house?"

And she said,

"Your servant has nothing

                in the house

except a jar of oil."

               2 Kings 4. 2

(What is my very own

         jar of oil?

No matter how small,

no matter how ridiculous.

Not focusing

   on what I don't have,

   but what I do.

Not on what I can't do,

   but what I can.

God multiplies

    in unexpected ways.)

O LORD,

Thank You for what

              You have given.

Thank You for what

      You are doing with it.

Please grant to me

    a willing and faithful heart.

I can't do everything,

but I can do something.

And You, O LORD,

       multiply it,

more than I can ever know,

beyond what I can even see.

I awake,

    and I am still with You.

             Psalm 139. 18

(The reality of His Presence.

Even here.  Even now.

No matter what).

O LORD,

You are here with me.

Right here.

Right now.

Please help me to realize

how radically that changes

               everything.

Even my heart.

The LORD will fulfill

     His purpose for me;

Your steadfast love, O LORD,

         endures forever.

Do not forsake

     the work of Your hands.

                    Psalm 138. 8

(When I come before Him,

when I follow Him into it,

when I am faithful to Him,

God is already

      fulfilling His purposes,

His strategic design

                 for my life,

even in what I cannot yet see,

even when it is really hard,

always when I trust Him,

               even in this.

How does that impact

   what I do today

            and my attitude in it?)

O LORD,

I have seen too much

     to question You in this.

I know that when I am willing

for You to change my heart,

    You change my trajectory,

and bring me to a different side

            of Your glory.

Your purposes are so deep

     that I will never realize

     Your profound design in this,

     which is never just about me.

Just about my heart in it.

Thus says the LORD,

"Have you seen

     all this great multitude?

Behold, I will give it

   into your hand this day,

and you shall know

       that I am the LORD."

                 1 Kings 20. 13

(The real victory

in this impossible

    and overwhelming situation

is that we would

              know He is God,

and that we would

        know Him more.)

O LORD,

Thank you for this situation,

each one of us

     with hordes of invaders

     multiplied against us.

Redeem, O LORD.

Bring Your victory to this,

     the fruit of hearts

     changed by You,

              including mine.

Help us to know You more,

    new dimensions of who You are.

And behold,

the LORD passed by

...but the LORD was not

              in the wind.

...but the LORD was not

              in the earthquake.

...but the LORD was not

              in the fire.

And after the fire,

    the sound of a low whisper.

                     1 Kings 19. 11-12

(Am I listening for God?

Am I listening to God?

Or only for the answer I want?

His voice comes rarely

        in the spectacular

but continually in the thin silence

               of His Presence

    as He whispers our names.)

O LORD,

Please help us to seek You

and not the neon signs

        or techno laser shows.

Help us to not be distracted

by the loudest voices in the room,

    which sometimes are our own.

Help us to be silent

in Your Presence

       and know that You are God.

You love us

          more than we can know.

And know not that You will guide us,

some day in some way,

     but You already are,

           right to You.

     

And he said to his servant,

"Go up now,

         look toward the sea."

And he went up and looked

and said, "There is nothing."

And he said,

                  "Go again,"

       seven times.

And at the seventh time

he said,

   "Behold a little cloud

    like a man's hand

         is rising from the sea."

                1 Kings 18. 43-44

(That's what faithfulness does.

It is not that God isn't answering,

but the time is not yet ripe,

nor am I ready

      for how God is answering.

Am I seeking God in this

  or a singular answer

          of my own choosing?

"Where there is such prevailing prayer,  

      something is bound to happen."

                      --Corrie Ten Boom

Whether seven times

      or seventy times seven.)

O LORD,

Help me to seek You in this,

knowing You will not just answer,

       but You already are working

in unexpected ways,

in unlikely places,

in Your timing,

         for Your purposes,

         for Your glory,

                 not mine.

I am the one

     who is missing out

           not on the trinket I seek,

but in knowing You more.

You are not just here;

               You are.

The jar of flour

     was not spent,

neither did the jug of oil

          become empty...

         1 Kings 17. 16

(This is not the end of the road,

the bottom of the barrel,

the last drop of hope,

but the work of the LORD

    beyond our imagination,

    beyond what we can yet see.

This is not all there is

   --we can stake our lives on that.

Faithfulness follows God,

     not distracted by circumstances.)

O LORD,

We have seen nothing yet

    of what You can do.

The empty barrel only confirms

that our lives depend on you,

not on favorable situations,

or what we see as good,

           but on You.

Help us to faithfully follow You,

to be faithful in what is before us,

even when we cannot see

          the end of the matter.

Because with You, O LORD,

there is no end,

          but a continuing story.

You never work

         in singular dimensions.

Be glorified, dear LORD,

             even in this.

...for I have sent them.

                  Acts 10. 20

(Aware of daily

          divine appointments)

O LORD,

You have placed people in my life today,

those who are familiar to me,

those who are total strangers,

those whom I love,

those with whom I struggle,

even in what only appears

        as casual encounters

      or momentary meetings,

the expected and unexpected,

not one is

       an insignificant rendezvous.

Turn, I pray,

confrontations into conversations,

mere contacts into relationships,

                    all for Your glory.

No one slides randomly in or out of my life,

within my view or on my path,

--neighbors, colleagues,

  even the clerk at the store--

          but only by divine appointments,

                         only by Your hand.

I have no idea

           who I will meet today.

    But You arranged it all.

Please make me

extraordinarily aware of those around me

and love them into Your kingdom.

...for this thing

          is from Me.

           1 Kings 12. 24

("Take My hand

and follow Me into this."

One step,

          and then the next.

Faithfulness may never know

     where it ultimately leads,

             but with Whom.

God never promised

              a life of ease,

but "I am with you."

   Even in the hard stuff,

            God redeems.)

O LORD,

Thank you for this fresh day,

wide open and full of Your wonder

            and mighty works,

even that which I can't see

                               yet.

Please help me to respond to You,

   to daily come before You

and choosing Your way through,

not my grand schemes

               but Your glory.

Your Presence

          changes everything.

Help me to bless and honor You

         right where I am

and through what is before me.

Not my way,

          but Your higher way.

Nothing random at all,

     but You are in this.

But rise and enter the city,

and you will be told

  what you are to do.

               Acts 9. 6

(Following Him one step

         at a time,

even if the next step

         is not yet obvious.

It is not just

     what is His path for me,

but who God has

           placed on it

    to love into the kingdom.)

O LORD,

Help me to quiet my heart

so as to hear Your voice

       in this and about this,

even in loud places,

even amidst the din,

    You are here with me.

Help me to follow You

   in extraordinary situations

   and on ordinary days,

into the surprises

     and into the familiar.

And as for you,

    if you will walk with Me...

                 1 Kings 9. 4

(Am I walking with the LORD

         through this?

It matters.

It matters a lot.

It is the big "if" that changes

     the trajectory of my day

     and the course of my life.

Far more than I can

                ever imagine.

"Walk with Me even in this.")

O LORD,

I don't know where I am

        or where you are leading me

        in this odd situation.

But You do.

Help me to be faithful

    in walking with You today.

Nothing ever insignificant

                     in that.

Even Simon himself believed...

                 Acts 8. 13

(When we are faithfully

         sharing God's Word,

when we are faithfully

         living it out,

even among the rebellious,

even on the most ordinary day,

even on familiar paths,

      we would be amazed

      at how God uses us

and at who responds

               to His Word.

No one stands

beyond the reach of His grace.)

O LORD,

Please make me aware

of Your Word

and Your power in it

      and through it.

Please help me to realize

where I am

and among whom I live

       is not for my convenience

but for Your glory.

May Your Word penetrate

         the most unlikely,

even my own heart.

Also the whole altar 

that belongs 

to the inner sanctuary 

he overlaid with gold.

               1 Kings 6. 22

(Where we bring

our burdens,

our brokenness,

our nasty idols,

our shame and guilt,

our selfishness

is a sacred place

   of great significance 

where we find 

       Jesus already there,

        already forgiving.)

O LORD,

You go before,

You come behind,

You walk with me

through the miry bog

         of my sin.

Thank You, dear Jesus,

    for coming,

not just to rescue me

but to forgive

         and to redeem.

He who goes out weeping,

bearing the seed

           for sowing, 

shall come home

    with shouts of joy,

bringing his sheaves

                with him.

            Psalm 126. 6

(Bring the seed with us,

     even in the barren, really steep, rocky, “I don’t want to be here,” “what am I doing here?” “I can’t breathe” kind  of hard places.   

Plant anyway,

     even among the resistant ,

     even in suffering .

Bring the name of Jesus there.

In what we

          cannot yet see,

God is bearing fruit

        and ripening it.)

O LORD,

Can we hear you now?

Can we see you now?

You are in this place,

       already set up camp

even in this wilderness.

You have strategically 

       positioned us,

for Your kingdom,

for Your glory,

that Your Word takes root

     in the lives of many.

...sweetness of speech

increases persuasion.

              Proverbs 16. 21

(How can I say that

             differently?

How can I respond 

with gentleness, grace

and kindness?

What brings glory to God 

         in my words?

Choose carefully.

Words are final sale—

no returns, refunds

     or exchanges.)

O LORD,

please help us to realize 

the power of speech

to bring either life

      or destruction,

to either lift up 

      or crush with a word.

Create in us, O Father,

a new vocabulary,

a life changing 

       new language,

a different way of saying,

a new heart

     in ordinary places

     and in volatile times.

In Your Name.

For Your Glory.