And there he built

an altar to the LORD

and called upon

the name of the LORD.

                   Genesis 12. 8

(Not just praying a minute

or reading His Word a bit,

but building an altar

at the beginning of the day.

Not laying out our agenda

and plans and outcomes

                 for Him,

but letting God

lay out His day for us.

It never occurred to me

to build a daily altar

      before the LORD,

to write His Name

    all over this day.

A burden or anxiety

is simply a concern

that has not been

          brought to Him

    and left there.

A worry is just something

we think God doesn’t

know about or can handle.

At the altar,

we relinquish the control

     we never had at all,

we forgive and are forgiven,

we see God for Who He is

       throughout the day.

God’s day for us

is filled with divine

       appointments,

some of which we

    will never realize,

and with His Presence

deeper than we can know.)

 

O LORD,

We come before You,

we pray to You,

not to idols

of our own desires

or our own control

or ourselves.

But to You, O LORD,

we build altars

that we would know You

and You would be known.

You are Who we worship,

even today,

even in all we do,

even in this situation.

May we leave altars

all across

the landscape of our lives.