Nobody Can Count That High

 

Then Peter came up

   and said to Him,

"Lord, how often will

my brother sin against me,

     and I forgive him?

  As many as seven times?"

Jesus said to him,

"I do not say to you

       seven times,

but seventy times seven."

              Matthew 18. 21-22

(In Judaic tradition,

   three times was sufficient

   to reveal a forgiving spirit.

Jesus says, "Stop counting."

If we forgave so much

    that we lost count,

we would be

   far different people.

We cannot help

      but be changed radically

   by forgiving.

And realizing His mercy is more.

What is so hard about forgiving

  is realizing our own need for it.

We are not perfect either.)

Love you out there.

Praying for you

        the courage to forgive.

O LORD,

We ask for You

   to change our triggers,

soften our hearts,

and alter our responses.

May Your mercy

    cover both our wounds

    and our brokenness.

Help us to be not just

      quick with forgiveness

   but deep with it.

Turn our hearts

       right side up.

Fill our pockets with

      forgiveness and sincerity.

Because that is how

     we love one another.

Because that is how

         You love us.

One forgiveness comes

   layered on another.

Help us to realize

 forgiveness is

         never insignificant,

only profoundly life changing.

And nobody can

          count that high.

Something We Would Not Have Chosen

 

Why did You

    ever send me?

         Exodus 5. 22

(Just because the task is hard

     and seems impossible to do

does not mean it is not

      entrenched

in the very center of God's will.

His purposes span

             across eternity.

We just cannot see them yet.

God does not empower us

to necessarily see ourselves

    --or these circumstances--

with new eyes and hearts,

but to realize even more

         who He is.

Why did He ever send us here?

       To be faithful.)

O LORD,

You know the difficulty

           that we are facing,

something that we

  would never have chosen

  or attempted,

           if not for You.

We pray that You will use us

   for spreading Your glory

   all over this adversity

and that You are redeeming it

for the good of many people.

Grant us the courage we need.

And help us

    to walk with You through it.

Who Moved?

 

Be not far from me,

for trouble is near,

and there is none to help.

          Psalm 22.11

(Who moved?

       God hasn't.

God is faithfully with us.

How we seek God,

trust Him, walk with Him,

and spend time with Him

   in the everydays

increases our strength

in the extraordinary

            and overwhelming,

   when it comes about.

"If we do not do the running

steadily in the little ways,

we shall do nothing

                  in the crisis."

--Oswald Chambers

   My Utmost for His Highest)

O LORD,

We cry for You to be near.

Please help us.

It is in these times of hardship

   and troubles,

that we realize

      how much we need You.

Help us to run with You

   in the familiar and unfamiliar.

Engrave the reality of Your Presence

        on our hearts.

You are right here to help us,

         not far at all.

And Carry A Big Net

 

...go to the sea

and cast a hook

and take the first fish

   that comes up,

and when you

          open its mouth,

you will find a shekel.

          Matthew 17. 27

(When we follow God

   into a situation,

and seek Him about it,

when we

   allow ourselves to be led,

God reveals Himself

in the most incredible ways.

Finding a coin

  in the mouth of a fish

            is only a glimpse.

And far from a coincidence.

God means not just

  to show us a miracle,

but life everlasting.)

O LORD,

We come before You,

not to tell You what to do,

but to

allow ourselves to be led.

It's not about our glory,

           but Yours.

Help us to trust You

as You guide us

into Your marvels.

Thanks for the fish

and the shekels

   You send

    to encourage us.

Help us to not miss

  the wonders of Your world.

May our awe be

   a call to worship You

wherever we are.

The Extraordinary Dirt Under Our Feet

 

Take the sandals

        off your feet,

for the place on which

     you are standing

is holy ground.

             Exodus 3. 5

(Wherever we are today,

wherever God leads,

we are divinely appointed,

strategically placed,

sacredly called,

            even here,

   to be faithful to God.

Even in this situation,

    God abides with us,

no matter the wilderness

        or our kitchen.

How differently would we see

   this place

   or even ourselves,

if we remembered

the sacredness of this moment

     or square foot of holy ground.

Even right here in the ordinary

     or way-out-there extraordinary,

   He is with us.

God is doing a mighty work

of which we are 

            mostly unaware.)

O LORD,

Help us to honor You

wherever You place us today.

Help us to pay attention

to where we are standing

  and the sacredness of

  this time and place

  and divine encounters.

Nothing is random in it at all.

Even the wilderness

   is full of wonders

           bursting forth.

Grant us the eyes to see,

ears to listen,

   and the heart to respond.

But Jesus Only

 

And when they lifted up

       their eyes,

they saw no one

   but Jesus only.

        Matthew 17. 8

(When we pray,

when we lift up our eyes

  from these circumstances,

we can see

       Jesus over everything.

Through the act of praying,

God reorients our hearts,

refines our vision,

and reveals His Presence,

       already here with us.

And so, as believers,

we can approach and navigate

   this situation differently.)

O LORD,

We come to You

with joys and concerns,

with sorrows and

        deep asks,

but mostly we come

because You are God,

     and we are not.

We need You.

Help us to see You

    over everything.

You have situated us

for Your greater good

     and Your glory.

May we seek You

  and not just Your hand.

Oh, So That's Why!

Do not be afraid

  to go down to Egypt,

for there

I will make you

         into a great nation.

I Myself will go down

    with you to Egypt...

          Genesis 46. 3-4

(Sometimes God guides us

to unusual, unlikely,

     strange places  

    and odd situations

that we never would have

   chosen on our own.

But He promises

       to go with us

   for His deeper purposes.

The for there

    may even be right here.

We need not know why,

   but just to be faithful

              in the doing.

God is forming something new

                     in us

and His glory gets all over it.

And someday, we just might realize

    "Oh, so that's why!")

O LORD,

Help us to be sensitive

    and responsive

            to Your leading,

even to foreign lands,

even on our familiar

            patch of ground.

Please aid us

   not just to see this place

          with new eyes,

but to trust You

    with a different heart.

Wherever we are,

   You bring Your glory to it.

Wherever we are,

  You abide with us there.

Dissolve our fear of the unknown,

knowing that it is

         not unknown to You.

You turn our questions

   into exclamation points!

 

Impossible and Improbable

 

But Jesus said,

"They need not go away;

you give them

     something to eat."

They said to Him,

"We have only

five loaves here and two fish."

And He said,

"Bring them to Me."

           Matthew 14. 16-17

(God's fundamental law

       of multiplication

hinges on His words

  "Bring them here to Me."

What impossible situation, 

inadequacy, or sack lunch are we

   willing to bring before God?

We see the lack.

    "This is all we have,

          and it is not much."

But God brings about a feast

         with leftovers.

God does not

           make it enough.

    He makes it more.

The backstory here reveals

            a faithful mom,

  making lunch for her little boy.

There are no insignificant acts

       of faithfulness,

even when we are unaware

   of how powerfully God is

         using us for His glory

    on the most ordinary days.

God multiplies our efforts

      in a million different ways,

                even today.

And we are so very unaware.)

O LORD,

We come before You

with the impossible

          and improbable,

and all we have to offer

   are some biscuit crumbs

          and fish jerky.

Help us to trust You

      in this dilemma,

   and follow You into it.

Make us aware of

    the needs around us,

Your Presence with us,

and with what You want us

        to enter in.

Hold Tight to Me

 

...but the LORD

        was my support.

He brought me

   into a broad place...

          Psalm 18. 18-19

(We may be facing a thicket,

a miry bog, an impenetrable forest,

a massive unruly crowd,

but when we follow God,

when we trust Him in this place,

   God does not just bring us through.

God reveals Himself.

He gives us not just a foothold

   in impossible places

   or even the familiar,

but He shows us His path

           and holds our hands.

The Hebrew word for support

means support of every kind,

            all joined together.

The way we follow Him

       --on Whom we lean--

    in our everydays

determines how we approach

and navigate the crises,

         when they come.

Hold tight to Me.)

O LORD,

As we come before You,

please show us

not just Your way in this day,

    but reveal Yourself to us.

Please help us to pray,

     listen and respond

in ways that do not just lead us

    but point others to You.

Grant to us the courage

    to stick to Your path

and awareness of Your Presence

       to enjoy the view.

What in the World Is God Doing

 

For God has made me fruitful

in the land of my affliction.

             Genesis 41 52

(Even in hardship,

    God redeems.

Even when we don't understand,

   God carries it to completion.

God is bringing about

   His greater good,

far beyond our comprehension,

far beyond our lives.

What in the world is God doing?

God is redeeming,

     not just the situation,

     but us.

God works in unexpected ways,

  even in what we do not see

                   yet.

Joseph had no idea

   what God was up to,

but he trusted Him

  through a whole slew of deep pits,

       injustices, false accusations,

       and jail time.

But in each hard experience,

    God equipped him

 for the now and the not yet,

       strength upon strength.

Just as God does in us.)

O LORD,

We stand in a land of affliction,

      or state of confusion,

or really hard circumstances,

but we can walk with You

   securely through them,

Help us to trust You in this.

Empower us

    to be a witness to others

that You are God.

Bring Your goodness and glory

         even to this.

Just the Middle of the Story

 

His master saw

that the LORD was with him,

and that the LORD caused

all that he did

    to flourish in his hands.

            Genesis 39. 3

(We don't always recognize

the flourishing

when times are hard,

our efforts are difficult,

   and the outcome foggy.

But God brings His full fruit

  to our faithfulness to Him.

What flourishes is

      never just about us.

God's flourishing

               gets all over.

If this difficulty was not

      beyond our skill set

      or over our heads,

would we seek God

     or recognize His hand,

His Presence, protection,

         and provision?

The goodness in this situation

   may take a long time

   to come to the surface,

because His glory

      spans across eternity.

And we are just

   in the middle of the story.)

O LORD,

Help us to be faithful to You

   even on the rocky roads,

   the miry bogs,

   or ordinary days.

Others are watching us

   to see if You are real.

Grant to us Your strength

   and the courage

   as You form

        something different in us.

Whether we see the flourishing

   or continue to struggle through,

we can be faithful

        in bringing You glory,

even in the most

            unexpected places.

No Returns or Exchanges

 

...people will give account

for every careless word

                 they speak.

            Matthew 12. 36

(Words are not returnable,

or exchangeable,

            but final sale.

May our careless words

--those heard, overheard

      or only by God Himself--

be those of grace, kindness

        and love.

Our words reflect

        our heart condition.)

O LORD,

Have mercy on how

    we have spoken.

Turn our words

     rightside up

that they may bring

    unexpected love, 

        healing and mercy

to the situations we face.

And that You would be

       glorified.

May our words reveal

    bear evidence of

    Your abiding in our hearts.

Help us to bless others today

   by each and every word.

 

www.nightlytea.blogspot.com

What God Does With a Fish Sandwich

 

And God said to him,

"I am God Almighty.

Be fruitful and multiply.

         Genesis 35. 11

(God says the same to us.

Make the most

    of this day

that He has given us.

There is nothing ordinary in it.

Everything matters,

  even the smallest kindness,

even in what we do,

           and how we do it.

Avodah in the Hebrew language

   is the same word simultaneously

   for work, worship, and service.

God applies His multiplying effect

            to every small endeavor.

God takes a small fish sandwich

            and feeds 5000.

We can never know

   what the Almighty

              is doing through us.)

O LORD,

We pray that with Your power

  You would be fruitful

   and multiply through us today.

in unexpected, ordinary

       and in extraordinary ways.

Help us to follow You into it.

Multiply, we pray, our faithfulness

     into Your fruitfulness.

And use us for Your glory.

Be magnified, Almighty One.

www.nightlytea.blogspot.com

The Deeps Break Open

 

When the LORD restores...

        Psalm 14. 7

(Hope is knowing

what we are going through

is not the end of the story.

We are only in the

  middle of a chapter and

     middle of His redeeming.

Redeeming is woven

          all the way through

   with strong thread

   and imperceptible stitches.

God's restoring

  does not just provide

depreciated replacement value.

Because God multiplies

  in ways we can never imagine

for our hearts

and for the souls around us.

The deeps break open

         --Proverbs 3. 20)  

O LORD,

May we be faithful to You

even through the chaos,

     fallow fields,

      and rocky roads.

You are working deeply,

   and You are redeeming

far beyond our understanding

    or what we can see.

Reveal to us

   not just what to do

but that we would

   be evidence of Your work,

Your hand,

and Your witness and redeeming

  in this situation.

Above all,

to be faithful to You today.

Stay By Me

 

But You said,

I will surely do you good...

          Genesis 32. 12

(That is what trusting God

        is all about:

knowing, believing,

staking our lives

    not on a particular outcome,

but on God and His goodness,

even when circumstances

     might initially appear otherwise.

Trusting God reveals

   another way through,

sometimes in the most

         unexpected ways.

Stay by Me,

      He whispers to us,

through many a danger,

      toil and snare,

avoiding distractions,

and skirting potholes

  that could sink a ship.

God redeems the hard stuff.

He is forming

    something different in us.

He is revealing deeper

        dimensions of Himself,

that which we 

   desperately need to know.)

O LORD,

You surely do us good,

even when we don't understand.

But we can trust You

    inside and out,

knowing that You only work

     for our greater good

and for Your overriding glory.

Strengthen us even more

    not just to hang on,

but to hold tight to You.

Cover us with Your goodness,

    and saturate us

                   with Your grace.

Trusting God Goes Both Ways

 

...and Jesus said to them,

"Do you believe that

I am able to do this?"

They said to Him,

          "Yes, Lord."

Then He touched their eyes,

saying, "According to your faith,

    be it done to you."

And their eyes were opened.

          Matthew 9. 28-30

(God is able to heal,

but not always the way

    that we specify,

not always what we expect,

         nor just physically.

His healing miracles

  were never limited

to physical healing,

  but always bore

even more significantly,

     an eternal spiritual element.

Trusting God goes both ways.

Do we believe He is able

        to do this,

or even more with this?

Faith lets God be God in this.

God always comes through,

but not always

     through the front door.

We can trust Him

  and not just for an answer,

but in a far greater redeeming

    than we can know.)

O LORD,

Grow in us a faith

to trust You

        both ways.

We know that You are able

    to do, answer, and redeem,

  far deeper than we ask.

Help us to realize that You

       stretch Your redeeming

  over more than

           a singular outcome.

Open our eyes

   that we may not

          just see Your hand,

but trust You even more.

God Knows What He is Doing. Imagine That.

Then Jacob awoke

      from his sleep and said,

"Surely the LORD is

          in this place,

and I did not know it."

          Genesis 28. 16

(What happens when we

realize that we are

right where God intended

           us to be?

Strategically placed,

divinely appointed,

sacredly purposed,

even in the most unlikely,

unusual and

  strangest circumstances.

God knows what He is doing.

           Imagine that.

A friend wrote: "I did not

   know what I was training

   for."

How differently would we walk,

approach, endure

and navigate this situation

   if we knew God was in it?

God is 

--in whatever we face today,

wherever we are,

among whomever,

    no random encounters,

    nothing He is not using.

It is not that we

       bring Him into it,

but God brings us

into His purposes

                 and glory.

We can know

   even what we cannot

                  yet see.)

O LORD,

Please help us

      to trust You in this.

Align our hearts to see

   and respond

   with fresh hearts

to the big rocks,

the rough trails,

the unexpected potholes,

and even the victories

           out of the blue.

You are in this place.

Help us to not just

       look for Your hand,

but recognize

       Your Presence.

What we see is very different

   knowing that You are here.

 

What Only God Can Pull Off

 

And he said, "O LORD,

God of my master Abraham,

please grant me success today

and show steadfast love

to my master Abraham.

            Genesis 24. 12

(Acknowledging that

it is God who causes to happen

to us what we seek,

not a particular answer

   of our own choosing

                or timing,

    but His way,

    His completion,

  and His glory in this.

His surprising ways reveal

not just His hand,

     but His Presence.

In Hebrew, it literally means

to make beams and joists

    to meet one another.

It is God who has done this,

not that things come together,

          or work out,

    but are designed that way

    to make Himself known.

Our experiences don't just happen

                     or come about.

What is at stake?

What do we make known?

       His glory or ours?)

O LORD,

Your steadfast love guides us

   through the miry bogs,

   tangles of impossibilities,

   and the great unknown,

not toward an outcome,

     but closer to You.

We ask that You would bless

        our efforts

        and our faithfulness

and amaze us

    not by "what happens"

but how You redeem

           all things.

Liberate us from our

       narrow pursuits.

Invite us into Your purposes.

Astonish us.

Direct it to Me

 

He touched her hand,

and the fever left her,

and she rose

and began to serve Him.

        Matthew 8. 15

(What is keeping us

from serving Jesus?

Direct it to Me.

Let Him touch and heal us

from our wounds, fears,

rebellions, selfishness,

distractions, brokenness,

   and other loud voices.

When Jesus comes in,

when we let Him touch

  those things we hold so tightly,

something changes.

And that would be our hearts.

Not giving us a new outlook,

   but re-ordering our loves.)

O LORD,

We seek Your touch

not for temporary relief,

   but to heal

   our feverish hearts.

Grant to us a new strength

  to serve You

in whatever is before us today.

We seek not to just

           get better

but to realize

   something supernatural

is taking place. 

You touch us, but You also

   bind ourselves to You.

Empower us to serve You

   every which way we can.

What We See and What We Don't

 

And Abraham lifted up his eyes

          and looked,

and behold,

  behind him was a ram,

caught in the thicket

               by his horns.

           Genesis 22. 13

(God provides in unexpected ways,

unlikely places,

unusual people,

and impossible situations.

Are we lifting our eyes

   from our circumstances?

Or relying on them to change

          all by themselves?

Prayer empowers us to see

  what God has already provided.

He opens our eyes,

    softens our hearts,

and reveals not just an answer,

         but His Presence.

God says, "Look at Me.")

O LORD,

When we are confident on our trail,

or overwhelmed by the miry bog

        or howls of the wolves,

give us the courage

     to lift our eyes to You

and follow You into

   what is before us

that only You can unravel.

Help us to behold You

    as You hold us

and guide us

   to live faithfully before You.

Even when we don't

     understand,

help us to trust You in this..

www.nightlytea.blogspot.com

Never A Passive Ask

 

Ask,

and it will be given to you.

Seek,

and you will find.

Knock,

and it will be opened to you.

           Matthew 7. 7

("Did it even occur to you

      to ask Me?"

God always responds

  when we ask and pursue

  His will and His way

in whatever is before us.

Prayer is not telling God what to do,

nor wishful thinking,

nor dumping a list

           of our wants

    before the Almighty,

nor a passive ask.

God does not just provide

    a set of instructions,

but He reveals Himself,

sometimes in unexpected ways,

sometimes one step first

     and then another,

sometimes to wait

  and stay faithfully doing

  right where we are.

We may not be yet ready

   for the trail ahead.

Prayer is an active pursuit,

seeking God about this situation,

  so that we can hit the road,

  shoes tied on,

     ready to run with Him.)

O LORD,

May we come before You

   with our concerns,

   and our messes,

   and what we don't even know

         to ask.

Guide us in Your will in this.

Help us to not just ask,

    but listen and respond.

Grant to us fresh hearts

  in hard situations

that we might not just

   see things differently,

   or do something different,

but realize Your way

   opens up new paths

          for Your glory,

even in difficulties,

even in the familiar,

even on ordinary days

   which are never so ordinary.

www.nightlytea.blogspot.com

Prayer Doesn't Change Things

 

He lifted up his eyes

          and looked,

and behold......

         Genesis 18. 2

(Praying to God

empowers us to look up

   beyond our circumstances

as we seek Him.

Praying is knowing that

there is something more,

    and that is God.

Praying is a way of speaking,

listening and responding,

laying out before God

   our concerns and joys.

God reveals Himself,

sometimes in unexpected

     and unlikely ways.

"Where did that come from?"

"I never thought of that before."

Through prayer,

God enlarges our vision,

        softens our hearts,

   and strengthens our hands

to see, approach

       and navigate differently

  whatever is before us.

Prayer doesn't change God.

Prayer doesn't change things.

Prayer changes us.)

O LORD,

We can pray to You.

That is marvelous and amazing.

We can come before You,

       O Almighty One,

sit with You,

walk with You,

cry out or rejoice,

pour out our hearts,

   because You listen.

We traverse the known

     and unknown

with a fresh heart

    and a deeper vision

because we have

   spent time with You.

We look up to You

      and behold.

Switch On The Porchlight

 

But I say to you,

Love your enemies

and pray for those

who persecute you.

      Matthew 5. 44

(Jesus always shows us

a different way

to navigate our predicaments.

As believers,

we are called to respond

   with a new heart.

Not to tolerate or ignore,

  but love, forgive and pray

  in tangible ways.

God enlarges our capacity

     to do that.

A lack of forgiveness

  sours every relationship

  we have.

Love does not keep score

   or hoard ammunition,

but switches on the porch light,

opens the door,

and turns on the coffee.)

O LORD,

Thank You for loving us

through our own imperfection,

rebellion and selfishness.

Help us and show us

how to show mercy and love

to others.

Remind us that we cannot

change others,

but we can love them

every which way we can.

Reorient our triggers

from retaliating

    to reconciling.

And grant us the courage

    to love them to You.

But First, To Build

 

And there he built

an altar to the LORD

and called upon

   the name of the LORD.

         Genesis 12. 8

(Wherever God leads us,

in whatever situation

   we find ourselves,

in our work,

in our joys and sorrows,

even in our wanderings

        or wonderings,

may we first build an altar

          and worship God.

Even when we don't understand

    why we are here,

  or what purpose can there be,

may we pitch our tents

and bring the name of Jesus there.

When we build an altar to God,

it radically changes what we do,

how we do it,

       and for Whom.

In securing the stakes of worship,

we see this place and situation

       as holy ground,

nothing random

but divinely appointed.)

O LORD,

May our first response to this day,

    or to this encounter,

    or to what is new,

              familiar or ordinary,

   be to worship You

        right where we are.

Help us to not just stop

    and acknowledge You,

but to build some kind

                of altar

to bring You glory

   in these 24 hours of moments

and write Your name

    at the top of the page.

We are Yours.

Nothing delights us more.

Bad News? Maybe Not.

 

But You, O LORD,

are a shield about me,

my glory,

and the lifter of my head.

I cried aloud to the LORD,

and He answered me

      from His holy hill.

            Psalm 3. 3-4

(The email appeared

       late one evening.

When I opened it 

         with baited breath,

the answer was not what 

 I thought I was waiting for.

What surprised me most

    was not the verdict,

            but my heart.

I was not devastated

    by a door slammed shut.

  but surprisingly encouraged

  by God's redirection.

He indeed lifted my head

                     and heart.

Bad news?

             Maybe not.

God had not just gone before me,

  not just shielded me,

but through it prepared me

     for His something different.

Before we even know to ask,

      God's got us,

in ways we don't ever expect.

How differently would we

      go into this day,

deal with the difficulties,

   the joys and disappointments,

if we wove these words

  into our hearts?

We do not after all walk alone.

Follow Me into this.)

O LORD,

We cry aloud to You.

And You answer.

Help us to listen.

Help us to respond.

Empower us to see

   not that a door is closed,

but that You are actually

   opening something far deeper.

And that would be 

      our intimacy with You.

    

No Matter What Ark We Are In

 

And the waters

     continued to abate

until the tenth month.

In the tenth month,

on the first day of the month,

the tops of the mountains

        were seen.

          

             Genesis 8. 5

(Even on cloudy days

and dark and stormy nights,

   God is already redeeming.

He is bringing about

  something we cannot

             even imagine yet.

God brings His relief,

  multiplies His purposes,

  fulfills His timing,

  and prepares the ground

         under our feet.

This difficult situation calls for

      our faithfulness,

not just counting the days.

no matter what ark

           we are in,

   no matter how long,

no matter how deep 

  the water looks from here.

And then, in one

   totally unexpected moment,

the tops of the mountains

        appear on the horizon

    or under our feet.

God reveals a glimpse

  to keep us trusting Him.)

O LORD,

Help us to trust You in this,

no matter how deep

   or hopeless it feels.

We trust not the circumstances

         to change,

but we trust You in this situation.

We seek Your Presence,

   not just an answer.

Cover our hard stuff

      with Your glory.

Help us to hope

       not just cope,

help us to trust You,

and help us

    to be faithful to You

on dry land

        or a floating boat.

 

Courage In Strange Places

Then Jesus was led up

       by the Spirit

into the wilderness.....

        Matthew 4. 1

(What in the world

     am I doing here

in this hard, dark,

       strange place?

We are led

  into the wild unknown

not to be defeated,

but to be strengthened.

What is unknown to us

     is not unknown to God.

If we never struggle,

   or be scared,

   or uncomfortable,

would we even turn to Him,

learn to trust God,

or realize

         our need for Him?

"Where have You

              taken me?"

God replies,

"Where you can come

   to know Me more.

I am with you.")

O LORD,

May we know

that wherever You lead us,

You walk with us there.

Give us the courage

        to be faithful to You,

and to trust You,

even when we don't understand.

Help us to not depend 

   on favorable circumstances

    or our own ingenuity,

but to trust You.

In the familiar or unfamiliar,

         safe or scary places,  

    where there are trails

    and where there are not,

empower us

            to hold on tight to You.

You have a strong hold

                on us.

Reveal to us

   Your wonders here.

 

Magnify, Amplify, Multiply

 

Be fruitful and multiply....

        Genesis 1. 28

(God provides each of us

a new way to approach

and navigate this new year.

He changes our hearts

    and our vision

in these appointed moments

   to not just see difficulties

                   differently

   but to see Him differently.

Our path may not change,

    but we do.

We are strengthened

  by walking with Him in it.

Do we see the hard stuff

      as difficulty

or as opportunity

   to do something more?

Enlarge, expand, increase,

deepen,

and amplify His goodness

    on this patch of ground

and in this moment in time.)

O LORD,

As we venture into new horizons

    or walk faithfully in the familiar,

we ask for strong legs, 

willing hands,

   and a new heart in this.

Grant to us Your wisdom

   and strength.

Nudge us to see this hard situation

   and impossible relationships,

not as they appear on the surface,

but as an opportunity

    to be faithful to You.

Be magnified through us.

Bring Your fruitfulness and glory

   to all we undertake today.

    

Just Watch This

In the beginning,

God created

  the heavens and the earth.

The earth was without form

           and void,

and darkness was over

   the face of the deep.

And the Spirit of God

  was hovering over

the face of the waters.

             Genesis 1. 1-2

(That is how it all began.

That is how it all continues.

God created

   the beginning of everything

            out of nothing

and brought His beauty

and order to the chaos.

Now, just as then,

the Spirit of God

   is hovering over our lives.

Something is about to happen.

God is moving over us

  just as a parent cherishes a child.

This year -- even this very day--

   may only appear as dark and void

   and without form.

But God says, "Just watch this.")

O LORD,

Help us to see in the dark,

knowing that You are working

  and weaving and redeeming

what is way beyond

          our imagination

  and deep in Your purposes.

Empower us

     to be faithful to You.

 

Already Being Redeemed

 

And He who was

    seated on the throne said,

"Behold,

   I am making all things new..."

            Revelation 21. 5

(In this new year,

we are not walking

           into the unknown,

but that which is

   already being redeemed,

our past, present and future,

        covered by His endless glorias.

The fullness of time

  is not just coming

  in some far-off future,

but woven in this very moment,

   profound in all eternity,

to the furthest generation.)

 

Happy New Year!

O LORD,

May we in this newest of years

     abide in You

and open ourselves

to seeing You in new places,

unexpected circumstances,

and among the unlikely.

Wherever You lead,

may we know fully

   that You are with us

and find us faithful.

You do not just bring us through,

    but draw us right to You.