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.

But Peter said,

"I have no silver and fold,

but what I do have

              I give to you.

In the name

of Jesus Christ of Nazareth,

        rise up and walk."

               Acts 3. 6

(But with what I do have,

        in the name of Jesus,

God uses to change the world.

I can't do everything

   --God never intended that--

but I can do something.)

O LORD,

What I do have

     is Your love for me.

Open my eyes and heart

   to share Your love

with everyone around me.

I can't do everything,

     but I can love others

in significant life-changing ways

     in Your name

in unexpected ways

       and unlikely places.

...a doer of great deeds.

              2 Samuel 23. 20

(People like that know

the immense significance

          of every detail.

There are

    no small kindnesses.)

O LORD,

May my love for You

be revealed in tangible ways

   in the lives of those

   You have put on my path.

May others recognize

   Your love, grace and mercy.

Open my eyes and heart

   to daily moments

to love others into Your kingdom,

knowing the smallest kindness

    is often the most significant

    of all.

Every act of grace matters

           more than I can know.

O to be known

         as a doer of great deeds,

                     both big and small,

    no difference between them.

For Your glory

                in the ordinary.

I am one of those

who are peaceable

and faithful in Israel.

           2 Samuel 20. 19

(What is

      God's way in this?

Bring grace to the table.

Seek peace.

Be faithful to God

      in unexpected places

      and on unlikely paths.

God has strategically

            placed us

in His name,

for His kingdom,

        for His glory.)

O LORD,

There is nothing random

                 in this place,

                 in this situation,

                 in Your timing.

Grant me the courage

      to follow You into this,

Your heart

      to see Your way,

and to be a witness

    right here,

    right now,

in the familiar

         and the foreign,

unlikely and unexpected.

Help me to bear Your name

         into the wild.

He said to them,

"Cast the net

on the right side of the boat,

    and you will find some."

So they cast it,

and now

they were not able

             to haul it in,

because of the quantity of fish.

                   John 21. 6

(The difference is

willing to follow Him into it)

O LORD,

The fish are there.

I just can't see them yet.

Please help me

   to follow You

in the very details,

even when I can't imagine

   what is in the net.

Help me to recognize You,

           Your hand,

           Your work,

           Your Presence,

   even Your glory in this.

Having said this,

she turned around

  and saw Jesus standing,

but she did not know

          that it was Jesus.

               John 20. 14

(How often I do not recognize

         Jesus is with me,

         Jesus is in this.

I am not alone after all.

God's purposes are deeper

         than I can imagine.

"Follow Me.")

O LORD,

I did not know that it was You

   in this unexpected place,

in the ordinary

            or the extraordinary.

Please guide

    and surround me

by Your Presence

    and Your divine appointments

                 in this day.

Even in what is

         beyond my understanding,

or shrouded in mystery,

   You are with me.

Help me to follow You

    right where I am,

not just in what is next,

             but what is now,

aware of Your Presence,

and sensitive to those

     You have placed on my path.