Has the LORD as great delight 

in burnt offerings

            and sacrifices,

as in obeying

       the voice of the LORD?

Behold,

   to obey

        is better than sacrifice,

to listen than the fat of rams.

                1 Samuel 15. 22

(God does not want our stuff,

or achievements,

or even "Look what great things

   I have done for You

                   instead."

God desires our hearts.

God pursues relationship.

To obey,

to listen,

to respond,

to follow Him

is how we show

            our love for Him.

To obey is better than sacrifice.

What does that look like today?)

O LORD,

May our hearts be true to You

  in whatever we do today,

walking with You

instead of getting ahead of You,

or lagging behind,

or bushwhacking what we think

    is a better way than Yours.

Please reveal Your day

    and Your way for us,

and grant the courage

    to follow You into it,

what we already see coming,

what we cannot

               even imagine.

You never promised

    a paved easy highway,

but "I am with You."

Help us to choose You today.

Even in what appears

                  impossible

     to bring You glory.

     

It may be

that the LORD will work for us,

for nothing

   can hinder the LORD

from saving by many

              or by a few.

           

              1 Samuel 14. 6

(Because in seeking the LORD

    and walking with Him,

there are no odds,

           only His glory.

First plan of action:

     Have I even considered

     coming before the LORD

     with this?)

Nothing can hinder You,

                O LORD.

Help others to recognize

                     Your hand.

Help us to acknowledge

                           You.

You never work

       in singular outcomes.

And Your glory gets all over

                   everything.

Lay Your hand, O LORD,

   over this day

   and everything in it,

Your victory

     in a million dimensions,

            even more.

Even in what

   we cannot yet see.

Now therefore

    stand still and see

this great thing

that the LORD will do

       before your eyes.

              1 Samuel 12. 16

(Are we so distracted with busy-ness

    that we miss what God is doing?

Are we willing to trust the LORD

                   even in this?

Are we willing to let Him

       bring about His glory?

God never works

         in singular outcomes

and always beyond

         what we can see.

Are we being faithful to God

  in what is before us today?

Even in this.

God is working a great thing

  that we do not yet

                     recognize.)

Guide us, O LORD,

not just in what to do today,

but how to do them,

aligned with Your heart

       in the doing and being,

in what precise order,

wherever You place us,

among whomever

    Your divine appointments

        You have set up

    and sacred encounters

        we didn't see coming,

  for Your glory alone.

There is nothing insignificant

      in Your eyes

      and in Your purposes.

Nothing You cannot use.

...do what your hand

          finds to do,

for God is with you.

            1 Samuel 10. 7

(What would I do differently

  if I knew God was

  with me in this mess?

One step at a time,

that which is immediate,

that which I am working toward,

He whom I am walking with.

Obedience is simply

        responding to God.

We are not just

         doing something,

but God is doing something in us.

God changes our hearts,

enlarges our vision,

and alters our trajectory.)

O LORD,

Be glorified through us today,

in whatever we do,

how we respond

    to what You have placed

           in our day

   and whomever You have put

          on our path

          and on our hearts.

You change our vision

and help us to realize

that wherever we are today,

it is never a barren landscape.

Guide us into

   what we should do today,

 and what we should do

                differently.

You guide,

Your provide,

You change our hearts.

And Samuel

    prayed to the LORD.

              1 Samuel 8. 6

(First response,

   not last resort.

Prayer marked his life.

And through

   his seeking God in all things,

God changed the

      trajectory of his life

and the welfare of many people.

In prayer,

   God aligns our hearts

                    with His,

and alters the course

                    of history.)

O LORD,

Help us to seek You first.

Help us to realize

that panic and fear

             and anxiety

are only reminders that we

    have not come to You

and laid our concerns

                 before You.

Align our hearts, O LORD,

        with Yours.

Then Samuel took a stone

         and set it up

   between Mizpah and Shen.

He named it Ebenezer,

saying,

"Thus far the LORD

      has helped us."

                 1 Samuel 7. 12

(Our path

should be lined with

stones of remembrance,

a chronicle of

  God's ongoing faithfulness.

God is not about

    to abandon us now.

If we knew God is in this,

    whatever it is,

    however it appears,

if God is in this with us,

would we be afraid?)

O LORD,

When we are confronted

    by the big hard impossible stuff,

may we remember

    not just how You brought us through

                           in the past,

  but that You walk with us now

        to a deeper intimacy with You.

Please help Your faithfulness

    be visible before us

and not fade

        in our myopic minds.

Thank You for Your Presence.

May our lives be a witness

    to others of Your great mercy

and the rocks that line our paths,

       both big and small,

remind us

        Who You are

    and You are with us,

each Ebenezer

   that we might rely on You.

For those who honor Me

I will honor.

               1 Samuel 2. 30

(Above all,

honoring the LORD in this

     and bringing Him glory.

Whomever or whatever

                we love,

whomever or whatever

                we worship,

   changes how we respond,

   changes how we live.

How differently do I approach

               this difficult situation,

    or even this ordinary day,

because I love God

   and seek to honor Him in it?

Am I willing to

   seek His interest in this?

To be known as His?)

O LORD,

Help us to not just seek Your way

or seek Your hand

or see a sure path

     and the direct outcome,

but to honor You

   in whatever

   You place before us today.

Nothing is random,

       but divinely appointed,

all on sacred ground,

nothing but nothing

  that cannot be used by You

for Your glory and honor.

Even now.

Even in this.

Even the least obvious.