They did not remember 

        His power,

or the day when

  He redeemed them

  from the foe...

           Psalm 78. 42

(A prescription 

        for anxiety 

is to forget

Who walks with us.

Look to the chronicle 

   of His faithfulness,

the reality of 

        His Presence.)

O LORD,

Help us to set our

    minds on the eternal 

align our hearts 

            with You,

recalibrate our steps

   to follow You

and walk with You,

even into this day,

even in what 

  we cannot yet see,

to Your glory

       and majesty.

Help us to 

not be tripped up

    by anxiety.

Thank You that 

   You are in control,

and we are not.

 

Thus says the LORD:

"Stand by the roads

            and look,

and ask for

        the ancient paths,

  where the good way is;

and walk in it,

and find rest

     for your souls.

         Jeremiah 6.16

(The momentary pause

       before we jump in

    that changes everything:

what is God's way in this?

Have I even considered

     what God would

                have me do?

Have I even considered

    praying about this?

And listening to Him?

First response,

    not last resort.

Without God,

   never the same direction,

   never the same journey,

   never the same outcome,

   always missing out.)

O LORD,

Help us to stand and look,

ask and walk,

and find our rest in You,

  not in our circumstances.

Fill us with Your Word,

   overwhelm us with

            Your Presence,

and bring Your glory

to impossible situations.

What is Your way in this?

Help us to be faithful

   right where we are.

Your flourishing always

gets all over everyone.

   

 

...that in everything

He might be preeminent.

            Colossians 1. 18

(Not a patch,

not a part,

not some stuff,

not even prominent,

but preeminent,

standing out,

visible,

towering above,

seamlessly woven,

to have first place

     in everything,

the first thing we realize

and others are aware

          about us.

Preeminent means

    not missing out

on God's unlikely ways

and unexpected fruit,

undeniably from Him.

Nothing but nothing

           is ordinary.

Nothing but nothing

  that He is not redeeming.)

O LORD,

Help us to see things not from

   the ordinary

   or expected

   or complacent,

but from the supernatural

and eternal.

You are working powerfully

in our lives,

even when we are least aware.

When we look, trust, turn

    and abide in You,

we don't miss out

     on knowing You,

on seeing Your wonders

  in impossible situations

  and in our lives.

Guide our thoughts

          and our steps.

Align our hearts

              with Yours.

 

And I will give you shepherds

after My own heart,

who will feed you

with knowledge

     and understanding.

            Jeremiah 3. 15

(Placing ourselves

in the company

of the faithful shepherds

    in our lives

can deepen and change

    our journey on earth

and our relationship

              with God.

Seek them out

     with intention,

listen, learn, absorb.

Mark those who are faithful

and watch how

they live out the gospel

  in every dimension.

And realize that

God has made each of us,

in turn,

   as shepherds for others,

even the most unlikely

      in unexpected places,

pointing them

and loving them to Jesus.)

O LORD,

Make us aware

of the shepherds

           in our lives,

those who live

   faithfully before You,

those who can feed us

   and nurture

   wisdom and knowledge

   and understanding

and point us fully to You.

Help us also be aware

  of those You have placed

             in our care.

Help us to love them

  into Your kingdom.

 

But the LORD said to me,

"Do not say,

     'I am only a youth,'

for to all to whom

                I send you,

     you shall go,

and whatever

         I command you,

     you shall speak.

Do not be afraid of them,

for I am with you

         to deliver you,

declares the LORD."

         Jeremiah 1. 7-8

(Do not say,

    "I am only a ________."

Fill in the blank.

Plumber,

teacher,

installer,

artist,

   what can I do?

With God,

more than we can know.

Each one of us

      is daily

 and divinely appointed.

We are all called

and live in our calling,

not to a job,

       but to Christ.

It is in our work

and daily encounters

  that God fulfills

  His purposes and glory.

Anything and everything

are all inclusive

and nothing but nothing,

    no one but no one,

is insignificant to Him.

Unlikely places,

    unexpected fruit.)

O LORD,

Open our eyes

   to all You have placed

   before us,

open our hearts

   to be sensitive to needs,

both visible and invisible.

 Help us to not

        be distracted

 from Your purposes in this.

You are sovereign.

You are working mightily,

  and You are using us.

Even in this.

 

But one thing I do:

forgetting what lies behind

and straining forward

to what lies ahead,

I press on

toward the goal

for the prize

   of the upward call

   of God in Christ Jesus.

         Philippians 3. 13-14

(Forgetting what lies behind

   means not defined by

   our past or failures,

but knowing

   we are forgiven

                and redeemed.

We are identified as His

     and loved by Him.

We press on,

not into our performance

    of a set of beliefs,

but fully into His grace

  on which we can

  stake our lives.

Are we still dragging

 burdens that

have already been forgiven?)

O LORD,

Help us to drag our burdens

before You

    and leave them there.

You have something

   far eternal

   for us to do

than to be mired in the past.

Help us to strain forward

      and press on

in knowing You more,

running with You,

running into Your embrace.

We are not just

     strengthened by You,

but released,

transformed,

and moving forward.

-- www.nightlytea.blogspot.com

 

From of old

no one has heard

     or perceived by ear,

no eye has seen

     a God besides You,

Who acts for those

     who wait for Him.

             Isaiah 64. 4

(No one can do

  what only God can do.

He takes action,

brings about,

fulfills,

works out,

loves us more

     than we can imagine.

When we get ahead of Him,

  we are the ones

             who miss out.

Things are not ripe yet. 

         Nor us.)

 

O LORD,

Being anxious,

we are getting ahead

       not just of ourselves,

    but ahead of You,

ahead of what we

      cannot yet see,

looking into the unknown

         without You.

It is not that we

             wait on You.

You are waiting for us.

Help us to walk with You.

Why is this so hard?

Because You are working

     so much good

     that will come out of it.

Anxiety just trips us up,

and worry

      always blocks out

      the available light.