So she called

   the name of the LORD

   who spoke to her,

"You are a God

            who sees me."

          Genesis 16. 13

(We don't have to earn

       God's attention

   or wave a thousand flags

       for Him to notice us.

When we turn to Him,

   He is already here.

God does not just

               notice us

    or watch from afar,

but He sees us,

knows us,

where we are, who we are,

what we are going through,

with what we are struggling,

and loves us deeply through it,

               no matter what.

God loves me.

God sees me.

Do I seek Him?)

O LORD,

One of the adversary's

biggest lies is that

we are not seen by You.

But we are loved so deeply

     You came for us.

May we not just call You

   the God who sees us,

but the Almighty

        who loves us.

May we be faithful to You,

not just believing

           but knowing

You are with us.

We come before You

in this situation, this season,

these difficult circumstances.

Please change our hearts in this,

                for Your glory.

       For Your glory alone.

Help us to walk with You.

 

And there

Abram called upon

the name of the LORD.

          Genesis 13. 4

(Worship is the point

when everything changes --

how we see where we are,

how we view, approach and

   navigate circumstances,

how we see God,

how we treat and love others,

and how we see ourselves.

Worship does not

          change our situation

          or merely our perspective.

Worship changes our hearts.

Am I calling upon the LORD

                        in this

or seeking my own desires?)

O LORD,

May we call upon Your name

here and there and everywhere.

May we bring Your name with us

and write it all over this day

and engraved on

             everything we do.

May we worship You

    by being faithful

even in this volatile situation

or barren landscape.

When we call upon You,

You don't just show up,

but we realize

     You are already here

      with us.

 

...to the land that

   I will show you.

         Genesis 12. 1

(Obedience to God

is not triggered by

   knowing the outcomes,

but by trusting God.

Take one step of

     responding to God,

even if that is only

    how far we can see,

and God will reveal the next

   in His own way

   and in His own time.

We don't have to

       know the reason

       for there to be one.

We don't have to

       know the reason

       in order to obey Him.

Obedience may mean

    going to a new land.

But it often means

   cultivating the ground

   right where

      we already are standing.)

O LORD,

Take us where

    we can know You more,

even if that means

    staying in this place,

fulfilling Your purposes

    in all we do today.

You have placed us here

   for Your eternal ways.

You lead us

     to a new heart

that seeks to honor You

and bring You glory,

no matter where we are,

not for our own favor,

but for the good

          of many people.

Sin always hurts others.

But obedience to You

   always blesses the world.

More than we can know.

 

...and put your trust

      in the LORD.

          Psalm 4. 5

(Did it even occur to me

     to trust God in this?

Or is worry and fear

           my default?

Prayer is our first response,

      not last resort.

Prayer is the first step

      of trusting Him

in whatever we face,

both known and unknown.

God knows a lot more

         than we do.

He brings the supernatural

     to the situation,

because that is the way

    God always works.

"Trust Me in this."

And then take the first step.)

O LORD,

You do not just show up.

You are already here,

   working Your hand

   in these impossible situations.

Help us to not just believe

    but know that we are

                   not alone.

Help us to trust You

even when we don't understand.

Even when all we can do

        is trust You.

Trusting doesn't mean

   we have to

        know the outcome.

Just to know You.

May our lives be

    marked as Yours.

 

Enoch walked with God....

          Genesis 5. 22

(And that means being faithful,

making difficult choices,

and choosing to follow God.

What are we known by?

What distinguishes us?

A different trajectory,

a heart willing

     to walk with God in this,

an unexpected response

        to circumstances,

a lasting impact

   on the generations after us,

far more than we know.

Enoch was Noah's

       great grandfather.)

O LORD,

Help us to know You more.

Help us to be known

                as Yours.

Help us to bring Your name here.

Soli Deo Gloria.

For Your glory alone.

Use us today for Your name's sake,

    for Your glory,

    and for Your Kingdom,

no detail of faithfulness

                too small.

May our walk with You

   point others to You

as we worship and serve You

    through all we do today.

    

 

The voice of one

   crying in the wilderness:

Prepare the way of the Lord;

  make His paths straight.

               Matthew 3. 3

               Isaiah 40. 3

(What in the world am I

  doing in this strange place?

What is my appointed work

      in this remote situation?

What is my purpose

      in this ordinary day?

To prepare the way of the Lord,

to bring His name there,

to love and dig and plant,

to straighten out the path,

to prepare the way of the Lord

       in other people's lives,

even when it feels

 like the wind-swept wilderness.

God does some of

     His greatest work

     in what appears like wilderness.

God sees something

            profound there.)

O LORD,

May we be not just sensitive

        to Your leading,

but responsive to Your nudges

with our shoes tied on,

    ready to follow You.

You do not just

       change our perspective,

but transform our hearts

to see and hear differently,

to love others and

      bring Your name

   where it has not been known.

There are no small kindnesses,

     nor insignificant acts of grace.

Why are we here

       in this time and place?

For Your glory.

For Your Kingdom.

In Your name.

You are enough.

 

The LORD God took the man

and put him in

    the garden of Eden

to work it and keep it.

           Genesis 2. 15

(May we be faithful,

          fruitful and multiply

the little patch of dirt

        and the rag-tag flock

God has entrusted in our care.

It may not appear

         as the garden of Eden,

but only what appears as barren.

Yet, what if we worked

and cultivated and cared for it

    as what God has given?

What are we doing in this new year

to nurture and cultivate,

to sow and plant and care for

what God has entrusted us

     to work and keep?

It doesn't just happen.

We have only to be faithful.

God brings the fruit

and the growth

and transforms the landscape

from barrenness into His glory.)

O LORD,

We come before You

    in this new year,

    in this fresh new day,

not with empty hands,

but with willing hearts

to be faithful and fruitful

and embrace Your work

          in us.

What needs to change

is not our circumstances

             but our hearts.

Be our vision in this new year

that we would bring You glory

and delight in You

    in all You lay before us.

And to realize that

Your fruitfulness in us

    is not limited by what we see,

but transcends

                our lifetimes,

far more than we can know.