Lord, as I read of life in the 1600s among oppressed peoples, I’m impressed again with what convenience, what ease, what pleasant blessings are ours. But still we murmur, still we fret, still we rush to and fro as if we lived in caves and had to kill our food fresh each day! Forgive us as we lay our hands upon our mouths.
Share deep, dark emotions with God
Jimmy Bagwell makes specific suggestions on developing one’s prayer life, including this one:
Pray for anything that is on your heart. You may feel the need to express deep dark emotions; this is perfectly fine. Jesus is our example of this. Many times he expressed his negative and hurt feelings in prayer. The secret is to always end with a positive thought. On one occasion Jesus expressed his angst and emotional distress with the phrase “Let this cup pass from me”. In so doing he poured out his feelings of remorse and sorrow but he ended with a positive thought; “Not my will but yours be done”. We must do the same. Those deep dark emotions, those feelings of despair and depression should be shared with God.
Lord, show me the beam in my eye
Lord, show me the beam in my eye. Hold my tongue until I remove the shadow of sin. Show me my hypocrisy. Let me embrace the pain of repentance and feel the relief of confession. Make me fit to be your servant and my brother’s friend.
Father, as we impress upon others your mercy, let us never compromise the truth
Father, as we impress upon others your goodness and mercy, let us never compromise the truth that all must repent and obey in order to be saved. For your grace is in receiving Jesus’ sacrifice, your "command is eternal life," because Jesus "became the source of eternal salvation for everyone who obeys him." Let that truth animate me to speak and live for Him.
Thank you, Lord, for no surprises, no last-minute amendments on the final day
Thank you, Lord, that on the final day, there’ll be no surprises, no changes, no last-minute amendments to the new covenant. For you have signed it in the permanent ink of your Son’s blood and sealed it with your Holy Spirit.
In Christ, what a comfort to know that we will be judged according to what we have done in the body, according to the mind of our Lord which we have shown to others, mercy for mercy, grace for grace, love for love!
For reproducing in me the image of yourself, by the power of him who raised Jesus from the dead, I praise you, O God!
You, Lord, don’t want me to walk in circles, like Israel in the desert, until I drop
Sovereign God, Israel wandered in the desert for 40 years to die there. This was your judgment on them for disobedience. But you don’t want me to walk in circles until I drop. Give me focus, the objective of glorifying you by actions and words. Let my goals be clear, my specific tasks well defined, my activity that of Jesus: to bring others to you. Because he is Lord! Amen.
Lord, to obey your commands are joy and gladness to me
Lord, to obey your commands are joy and gladness to me, none more joyous than to meet with your people, my family, my friends. In their midst, I know who I am; under your hand, united around our Lord Jesus Christ, we find our place. Yours is the glory for this, too! Amen.
How is it, Lord, that an ingrown toenail disturbs us more?
How is it, Lord, that an ingrown toenail disturbs us more than the billions of lost souls across this world? Does our own physical comfort and well-being consume our interest and comittment, so that we are blind to spiritual loss? Pull me out of myself, O God, that I might enter into the suffering of my neighbor and offer him your Good News.
Life seems to pass too fast, eternal God
Life seems to pass too fast, eternal God.
Is this your doing, also? Did you design
The rush of events and the speed of days
To create in me the desire for you, the Timeless?
Prayers We Don’t Mean (1)
Carl Jenkins shares two articles on prayers that we don’t mean. His point is that we must not only pray, but act as well. The first one starts here:
The Lord condemned vain prayers saying, "when you pray, do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do, for they think that they will be heard for their many words" (Mat 6:7). While we may not have the repetitious prayers of the Catholics, and while praying for the same thing over and over is not wrong, it can be easy to offer up a prayer that is more of habit than heart. It’s easy to offer up prayers we don’t mean. Maybe we pray them, but don’t act upon them.
Read the rest of the article HERE, and check out the second installment as well.