Go Right Ahead

"I will praise the Lord, who counsels me; even at night my heart instructs me. I have set the Lord always before me. Because he is at my right hand, I will not be shaken."

Psalm 16:7-8

Lord, go before me and create a path for me to follow. I give my days ahead to You and Your plan. Instruct me as I eat, sleep, and pray so that I am not filled with questions that can lead me astray in a weak moment. You are the Model of the heart I long for. You are my Counselor and Redeemer who knows the way through my mountains and canyons.

I take each step with my eyes on Your might. Let my commitment of faith be transformed into wisdom and love. And may I never be so sure of my pace that I desire to pass You and take over the lead on this journey.

Getting Ready

"Therefore, prepare your minds for action; be self-controlled; set your hope fully on the grace to be given you when Jesus Christ is revealed."

1 Peter 1:13

In the days of my childhood, time had little meaning unless it was relevant to a need. When can I eat? When can I sleep? But now I see that time does not exist to fill my needs. It runs beneath our spirits with undetectable speed as we go about our day. It carries us closer to eternity with such a quiet force that when we do finally notice where we are in the continuum of time, we are amazed and shocked. How could it be a year later...a new season...a different stage of life?

God, help me be truly awake these days so that I take in all that Your grace provides. You did not sacrifice for me so that I would waste my days. Prepare me to be self-disciplined, to have hope, and to be ready to receive every ounce of grace from You.

Your Ingredients

"Your hands made me and formed me; give me understanding to learn your commands."

Psalm 119:73

I thank You today and every day for shaping me, forming my very spirit and soul, Lord. I have come to know You so personally because my heart has desired to return to its Maker. This longing leads me back to You over and over, even when I wander and follow path of my own creation through dark forests.

I am made with Your ingredients. My strengths and weaknesses all blend together beneath Your hand so that I become this complex self. I know whose hand created me. Now I pray for the knowledge to understand and follow Your commands. This complex being You made as "me" has been created just for this life, for these very personal circumstances and choices. May I follow Your commands so that Your creations is used for the purposes You intended.

The Fear Factor

"Then Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water and came toward Jesus. But when he saw the wind, he was afraid and, beginning to sink, cried out, "Lord, save me!"

Matthew 14: 29-30

Give me courage, Lord, Facing risk is not just a matter of trusting You. It also becomes a matter of defying the power of fear. When Peter walked on the water at Your command, he was held up, kept from being hurt by the storm's strength. But as soon as he let the fear and doubt creep back into his spirit, he began to sink.

I do not want to go under the waves of worry that are just waiting to crash down upon me. Lord, carry me to the shore of emotional safety. Protect my mind from anxiousness. I will keep my eyes upon You, and I will believe You can do the impossible.

Replenish My Spirit

"You gave abundant showers, Oh God. You refreshed your weary inheritance. Your people settled in it, and from your bounty, Oh God, you provided for the poor."

Psalm 68:9-10

May Your love rain down on me and refresh my spirit. I open my heart as an empty vessel waiting to be filled by Your abundant grace. For a time I hid from such expressions of Your love. I ran for shelter that did not protect me, but prevented me from encountering Your grace. Even then I knew how powerful it would be to share in Your bountiful mercy.

Lord, thank You for hearing my prayers over the years, and especially in recent days. I have felt a shift in my heart. I know I am closer to You. It is with deep gratitude that I look ahead and realize that Your spiritual abundance will shower down on me when I call upon Your mighty, merciful name.

Ready to Believe

"Jesus replied, "I tell you the truth, if you have faith and do not doubt, not only can you do what was done to the fig tree, but also you can say to this mountain, 'Go, throw yourself into the sea,' and it will be done. If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer."

Matthew 21:21-22

My prayers do not always reflect a faith of true believing, Lord. I find myself asking without faith in the outcome, without fully trusting that You are listening. Fill my heart with faith that leaves no room for doubt. Let my questions be those of a seeker desiring a deeper relationship with You, rather than those of a person who places obstacles between my life and the Once who made it.

As I practice the discipline of prayer, may it make me ready to receive all that is good, holy, and of You. May my lips never release words that are not lifted up in faith.

Stepping Out of the Fog

"Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is - his good, pleasing and perfect will."

Romans 12:2

My mind is foggy. I have stepped behind a shroud of stress, distance, and emotional indifference. I view everything through this haze. My mind makes decisions while surrounded by the cloud of nothingness. I want to walk through my life awake and with great passion, Lord. Pull me away from the self-protective layer.

Renew my mind and my heart, Lord. While I thought I was getting by in life, surviving, Your have wanted me to be living within Your will. You desire for me to feel the emotional highs and lows which create the landscape of life. I am ready to wake up, Lord!

Correct Me

"Yet you know me, O Lord; You see me and test my thoughts about you."

Jeremiah 12:3

Correct me if I am wrong about You, Lord. I believe that I have led a life that has been a bit off-kilter because I do not know You as well as I should. I long to have the kind of connection that puts me at ease in Your presence and replaces my doubts and questions with certainty. Search my ways of thinking, my pattern of emotions, and my view of the world, and repair any false perspectives I have.

god, I pray for knowledge that gives me a greater understanding of You. See me and test my thoughts about You to see if they are strong in truth. I want to know You. I pray to be open to Your correction and testing. I pray to give myself over to You fully.

Sure, But Can You Do This?

"Test everything. Hold on to the good."

1 Thessalonians 5:21

In my need, I have reached for many lifelines. I am embarrassed to confess, Lord, that I sought out help that was not of Your strength. What was I thinking? How weak is my resolve to be solid in my faith and my commitment to You!

I was forgetting how committed You are to me. I don't deserve this grace, this mercy from You. Nevertheless, You give it to me with love and guidance. You don't shame me for trying to be strong on my own. But I sense that You smile like a knowing parent when I return, once again, to take hold of Your wisdom and call it the only true lifeline.

Me?

"Be patient, then, brothers, until the Lord's coming. See how the farmer waits for the land to yield its valuable crop and how patient he is for the autumn and spring rains. You, too, be patient and stand firm, because the Lord's coming is near."

James 5:7-8

Haw many friends have I witnessed to about the virtues of waiting upon Your timing? Countless. I'm sure I said it with great authority and conviction. I was good at that then!

Now I stand in a darkened room with my hands held up to the ceiling. I have only questions, not conviction, on my lips and on my mind: "When will You take this from me? When will You fix this, Lord?" I feel the tug on my heart almost immediately. it is not judgment, but mercy. "You too must be patient and stand firm." I let this sink in. It isn't a platitude; it's a true answer.

In The Shadows

"In him was life, and that life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood it." John 1:4-5

Lord, Your countenance illuminates everything from east to west, north to south...myself included. I stand in the bright rays. I lift my face to receive the healing warmth. I trust it is reaching the darkness of my sorrow.

My prayer is that Your radiance will filter through to places where hope has not taken root. May I be encouraged by the brilliance of Your love and care. The shadows cast by loss and regret do not yet know the power of the Savior's light, but they will.

Saving Grace

"Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble, and he saved them from their distress. He sent forth his word and healed them; he rescued them from the grave."

Psalm 107: 19-20

Lord, I was proud, and You humbled me. I was selfish, and You showed me compassion. I was cold, and You taught me to feel. I was empty, and You filled me. I was dark, and You brought me into the light.

The power of Your Word came into my being, and I have been saved. Once I looked at my life as meaningless pursuits. Now I understand that my life is one to be lived spiritually and within Your grace. I was unloved, and now I am loved.

Love's Insight

"And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless until the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness."

Philippians 1:9-11

The trials of late have left scars. Other people can't see them, but I run my thoughts back and forth over the ridge of past wounds when I am alone. Healing does amazing things. I have learned to pray, feel, and care more deeply. My capacity for compassion has multiplied.

Lord, I never thought I would say this, but thank You for the wisdom this has brought to my life. Thank You for holding me when I wanted to stop the healing process because it hurt too much. On this side of it, I see the purpose, I see You in all of it.

I Need You

"Rise up and help us; redeem us because of Your unfailing love."

Psalm 44:26

In my very core I feel the need for You. Nothing around me is sufficient to ease my concerns. Even my closest friends and their kind comforts do not lessen this deep ache. I am craving time with You. When I pray, a sweet peace covers me like the most luxurious blanket. I curl up to become more and more protected by Your love.

May I return to this sense of need often. It brings me closer to Your heart. Safe in Your embrace, I do not question the concept of unfailing love, I welcome it!

Inside Out

"I appeal to you, brothers, in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree with one another so that there may be no divisions among you and that you may be perfectly united in mind and thought."

1 Corinthians 1:10

God, You call us to be united and in agreement with one another. Help! I struggle to find common ground with some people lately. The brokenness inside of me wants to create division outside of me. Is it anger? Loneliness? Adversity?

Lord, help me heal within so that I will desire agreement and unity in my relationships. Where I am raw, soothe me. Where I am jagged, smooth me. And where I am shattered, piece me back together. Only Your holiness will bring my wholeness.

Deep Slumber

"Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest."

Matthew 11:28

Restless nights plague me, I had to buy a new clock because I was tired of looking at the neon numbers of the old one. Lord, You are with me at all times. I stare up at the ceiling or out the window and whisper to You. Sometimes I cry. There is comfort during those hours, but I am ready for sleep.

Lord, give me time to separate from my many worries so that I can close my eyes and drift. My bones are tired. My thoughts are scattered. I long for the grogginess that follows a deep, deep slumber. Cover me with Your peace.

Who Can Handle It?

"Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love."

Ephesians 4:2

Lord, I want to yell. To shout! To cry at the top of my lungs. I don't care who sees how messy I am right now. At least that would feel like an authentic connection with another person. I have been living on autopilot mode and it scares me.

But who, besides You, can handle that kind of outburst from me? Who can see the darker places that I feel and still be able to love me? Lord, show me who can bear this burden with me right now. Give me the courage to reach out to those You place in my path so that I can humble myself and risk being vulnerable with another child of God.