Monthly Archives: June 2014

June 4, 2014 · 7:44 AM

A Prayer For Your Family

Lord,

I lift up your name. I praise you because you’re worthy. You are the omnipotent and I recognize that. Where I am weak, you are strong. When I can’t, you are able. When I am limited, you are unlimited. You own the cattle on a thousand hills as the Psalmist out it. You own everything we see. You created this universe and are beyond the vastness of it. You can create something out of nothing with just your voice. Your words are powerful. More powerful than anything any one of us could ever imagine.

Today, I ask you to speak into my family. I pray that you would speak protection over them. As each of us go different ways, you are the only one who has the ability to watch over us and to protect us. Guard our paths. Expose the enemy when he’s lying in wait to steal, kill and destroy those I love. Rebuke him and keep him away so that he cannot lay a finger on anyone in my household. You are the One who gives abundant life and I ask that you speak that life into my family.

Next I pray that you would order each of our steps. Your Word says that the steps of a righteous man are ordered by you, so I ask that you would shine your light on the paths that each of us are to take. If anyone of us stumbles, reach out your hand to catch us, pull us back up and set our feet back on your path. Keep us from wandering off the paths that you have chosen for us. We want to do your will and go where you tell us. Make your way clear to each member of my family so there’s no question where you want them to walk.

For the members of my family in relationships, I ask that you would strengthen them. Draw them closer together through their relationship with you. Help each one to be selfless in their responsibilities in that relationship. For those who are yet to be in a relationship, I ask that you would bring someone who is godly into their life to challenge them in their relationship with you in order to help them grow. Put that person you have for them in their path so they will see them and your hand in the situation. Remove all fear and doubt from their mind in order to help them trust your plan for them.

Above all, I ask that you would place on each of us a hunger for more of you. Give us an appetite, a craving for your Word. Cause us to never be satisfied with anything less than you. Help us to put away spiritual junk food and to focus on putting only healthy things in our minds and hearts. When we do, I know we will be a reflection of you in all we say and do. We want to be good examples of who you are to those we meet. We want to be able to speak life into others, to build them up and encourage them. Let our lives lead others straight to you. Help us to represent you faithfully as we become more like you every day.

I ask all these things in Jesus’ name.

Amen

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June 3, 2014 · 7:54 AM

Learning To Worship

A few years ago I heard John Bevere say, “Worship is not a slow song.” That’s always stuck with me. We associate it with music because of the genre of music, but worship is more than what you do in church on Sunday during the singing portion of the service. Worship can be an act, an action that you do in reverence to who God is. You can worship God through giving offerings, through serving someone in need, by being still in a busy world and listening to what He says. There are so many ways to worship, but ultimately it has to be part of who you are.

When I think about worship, Job comes to mind. I think back to where he lost all of his kids, all of his animals and all of the things he had that gave him security. When all of that happened, he fell to the ground and worshiped. He didn’t sing the latest song from Hillsong United. He laid prostrate before God, and blessed His name. He recognized who he was in comparison to God and recognized that everything he had been given came from God. He honored God through his words and actions. Scripture even says, “In all of this, Job did not sin by blaming God.” He chose to worship instead of to blame.

I know it’s crazy, but while I was thinking about all of this, I asked Siri to define worship. She said, “Love unquestioningly and uncritically.” I was blown away because that’s exactly what Job did. He loved God unquestioningly through the darkest time any human has had to endure. When others were critical of God or his response, he remained in that attitude of worship. When his wife said, “Curse God and die,” he defended God. She asked him to give up his integrity, but he refused. Worship wasn’t just something to do when slow music was playing and everything was going right. It was a lifestyle he lived.

Each of us as believers have to get to the point where worship becomes who we are and not what we do. It has to be built into the fibers of our being so we honor God when hard times come instead of blaming Him. It has to come from our heart instead of our head so that it has meaning. It can’t be just something we do when the lights are low, the music is soft and God’s presence is overwhelming. It has to be something we do when we are sitting in traffic that’s making us late. It has to be something we do on Sunday morning when others are making you late for church. It has to be something you do when you’re hit with the worst news possible.

If you’re like me, you’ve got some room to grow in this area. I had to confess to God that worship isn’t my first response when things aren’t going my way. I also prayed that He would help me to make worship part of who I am as a person. I need it to be so deep inside of me that no matter what happens to me in life, I will choose to worship God. Take time today to ask God to help you worship Him in different areas of your life. Take worship beyond the doors of the church and make it what you do every day.

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June 2, 2014 · 7:51 AM

Stand Strong

One of my favorite people in the Bible is Gideon. I’m reminded of his story so often because I find myself in need of all the lessons it teaches. In Judges 6, the Bible explains that times were bad in Israel. The Midianites were destroying crops, killing animals and harassing the Israelites. There wasn’t anything anyone could do to stop them. The Israelites lived in fear because of all the bad things that were happening. If they had grain, they had to thresh it in hiding. If they had goats, they had to keep them hidden. Anything in the open would be taken.

Gideon was threshing his grain in the bottom of a wine press so no one would see him. An angel appeared and called out to him, “Mighty hero, The Lord is with you.” Gideon, who was hiding because he was afraid of the Midianites, didn’t think twice about the angel calling him a hero. What caught his attention was that the angel said, “The Lord is with you.” He took a double take at the angel and must have thought this guy didn’t know much. How could he say that when so many bad things were happening?

He confronted the angel and asked, “If The Lord is with us, why has all this happened to us?” Have you ever felt that way? When everything in life is going wrong and you feel abandoned by God. It’s an uncomfortable place. A dark place. Fear of the future grips your mind. You find yourself constantly worrying about things that you have no control over. You feel like God has forgotten you or worse, abandoned you in need. Your mind tells you that God doesn’t care. That He doesn’t see you in your pain.

In this verse, the angel reminds us that God’s presence in our lives isn’t proven by our circumstances. Our lives can be falling apart and God can still be with us. We’ve somehow come to believe that God is with us when things are good and has abandoned us when times are bad. His presence is with you no matter what. He is with you even when you can see His hand or feel His presence. He is with you when your life is so dark that you can’t see any light at the end of the tunnel. He is not only with you, He’s preparing you for greatness in those times. Greatness doesn’t come from an easy life. It’s forged in the darkness and in the fire.

Whatever you are facing today, I say to you, “Mighty hero, The Lord is with you!” You may not feel like a hero, but you’re still standing through everything. You may not feel like The Lord is with you, but He has never left your side. He has been standing next to you through everything you have faced and everything you will face because He will not abandon you. He will not forsake you. He will not forget you. He will deliver you when the timing is right. He will lead you to better times when you have learned all He wants to show you in the dark. Stand strong today because The Lord is with you.

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