Tag: #prayer

May Jesus Christ Be Praised

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My husband is a champion sleeper. He can doze off almost any time in any place. In the words of famous television detective, Monk, “it’s a blessing, and a curse.”

            I, on the other hand, have an ongoing battle with sleep. Some nights it comes easily to me. Some nights, despite my exhaustion, sleep evades me. My mind rolls over the cares of the day, unfinished tasks and creative ideas that could wait until morning — but won’t. I often crawl back out of bed to write things down or wrap up loose ends.

            There are other sleepless nights that I believe are God-ordained. What’s on my mind are people; people with physical, financial and spiritual needs. I begin to pray.

A prayer warrior, I am not. I seldom pause during the day to stop and have a nice, long chat with my Heavenly Father. So our nighttime conversations, when the house is quiet and all the distractions are silenced, are a haven. I pray for family and friends. I pray for our church and pastor. I pray for our nation and its leaders. I pray for my brothers and sisters in Christ living with the realities of harsh persecution and the dire lack of essential needs.

And I praise God. I praise Him for offering His Son, Jesus, as a sin sacrifice. I praise Him for His ongoing care and provision; a roof over my head, clothes on my back and daily bread (plus so much more). I praise Him for adopting me as His own child and preparing a place for me to live with Him for all eternity. With that praise comes a peace that allows me to drift off to sleep.

I’m not a morning person, so I seldom wake up giving praises to Jesus “as morning gilds the skies,” as this beautiful hymn suggests in its opening lines. Instead, I find myself clinging to these words from a later stanza:

When sleep her balm denies, My silent spirit sighs; May Jesus Christ be praised;

When evil thoughts molest, with this I shield my breast: May Jesus Christ be praised.

Morning, evening, throughout the day — all are the best time to praise our Savior. As the King James Version puts it in Psalm 22:3, God “inhabits the praise” of His people. It invites Him to dwell among us. It brings Him the glory He is due.  In this act of gratitude, we find ourselves blessed, encouraged and filled with the joy of the Lord.

Ascribe to the Lord, O families of the peoples,
Ascribe to the Lord glory and strength.
Ascribe to the Lord the glory due His name;
Bring an offering and come before Him;
Worship the Lord in holy array.  (1 Chronicles 16:28-29)

A Prayer for Strength

When this hymn was first translated from Welsh to English, the translator aptly titled it “A Prayer for Strength.” This beautiful hymn written by William Williams, which we now know as “Guide Me, O Thou Great Jehovah,” is indeed a prayer for strength to face our journey through this life.

The imagery is largely taken from the Israelites’ miraculous deliverance from Egypt to the Promised Land, a journey that involved 40 years of wandering through barren lands where they were wholly dependent on God for their daily bread and water. When the day finally came to cross the Jordan River, God delivered them safely to Canaan — as He promised He would.

We all face different challenges as we wander through our individual deserts. No two journeys are the same. Yet, we are on the road together, facing setbacks and hurdling obstacles, sometimes succumbing to sin and other times overcoming it, as we travel through life.

Along the way, God intends for us to rely on Him, our great Jehovah, to provide all our needs; spiritual, emotional and physical. We look to God for daily guidance, daily strength, because we are weak and needy people. Each breath we take is evidence that God is sustaining us.

“He gives strength to the weary, and to him who lacks might He increases power.” (Isaiah 40:29)

God’s provision often comes through His people, fellow pilgrims who support us along the way. We need each other! While no one has walked our specific path, others have walked parallel paths. Others have overcome. From a place of victory, they can offer us words of hope and encouragement, bind up our spiritual, physical and emotional wounds, and help provide our pressing needs.

“Therefore, encourage and build up one another, just as you also are doing.” (1 Thess. 5:11)

The day is coming when we will each stand on the brink of death. For those who have their hope wholly in Christ, who understand they can enter God’s kingdom based only on the faith and reliance on God’s grace and Christ’s sin sacrifice on the cross, a peaceful eternity in the presence of our Savior is waiting. God will welcome us to our forever home.

“But according to His promise, we are looking for new heavens and a new earth, where righteousness dwells.”  (2 Peter 3:13)

For those apart from Christ, eternal judgement waits.

“And if anyone’s name was not found written in the Book of Life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.” (Revelation 20:15)

Is your hope for salvation in Christ alone? As long as the Lord sustains you, as long as you draw breath, you can come to Him with a repentant heart, and surrender to Him as your Savior and Lord, and He will rescue you, in His mercy, from eternal judgement (1 John 1:9). You can join the pilgrim journey to God’s eternal peace.

I Must Have Jesus

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True confession: When something goes wrong, my first thought is very seldom, “I must tell Jesus.” I’m inclined to track down my husband, because I must tell him. Or pick up the phone (what old people do instead of texting) and tell my girlfriend. Or, if no two-legged listener is available, explain it all to the cat.

I mean, I do eventually get around to talking it over with Jesus. In the meantime, He’s sittin’ up there in heaven wondering when I’m going to get around to discussing my problem with Him. Why do I take my cares and sorrows to my Savior as a last resort?

Okay, another true confession: It could have something to do with an unhealthy level of pride and independence. Though I treasure the wisdom of key people in my life, I’m not necessarily looking for advice or help, something my husband has learned over the past 25 years. I’ve got this! I just want to “vent,” – ergo the one-sided diatribes with the feline.

It’s nice to have a flesh and blood sounding board, right? And there’s nothing wrong with that. We are commanded to “bear one another’s burdens” (Galatians 6:2); to “weep with those who weep and rejoice with those who rejoice” (Romans 12:15); and to “encourage one another” (1 Thessalonians 5:11). God intentionally gave us other people to journey through life with.

Still, God wants us to come to Him first. He wants us to discuss it with Him before we take it to an earthly being. Other people can listen and offer their insights, their comforting words, or their timely advice. But God alone has the power to bring divine light to our troubles. Only Jesus has the power to give rest to our souls. Only the indwelling Spirit can direct us along God’s path and apply God’s Word to our hearts and minds. Only our faith in our Heavenly Father can protect us from Satan’s fiery darts.

               The bottom line? I must tell Jesus. Not last – first! Jesus is my Lord. He deserves preeminence in my life. He is worthy of my honor and trust.

“Worthy are You, our Lord and our God, to receive glory and honor and power; for You created all things, and because of Your will they existed, and were created.”

When I bypass my Creator, my ongoing source of life, I cut myself off from the one who loves me the most, understands me the best, and can see the things no human can see. Since I am a child of this omniscient, omnipotent King of kings, there’s no rational reason not to sit at His feet and tell Him all about it.

I love the Lord, because He hears my voice and my supplications.
Because He has inclined His ear to me, therefore I shall call upon Him as long as I live. 

– Psalm 116:1-2

Maybe this isn’t a struggle for you. You already take your cares to God first. But if you share my tendency to talk to everyone else first, let’s ask God to help us cultivate the heart of this songwriter:

“I must tell Jesus, all of my trials, I cannot bear these burdens alone;

In my distress He kindly will help me, He ever loves and cares for His own.”

(I Must Have Jesus, Elisha Hoffman)