2 Continue steadfastly in prayer, being watchful in it with thanksgiving. (Colossians 4 – ESV)
Resting, abiding, waiting on the Lord, in step with the Savior. Prayer is key. Prayer flooded with thankfulness.
Each day we awake with a fresh choice – to take up our cross in humility and follow Him, or to chart our own course. If we choose our own way we will eventually come upon pain and discipline as God seeks to protect us from worse situations.
God wants to bless us. He wants the cycle to be — thankfulness, prayer, worship, obedience, blessing, more thankfulness (repeat).
However, we often get caught in – discontent, selfish choice, pain, grumbling, discipline, hard times, more discontent (repeat).
I want to be in that first cycle. Again and again. Every day. For the rest of my life.
Oh give thanks to the Lord, for he is good,
for his steadfast love endures forever!
2 Let the redeemed of the Lord say so,
whom he has redeemed from trouble (Psalm 107 ESV)
Give thanks, shout it out! He has saved us. The rest of the chapter gives hope for all the times we fail to recognize Him as Lord. Time and again we fail, but if we return to Him, here comes the blessing:
6 Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble,
and he delivered them from their distress.
9 For he satisfies the longing soul,
and the hungry soul he fills with good things.
15 Let them thank the Lord for his steadfast love,
for his wondrous works to the children of man!
20 He sent out his word and healed them,
and delivered them from their destruction.
22 And let them offer sacrifices of thanksgiving,
and tell of his deeds in songs of joy!
29 He made the storm be still,
and the waves of the sea were hushed.
43 Whoever is wise, let him attend to these things;
let them consider the steadfast love of the Lord. (excerpts from Psalm 107 ESV)
God wants to be involved in our daily life and show His presence and power mightily. Surrender with thanksgiving and ask with Isaiah:
Oh that you would rend the heavens and come down,
that the mountains might quake at your presence—
. . . that the nations might tremble at your presence!
3 When you did awesome things that we did not look for,
you came down, the mountains quaked at your presence.
4 From of old no one has heard
or perceived by the ear,
no eye has seen a God besides you,
who acts for those who wait for him.8 But now, O Lord, you are our Father;
we are the clay, and you are our potter;
we are all the work of your hand. (Isaiah 64 ESV)
I see a model similar to the Lord’s prayer here – worshiping God as Father and in heaven, seeking His presence and authority, seeking provision, recognizing sinfulness (v. 6), surrender and seeking protection.
That’s where my prayer life needs to be, every day.
Father God, thank you for this glimpse of your heavenly power and presence. Stay visibly active in my life and in our world. Forgive us for the times we think our way is better and we stray from Your best. Thank you for your endless faithfulness to us. In Jesus Name, Amen.
Sixty-six books in a year 