Psalm 146:1-6 (NASB)
1 Praise the Lord! Praise the Lord, O my soul!
2 I will praise the Lord while I live; I will sing praises to my God while I have my being.
3 Do not trust in princes, In mortal man, in whom there is no salvation.
4 His spirit departs, he returns to the earth; In that very day his thoughts perish.
5 How blessed is he whose help is the God of Jacob, Whose hope is in the Lord his God,
6 Who made heaven and earth, The sea and all that is in them; Who keeps faith forever;

The modern agnostic scoffs at the idea of faith in God. They rely on science to tell them about the reality of our existence. In the book, “Assurance of Immortality” by Harry Emerson Fosdick, the author challenges that even science requires faith. In it he writes:

“The fundamental assumption of all science is that the universe is truly a universe, consistent in its regularity of procedure, not erratic and whimsical, but uniform, dependable and law abiding. Without this faith, which never has been and never can be fully demonstrated, science would be impossible. Huxley (author is referring to Thomas Henry Huxley, 1825-1895, biologist and advocate of Charles Darwin) calls himself an agnostic with reference to God’s being and character, but in regard to the consistency and regularity of the universe he could not be agnostic and still be a scientist. He must make that leap of faith, and he makes it with gladness and confidence.”

The psalmist demonstrates faith in God. It is a faith born out of the general and special revelation of God. It is a faith gifted to us by God.

Hebrews 11:1-2 (NASB)
1 Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.
2 For by it the men of old gained approval.

Heavenly Father, praises to You for your gift of faith. Thank you that your gift gives us assurance of You; that we are convicted that You are our God and that we are Your children. In faith, I pray in the name of Jesus. Amen.

Always praying for the glory of God,

Hebrews 2:16 (NASB)
16 For assuredly He does not give help to angels, but He gives help to the descendant of Abraham.

We are told in scripture that man was not the first to rebel against God. The first rebellion was in heaven when angels, out of pride, turned away from God. God, in His infinite wisdom permitted this evil, so that He might bring forth good. So, it was with the second rebellion. Evil was allowed, so that God would bring forth the salvation of those He called.

The author of Hebrews tells us that there is no help for the fallen angels. They are doomed to eternal hell. And yet, God’s mercy and grace has been extended to us. It isn’t because we are more deserving than others, that we are more religious, or that we read our Bibles more. It is only that He chose us of His own free will. The angels are given no second chance. Knowing that, makes this gift to us even more precious. It makes me love Jesus even more.

Heavenly Father, I sing praises to You for your gift of salvation. I praise You that Christ has visited my soul and given life to my heart of stone. You have extended this mercy to me, a sinner. There is no good in me, except what You provide by Your Holy Spirit. All righteousness comes from Christ Jesus. I will praise You throughout eternity. Amen.

Always praying for the glory of God,

John 14.1 (NASB)
1 “Do not let your heart be troubled; believe in God, believe also in Me.”
Jesus had just told the disciples in John 13 all the things that were going to happen to Him and they were understandably a mess. They were confused, they didn’t understand, and their whole world was turning out much differently than what they expected from their Savior.

Then, as described by Robert Murray M’Cheyne, “Surely such words of confiding tenderness were never whispered in this cold world before…”, Jesus told them to not let their hearts be troubled. Important words to remember when our world is turned upside down. When our envisioned future turns out to be different than what we thought it would be.

Heavenly Father, I thank Jesus that when valleys present themselves in our lives, we can depend on You. When we are a mess, You are there to protect, to comfort and love us. Your mercy always abounds when we need it the most. You are the truth, the life, and the way. I pray that Your words would take away the times of our troubled hearts and that we would trust in You always and completely. Amen.

Always praying for the glory of God,

Hebrews 5:7 (NLT)
7 While Jesus was here on earth, he offered prayers and pleadings, with a loud cry and tears, to the one who could rescue him from death. And God heard his prayers because of his deep reverence for God.

You sometimes hear that people reject praying out loud in a group setting because of what Jesus said of the Pharisees, telling them that because of how they prayed in public, they had already received their reward on earth. And yet, we see in Hebrews, Jesus offered prayers out loud, even emotional prayers of pleading and tears.

So we see that it isn’t so much how the prayer is offered (out loud or silently), but the heart behind it that is important.

Heavenly Father, I pray that my words to You would be true and from the heart.  Don’t let me sugar coat my feelings, my longings and my thoughts.  May I give you an accurate reflection of my heart.  And may Your Holy Spirit use that honesty to change my heart, so that it only wants to please You as only Jesus could.  I pray this in Jesus name.  Amen.

Always praying for the glory of God,

I ran across a quote from a 19th Century Catholic priest who said, “Pray as you can, not as you can’t”. It reminded me of a couple of things.

First, because prayer is one of the things that God uses to change us, we can’t wait until we’ve got it right to pray. I listen to prayer warriors who can bring me to tears with their wonderful prayers and once thought that I couldn’t pray until I was able to do like that. However, God’s grace is absolutely sufficient to cover us in prayer. We can be sure that in this world, we will never be able to master prayer.

Second, we can’t wait until our motives are right, or we would never pray. We are a tangled mass of motives, both good and bad. It is much like children coming to their father with crazy requests. Fathers want to hear from their children, even if we don’t make sense all the time. Fathers are simply happy that their children come, mixed motives and all.

I can remember thinking that God wouldn’t want to hear from me because I might say something that had the wrong motive and because He is God, He would know it.

The prayers in scripture are mostly simple prayers – heartfelt and earnest, exposing deep desires. It is only when we do pray simply that God can begin to work in us. He wants to hear about our day, the things that encouraged us, the problems that hurt us, the family member that is lost, the disappointments that we feel, the longings to be closer to Him. C.S. Lewis once said, “lay before Him what is in us, not what ought to be in us.” Simple prayers should be genuine prayers – telling God like it is. Then as we listen to Him, he can comfort, counsel, encourage, and grow us.

As I learn each day how to communicate with the Father, I am encouraged by the faithfulness of those like you that simply want to share their hearts with God.

Always praying for the glory of God,

Science declares that nature abhors a vacuum. It should be happy knowledge to us, then, that the same principle is true in the kingdom of God-when you empty yourself, God Almighty rushes in!
A.W. Tozer Sermon: Pour Yourself Out

Philippians 2:5-7 (NASB)
5 Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus,
6 who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped,
7 but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men.

If I start thinking that I know God because I read scripture and what He has revealed to us, I must remind myself that I am only getting a shadow of Him. If I hunger and thirst for His righteousness and I try to absorb it by myself, it turns into pride and self-righteousness. If I mourn my sin and then try to deal with it myself, I somehow end up clinging to the sin instead. If I want to grow in holiness, I can only do that by emptying myself of myself and let Him in. That’s the only way I can catch a glimpse of the glorious, almighty, loving, and living God.

Heavenly Father, empty me of myself. Give me a glimpse of You by changing me into the likeness of Your Son. Jesus is the only one that can do that. I must step aside and let You in. I pray this all in the perfect name of Jesus. Amen.

Always praying for the glory of God,

Growing saints think themselves nothing; full-grown saints think themselves less than nothing.
C.H. Spurgeon

Ecclesiastes 3:14 (NASB)
14 I know that everything God does will remain forever; there is nothing to add to it and there is nothing to take from it, for God has so worked that men should fear Him.

Philippians 4:4-6 (NASB)
4 Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice!
5 Let your gentle spirit be known to all men. The Lord is near.
6 Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God

As a Christian, one of the most difficult parts of living for Christ is to grow in sanctification, while living in a culture that is counter to it. Our culture values pride of self, pride of accomplishments, and wealth.

Yet scripture is clear. We are not God and only He deserves praise. We have not earned our relationship with God. We can do nothing to gain God’s acceptance. But we can accept His free gift with love in our hearts for Him. Then our thankful response in humble appreciation is to serve His kingdom. Yet, all the time being tempted by the world to take credit for our deeds.

Heavenly Father, I pray that my pride is only in You and not in myself. I pray, with help from the Holy Spirit, that I can put my life in proper perspective with You. I pray that I will be anxious for nothing, but trust in You always. Amen.

Always praying for the glory of God,

All things else being equal, the destiny of a man or nation may safely be predicted from the idea of God which that man or that nation holds. No nation can rise higher than its conception of God.
A.W. Tozer Sermon:Our Faith Reflects Our Concept of God

Romans 11:33-36 (NASB)
33 Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and unfathomable His ways!
34 For who has known the mind of the Lord, or who became His counselor?
35 Or who has first given to Him that it might be paid back to him again?
36 For from Him and through Him and to Him are all things. To Him be the glory forever. Amen.

The scriptures give us a picture of the many attributes of God; those characteristics which give us a view of Him. It is that idea of who He is that determines what we think of God and how we worship Him. Different commentators have their list of attributes that are derived from scripture references. They form two major categories – attributes that only God has (incommunicable), and attributes that God shares with His creation (communicable). Of the incommunicable attributes, the following are often given.

Infinite – cannot be contained within any boundaries
Immutable – unchangeable
Omnipotent – all powerful
Omniscient- knowing all things
Omnipresent – present everywhere without limit

Since God’s character and attributes are unchangeable, it is our concept of God that limits us. Especially if we degrade or dismiss the incommunicable attributes of God. Nations have done that throughout history, only to fall and pass into oblivion. If we can truly grasp even part of the six attributes above, our only reaction would be to reverently worship Him. And then after we understand through scripture the love, mercy, and grace He has given us through the sacrifice of His Son for our sins, that worship grows into love for Him. That love then manifests itself with prayers of praise and thanksgiving.

Father, your character is beyond my full understanding. You are infinite in wisdom, you are just, and you are loving. I pray that as I meditate on Your attributes, your Spirit will bring forth prayers of praise and thanksgiving that honor You. I pray that our nation would turn back to You in a way that glorifies You. Amen.

Ephesians 6:18 (NASB)
With all prayer and petition pray at all times in the Spirit, and with this in view, be on the alert with all perseverance and petition for all the saints,

Paul gave the Ephesian church an image of battle to describe the struggle that the church and saints would have against the forces of evil. In preparation for that battle, he called the believers to put on the armor of God.

Truth, righteousness, the gospel, faith, salvation, and the word of God are all parts of the armor. All parts of the armor are needed. We can’t take up just the sword, without all of the other pieces in place. We are told to put on the FULL armor of God.

And then, he tells us to pray for all believers. If we are to pray for God’s church and its people, we have to be prepared. We have to be ready for battle. We need the support of the armor. Suit up, for it is time to pray for our fellow believers.

Father, as I come into the throne room in prayer, I come ready for battle. I pray for all believers. I pray against the forces of evil. I pray that Your truth, Your perfect righteousness, the good news of Your gospel, the faith that You have given, Your free gift of salvation, and the Holy Scriptures would be ever before me. I pray that my petitions would bring You glory. Amen.

Always praying for the glory of God,

Psalm 31:9,14-16 (NASB)
9 Be gracious to me, O Lord, for I am in distress;
My eye is wasted away from grief, my soul and my body also.
14 But as for me, I trust in You, O Lord,
I say, “You are my God.”
15 My times are in Your hand;
Deliver me from the hand of my enemies and from those who persecute me.
16 Make Your face to shine upon Your servant;
Save me in Your lovingkindness.

We all go through times of grief. We often ask why; we often ask why me. But we have a Father that is willing to let us crawl up in His lap as He folds His arms around us to comfort us. He will never turn away if we call out to Him as our Lord and Savior.

David went through many sorrows. He was not a perfect man. Yet he always cried out to a perfect God, One whom he knew would comfort him.

Father, there have been times of trouble in my life and times of trouble to come. Yet You are my rock and my salvation. When I am in distress, may my first thoughts be of You and how you are my comfort. I pray that I will always depend on You for all  things. Amen.

Always praying for the glory of God,