Your words…

The path of the righteous is level; You clear a straight path for the righteous.       Isaiah 26:7

Teach me to do Your will, for You are my God. May Your gracious Spirit lead me on level ground.  Psalm 143:10

My words…

Praise

Riding along on an uphill, curvy road makes me queasy. Just as every atom in my body screams for a straight and level way, so my spirit yearns for the straight path for the righteous. How do I know what’s around the bend until I round the bend? Danger may be lurking in my path, but then it’s too late to do anything about it. Struggling with an uphill battle, day after day, year after year, leads to despair. You created me, so You understand. You understand to the point where You work so I won’t have to suffer spiritual queasiness. You clear a level path and straighten the crooked road. I don’t need a map. There’s only one Way. All I need to do is follow the Guide.

Prayer for me

You clear a path for the righteous, but I don’t consider myself so. The only reason I have tread the straight and level is because Jesus paid my toll. I look to Your Spirit to lead me along this path and keep my feet from slipping off the side. The road has pitfalls and potholes. Grow my trust in You that I may walk blindfolded, listening to Your guiding voice.

Forgive me

Forgive me when I plop down on the road and demand a rest (as if I should demand anything). Following is tiring. Remaining alert is wearying. Growing in knowledge is exhausting. But who am I to take a break? You never did. You never do. You never will.

Prayer for others

Lord, I know so many who are plodding along on an uphill, winding road – without a guide. They fend off their queasiness with substances or acquisitions or justifications. This may sound harsh, but I ask that they remain queasy until they search out the straight, level way where they will meet You.

Thank You

Thank You for working for me. You clear a straight path and become my traveling companion, guide, and teacher. But over all of that, You are my Lord. And now I stop, not because I’m weary, but because I am on my knees in thankfulness and awe.

Your words…

Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: behold, a virgin shall conceive and bear a son and shall call His name Immanuel  Isaiah 7:14

Behold, the virgin shall be with child and shall bring forth a Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel; which is, God with us.  Matthew 1:23

My words…

Of all the names given You, Jesus, I like this one best. God with us. When Zacheus invited you to lunch, did he know that You were God with him? God in his house! When You spoke to the Samaritan woman about living water, did she know that You were God with her? God at the well!  When you entered the gates of Jerusalem, did they know You were God with them? God in their city! No one in scripture ever called You Immanuel except a prophet long dead and an angel. Maybe if they had, they would have understood more clearly where You came from. It wasn’t just Nazareth. Wherever You went, whenever You were with people, something happened. Those who understood Your presence as “we with a Galilean guy” missed out on the greatest opportunity of all time. Those who understood Your presence as “God with us” were never the same. Even now, You remain God with us – but even better. We don’t have to search for You in the dusty streets of Jerusalem or on a hillside talking to kids or in a synagogue thick with tension. You are here in my room. You are here in my heart. You are God with me. You are God in me. Hallelujah!

Your words…

Unless the Lord builds a house, its builders labor over it in vain; unless the Lord watches over a city, the watchman stays alert in vain.  Psalm 127:1-2

My words…

Praise

Nothing worth anything happens by accident. Victories are proclaimed because of You. Accomplishment, achievement, prosperity are direct experiences of Your providence. Humans may beat their chests and hoard credit, but they do so in vain. Happy is the one who knows from where all blessings flow.

Prayer for me

All that I have accomplished in my life, all the good fortune I enjoy, the family I hold dear are upheld by Your loving hand. But there have been times when I have boasted like a four-year-old, “I can do this all by myself.” I took over. I placed You in the spectator section (as if I could place You anywhere). Embarrassment, failure, and regret followed. The four-year-old still rears her impatient, immature head. Guide me to listen to You only.

Forgive me

Even after all this time, I have not been complete in keeping the “unless” in the front of my mind. Unless Your will is done in my life, my life is lived in vain. Forgive me when I have placed my will ahead of Yours.

Prayer for others

I pray for those who are working to build their “house” on their own. They do not know or refuse to know that unless You take over as Master Builder, the “house” will not stand.

Thank You

As the Only God, the God with all the power, You can do anything. You can act however You want. Yet You choose to work for me, care about me, protect me. Maybe You don’t really choose to do so. (Like I don’t choose to be female) It’s just who You are. You can’t be any other way. But it doesn’t mean that I can’t thank You anyway. So, thank You.

More praise

What a joy it is knowing that when I work within Your will, when I surrender to You, the result will be exactly what You intend for me. Every time.

Your words…

Every generous act and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of Lights; with Him there is no variation or shadow cast by turning.  James 1:17

My words…

A prayer of praise and thanks

You, the Father of Lights, do not shine like the sun, warming only part of the orb at a time or being hidden by clouds or other celestial bodies. With You, there are no shadows. Your radiance is…always. I praise You, Father of Lights.

A gift is a reflection of the giver. When You give, it’s the perfect gift at the perfect time (because You are perfect). You give because it brings You joy. You give because it’s who You are. And I am humbled and joy-filled to be on the receiving end of Your gifts, especially the intangibles: my adoption as Your daughter (I am proud to uphold Your name.), my freewill (I appreciate being allowed to make my own decisions.), my all-expenses-paid entrance into the heavenly places (I could never have done it on my own.), Your listening ear (You always have time for me.), inexplicable peace (even in the midst of chaos), hope (my future is secure), and most of all, that part of You that You placed in my inmost-being (almost too glorious to be true – almost). I thank You, Father of Lights.

Your words…

The Lord is my light and my salvation – whom should I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life – of whom should I be afraid? When evildoers came against me to devour my flesh, my foes and my enemies stumbled and fell. Though an army deploys against me, my heart is not afraid; though a war breaks out against me, still I am confident.  Psalm 27:1-3

My words…

Praise

I place very little confidence in humankind. I’m not 100% confident that my doctor knows what he’s talking about or that my airplane pilot hasn’t been drinking before climbing into the cockpit. I am confident that I have been lied to over and over by politicians. I don’t expect anything different, so I am not that disappointed when it happens. How refreshing, then, when I know I can place my full confidence in You, in who You are and what You do. You don’t make mistakes. Dallas Willard said it best: My confidence in [God] simply means that I believe that he is right about everything: that all that he is and says shows what life is at its best, what it was intended by God to be. When I pray and You answer, I know it was supposed to be that way. That confidence gives birth to unimaginable peace.

Prayer for me

I’ve never had an evildoer come against me to devour my flesh, but I know what it’s like to fear. I do not have enough confidence in my own faith that I would say, “You are my stronghold. Whom should I fear?” But I have the confidence in You to see me through whether I say it or not. Keep growing my faith. Please do not stop.

Forgive me

I am confident in my spirit that You are the God over all the heavens and earth, that You see me, know me, and love me. I confess, however, that that confidence wobbles when I pray the same intercession over and over, and the suffering does not end. Something heaven-sent is happening, but I can’t see it. Everything looks like it did the day before. Forgive me when doubt picks at my faith like I pick at a loose thread. Fear creeps. After all this time I should be shouting, “Whom should I fear?”

Prayer for others

I pray for those whose confidence in You has been shattered. A death occurred. A diagnosis was confirmed. Security was stolen. The answer was no instead of yes. Confidence can be re-built and strengthened. You can do that. I pray that You will.

More praise

I wonder, as I sit here: How much confidence do You have in me? I spend way too much time asking, “What do I think about God?” instead of, “What does God think about me?” The answer to the latter outweighs that of the former, for what You think of me is, truthfully, the impetus for restorative transformation. It’s the only reason I make any effort to change. You are my light and my salvation – of this I am confident.

Your words…

He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away. Revelation 21:4

My words…

Praise

You promise such a time – a time I cannot perceive. No death nor anything associated with it. No child-sized coffins. No crematoriums. No eulogies. No tissues. No need for pain-killers. No scars or bruises. No canes or wheelchairs. Not anymore. Peace will replace anxiety. Contentment will overshadow depression. The radiance of Your glory will send darkness scurrying. Everything I dread will have passed away, and I will exist unburdened – light, like air. I won’t have to wonder what the heavens feel like. Not anymore.

Prayer for me

So much of my energy is spent avoiding pain, avoiding the headache from too much crying. But the pain and tears happen anyway. They creep in. They burst in. I say, “That’s life.” It’s what I’ve come to expect. I can’t avoid it completely. Not in this life. There is one truth I cling to when the tears flow: One day You will wipe them away, and I won’t have to cry anymore.

More praise

What joy this must bring You to offer Your children a life without painful tears. I could never do that for my children. This is a promise only You can make, and I am holding You to it!

Your words…

So Jesus said to them, “I assure you: unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you do not have life in yourselves. Anyone who eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day because My flesh is real food and My blood is real drink.” When many of his disciples heard this, they said, “This teaching is hard! Who can accept it?” From that moment many of his disciples turned back and no longer accompanied Him.  John 6:53-55, 60, 66

My words…

Praise

When I examine Your teaching style, Jesus, I see You as a rational professor, dedicated to moving Your students toward understanding how to know the Father and how to get to Him. Not every lesson was taught on a mountainside as Your words caressed the ears of Your listeners like a soft, cool breeze. Some of Your lessons were hard like bricks. Addition and subtraction leads to calculus. Love your neighbor leads to love your enemy. You want Your students to know that there is only one way to the Father, to life eternal, and that is through You, which means taking You into my life. You become my sustenance. A difficult lesson to grasp – a lifetime to put into practice. But, oh, so worth it.

Prayer for others

I regard Your followers, in the first century and now, as students of Your wisdom and knowledge. Some are devoted to soaking in what You share, waiting at the door of the Professor’s office to speak to You after class. Others make it to the midterm and drop out when lessons get tough. They were moving along in a trajectory to the Father, but one difficult lesson acts as an external force that either diverts the students off course or ends the forward progress altogether. It is for these former students that I write this prayer. I know so many. I don’t know what it would take to turn their hearts back to You – but You do. There is no way to make the hard lessons easy. But I pray they will know that working through the challenges brings a reward of peace and hope that extends way beyond this earthly classroom.

More Praise

My path to the Father looks more like a plate of spaghetti than a straight line. I have been drawn off course more times than I care to think. But You are always there when I come back around. I don’t completely understand the hard lessons. Do any of us students? But I will one day when I meet the Professor face to face.

Your words…

So don’t throw away your confidence, which has a great reward. For you need endurance, so that after you have done God’s will, you may receive what was promised. For yet in a very little while, the Coming One will come and not delay. But My righteous one will live by faith; and if he draws back, I have no pleasure in him.* But we are not those who draw back and are destroyed, but those who have faith and obtain life.   Hebrews 10:35-39, *Habakkuk 2:3-4

My words…

Praise

When I walked across the Golden Gate Bridge, I didn’t worry that it would crumble beneath my feet and I would plunge into San Francisco Bay. I had confidence in the bridge builders. I have built some “bridges” in my life that I didn’t feel as confident crossing. Like the Raising Children Bridge. I’ve crossed it without plunging into an abyss, but not because I had confidence in my abilities. In fact, that bridge rippled in the wind a couple times, and I barely hung on. I lost my footing on My Faith Bridge more than once (to say the least). I came upon some fog and stopped moving for a while. The fog cleared, and my journey continued. I’ve come to the end of some bridges and some I have yet to cross. But this I have learned from You: I needn’t have confidence in the bridge if I have confidence in the One leading me across.

Prayer for me

There are many areas of my life wherein I lack confidence. If a recipe begins with the words “dissolve yeast,” I toss the recipe and buy dinner rolls. Not an issue. But when I am confronted with someone who is grieving or despairing, I lack the confidence to know how to comfort them, to know what to say. In those times, will You help me? Instead of having confidence in myself, I ask you to lead me in placing my confidence in Your Spirit.

Prayer for others

There is a family who is grieving the murder of their three-year-old daughter. Her body was found in a dumpster. Indescribable grief. I have confidence that You will comfort them when I ask. Wrap them in Your arms and bring them peace. I also have confidence in Your wisdom to bring judgment on those who are responsible for such grief. Woe to those who cause Your children harm and remain remorseless and unrepentant.

Thank You

Thank You for the seasons of earth and the seasons of life. Nothing remains static. Everything changes. The leaves are radiant yet they are dying. I thank You for the autumn of my life.

More praise

You are the One in whom I place my confidence, and I would never throw it away. I hold it in front of me as a shield. I will not draw back. I will not be destroyed.

Your words…

The Lord spoke to Aaron, “When you enter the Tent of Meeting, you must distinguish between the holy and the common…”  Leviticus 10:10

Araunah said, “Why has my lord the king come to his servant?” David replied, “To buy the threshing floor from you in order to build an altar to the Lord.” Araunah said, “My lord the king may take whatever he wants.” The king answered, “No, I insist on buying it from you, for I will not offer to the Lord my God burnt offerings which cost me nothing.”  2 Samuel 24:21-24 selected verses

My words…

Praise

These words of Yours, spoken to Aaron millennia ago, are the foundation and inciting action for my published prayer journey. I reasoned that I should not bring my common words before You; words that have been weighed and found wanting do not belong in a prayer before Your throne. My desire was to offer prayers plump with meaning and honesty, wrapped in holiness. Looking back, I can see I missed the mark at times. But one thing I know: My words are uncommon. No one else has prayed them before I did.

For the past few days You have received prayers and worship which You have never heard from me before. However, these moments of praise and lament did not flow from me naturally since I was reading every word from a book of liturgy. I read, I chanted, I prayed, I listened, I put the book away. Thousands upon thousands of people have prayed and chanted these same words over the years. I balanced this experience with my usual free-spirited style of worship, and a question formed in my mind: Are my prayers and praise holy enough? Are they uncommon enough? They certainly don’t sound anything like what I have been reciting through liturgy. For example, I usually do not begin a prayer to You with a salutation. You know my prayer is to You since I believe there is no other god but You. I usually do not end my prayer with an Amen or a Let It Be So. It sounds like an ending to a book (The End), and I don’t want it to be the end. I want my years of prayers and adoration to be one continuous string of light, twinkling at Your feet forever – a string that grows longer each day. After meditating on my liturgical worship, I believe I know why I left the sanctuary so…joyless: My worship to You was too easy. I didn’t expend any effort. It cost me nothing except forty minutes of my time. It was worship, but, for me, it was inexpensive worship.

My Liturgy

My collection of prayers and praise form my own personal liturgy. I have gone back and recited prayers to You years after I wrote them. My liturgy is imperfect, littered with misspellings, bad grammar, and, perhaps, even worse theology. But every thought is mine, and every word is dedicated to You with a heart gushing with praise and exultation, pleas for forgiveness, and petitions for those I love and those I have never met. It hasn’t cost me anything worth mentioning compared to Your sacrifice, but it has cost me something. And this small, uncommon sacrifice, I offer to You as one more light in the string.

Your words…

Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.  Colossians 3:12, 14

My words…

Praise

Being chosen, set apart and dearly loved by You comes with a Designer wardrobe. The outfit is for every season, one size fits all. Each piece is unique, but when worn together, the ensemble is complete. It’s an honor to be be clothed by the greatest Designer in the universe.

Prayer for me

Here’s something I’ve noticed: When I take off  a garment – say, patience – because I  grow weary of one thing or another and begin to snap, I find that when I go to put patience on again, it doesn’t fit; it’s loose in places and sags. I don’t “fill it out” anymore. Help me to stay clothed always in these virtues. They never grow smelly or stiff. They are infused with the scent of heaven.

Forgive me

I walked by a woman in the bookstore today. She wore a t-shirt which read, “Ask me about my story.” She smiled and met my eyes. I smiled and walked on. I sat in my car and wished I would have asked her about her story. She obviously wants to tell people. I wouldn’t be surprised if her story had something to do with You in her life. I let my humility slip. How much time would she have taken up? I’m on my lunch hour for pity’s sake. It brings to mind how much of my time I think about me, me, me. Forgive me.

Thank You

I am not just loved; I am dearly loved. And not just dearly loved but dearly loved by You. I can’t comprehend the depth of Your love. If I did, my heart would explode, I imagine. So I thank You for Your love and look forward to the day when I will understand it perfectly with an intact heart.

More praise

Your love is the thread that binds my wardrobe together. Your love is the reason I have a wardrobe at all. When I show compassion, it’s because You love me. When I am kind and gentle, I am imitating You. Without Your love, it would all unravel.