Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea no longer existed. I also saw the Holy City, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared like a bride adorned for her husband. Then I heard a loud voice from the throne: Look! God’s dwelling is with humanity, and He will live with them. They will be His people, and God Himself will be with them and be their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes. Death will no longer exist; grief, crying, and pain will exist no longer, because the previous things have passed away. Revelation 21:1-4
My words…
Praise
Pain – the warning mechanism You placed in me so I wouldn’t die too soon. Pain is the lingering, unwelcome guest of life. It sits at the curb then arrives, uninvited and barging, rudely invading my space. It screams, “Something’s not right here!” I tell it to shut up and kick it back to the curb when the chemicals kick in. I throw the deadbolt. I never want to see its snarling face again. But in time, it kicks down the door or slithers underneath. As much as I dread its arrival, I know one thing for sure: when it decides to skulk away, its absence is so keenly felt. Each time the relief and comfort grow more precious. I treasure each pain-free moment. It is hard for me to imagine an existence where pain is not lurking nearby. Just because I can’t imagine it doesn’t mean I don’t believe it. You revealed it to the Apostle John, and he has shared it with me. How would I live if I did not have to worry about experiencing pain? I can’t wait to find out!
Prayer for me
Most of the blemishes on my body are associated with pain: wrinkles, scars, stretch marks. Ibuprofen is my new best friend. I am not praying to be pain-free. I am praying for the strength to find You during my pain-filled moments. Barbara Brown Taylor writes that “pain is one of the fastest routes to a no-frills encounter with the Holy.” You won’t always make my pain go away; instead You will use it as an avenue for us to meet and be real with each other because pain brings out the real.
Prayer for others
I wouldn’t think of praying to You about pain without petitioning for so many who live each day in physical misery. Pain clamps down on them in throbs and spasms. Pain pills, pain clinics, and pain management are as normal as three meals a day. I know You better than to ask You to eliminate all pain in the world, so I pray that those who suffer will have a no-frills encounter with You.
Thank You
When my children experience pain, it may as well be me. How often did I wish that I could suck the pain out of their bodies and into mine, like liquid through a straw. Then I remember Your pain, Jesus. How great was Your Father’s desire to draw that pain onto Himself to spare You, yet He didn’t. He didn’t because of me. I don’t like to think about Your pain. It troubles my soul. Without it, though, I would have no way to be with You someday. So thank You for bearing it. I hope You encountered Your Father in the midst of it.
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. All things were created through Him, and apart from Him not one thing was created that has been created. Life was in Him, and that life was the light of men. That light shines in the darkness, yet the darkness did not overcome it. The Word became flesh and took up residence among us. We observed His glory, the glory as the One and Only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. John 1:1-15, 14
My words…
Praise
God, You are full of good ideas. My immune system: a very good idea. Gravity: a winner. But Your best idea happened before creation when You decided that, at just the right time, You would slip into human skin and take up residence on earth. That particular idea has thrilled, angered, confounded, and convicted humankind since it happened. Volumes of books have been written on the subject. I don’t think many people understand what an excellent idea that was. This was the sure-fire way for Your children to really get to know You. You do not act like the gods that man creates. You do not live on an ethereal mountain, grasping a thunderbolt, or under the sea swinging a trident. You do not dwell within idols in the image of monkeys or elephants. You are driven by love, and that is why sending Jesus here was the best idea. What other way was there to show me how much You love me? It was perfect – like Him. You could have just given me some scriptures with depictions of Your love, but that wasn’t enough for You. You decided to live like I do, confined to a resilient yet perishable body among smelly, infuriating, sinful people. You gave up heavenly light for sunburned skin. You left the songs of angels for the profanity of ingrates. Were You reminded of a painless heaven the first time You hit Your thumb with a mallet? When You ate something that made You sick, did You heal Yourself so Your ailment would not impede Your ministry? It’s a wonder to contemplate.
Thank You
Thank You for enduring the confinements of incarnation. You didn’t need to live among humans to know what it’s like to be one. You made me. You know exactly what it’s like to be me. And You still chose to come. The fact that You came up with the idea to do it is amazing. The fact that You actually did it, is indescribable. No words. Just prostrate.
Where can I go to escape Your Spirit? Where can I flee from Your presence? If I go up to heaven, You are there; if I make my bed in Sheol, You are there. Psalm 139:7-8
My words…
Prayer of adoration
Reading C. S. Lewis is like walking through a dense forest where compelling questions hang off the trees like vines and brush across my mind. I emerge with answers to questions I never thought to ask – and then more questions. His words are not scripture, but they lead me to meditate on scripture for hours. I was uplifted to read his description of how his pleasures lead to adoration of You: “This heavenly fruit is instantly redolent of the orchard where it grew. This sweet air whispers of the country from whence it blows. It is a message. We know we are being touched by a finger of that right hand at which there are pleasures for evermore. Gratitude exclaims, very properly, ‘How good of God to give me this.’ Adoration says, ‘What must be the quality of that Being whose far-off and momentary coruscations are like this!’ One’s mind runs back up the sunbeam to the sun.” While eating my lunch at an outdoor table of a restaurant yesterday, a small brown-feathered bird fluttered at my feet, waiting, I presumed, for a hand-out. Other patrons were dropping orts for other birds, and this one patiently waited his turn. Gazing on this little creature, I set down my fork and thought of You. His feathers lay against his body perfectly in order, in both shape and color. His tiny talons were in exact proportion to his body. His head (bless him) never stopped moving, darting in every direction except backward. I dropped a small piece of lettuce onto the ground beside him. He didn’t move. He looked at me as if to say, “Lettuce? Really?” I think what he really wanted was junk food. I didn’t blame him. It’s what I wanted, as well. To some, this would seem to be a miniscule pleasure, hardly one to take into account. But not for me. It was a heart-to-overflowing pleasure because the little creature was silently screaming, “God says hello! And keep eating that salad!” Lewis understood this. Far more deeply than I. You are the true source of my pleasure. Forgive me that my adoration is never commensurate.
Prayer of gratitude
To be grateful for the pleasures I experience through what I sense around me is to be grateful to You for who You are. It’s through Your goodness and attention they are there in the first place. You speak to me through them. I never hear Your voice in my ear, but it calls to my spirit – very clearly. A cool breeze on a warm evening – there You are. The laughter of my children – that’s You, too. Lewis said, “…not everyone can find God in a plain slice of bread and butter.” But I can. And I am filled with joy and thankfulness every time! This is an unconventional prayer, I know. (I blame Clive.) But I am nonetheless genuine as I plunge through my heart and mind for words that seem to come so easily to Lewis: “These pure and spontaneous pleasures are ‘patches of Godlight’ in the woods of our experience.” I wish I would have said that.
Make every effort to supplement your faith with goodness, goodness with knowledge, knowledge with self-control, self-control with endurance, endurance with godliness, godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love. For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they will keep you from being useless or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. The person who lacks these things is blind and shortsighted and has forgotten the cleansing from his past sins. Therefore, brothers, make every effort to confirm your calling and election, because if you do these things you will never stumble. For in this way, entry into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ will be richly supplied to you. Therefore I will always remind you about these things, even though you know them and are established in the truth you have. I consider it right, as long as I am in this bodily tent, to wake you up with a reminder, knowing that I will soon lay aside my tent, as our Lord Jesus Christ has also shown me. 2 Peter 1:5-14
My words…
Prayer for me
Lord, I have faith that You exist and created me and everything I see, hear, and touch. I have faith that You are alive and actively working in this world. I can sit here and praise You every day. I can go to church and write my prayers every week. Year after year. And before I know it, I have the faith equivalent of iron-poor blood. Then I read these words of Peter and realize that I need a faith supplement – doses of faith-building traits. These supplements are powerful – powerful enough to awaken a drowsy faith. Some are hard to swallow, like goodness. What if I take a double dose of self-control and skip goodness? No? I didn’t think so. I pray for Your Spirit to teach me goodness. It’s not that I choose to do bad, I just choose not to do good. And love? I am deficient in love. If I truly loved others, I would be heart-broken over their decisions to not serve You. Help me to heed Peter’s wake up call and not roll over and hit the snooze button.
Forgive me
Forgive me when I neglect to take my supplements and grow comfortable in being useless and unfruitful in the knowledge of Jesus. I am sorry that I have been blind and shortsighted, forgetting (or taking for granted) the freedom I enjoy because of the cleansing of my past sins. If I lived my life with my spiritual eyes wide open, I wouldn’t need a wake-up call at all.
Thank You
Thank You, Holy Trinity, for enduring the hardship, sacrifice, and pain to give me a perfect example of how to live. Jesus lived a life of goodness, knowledge, self-control, endurance, brotherly kindness, and love. His life screams, “Here! Do it this way!” You provide an eternal kingdom for Your children to dwell richly. The very least I can do is enter that kingdom with a well-supplemented faith.
Then God spoke to Noah, “Come out of the ark, you, your wife, your sons, and your sons’ wives with you. Bring out all the living creatures that are with you – birds, livestock, those that crawl on the ground – and they will spread over the earth and be fruitful and multiply on the earth.” So Noah, along with his sons, his wife, and his sons’ wives, came out. All wildlife, all livestock, every bird, and every creature that crawls on the earth came out of the ark by their groups. Then Noah built an altar to the Lord. He took some of every kind of clean animals and every kind of clean bird and offered burnt offerings on the altar. When the Lord smelled the pleasing aroma, He said to Himself, “I will never again curse the ground because of man, even though man’s inclination is evil from his youth. And I will never again strike down every living thing as I have done. As long as the earth endures, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, and day and night will not cease.” Genesis 8:15-22
Therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, I urge you to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God; this is your spiritual worship. Romans 12:1
My words…
Praise
Lord, I doubt You have had many prayers lifted toward heaven regarding Your nose. Your face, eyes, and ears? Yes. Your nose? Probably not. But I have been meditating on Your nose – what You find pleasing and repulsive to smell. A long time ago, You shared with Your creation an acceptable way to worship, and it involved Your nose. Build an altar, place on it a sacrifice, and set it on fire. Where there is fire – there’s smoke. Smoke never falls – it always rises. And it always carries with it an odor. I have never smelled burning fur, skin, or feathers, but it doesn’t matter what it smells like to me. It matters what it smells like to You. The odor could be offensive to me but lovely to You because what You smell is not burning fur, skin, or feathers. You smell worship. You smell obedience. You smell submission. And to You, that is more pleasing than blooming lilacs, fine spices, or the smell of a newborn’s breath.
Prayer for me
You do not call me to build an altar, kill an animal or bird and set it on fire. Jesus was the sacrifice to end all sacrifices. So now, You are pleased by the odor of a living sacrifice – my thoughts and actions offered to You as worship in obedience and submission. Not often enough, though. Not intense enough, either.
Forgive me
I know that my sacrifice to You sometimes smells like garbage. It’s not sincere. It’s offered lightly, with indifference, frustration, or even anger. Forgive me for not offering You the choicest, cleanest part of myself.
Thank You
I am so thankful for the fact that the sweet, pleasing aroma of Jesus’ sacrifice rises to You still. It permeates heaven, chasing away the repugnant odor of my faltering attempt at sacrifice.
More Praise
You are changeless. You are the One who accepted Noah’s sacrifice, and You accept mine. The methods may differ, but You welcome the fragrant smell of self-sacrificing worship from any who offer it – devout men and women, innocent children, martyrs, evangelists, prophets, teachers, all of creation! How sweet heaven must smell!
So Sarah said to Abraham, “Drive out this slave with her son, for the son of this slave will not be a coheir with my son Isaac!” Early in the morning Abraham got up, took bread and a waterskin, put them on Hagar’s shoulders, and sent her and the boy away. She left and wandered in the Wilderness of Beer-sheba. When the water in the skin was gone, she left the boy under one of the bushes. Then she went and sat down nearby, about a bowshot away, for she said, “I can’t bear to watch the boy die!” So as she sat nearby, she wept loudly. God heard the voice of the boy, and the angel of God called to Hagar from heaven and said to her, “What’s wrong, Hagar? Don’t be afraid, for God has heard the voice of the boy from the place where he is. Get up, help the boy up, and support him, for I will make him a great nation.” Then God opened her eyes, and she saw a well of water. So she went and filled the waterskin and gave the boy a drink. Genesis 21:10, 14-18
I love the Lord because He has heard my appeal for mercy. Because He has turned His ear to me, I will call out to Him as long as I live. Psalm 116:1-2
My words…
Praise
All praise to You, God, who hears the voice of a dying boy over the anguished weeping of his mother. No sound escapes Your hearing, no creature too insignificant to be heard. I don’t know what Ishmael prayed that prompted You to send Your angel to rescue him, but I love that You did. You hear my “proper” prayers spoken aloud with a steady voice. You hear my whisper prayers, my shouting prayers, and my crying prayers. You hear unspoken prayers: petitions, intercessions, and praise formed deep in my spirit and raised to You in silence. I never worry You cannot hear me.
Prayer for me
I pray earnestly for wisdom. A wise person knows what words and sounds to bring before Your ears.
Forgive me
Lord, there have been and will be times I fear You do not hear me when I pray. It’s a faith issue, I know. A loving Father always listens to His daughter. When I question whether You hear me, I doubt the strength of Your love for me. So, I ask for Your forgiveness.
Thank You
Thank You for hearing me and sending me confirmations. I am not even surprised by them any longer!
More praise
You hear the prayers of children and their weeping mothers, You hear every word of worship offered by angels and humans; You hear confessions and vows and eulogies. And You hear the conspiracies of demons and the vulgarity of humankind. You hear the flutter of hummingbirds wings and the sound of fur growing on a baby rabbit. But most importantly to me, You know the sound of my voice.
The Lord is in His holy temple; the Lord’s throne is in heaven. His eyes watch; He examines everyone. Psalm 11:4
No creature is hidden from Him, but all things are naked and exposed to the eyes of Him to whom we must give an account. Hebrews 4:13
My words…
Praise
When I remain very still with my eyes closed in a quiet place and envision You on a throne in Your holy temple, my eyes burn, my throat constricts. Every time. Because when I see You with my spiritual eyes, You are looking straight at me. Eyes locked. I am being watched by the One who separated darkness from light, land from water, east from west. You’ve seen the birth of every star, and You watched my birth. You’ve seen mountains grow from the seas, and You watched me grow. You see the currents of air and water, flowing from place to place, and You’ve watched me move from house to house. You’ve seen the death of every creature, and You will one day watch me die as well. Living under Your gaze is a humbling, terrifying, honor.
Prayer for me
You see my intentions and my motives. I can’t cover them up or hide them from You. They are invisible to everyone around me but lay naked and exposed before Your eyes. I say one thing and do another; I intend to do something and do nothing. I ask for a measure of Your Spirit’s integrity and strength so I may by proud to offer You an account of what I’ve done.
Forgive me
I force You to narrow Your eyes and squint to see my good works, for they are few. Forgive me for not blinding You with the glory that is reflected off of my righteous acts. Convict me of what You call me to do, and forgive me when I openly neglect to do it.
Prayer for others
Lord, this week I have read of so much violence happening all around the globe You created. Stabbings, shootings, and bombings. Innocents slaughtered in the streets. A family eating at an outdoor café one minute and dead the next. You watched it happen. Did you turn your eyes away? I pray Your eyes will sear the souls of the terrorists who cause the suffering. Move them to question their actions. Your unending love is greater than their blind convictions.
More Praise
You see what I can’t and wish I could. You see light waves, radio waves, and microwaves. You see the path of the wind and every particle riding on it. You see the blood pulsing through my veins. You see those I love who have died. You see heaven. Oh to see through Your eyes! The best part? One day I will!
My heart says this about You, “You are to seek My face.” Lord, I will seek Your face. Psalm 27:8
Search for the Lord and for His strength; seek his face always. 1 Chronicles 16:11
For Yaweh Your God is gracious and merciful; He will not turn His face away from you if you return to Him. 2 Chronicles 30:9
My words…
Praise
Lord, You know I don’t spend a lot of time thinking about what You look like. Why spend time thinking about something I cannot know? You may be formless, like the filmy mist hovering over the expanse before creation. You may be light, so gloriously bright that I could never fully see You. But You don’t call me to look upon a mist or a light. You attribute earthly characteristics to Yourself so that I may come before You, knowing what to expect. You have a face. I have a face. You create a familiar, comfortable, unseen space for me to seek You. And I thank You for that! Seeking Your face is like taking my spirit to school. Your Spirit instructs me how to think righteously and act holy. Seeking Your face is like admitting my spirit into the hospital. You soothe my wounds and allow me time to heal. Seeking Your face is like sitting my spirit before a counselor. I unburden my soul. Seeking Your face is like taking my spirit to the gym. I come away stronger, healthier. Seeking Your face is my act of worship and obedience.
Prayer for me
Your word describes the turmoil, heartache, and anguish of those from whom You have turned Your face away. You couldn’t bear to face the abject sin of Your children. I have lived through those times – rebellious times when I didn’t seek Your face, when You turned away from me. But when I sought You again, there You were, Your face shining like a beacon, welcoming me home. I have grown since then, but I remain sinful. I desire to seek Your face every minute of every day, but I don’t, as You know. Seeking You is an intentional decision my spirit makes when nudged by Your Spirit. Keep nudging me, Lord.
More praise
Genuine communication occurs when two are face to face. You are never distracted when I am before You; You never turn to the side. You meet with me full on – face first. It doesn’t matter that I cannot see the expression on Your face. I don’t need to. Yet I am unworthy to receive the full attention of the God who is above all gods, The Creator, The King, The Savior, The Judge. But You welcome me every time. And that makes me want to stand before You even more.
For there is one God and one mediator between God and humanity, Jesus Christ, Himself human, who gave Himself – a ransom for all, a testimony at the proper time. 1 Timothy 2:5-6
My words…
A prayer of praise and thanksgiving for the One who ransomed me…
Father, You are God in the highest heaven. If there are indeed levels of heaven, You rule from the highest place, a perfect place, a place of continual praise. There existed a great chasm between You and Your creation, between the perfect and the sinful. You watched the grip of sin close around the hearts of Your children – those who had been, those who were, and those who would be. You saw us all chained, kidnapped by the one who works tirelessly to enslave and ensnare. How he loves what he does. But our capture did not go unnoticed to the One who sees all. In Your proper time, You sent Your Son to pay the ransom for our freedom, the highest ransom to be paid. He lived apart from You, apart from the praise of the angels. He lived as one created instead of the Creator. He lived through illness, awkward adolescence, loneliness, ridicule, discrimination, and physical torture. But it was His death that shattered my chains. I am free. And although this precious act of love took place so long ago, Jesus remains with me, not as a man, but as a bridge between You and me. Everything I need to know about You, I can learn through Jesus. Anything I want to say to You, He ensures You hear it. He never gets anything wrong. I live here beneath the heavens in an imperfect place, a place filled with sin. But through Jesus, I am free to run to Your throne room in the highest heaven anytime I want, knowing I am welcome, knowing I am loved. It’s a blessing worthy of the ransom.
In the second year of King Darius, on the first day of the sixth month, the word of the Lord came through Haggai the prophet to Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, the governor of Judah, and to Joshua son of Jehozadak, the high priest: “The Lord of Hosts says this: These people say: The time has not come for the house of the Lord to be rebuilt.” The word of the Lord came through Haggai the prophet: “Is it a time for you yourselves to live in your paneled houses while this house lies in ruins?” Now, the Lord of Hosts says this: “Think carefully about your ways: You have planted much but harvested little. You eat but never have enough to be satisfied. You drink but never have enough to become drunk. You put on clothes but never have enough to get warm. The wage earner puts his wages into a bag with a hole in it. You expected much, but then it amounted to little. When you brought the harvest to your house, I ruined it. Why? Because My house still lies in ruins while each of you is busy with his own house.” Haggai 1:1-6, 9
My words…
Praise
The other day I was listening to a podcast, and an unbeliever referred to You as a needy, attention-seeking, egotistical, worship-craving deity. Hearing those words made me want to find a sling, five smooth stones, and her address. (Not very loving. I know.) She used passages such as this as foundation for her belief. A remnant of Israel returned to Jerusalem tasked with rebuilding Your temple, but they said, “Now is not the time.” So they built houses for themselves instead. They expected their lives to be a cake-walk. They were no longer captives. They were back in their hometown. They were in charge of their own lives, by golly. But no matter what they did or how hard they worked, life was not a cake-walk. Why? Because You made sure it wasn’t. And that is what bothers unbelievers. You do not bless those who seek You second or third or never. You desire to be first in the hearts of Your believers. It’s who You are. You know that if we do not place You first in our lives, we will, on our own, skip and dance our way to destruction. You see the evil we do not. You, who created time, who can see the past, present, and future, must endure Your children chucking Your plan because it doesn’t fit in our timetable. And that bothers You, the God of Love. So You stand in our way. You place obstacles in our path so we will veer toward You. You never stop working for us. You never stop loving us. Never. And that does not sound like a needy, attention-seeking, egotistical, worship-craving deity to me.
Prayer for me
Help me be a reflection of You when I am in the company of those who scorn and mock You. Pour on me a measure of Your Spirit so I may speak Your words and not my own.
Forgive me
Forgive me for the myriad times when I said, “Now is not the time” to You. Like the Israelites, I often desire to take care of my needs first. I keep a list of what I want to get done, and You get what’s left over when I’m finished. It seems as if this behavior should be unforgivable, but of course, with You it isn’t.
Prayer for others
I pray for those who see You as a god You are not. A veil hangs over their spirits, and they are not inclined to remove it. They see You through a smoky lens, one that obscures Your goodness. They see You as Satan wants them to. Send an apostle to them, Lord! Lift the veil and remove the smoke.
Thank You
I have been praying for special people in my life, and I am seeing Your answers! The embers of a once cold and dormant faith are growing warm, aglow with Your love. Loneliness has been chased away by friendship, and anxiety has been replaced by peace. All because of You. I am so thankful.
More praise
Praise to the only true God – the God above all other gods. You pursue me and those I cherish and pour on us what You promised through Your prophets of old. They are long dead, but Your words and Your promises live on. Your Spirit uses the ancient words of Haggai to teach me and show me the best way to live today. You are endless, never-changing, proving Your love generation after generation.
