Prayer - Smile of Content

I like it, Father God, when Psalmist David says, 

"I will sing to the LORD, for He has been good to me" (NIV).

It makes me smile because I know You have been good to me too.  In fact You have "dealt bountifully with me" (ESV) over the many years of my life, continuing even until now.

In sorrow, I confess of my complaining, of grumbling and murmurings of discontent.  With Your help, Father, I'll see instead, Your goodness and blessings in my  life and count them.

To focus rather, on Your unfailing love and trust in You  so my heart will rejoice and sing praises of Your salvation and goodness and Your forgiveness.  Help all of us look to count and give thanks; one by one for all the goodness You bestow upon Your children, including me.

A joyful song of praise upon lips curved upwards, in grateful smile mode; that smile of content .

Thank You, Abba Father.

In Jesus' Name we praise You.

                           ~ERC  Originally Prayed March 2020 - Blogged April 2020~

 Based on Psalm 13

Johnny Appleseed Song

Lord's Day Devotion - He's Alive, Shout for Joy!

                    

This weekend is known as Easter Weekend.  On this Lord's Day, we remember Jesus' death and resurrection for us, like we do on any other Lord's Day.  Sometimes on other days of the week, we exert our privilege and right to do so too, as often as we wish.

Well, in some ways, it might be the same; however...perhaps you have some bread and wine prepared in the inner sanctums of your home during this world-wide, locked down, quarantine time.  The Bible says, "where two or three are gathered together in My Name, there am I in the midst of them" (Matthew 18:20 KJV).  Jesus, our Redeemer, is with us whether we are at church or at home.

We can still remember Him. 

Let us meditate on some verses before we give thanks for the BREAD…

Sing, “Up from the grave He arose…”  What a joyful event!

Let’s read Psalm 98:4-6 (NIV) which expresses some of what we might feel  regarding Jesus' work on the cross,

“SHOUT for joy to the LORD, all the earth, burst into jubilant song…make music to the LORD, the King!” 

 …and our Savior…

 Let’s pray.

Father, we come to You with joy in our hearts for Jesus is no longer dead and hasn't been for about 2000 years;  HE”S ALIVE forevermore and we are FORGIVEN!  Our hearts truly do shout, “HOSANNA!” and “HALLELUJAH!” and “PRAISE THE LORD!” all in one breath.  

You have worked salvation for all of us who have accepted Your Son Jesus Christ as Savior.  We now thank-You and joyfully partake of this bread.  The bread being symbolic of Jesus’ broken-upon-the-cross body, to help us remember, often, that body of Jesus which was broken for us so long ago.  

Thank-You, Father,  so much for this sacrifice.  Jesus’ death and resurrection have brought us victory.

Thank-You Jesus, and it’s in Your holy Name we remember what Your compassionate, unfailing love has done for us.

Amen.

Let’s all partake of the bread in unison.

Before giving thanks for the WINE…think of this,

Most remember that the children of Israel were slaves in Egypt but God was going to rescue them…

Let’s read Exodus 12:12 & 13 (NIV),

“ON that same night I will pass through Egypt and strike down every firstborn of both people and animals, and I will bring judgment on all the gods of Egypt.  I am the LORD.” 

Now listen to verse 13, in particular…

“The blood will be a sign for you on the houses where you are, and when I see the blood, I will pass over you…”

Let’s pray, giving thanks for the WINE.

Heavenly Father, You told Your people to go home and shut their doors, til Your fury had passed (Isaiah 26:20).  So the children of Israel put the blood of the sacrificial lamb upon their lintels and door-frames.  They shut themselves into their homes.  The angel of death passed over those homes with the blood properly applied.  Then Father, You delivered them with Your almighty hand.  They had been afflicted but You rescued them.

We, too, have been afflicted with our sin but You sent Your Son Jesus Christ, Who took all that affliction upon Himself.  All the fury of Your wrath against sin was laid upon Jesus.  He took all that punishment for our sin.  Our Lamb of God, who took away our sin because He shed His blood for us.  We, Your children, have the blood of Jesus, which washed away our sins, upon our hearts.   When You see that blood, You turn away Your wrath from us.

We praise You Father God, for Your rescue plan; for Jesus’ death and resurrection.

Praise God, Jesus is alive!

We take the cup of wine in remembrance of Jesus sacrifice for us, with humble gratitude and thanksgiving.

In Jesus Name we give thanks.

Amen.

Let’s all drink of the wine together.

                                                           ~ERC  April 2020~

What a mighty God we have.  Close your eyes and listen to the following song.  

 He's Alive - David Phelps - Gaither Vocal Band

Prayer - Was It a Good Friday?

Father, You are our LORD who reigns.  You reign over all the earth.  Let us all be glad and rejoice in You.  Even though we stand in awe of You, in reverent awe, and see the clouds thick and dark surround You, we learn from psalm 97:2 and 3, that Your 

"righteousness and justice" are the foundations of Your throne".

"Fire goes before You and consumes Your foes on every side."

"Lightening lights up the world and the earth sees and trembles" (v. 4).

The mountains melt like wax before You; Father, before the Lord of all the earth (NIV).

The volcanoes and earthquakes of earth make people tremble with fear over the devastation they can cause.  They fear for their lives. Now we have something very akin to this sort of escalation multiplied 1000's of times over.  Now is the time of COVID-19.  People are shaking and quaking, not just from the virus but from those who've lost jobs and who can't feed themselves nor pay other bills.  What about them?

I do know You care Father but I don't know what to say or ask.

Except...

Father, may the peoples of the Earth look up to You and seek You, now, like never before.  May they look up to You, our Righteous and Holy God to Whom they will have to give account of themselves.  and their actions of life so far.

The leaders of the world, all the nations, all the people, down to the individuals in each and every nation, to all the ends of this earth: North, South, East and West.  may they realize You, and You alone, are the Righteous, Holy One Whom they need to fear more than anything else.

May they also realize Your goodness,  love and care for each of them.

As the heavens proclaim Your righteousness to all the citizens of Earth, may they worship You and NOT idols.  May they turn from all their gods that they have been putting their boast in. Those gods that can't do anything much for them.  May all of us earthlings realize that it is Your enemy Satan and his demons that are behind all those, supposed, gods.  Gods who did not send their sons to die a sacrificial death for them to give them salvation, to give them forgiveness of sins, and everlasting life.  Those are gods that demand and demand and demand their very life to earn their favor.  In the end, they will only face destruction in hell with the Devil and his minions.

May Zion rejoice and all the villagers  of Judah and everywhere else, be glad (v. 8).

Father, Your son Jesus walked among these villages, from Galilee to Jerusalem; all the regions of Samaria and Judea.  He walked them up and own, back and forth.  Many of that generation were glad and rejoiced but many others did not.  Many mocked Jesus, many wanted Him to leave their area.  many wanted Him to be dead so He wouldn't trouble their consciences, upsetting their "apple carts" or rocking their boats.

In the end, they shouted, "Crucify Him!"  and again, "Crucify Him!"  in rage and jealousy; angry maliciousness steamed with the sentence of 'the Cross'.

They did not want to hear Your judgments; Your convictions.  

Oh Most High God, Jesus would have brought them under His 'wings' like a mother hen does for her chicks and provide the needed protection.  Sadly, He could only weep over Jerusalem, that seat and symbol of the whole nation of Israel.  

Father God, how You must weep even now, over all the Earth; how people have renounced You; will not acknowledge Your existence; some shake their fists at You saying, "Where's God?!"

Yet we have recently heard wonderful stories emerge like the atheist doctor from Italy saying that because of this corona virus--the extent of it bringing everyone, without prejudice, to their knees--he had to acknowledge You.  In other places, men and women cry out to you in the streets.  They really seem to mean it.

You reign, Father God!

You are most High, reigning over all the Earth that belongs to You.  You love those who love You and let those who love You hate evil.  

"Guard the lives of Your faithful ones" (v. 10).

Indeed, You guard us, Your followers of Jesus Christ.  You do deliver us from the hand of the wicked (v 10).  You shed Your light upon us and we have joy in our hearts as we live in an upright manner.

Due to Jesus' atoning work on the Cross, may we allow Your Holy Spirit to reign freely in our hearts.  May we make You Lord and Master and King of our lives.

"Lord, reign in our lives".

As we sit in Your presence Father on this Good Friday, we remember the work You accomplished upon the Cross, for us.  While partaking of the bread and cup of wine, help us truly understand the portent of all Jesus has done for us.

In thankfulness, and in return thanks and devotion, may each of Your followers say, 'The LORD reigns" in my life, may He reign forever.

Yes, I know we still make mistakes and often fail You miserably, so we thank You that when we confess them to You, You forgive and  cleanse us from all unrighteousness (1 John 1:9).  You purify us 100% from even any single taint or stain of those sins.  We are grateful, glad, and rejoice in you, the Righteous one.  We praise Your Holy name.  

Reign, Eternal King Jesus, reign!  Let the Earth rejoice!

It was an awful Good Friday for Jesus and You, Father, but it was a wondrous one for us!

In Jesus our Savior's powerful Name, we give you thanks and praise,

Amen.

                                                       ~ERC   April 2020~

Prayer based on Psalm 97

Song, When I Survey the Wondrous Cross - sung by Choir of Kings College, Cambridge 

Prayer - David's Secret

Heavenly Father, our hearts can be so full at times.  It is so comforting to know we can "pour out our hearts" to You (Psalm 62:8).  You are someone we can trust, who won't blab out all we say on a gossip vine.  "We can trust in You at all times," David the Psalmist confides to his people.  He encouraged them with this.  He had knowledge firsthand, of such experience so he wanted to share this goodness with them.

Subsequently, we too, so many centuries later, are blessed by his "secret" too.  Now we pause and whisper, from the depth of our hearts into Your ears.

Pause...pray...talk to Him...

Thank-You, Father, that we can rest and hope in You because You are "strong" and "loving" and we can fully, 100%, depend on You!

In You we put our trust.

In Jesus Name we give You praise and thanksgiving.

Amen.

                  ~ERC - Originally prayed 13 March 2020 - Blogged 3 April 2020~

Prayer based on Psalm 62

In Whom I can Trust posted by cogs 999

Lord's Day Devotion - Devotional Prayer - Made Righteous

Father, I'm so glad for my salvation because as Psalm 32, a Psalm of David, remarks,

"Blessed is he whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered...whose sin the LORD does not count against them and in whose spirit there is no deceit" (vs. 1 & 2 ESV).

Father, we thank-You that You have imparted Your righteousness; "imputed" Your righteousness to all of the  followers of Your Son Jesus Christ.  They are those who have accepted Him as Savior.  You have justified us for the sake of Your Son who died to redeem us; to atone for our sins, to bear the punishment for our sins making that way of salvation open for mankind.  

I thank-You for that and Lord, as You are working on us in the process of sanctification, may there be no deceit found in our spirits.  It seems like its so easy to lie.  People lie, left, right and center, constantly.  

Lie to one's face.  

Lie with a straight face, looking so innocent all the while.

Maybe they aren't outright lies but Lord, its not the whole truth.  When people go to a court of law, they're sworn in promising to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth, so help them, God. Oh well, maybe in this day and age, they leave out the God part which may well be the whole problem.  No fear of God.

 So the truth often gets covered up.  What a farce!

May I ask that Your people, Your children, make every effort to be truthful as Your Son Jesus IS.  Jesus said that He is,

"The Way..the Truth and the Life" (John 14:6),

If we are going to be more and more Christ-like, help us to be more and more honest, to have integrity, that transparency, that people often talk about especially wanting political leaders to be so but forget to examine themselves.  May we be as innocent as babes..Perhaps, cunning as serpents but as innocent and harmless as doves (Matthew 10:16).

We represent You, LORD.  There are times though that we are not very good ambassadors.  We acknowledge our sins and that we often try to cover up our iniquities, however, as David said,

"I will confess my transgressions to the LORD" (Psalm 32:5).

May we be still in Your presence so we can be more sensitive to the Holy Spirit's convictions, and humbly make our confessions to You Father. 

This also reminds me of 1 John 1:9,

"If we confess our sins..."

IF.

The 'if' is on our shoulders.  It's up to us whether we confess or not.  Oh, glory, Father, You are ever ready and waiting because as David goes on here in Psalm 32:5, he says,

"...and You forgave the guilt of my sin..."

He confessed.  

You forgave.

That is just like 1 John 1:9 again,

"If we confess our sin, He is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins..." [emphasis mine]

What's more,

"He'll purify us from all unrighteousness..." [emphasis mine]

That is not just that one sin but from all.  He will scrub them all clean!  So clean there won't be any teeny-tiny stain remaining.

We thank-You for this mercy You bestow upon us.

"Therefore let everyone who is godly offer prayer to You..." (Psalm 32:6 ESV).

Father, compel us, Your children, to look up to You.  We need to cry out to You.  We need to be found in Your presence in communion with You.

David, in some of his other Psalms, said he loved to be in Your house and he loved to be there with other people.  Father, often, when we go to church, depending on which church, some are crowded, filled up with thousands of eager, expectant faces.  Others, are small; faint, yet pursuing (Judges 8:4).  Wherever we are, we know that even when two or three are gathered together in the Name of Jesus, Your presence is there among the congregation.

We can pray in our own closets, but also together with the two's and three's, or thousands.  This we can do in confidence because YOU are there and we trust You!  Even in this COVID-19 time, we can still 'zoom' and  "meet" via conferencing calls and the like.  You know our current troubles and You understand.  Thank-You Father for Your understanding.  We know You are still with us.

It says, "Let the godly pray" (v. 6).  May we all be godly.    May we all pray to the one true God.  There's no excuse because You've made us righteous in Your sight.  In addition to that, You are in the process of sanctifying us, through Your words as we obey Your will and ways in our lives.

Surely then, when the mighty waters rise they will not reach us (v. 6), they will not shake us.  If we are godly, praying truthfully, depending on You, when the "mighty waters" of temptation, of trials and troubles and tribulations assail us, we'll realize the "flood waters cannot reach us".  They cannot harm or destroy us.  Instead, we will have our faith firmly planted in You and You will give us the strength to overcome.  That's because there's no intentional deceit in us, we are godly, we trust and pray and look up to You, oh Father God.

That said from as truthful-as-possible, humble hearts, Father.  

Our sins have been covered and we can look up to You with dignity, a clear conscience, not in self-esteem but in God-esteem because You esteem us.  We can lift our eyes and hands up to You, not in pride nor arrogance but with all godliness and honesty; in confidence in You. 

"You are our hiding place and You will protect us.  You surround us with songs of deliverance" (v. 7).

Father, let the Christians sing songs of deliverance.  Teach them to sing.  Sing, Christians sing!  Burst into song!  Sing songs of deliverance of how Our God protected us, helped us to pull through all our times of distress.

It is actually exciting, Father, to see some of your people, and others around the world, singing to each other from balconies, sidewalks and even from their homes to uplift and encourage themselves and others during this depressing, stressful COVID-19 time.  That's really cool.

This is possible because You also taught us how to go, how to live. You give us the wisdom and insight through Your Holy Spirit and the Words we read in Your Holy Bible.  In Your words, because You instruct and teach You counsel us in the way we should go and watch over us.  Help us not be stubborn like an ox or mule that has little to no understanding and need to be controlled by a yoke or bit and bridle.

May we, as we are affected and infected with Your unfailing, unconditional love and with Your protection upon us, with our justification from You, all combine as our compelling force, then follow You.  Not to be whipped from behind, not to have the constraint  of the bit and bridle but because of Your unfailing love we would voluntarily follow You.

Like the good shepherd who knows his sheep and the sheep willingly following.  May we be "trusting sheep" following the shepherd's voice, negating the need of sheep dogs nipping from behind; nipping and barking at us, "Get going!"

Yes, some of us may well need the goading; that pistol shot to get us going but Lord, may it rather be your love that compels us and not Your discipline.  We know Your unfailing love surrounds us.  Help us to trust in You because of it.  Then we can rejoice and be glad in the Lord because You are the Righteous, Truthful One who has made  us righteous in Your sight.  May those of us who have been made righteous indeed be glad, rejoice and sing because we are of upright hearts, made so by You through Jesus Christ, Your Son.

On this Lord's Day, let us remember all this by partaking of the bread and wine showing the Lord's death and resurrection power.  He bore our sins upon the tree, paying the full price.  In turn He gave us His righteousness and more.  It is only because of this that we can appropriate all His love and blessings.  You have given us so many privileges through Your "salvation package".  Give thanks with grateful hearts, oh people of God.

In His Redemptive Name we give You praise, thanks and adoration, Father.  Its's also in this Name of Jesus Christ, our Royal Master, we rejoice and come into Your presence and commune openly, honestly, with You.

Thank-You, Father.

Thank-You, Jesus

In Jesus Name, 

Amen.

                                                      ~ERC  April 2020~

Prayer based on Psalm 32.

Onward Christian Soldiers as sung by Bill & Gloria Gaither crowd.

Prayer - Set A Guard

Heavenly Father, in Psalm 81 we read about David asking You to open wide his mouth so that You could fill it with good things.  Here however, in Psalm 141 and verse 3, we read of David asking You to set a guard over his mouth and to watch over the door of his lips.

So, yes, we can open wide our mouths, so You can fill us with those good things that You have for us but we must also watch what comes out of our mouths.  What has been in our thoughts?  What has been in our hearts?  Have we filtered it against Your filter of things that are noble and just and of good report?

Have we filtered it?  Set that watch over those words, indeed, over our mouths and lips.  Then we will not let any evil come out of them.

I remember the time in a Sunday School in New York where we had been visiting,  so long ago, when one brother-in-Christ, one of Your sons, Father, said God has put a double protection upon our mouths.  One is our lips and the other, our teeth.  Therefore, there are two doors:   the lips are one door, the teeth are a door.  Help us to keep our trap shut, Lord, with the double security of those "doors".  

We do not want to speak evil.  We do not wish to blurt those words that should NOT come out of our mouths.  No regrets, hurtful, harmful abusive words.  Help us Lord, to speak only what You want us to speak and say, in the manner and attitude which would glorify You; the Christ-like way of doing things.

It's so easy to speak evil.  Lord, we ask you to set that guard, keep watch over our mouths and lips.  Let us strike other people, instead, with our kindness, not with evil words.

Someone once recommended a beauty tip, she advised, 

"For beautiful lips, speak only words of kindness."  

May we all have such beautiful lips, Father.

May others rebuke us, other brothers and sisters-in-Christ, when we speak and say the wrong things.  Also, let us take it in the spirit in which it was meant, for our own good and benefit.  Let it be like oil of anointing upon our heads that blesses so that our prayers can be without deceit, without hypocrisy and truly set against the wrong-doers.

Help us to fix our eyes upon You, oh Sovereign Lord, because it's in You we take refuge.  You keep us out of the snares people have laid for us; the traps set.  Maybe those who know how to get into our head or under our skin that would cause us to speak harsh, angry words.  They set those nets but LORD, help us to avoid such "landmines" that we will be able to pass by in safety.  Again, let us heap coals of fire upon their heads by pummeling them with kind words, using gracious words, gentle words, spoken in a gentle manner; just like that meek way Jesus had with the general populace during His walk on earth.

Nevertheless, Lord, aid us in our learning to confront through the convictions of Your Holy Spirit in the style in which Jesus also used with the Pharisees and teachers of the Law; those religious leaders who "knew it all".  In fact, they did know a lot.  They'd studied Your Word but they did not always put them into proper practice in the spirit in which You meant them to be employed in the life of the practitioner. 

Oh Lord, we thank-You for any intervention You give us that helps us to speak "gold"; to speak as You would speak.  Give us that desire and set a guard upon our lips.  Thank-You and praise You in Jesus most precious and sovereign Name.  Amen.

                                                    ~ERC  March 2020~

Prayer based on Psalm 141

Scripture Memory Songs with Ben Eaton - Set A Guard

Prayer - Skillful Hand

A person can't, NOT like David the shepherd boy, nor David the king but I want to talk more about the former genre.  The more one reads his Psalms, the more one likes him.  Today's Psalm-of-the-day, Psalm 78, albeit, written by Asaph, gives a commendable perspective on David, which in turn, gave me the impetus to write about it.

This is what Asaph penned, from verses 70-72, 

"He (God), chose David his servant and took him from the sheepfolds; from following the nursing ewes he brought him to shepherd Jacob His people, Israel His inheritance.  With upright heart he shepherded them and guided them with his skillful hand."

David likely never dreamed he'd be king at all.  Likely he thought he was "stuck" tending sheep.  Little did he know it was his training ground for bigger things.

No doubt it was rough out there and required a lot of hard work but I like to think of David, lying on his back at night and trying to count the stars (ha, ha, not sheep but maybe that too) and observe the moon in its various phases.  Very close to nature, so he was.  In his various Psalms he refers very often to creation and in turn points to the Creator, the Maker of it all.

What an amazing apprenticeship in sheep tending!  He was certainly socially distanced from people but he sure braved facing a lion and a bear and who knows what all out there.  Those were just "all in a day's work", nothing to fuss about.  Astonishing really, when you think about it.

Caring for the general welfare of the ewes, especially when lambing, and then of the newborn lambs themselves; being "mom" to rejected or orphaned lambs; protecting them all from predators; making sure all had plenty of grass to munch and still waters to lap up--sounds very much like a full-time 24/7 job.

It's a wonder David had the time to practice his archery and slingshot skills, honing them to precision.  Then the harp.  Possibly a lyre thrown in for good measure (Psalm 150).  What a guy!

Living an isolated, somewhat rather lonely existence, he learned every nook and cranny of the wilderness pasture land reaches.  Perhaps he'd "bump" into other shepherds from time to time and swap howdy's and enjoy the occasional time of camaraderie.  I'm assuming he certainly didn't sulk at his lot in life, rather he kept himself pro-active all the while.  Alert and ever ready.

David had so much going for him yet he seemed to have been thought very little of by his older brothers and even by his father, Jesse.  Thus, mayhap, some of the melancholy noted in his Psalms.  The youngest of a string of sons, the insignificant "baby of the family".  Send him off to tend the sheep.  That's what he's good for.  That's why they didn't bother to think he, their baby brother!! could be  the chosen one to become king.  Surely, not!  So he didn't get invited to the anointing party.

Ha, ha, ha...

God had the last laugh.  

All of the bits and pieces of David's life puzzle, thus far, came together, culminating in his mostly wise governing of the peoples in his kingdom.  David's great trust and reliance on God put him in excellent stead.  He had been faithful in that which was considered "least".  God, his Rock, Fortress, Refuge and Deliverer, gave him His most precious chosen people to shepherd; to be faithful in that which was "much" (Luke 16:10).

Asaph noted,

David guided the people's with an 

"...upright heart...and skillful hand".

So too with our lives, we never know what all the threads of life will combine and create to enable us to create and do in service for God, our King.

Thanks, Asaph, for this "peek" at David.

Father God, there are so many various threads in our lives.  Some exceeding joys, others that are so difficult they could send a person into the slough of despond.  Yet, Father, we beseech You to weave all those threads together into the masterpiece of Your unique, creative design, just as You did for David, a man after Your own heart.

We often only see the underside of Your work of embroidery in our lives, where all the knots and crisscrosses are.  You, Father, get the bird's eye view.  Continue Your work in us and may we too be found faithful, strong and steadfast in Your unchanging love, as David was.  May we too, work with "upright hearts" and "skillful hands" from the amalgamation and assimilation of our lives' experiences and lessons learned.  Most importantly that we too will live pro-actively for Your glory, and have firm trust and reliance on You, the ever, perfect Faithful One, Our Good Shepherd.

                                                   ~ERC  March 2020~

Based on Psalm 78

The Lord's my Shepherd-Stuart Townend

Further references to check out re: lyre in Psalms.  Turns out David mentions this instrument almost as much as he does the harp:

Psalm 5:2; 11:7; 33:2; 43:4; 49:4; 57:8; 71:22; 81:2; 92:3; 108:2; 144:9; 147:1; and 150:3.