Tag Archives: Prayers

Indeed, Jesus, you’re an engaged Shepherd, not an absentee landlord. Even as we make plans in our hearts, you are actively ordering our steps (Prov. 16: 9). Oh, the freedom and peace this brings! You are the Lord who “opens doors no one can shut” (Rev. 3: 8). And the converse is just as true; you also shut doors no one can open.

 

Our future is tied not to making the right decisions but to trusting the right Lord.

From "Everyday Prayers"

These days, all around us is the cry, "We worship the same God!"

But we don't.  Christians belong to a sovereign God who is in control of the universe.  Our future belongs to Him.

There was a time when I felt that - yes, there was a God, but I wasn't sure that He wanted me.  Coming from where I am now, I know that if I want HIM, He wants me.

For those of us dealing with job changes, financial stresses, and health issues, show yourself to be both merciful and mighty, Jesus. May your mercy keep us gentle and your might trump our impatience. For those of us having to make important decisions for the people we love, be huge and present. Long-term care for aging parents, the “right” education for our kids, the best treatment for family members and friends in the destructive whirlwind of addictions—make the way clear, Lord. As Prince of Peace, give us your peace as we wait upon you.

Huge changes are coming in my life.  Good changes, but hard changes also.  I'm leaving a great church, I'm leaving my kids (although I think I'll see them a lot.)   I hate moving.  I'm moving.  Addictive behavior of family members, all sorts of choices.

I pray for my family members, and my future family members.  Help me be patient, and pour Your mercy on us all.

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“If you want to judge how well a person understands Christianity, find out how much he makes of the thought of being God’s child, and having God as his Father. If this is not the thought that prompts and controls his worship and prayers and his whole outlook on life, it means that he does not understand Christianity very well at all.

For everything that Christ taught, everything that makes the New Testament new, and better than the Old, everything that is distinctively Christian as opposed to merely Jewish, is summed up in the knowledge of the Fatherhood of God. “Father” is the Christian name for God. Our understanding of Christianity cannot be better than our grasp of adoption.”

—J.I. Packer, Knowing God (Downers Grove, IL: 1993), 201-202

HT:  Between Two Worlds