Psalm 18:1-6 (NIV 1984)
I love you, O Lord, my strength.
The Lord is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer;
my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge.
He is my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.
I call to the Lord, who is worthy of praise,
and I am saved from my enemies.
The cords of death entangle me;
the torrents of destruction overwhelmed me.
The cords of the grave coiled around me;
the snares of death confronted me.
In my distress I called to the Lord;
I cried to my God for help.
From his temple he heard my voice;
my cry came before him into his ears.
Psalm 121:1-2 (NIV 1984)
I lift up my eyes to the hills —
where does my help come from?
My help comes from the Lord,
the Maker of heaven and earth.
At times we find ourselves at the end of our mental and emotional resources. We feel we have done everything humanly possible and don’t know the best action to take. That’s exactly where God wants us every day, not depending on our human capabilities but on His unlimited abilities, not depending on our own impotence but on His potent power, not depending on our limited knowledge but on His unlimited wisdom. When we realize that we do not have and never will have all the answers, we can find peace in giving our worries and struggles…
…our everything…to the One who does.
~based on a devotion by Sharon Jaynes
Matthew 14:22-23 (NIV 1984)
Immediately Jesus made the disciples get into the boat and go on
ahead of him to the other side, while he dismissed the crowd.
After he had dismissed them, he went up on a mountainside
by himself to pray. When evening came, he was there alone,
but the boat was already a considerable distance from land,
buffeted by the waves because the wind was against it.
Prayer does not change God,
but changes him who prays.
~Soren Kierkegaard
“I have been driven…to my knees
by the overwhelming conviction that I had nowhere else to go.”
~Abraham Lincoln
“Pray and let God worry.”
~Martin Luther
Psalm 40:1-3 (NIV 1984)
I waited patiently for the Lord;
he turned to me and heard my cry.
He lifted me out of the slimy pit, out of the mud and mire;
he set my feet on a rock and gave me a firm place to stand.
He put a new song in my mouth,
a hymn of praise to our God.
Many will see and fear and put their trust in the Lord.