Dear Beautiful Father,
You are holy and gracious and the only one deserving of all praise.
You are majestic and mighty and yet delicate, as close as a butterfly whisper… right now. Receive this prayer from the dust, lifted to Your heavens higher than the earth.
Can You feel the tension in the world these days, God, the ache and the anguish? Do You sense it like we do, the hard, the heavy, the hurt, tenuous, like a tight-rope on which we dare not wobble? We feel it in the wide world, we feel it in our homes, even in our tiny fragile hearts. Everyone is going through something right now, God, every single one!
*The mom whose son rejected her and moved away.
*The dear one with pains and symptoms in her body, that doctors say everything is normal, but she knows it isn’t, leaning on You, Great Physician, for deliverance from destruction.
*The young family who love each other but the tension and struggles in every area make it so very hard, for them and those who love them.
*Moms and daughters and sisters and grandkids packed together in a single home full of hurt, anger, contention, and You…how much they all want the same things: peace, love, and healing.
*The thankful couple living in the wake of miraculous healing… but still hurting, still needing, for bills and babies.
*Those at crossroads of life-changing decisions… stay, go; where, how, when; to quit or just give up (those being two different things).
*The wife deeply pained by her husband’s own hurts… physical, emotional, spiritual.
*The grandma who preached and prayed and loved on a stubborn-headed grandson that just can’t seem to find his way because he doesn’t try…
*The man threatened by fear, wondering if faith and hope are still within reach.
*The single mom agonizing over options and care for her beloved child with a debilitating illness.
*The remains of a young family whose wife and mom removed herself from all the world’s pain forever.
*Your faithful children enduring unspeakable persecution all over the world as they stand boldly for You.
*Parents and teens trying to live wise and loving in the midst of social media dangers.
*The husband who drifted into depression and the wife whose faith drifted with it.
*The family pieces with extra sharp corners since a loved one was killed at the hands of another.
*The weariness of wives whose husbands are visible to the eye but haven’t been present for a very long time.
*The one with the job they think might just do them in if they don’t get out soon…
*The widow who lost everything precious in her world, not just her husband.
We give these to You, omniscient God; You aren’t blind to them El Roi, the God Who Sees; we rally to You, Jehovah Nissi, our Banner, our means of victory; we lay them at the feet of Your love, Jesus.
God is in the midst of her, she shall not be moved; God shall help her, just at the break of dawn… The Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge. Selah ~ Psalm 46:5,7
Why would we move if right here is where You are? For how you reveal Yourself IN these hard times and rocky places, this is how we desire to see You in a fresh way, like Job (but not by his choosing), who in his regular rocking-along life knew You by ear, but in the direst extreme came to know You by heart. This is the depth of our need for You in all these things!
Hear my cry, O God; attend to my prayer. From the end of the earth I will cry to You, when my heart is overwhelmed; lead me to the rock that is higher than I. ~ Psalm 61:1-2
Thank You for Your faithfulness and how You are moving and working in every single life, in not-our-ways but Your always higher ways.
“The Lord be magnified!”
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