Psalm 145:13-16
13 Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and your dominion endures through all generations. The Lord is faithful to all his promises and loving toward all he has made.
Abba Father, how encouraging it is to know and be confident that the God we love and follow is eternal?! Lord, there is nothing that can shake your Kingdom- that is so reassuring. When our world seems to unravel around us, we can know without a doubt that Your Kingdom is secure and because of that, our future is secure. I pray that You would encourage (name) today with that truth. Give them confidence to know that nothing will ever push You from the Throne. No King will ever topple Your kingdom and no authority will ever exceed Your power and dominion. You are faithful to all of Your promises- we can be sure You will bring each one to pass.. Remind us of that today, Lord. Remind us of Your love. I pray that (name) would rest secure in Who You are and in how You love them.
14 The Lord upholds all those who fall and lifts up all who are bowed down.
Thank You, Father, that you are strong enough to hold us when we falter and fall. You won’t let us go. You see our struggle and our weakness. You see when we stumble and when we fall. You are there beside us when life is too hard and You reach down and lift us up. We can’t do it ourselves and that’s why You are God and we are not. I pray that (name) would see Your strength, protection and Your closeness today. Let there be no shadow of turning. Lord, grab their attention and help them to see that You ARE there and You know all that they face, even if they hold it close to their heart without telling anyone. Lord, You see the darkness and the struggle and depression. You see the sin, the pride, the addiction. And You are strong enough to battle it all and lift us up, clean us off and set us back on our feet. (Name) needs to believe it, Lord. Work in their heart today. Let them know YOU are the rescue they need and the only One who is strong enough to win the battle, overcome the obstacle and lift the burden. Work in (name)’s heart today. Uphold them. Lift them. Love them, Lord.
15 The eyes of all look to you, and you give them their food at the proper time.
I pray that (name) would look to You and no other. Help them to see that You, and only You, are the provider of peace, the remedy to the sick heart and broken mind, the lifter of the fallen and the healer of the broken. Remind them that Your timing is perfect. You are never early and never too late. Your clock runs differently than ours and although we’re impatient and have a sense of urgency, Your perfect will always is best. Help us to submit to that. Help us to wait, Lord. Psalm 27:14 tells us to “wait for the LORD; be strong and take heart and wait for the LORD.” So, instead of growing more impatient and losing our focus and our temper, help us to be strong and take heart while we wait for Your proper time. You will not fail us, Lord!
16 You open your hand and satisfy the desires of every living thing.
Psalm 37:4 tells us that if we delight ourselves in the Lord, that You will give us the desires of our heart. If we delight ourselves in You, our desire will be to know You more, to obey You, to be like Jesus and honor You with our lives. I pray that today that (name) would delight themselves in You and that You would open Your hand and satisfy those desires. Grow (name) into a man/woman after Your own heart. May their desires please You and when You open Your hand, spiritual blessings pour out on (name) and fill them to overflowing. I pray this in Jesus’ name, amen.
Pray without ceasing
Praying in Desperation
Psalm 143:5-7 “I remember the days of long ago; I meditate on all your works and consider what your hands have done. I spread out my hands to you; I thirst for you like a parched land. Answer me quickly, LORD; my spirit fails. Do not hide your face from me or I will be like those who go down to the pit.”
Do you feel like you pray and pray but nothing changes? Are you desperate for an answer? Is your heart growing weary? It’s times like these that our fragile hearts need a good reminding of God’s faithfulness.
David understood that helpless desperation well, but rather than wallow in self-pity or allow his dark thoughts to overwhelm him, he used that as a call to remember all that God had done for him and as proof that God would not abandon him.
Remember the days of long ago- what are those things that God has done for us throughout our life? What are the ways He’s shown himself faithful? Are there stones of remembrance we can stack up as a reminder of God’s goodness and faithfulness? We need to write them down. Meditate on them. Remind ourselves of God’s goodness. Consider what His hands have done. Those reminders are the precious anchors for our weary souls that keep us grounded in the Truth that God never fails and never forsakes us.
“I spread out my hands to you; I thirst for you like a parched land.” Sometimes, in our desperation, we become so consumed with our own needs... our pleading prayers, that we lose sight of Who we should desire most of all. Stop. Let’s check our hearts. Do we want that answer to prayer more than we want Jesus? Has the thing we are praying for become more precious to us than our Savior? What if His answer is ‘no’? What then? When we’re fully satisfied with our Savior and long for Him more than anything else, we can manage whatever the answer will be because we know it comes from His good heart...even if it’s not the answer we prayed for. Thirst for Him, friends, and trust Him. Want Him more than anything else.
“Answer me quickly, LORD; my spirit fails.” Sometimes we have desperate prayers and we’re so emptied of anything else. We have nothing more to pour out, and in those times we just need to cry out to the Lord. Period. We don’t need a long explanation. We don’t need fancy words. When our children were little and needed help quickly, they didn’t go into a long explanation, they just cried out our name and we came running. Why would we think our Heavenly Father would do anything differently? When our spirit fails, we can cry out to Him and be heard. He will not hide his face, He will not let us go down to the pit. He will hear and answer. We can trust Him.
Today, remind yourself of these things. And pray. Trust Him that He will hear and answer. He intends good for you. “I remember the days of long ago; I meditate on all your works and consider what your hands have done. I spread out my hands to you; I thirst for you like a parched land. Answer me quickly, LORD; my spirit fails. Do not hide your face from me or I will be like those who go down to the pit.”
Pray without ceasing.
Saturday Prayer Review
Don’t stop praying!! Even when we don’t see progress, God is working! Even when we can’t understand what He’s doing, He’s got a plan!! Trust. Pray. Believe.
Take time to name your worries and lay them before the Lord. Remind yourself of God’s faithfulness and that He is the Creator who commands the wind and the waves. He can calm the storm in our hearts and minds. Meditate on the Lord’s faithfulness, strength and protection. Trust Him with your precious ones and pray for them by name.
Pray for that our sons and daughters would walk faithfully with the Lord. Pray for those who are wandering off or running away. He knows what path they will take and, like a watercourse, He can and will direct it. Remember, sometimes He allows us to follow our rebellion, but He’s still in control. We need to trust Him and pray for softened hearts and ears that hear, eyes that see spiritual truth and minds that understand.
Thank the Lord for all of the times He’s shown His faithfulness to you and to your family. Recount the ‘Stones of Remembrance’ that will serve as reminders for future generations.
Pray Lamentations 3:22-23 for our sons and daughters today. “The LORD’S lovingkindnesses indeed never cease, For His compassions never fail. They are new every morning; Great is Your faithfulness.”
Now, pray Psalm 33:4 “For the Word of the Lord is upright, And all His work is done in faithfulness.” Thank the Lord for His faithfulness and ask Him to continue working in the hearts of your sons and daughters.
Pray without ceasing, friends. God is faithful!
Daily, Abundant Faithfulness
“The LORD’S lovingkindnesses indeed never cease, For His compassions never fail. They are new every morning; Great is Your faithfulness.” Lamentations 3:22-23
“For the Word of the Lord is upright, And all His work is done in faithfulness.” Psalm 33:4
“Tomorrow is another day” “Things will look better in the morning” “One day at a time” These are all good reminders that hint at something of more substance, something that is coming that should encourage us. But as believers, Lamentations 3:22-23 are the ‘golden nugget’ verses that we should carry with us. God’s lovingkindness never ceases- never!! And...it’s new and fresh every morning!! His compassions NEVER fail and his faithfulness is great. Wow!! (Someone should put that on a poster! ;-))
Friends, how do we encourage our sons and daughters? Do we just tell them ‘things will look better in the morning’ or do we go all-out and give them Lamentations 3:22-23? What would WE find most encouraging?
When our sons and daughters say “I messed up today” “Today was awful” “I can’t wait until this week is done” - it’s a perfect opportunity to encourage them with those promises from Lamentations.
But, when things are difficult for a prolonged time, what then? Friends, this is when we talk to our sons and daughters like the adults they are. This life was not meant to be ‘all the things’. We live in a fallen world and what God intended for us was corrupted by sin. Yes, there will be pain and suffering. Yes, we will face disappointment, betrayal and injustice. But ALL of God’s work is done in faithfulness. His work in our lives is to make us more like Christ- a man of sorrows, acquainted with grief (Isaiah 53:3) If we lived our best life here, would we long for Heaven? If everything was pleasant all the time, would we realize our need for God? Oh, ALL his work is done in faithfulness. We need to trust Him. His mercy is new everyday and is always enough for what we will face while we walk with Him. Today, encourage your sons and daughters with these scriptures.
“Lord, thank You for the promises You give us in Your word that assure us of Your faithfulness and strength for each day. I pray that You would work in (name)’s heart and mind today to encourage them. Give them Your assurance. Help them to see that You are always faithful and You have purpose in each and everything they might face. Give them strength to keep walking with You. Feed their soul today with Your Word. Bring others alongside to encourage them. I pray that they would personally know your new mercy today and would draw on that to sustain them. Don’t let them try and ‘conserve’ or hoard it… it’s new every day, let them lean on it fully. Let them drink eagerly from Your well of living water and know with confidence it will never run dry. Lord, sustain them today, I pray in Jesus’ name, amen.”
Pray without ceasing.
Faithful Promises
Hebrews 10:23 “Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful.”
Have you ever held onto a certificate or coupon, guarding it carefully, only to realize it expired, lost its value and is now worthless? That once-treasured ticket of much value is only paper now.
Hebrews chapter 10 explains how Jesus’ blood sacrifice and resurrection open the way for us to stand in the Holy of Holies- in the very presence of God. If we have faith that Christ’s substitutionary atonement was and is sufficient to atone for our sin, we have an eternal promise from that Lord that He sees us as His own. He is faithful. He doesn’t go back on His promises. His guarantee never expires and the seal of the Holy Spirit on our lives, marking us as saved, redeemed, adopted and beloved, that seal will never lose its value or expire.
Let us hold fast to the confession of our faith without wavering- because He who promised is FAITHFUL!!
Friends, do our sons and daughters have this depth of confidence and security in their faith? Do they trust that once saved, they will always belong to the Lord? God doesn’t offer salvation and indwell us just to change His mind and cast us aside. We have an anchor for our souls that can weather any storm, whether physical or spiritual. Our Lord is faithful!!
Today, let’s pray that our sons and daughters fully understand the depth and longevity of God’s faithfulness to them.
“Heavenly Father, thank You for your Faithfulness to us- it’s hard to comprehend with our finite minds the infinite nature of your Faithfulness and Goodness to us. I pray that even today, (name) would begin to really understand just how faithful, reliable, and true You are. Lord, grow their faith and deepen their trust. Strengthen their grip so they can hold fast to the faith they have. Make them strong, Lord, so they don’t waver. This life is unpredictable, but You are steadfast. Circumstances can become difficult and tumultuous, people can be unreliable and hurtful, but You are steady; You are peace; You are the anchor for our souls in the hard of this life. I pray that (name) would know this, believe this and live with confidence in Your faithfulness to them. Lord, build their faith and trust today. In Jesus’ name, amen.”
Pray without ceasing.
Faithful Through the Generations
Deuteronomy 7:9 “Know therefore that the LORD your God is God, the faithful God who keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love him and keep his commandments, to a thousand generations,”
Often when we gather as families, we reminisce about significant events, fun times, funny things that happened to us. We laugh and recall with joy those things that stand out in our memories. But do we take time to recount the ways God has been good to us? Do we really share the miraculous and mundane ways God made Himself known?
Friends, if we are believers, we are building a legacy of faith for our children, grandchildren and generations yet to come, if the Lord tarries. It’s hard to imagine next week, but a thousand generations? Yet, this is what God promises!! It’s likely very few people in history thought their story would have significance, yet, how beautiful is it to read stories of those who lived faithfully for the Lord? What about the stories of those who left all they knew to carry the gospel to another land and people? They were doing what God called them to- yet we learn so much about His faithfulness in the midst of their daily obedience. What is it that we want our children, grandchildren and future generations to know about God’s faithfulness to us?
Let’s be bold and share those stories of God’s faithfulness. Write them down. Share them with your family. Record them where they can be heard. Someone, someday, will read or hear them and be encouraged. They will become the treasured stories that evidence God’s goodness and faithfulness to your family through the generations. What accounts of God’s faithfulness can you recall today?
Today, take some time to write out the accounts of God’s faithfulness to you...then share it with your sons and daughters. It may feel awkward at first, but go on and do it. The more you testify, the more excited and appreciative you will be of God’s faithfulness and the more you will come to love Him. Create those ‘Stones of Remembrance’ so that when future generations ask “What is that?” You can beautifully testify to God’s loving faithfulness to you...and to them!
Pray without ceasing!