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God, Thank You For Sending Your Son

52 Simple Prayers for 2018

We desperately need a Savior—one who will deliver us from our sinful nature and from this sinful world: “Gabriel said, ‘You are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.’” (Matt. 1:21) We desperately need a Christ—one anointed as our Messiah to redeem us and bring us into right standing with God: “In him we have redemption.” (Eph. 1:7) And we desperately need a Lord—one who has rulership over our lives and our world: “And he will reign over Israel forever; his Kingdom will never end!” (Luke 1:33) In Jesus, God gave us One who is Savior, Christ and Lord.

A Simple Prayer For Christmas Joy:

Jesus, you are Savior — through you all my sins are gone. Jesus you are Lord — sovereign over all that will happen in my life today — good or bad. And Jesus, you are Christ — God’s anointed for my life. For that, I choose to be joyful in you. Amen.
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God, Reignite My Love For You

52 Simple Prayers for 2018

Like the love of a husband and wife that grows cold through the years, as a believer, you can grow cold in your love for the Lord. It’s not like you hate God, or are angry with him. It’s not even that you ignore him, are indifferent to him, or are not even doing things for him. You just have not kept your passionate love for him as the number one priority of your life. The truth is, God wants your heart more than anything else—more than your head, what you know about him, and your hands, what you do for him. He pleadingly says to you, “Do you love me more than these?”

A Simple Prayer To Love God Like I Did At First:

God, I do love you. But I have taken you for granted. I have often been more engaged in doing for you than in loving you. Please forgive me, and give me the grace to remember how pure and right and fulfilling it was for me when you first rescued me from spiritual darkness and eternal death With the help of your Holy Spirit, I will keep my love for you as the first and highest priority of my life.
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God Never Forgets

He May Be Slow, But He Is Never Late

God keeps all of his promises. He can’t help himself. Fulfilling them is just his nature. He had promised through the prophets a redeemer for Israel hundreds of years before it happened, but it happened. 400 years of silence ensued between the last prophet Malachi’s messianic oracles until the time the angel Gabriel revealed God’s redemptive plan to Zechariah, but it happened. He hasn’t forgotten you either. While his promise to you may be slow in coming, it won’t be late. In God’s time, it will happen!

Enduring Truth // Focus: Luke 1:67-68

Zechariah was filled with the Holy Spirit and prophesied: “Praise be to the Lord, the God of Israel, because he has come and has redeemed his people.”

Over the years the church has given Zechariah’s song the title, “The Benedictus,” or “The Blessing.” The lyrics of this brief song, which we read in Luke 1:67-79, were sung by one of the proudest and oldest first-time fathers of all time. But more than being just a happy little ditty from a happy old daddy, Zechariah proclaims two timeless and timely truths about God’s character that you and I probably need to hear again today.

First, we are reminded that God never breaks a promise! John’s birth was living proof of God’s faithfulness. In His song, Zechariah belts out to all who will listen, “Praise be to the Lord, the God of Israel, because he has come and has redeemed his people.” (Luke 1:68)

God keeps his promises—every one of them. He can’t help himself; it is just his nature. He had promised through the prophets a redeemer for Israel hundreds of years before, and 400 silent years had passed since the last prophet Malachi had uttered the oracles of God until the time the angel Gabriel revealed God’s plan to Zechariah. Though God’s promise had been ever so slow in coming, it was nonetheless fulfilled.

Zechariah’s song reminds us that even though God may be slow, he is never late!

Second, God never forgets. Zechariah’s name meant “God remembers.” And in his song, Zechariah exploded with the joyful realization that God does remember: “God has remembered his oath…” (Luke 1:72-73)

Zechariah must have been discouraged. He was a priest of a nation that had turned its back on God. He and Elizabeth, whose name meant “the promise of God,” had been faithful to God all their lives—they lived up to the meaning of their names. Yet God had not blessed them with a son, and wayward Israel continued to be oppressed by its pagan enemies.

But Zechariah clung to this truth: Our Creator remembers! God knows who we are, where we are, and what we need. He remembers us. He remembers his promises, and God graciously acts at the proper time.

Isaiah 49:15-16 reminds us, “Can a mother forget the baby at her breast and have no compassion on the child she has borne? Though she may forget, I will not forget you! See, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands; your walls are ever before me.”

God can’t forget!

If you are reading these words today and feeling a little forgotten by God, thank God you’re wrong! Zechariah reminds you from first-hand experience through his song that God remembers you and will fulfill every single one of his promises to you at the proper time!

So be faithful!

Thrive: Take a moment to thank the Lord for his unfailing faithfulness. He remembers his promises to you and he will fulfill them all. Rejoice in him today, then offer your life faithfully back to him and his purposes.

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Pressed Into Knowing No Helper But God

The Place of Testing is a Place for Trusting

David ran into a cave to escape Saul, but the thing is, he ran right into God. That’s what happens in caves. And though the cave was the most frustrating experience of David’s life, in hindsight, it turned out to be the most fruitful. You see, the cave became the place of testing and separation and forging for David, until, as an unknown poet has said, he was, “pressed into knowing no helper but God.” Don’t fear your cave—God does his best work there.

Enduring Truth // Focus: Psalm 57:1

Have mercy on me, O God, have mercy on me, for in you my soul takes refuge. I will take refuge in the shadow of your wings until the disaster has passed.

This psalm is a song for cave-dwellers. Most English translations of the Bible subtitle it, “A miktam of David when he fled from Saul into the cave.” A miktam was most likely a musical term.

At this point in his life, David had expected to be king with a kingdom, but instead he ended up in a cave hiding from another king, Saul. And this wasn’t just an overnight stay; the cave became his home for a spell—months, if not years—and with no prospect that it would ever be different.

David had run into the cave to escape Saul, but the thing is, he ran right into God. That’s what happens in caves. And though the cave was the most frustrating experience of David’s life, in hindsight, it turned out to be the most fruitful. You see, the cave became the place of testing and separation and forging for David, until, as an unknown poet has said, he was, “pressed into knowing no helper but God.”

Pressed into knowing no helper but God—that’s what happened in the cave, and that’s the one thing David was going to need if he were to be a great king.

By the way, it was there in the cave that David wrote three of his most moving psalms—Psalms 34, 142, and our psalm for today, Psalm 57. So I would like to make an observation from each of these three psalms that are especially relevant if you are in a “cave” of your own right now:

To begin with, if you’re in the cave, look up—God is there! In his cave, David penned Psalm 34:18, “The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit.” The cave is where a brokenhearted David came into a profound experience of the God of the brokenhearted. And so will you if you’ll look for God there.

Next, if you’re in the cave, speak up—God is listening! Talk to God, he can handle it! That’s what David did, and it was great therapy. In his cave, David wrote these words in Psalm 142:1-2, “I cry aloud to the Lord…I pour out my complaint before him; before him I tell my trouble.” If you’re complaining about your cave to everyone else but God, you’re missing a great opportunity to talk to the only one who can do something about it. So try talking to him!

Finally, if you’re in a cave, toughen up—God is at work! Embrace your cave; God’s purpose is being served there. He’s teaching you, like David, how to “king it!” In the cave, David wrote Psalm 57:2, “I cry out to God, who fulfills his purpose for me.” Don’t short-circuit the cave—you’ll miss God’s purpose!

If you are in a cave right now, I want to encourage you not to worry. God’s got a lot of experience with caves. You see, he’s been there! The Son of David, Jesus, was put in a cave. When he died, they buried his lifeless body in a cave, and it looked like the cave would be his permanent resting place! But what his enemies didn’t know was that God does his best work in caves, because the cave is where God resurrects dead stuff! A cave was where a dead Messiah became a Risen Savior—and the cave is where your dead dreams or dead ministry or dead career or dead marriage will take on resurrection life.

I don’t know about your cave—how deep and dark and devastating it is—but I do know that God works in caves! David ran into his cave looking for refuge, and he found resurrection.

And you will too. So just hang in there—look up, speak up, and toughen up—resurrection is coming!

Thrive: What is your cave? A demotion? A rejection? A delay? A consequence of your mistake? Don’t fear the cave, God does his best work there. Instead, embrace your time there as curriculum in God’s school of forging.

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God, Renew My Passion For Your Coming Kingdom

52 Simple Prayers for 2018

You cannot listen to the Hallelujah Chorus from George Frideric Handel’s “Messiah” without getting goose bumps. That’s not only because the Hallelujah Chorus is a tremendously moving piece, it is because it strikes a God-implanted chord deep within the human soul. It touches an undeniable reality that we intuitively know, whether we are Christ-followers or not: the final act to be played out in the cosmic drama is the indisputable exaltation of our God and the unfettered reign of his Christ.

A Simple Prayer for this World to Become the Kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ:

God, I long for that day when this world truly and fully becomes the Kingdom of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ. So today I pray, let your Kingdom come, let your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. May this be the day.
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Why Sad Songs Make Us Happy

Turn Your Tears Into A Tune

The reason we keep coming back to sad songs time and again, for millennia — and will do so until sadness is banned from the created realm at the end of time — is because they work. As we listen to the plaintive music, the singer skillfully pulls from us the very same raw-edged emotions of pain, loss, and disappointment contained in the song, and somehow mysteriously, inextricably, we become a part of it. Strangely, a sad song done well makes us even sadder, yet we love it. But what’s even better is when a sad song turns us to God. So, what if you turned your tears into a tune? And if nothing else, sing your sad song to the Lord. You never know, someone may discover your lament and make it famous. It wouldn’t be the first time — just ask the psalmist.

Enduring Truth // Focus: Psalm 88:1-3

A maskil of Heman the Ezrahite: O LORD, the God who saves me, day and night I cry out before you. May my prayer come before you; turn your ear to my cry. For my soul is full of trouble and my life draws near the grave.

Country and Western music (they just call it “Country” these days) isn’t the only genre to have an over-abundance of sad songs. The truth is, all types of music have their fair share of lament. It may not be obvious at first, but the inspiration for so many of the songs we love have their origin in a broken heart or a dashed hope or a shattered dream.

The reason we keep coming back to sad songs time after time, generation after generation, millennium after millennium—and will continue to do so until sadness is banned from the created realm at the end of time—is because they work. As we listen to them, the singer skillfully pulls from us the very same raw-edged emotions of pain, loss, and disappointment contained in the song, and somehow magically, mysteriously, inextricably, we become a part of it. Strangely, a sad song done well make us even sadder—and we love it.

That’s what the psalm is doing here. He’s sad, and he has written a song about it that pulls us into the raw, jagged edge of his pain. This man despaired of death—perhaps from outside forces, or maybe from the inner pain of his heartbroken life. (Psalm 88:3) He felt abandoned by his closest friends, and all alone in the world. (Psalm 88:8,18). He was simply worn out with sorrow (Psalm 88:9) and was deeply disappointed with God for it. (Psalm 88:13-14) He had suffered a life-long devastation—with no relief in sight, and he was at a point of surrendering to the likelihood that his would always be a hard and sad life. (Psalm 88:15)

We know that this man, named Heman by the way, was a very wise man (1 Chronicles 4:31)—among the wisest of the wise. Yet all of his wisdom, talent (he was also a singer-songwriter according to 1 Chron. 15:19) and position in the king’s court didn’t prevent nor alleviate the pain that saturated his world. But Heman was wise enough not just to sit around and stew in his sad juices. Perhaps what made him so wise and talented was that he did something as therapeutic as anything else on earth to counteract his sadness: He wrote songs. He put his experiences and his emotions into words, and those words were set to music, and they were memorialized in the psalter of the human race, the book of Psalms. Maybe his pain never went away. We just don’t know, but I’m guessing—no, I’m sure—he felt a whole lot better knowing that others would be inspired and find strength for their own painful journey through his music.

So why don’t you give it a shot? You’ve got pain, too. You have your fair share of sorrow, and disappointment. Sometime you wrestle with the sobering sense that your sadness over a matter may just be your lot in life. Perhaps it never will go away—perish the thought—but that may be your reality. Go ahead and put your experience into words. Then turn your words into a tune. And if nothing else, sing your own song to the Lord.

You never know, someone may discover your sad song someday, and your lament may become famous. It wouldn’t be the first time.

Thrive: Try turning your complaint into a song—a song that turns to praise and thanks to God. Who knows, you may have a hit on your hands.

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The Unequaled Power of Encouragement

A Positive Impact is in Proportion to Our Words of Encouragement

The chief reason we stumble into sin, surrender to fear, slip into emotional depletion, sink into spiritual hardness and shrink back from reaching our faith-potential is from discouragement—or more precisely, the lack of encouragement. You and I not only have the spiritual responsibility, we have the awesome potential for making a huge impact in another’s life by simply living out the Biblical injunction to “encourage one another daily.” Someone needs you to encourage them today. Go make it happen!

Enduring Truth // Focus: Hebrews 10:24-25

And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching

There is nothing quite so powerful as an encouraging person! I love to be around them, and I’ll bet you do, too. They even find ways to have difficult conversations that leave you feeling valued and hopeful. They are life-giving. They are a gift. May their tribe increase.

On the other hand, we all know people who seem to find fault in just about anything. They look on the dark side of everything and infect anyone who is near them with their negativity. And if we’re not careful, we can get pulled into their black hole of negativity, fault-finding and discouragement.

That’s why the writer of Hebrews gave us these two powerful admonitions:

We should keep on encouraging each other to be thoughtful and to do helpful things. Some people have gotten out of the habit of meeting for worship, but we must not do that. We should keep on encouraging each other, especially since you know that the day of the Lord’s coming is getting closer. (Hebrews 10:24-25, CEV)

But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called Today, so that none of you may be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness. (Hebrews 3:13)

One of the chief reasons we stumble into sin, surrender to a spirit of fear, slip into emotional depletion, become spiritually hardened and shrink back from reaching our faith-potential is from discouragement—or perhaps more accurately, the lack of encouragement. As believers, we not only have the spiritual responsibility, we have the awesome potential for making a huge impact in the lives of others by simply living out the Biblical injunction to encourage one another daily.

This is especially important since the Enemy of our souls works overtime in his attempt to discourage, diminish and destroy us. But good, old fashioned, Christ-hearted encouragement is arguably the most powerful force for good we can unleash on one another. Just consider the power of encouragement in the following verses:

The mouth of the righteous is a tree of life…” (Proverbs 10:11)

The tongue of the wise brings healing…” (Proverbs 12:18)

An anxious heart weighs a man down, but a kind word cheers him up. (Proverbs 12:25)

Death and life are in the power of the tongue…” (Proverbs 18:21)

Wow—that is the amazing, life-changing potential in the words you can choose to deliver today. So why not try it! Let me suggest five different approaches you can take to unleash this power upon another:

  1. Through verbal compliments: Try showering someone with praise for something they have done.
  2. Through inspiring words: Speak affirming words to someone because of who they are, the beauty and potential of their character.
  3. Through acts of kindness: Encourage someone simply by doing something nice for them, when they least expect it, or maybe even don’t deserve it.
  4. Through indirect words: Talk about them behind their back—in a good way. For sure, it will get back to them, and it will be even more powerful coming from a third party.
  5. Through written words: Send someone a note of appreciation. It will have the added value of being enjoyed over and over again.

Encouragement—it’s the most powerful thing you can add to this world. So let me encourage you to go for it today!

Thrive: This week, write a word of encouragement and send it to someone whom God prompts you to bless. Or, before the week is out, use an indirect word of encouragement by telling a third party how much you love, appreciate a mutual acquaintance.