Sing to the Lord

A couple of days ago, I wrote about wisdom, and how looking at the hills was a reminder to me that I needed to ask the God who made those hills for help.  Today, I was reading a devotional that mentioned the beauty of our wilderness surroundings, and how even the earth that God made is created to praise Him. 

Let the sea resound, and everything in it.

Let the world, and all who live in it.

Let the rivers clap their hands,

Let the mountains sing together for joy;

Let them sing before the Lord.

(Psalm 98: 7-9)

There seems to be no place better than the Psalms to remind me that God desires my praise.  Let me never forget to show Him my love!

Wisdom For Any Situation

When my daughter was young, about ten, she had some insecurity issues related to her ability to do well in school and have the "popular" girls include her in their activities. We made a fun project out of helping her learn her "Times Tables" and we encouraged her love of reading and writing.  Best of all though, to me, were the mother-daughter conversations while sitting on her bed.  Of particular encouragement to her were  Bible verses from Psalm 119, verses 98-99: "Your commands make me wiser than my enemies, for they are ever with me.  I have more insight than all my teachers, for I meditate on your statutes."  For some people, these words could rapidly feed an ego and cause a few problems; for an insecure little girl, however, they were just what she needed.

This memory came to my mind as I read a daily devotional this week and listened to the sermon in Sunday morning church.  Our minister challenged us to share God's Good News, and explained that there were many ways to do that, and one didn't need a theology degree or extensive training to obey God's desire to have us encourage, uplift, and testify to people who cross our path.  Later in the day, I read in Isaiah 50 about the struggles the Israelite people were having, being held captive far from their homeland. Verse 4 says "God has given Me the tongue of the learned, that I should know how to speak a word in season to him who is weary."

So often I hesitate to speak to someone, even with a phone call, because I don't know what I will say, or my human, physical strength is weak.  How encouraging to know that God is just waiting for that opportunity to bail me out of my predicament; HE will help me; HE will give me the words to say: He will make up for all my inadequacies!  This is the encouragement that I need right now, and I am sure it will make me go on in greater strength for this week.

A Simple Prayer

In the past few months, we have somehow come across a prayer book entitled Grace Before Meals.  The most remarkable part about it, to us, is that it was published 100 years ago, in 1911.  Growing up in a family and a church where we usually practiced the habit of spontaneous prayers, rather than those that were read or memorized, the book didn't at first have an appeal to me.  In celebration of that 100-year book birthday, however, we decided to give it a try, and found it to be amazing in its relevancy to times of today, its beauty in the the Old King James language, and its reminders of how even a simple grace before meals can end up being not simple.  For example, "Wherein we have failed to please Thee, O God, do Thou grant Thy pardon."  These words would not ordinarily be inserted into my "thank-you" before eating a meal, but I'm grateful to be reminded of their importance.

On the other end of the prayer spectrum, I was reminded of a prayer that my friend Hallie, in her blog, said she has hanging on the wall of her home; it is in modern language, and centered on one theme.  "Let me live in such a way that those who know me but don't know God will come to know God because they know me."  These words are hard to get around, difficult to forget.

From the profound to the simple, from the simple to the profound, occasions for prayer are all around us, and prayer is not difficult. Thinking of prayer as difficult is a stumbling block for many, however, and I believe it is in those instances that the Lord is standing by, waiting for one of his children to teach, to lead the way to His ears.

I think often of my cousin Joey, who became a casualty of the VietNam war, but a few years earlier spent several weeks with his "up north" cousins.  My youth group was accustomed to going around the circle lifting up prayers until everyone had the opportunity to offer a prayer.  Joe quickly whispered to me, "When it's my turn, you'll have to tell me what to say!"  We came out of that meeting with Joey's pride intact, but I'm sure I missed many opportunities to demonstrate to him just how easy he could make those prayers for himself.  I don't know to this day whether I will be able to meet him in heaven, but I do know that I had a responsibility to him, and I'm sure I did not make the most of that responsibility.

How simple it really is to speak to God, our creator!  How great it is also that He is always listening for our every word. Simple words may have deep meaning, and I again wish to offer Hallie's simple prayer, "Let me live in such a way that those who know me but don't know God will come to know God because they know me."