A Lamp And A Light

God's Word is "a lamp to our feet and a light to our path" (Psalm 119:105).
He has "wondrous things" to teach us as we pray "Open my eyes that I may see" (Psalm 119:18,11). "May God's blessing surround you each day, as you trust Him and walk in His way. May His presence within guard and keep you from sin, go in peace, go in joy, go in love." "Not unto us, O Lord, not unto us, but to Your Name give glory, because of Your mercy and Your truth" (Psalm 115:1).

Praying Through God’s Word: Haggai

HAGGAI

1:1-15
We read, Lord, the questions that You put to Your people: ‘Why is everyone saying it is not the right time for rebuilding My Temple?'; ‘Is it then the right time for you to live in luxurious homes, when the Temple lies in ruins?’ (Haggai 1:2-4). Your people had forgotten about You. They were pleasing themselves – but they were not pleasing You! Lord, You’re challenging us to think about our way of living – ‘Consider your way of life’ (Haggai 1:5,7). Teach us, Lord, to ‘obey Your voice.’ Help us to change our way of thinking – ‘the people feared the Lord’ – and living – ‘They came and began work on the House of the Lord Almighty, their God.’ Help us to obey Your voice and trust in Your promise – ‘I am with you’(Haggai 1:12-14).

2:1-23
Lord, You’re speaking Your Word to us: ‘“Be strong, all you people of the land”, declares the Lord, “and work. For I am with you”, declares the Lord Almighty’ (Haggai 2:4). You’re calling us to work for You. When, Lord, we commit ourselves to serving You, You give to us the promise of Your blessing: ‘From this day on I will bless you’ (Haggai 2:19). To Your faithful servants, You promise great blessing: ‘I will fill this House with glory’ (Haggai 2:7). You’re calling us to give ourselves completely to You: ‘Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that, in the Lord, your labour is not in vain’ (1 Corinthians 15:58). When we hear Your questions, ‘Who is on the Lord’s side? Who will serve the King?’, may we say, ‘We are on the Lord’s side, Saviour, we are Thine… Always on the Lord’s side, Saviour, always Thine’ (Church Hymnary, 479).

Praying Through God’s Word: Habakkuk

HABAKKUK

1:1-2:14
‘How long, O Lord, must I call for help, but You do not listen?’ (Habakkuk 1:2). Lord, there are times when it seems that You are not listening to us. What are we to do when we feel like this? Are we to give up on You? Are we to stop praying? No! Teach us to wait patiently for Your answer – ‘I will look to see what He will say to me.’ May we never forget Your promise: ‘The Lord is good to those who wait for Him, to the soul that seeks Him. It is good that one should wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord’ (Habakkuk 2:1; Lamentations 3:25-26). ‘The vision awaits its time… If it seems slow, wait for it; it will surely come, it will not delay’. Teach us, Lord, to ‘live by faith’, awaiting the Day when ‘the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea’ (Habakkuk 2:3-4,14).

2:15-3:19
Teach us, Lord, to ‘be silent’ before You. Help us to ‘stand in awe’ of You. In Your holy presence, we become deeply conscious of our sin which separates us from You: ‘Your eyes are too pure to look on evil.’ Confessing our sin to You, Lord, we pray that ‘in wrath’ You will ‘remember mercy.’ We pray that You will ‘renew’ us with Your blessing. You answer our prayer. You send Your ‘glory’ into our lives. You fill our hearts with Your ‘praise’: ‘I will rejoice in the Lord, I will be joyful in God my Saviour. The Lord God is my Strength. He makes my feet like the feet of the deer. He enables me to go on the heights.’ We thank You, Lord, for Your precious promise: ‘Those who wait on the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles…’ (Habakkuk 2:20; Habakkuk 3:2; Habakkuk 1:13; Habakkuk 3:18-19; Isaiah 40:31).

Lord, we thank You that Jesus came to earth for us ...

Genesis 24:1-21

Lord, we thank You that Jesus came to earth for us – and we thank You that He died for us.

He ‘came to seek and to save the lost’ (Luke 19:10). He came to bring us back from our wandering about in the shadows of our life. He came to bring us into the light of Your love.

Lord, we give You thanks for Jesus.

“Love Is God” Or “”God Is Love”?

Some people begin with their own idea of “love” and then say, “That’s what God is like.” They may dip into the Bible, reading their favourite passages. They will not take the trouble and make the time for reading the whole Bible. They say, “Why bother putting a lot of time and effort into studying the Bible. We already know what God is like.” They quote the words, “God is love” (1 John 4:8). What they really mean is, “Love is God.” When the Bible says, “God is love”, it doesn’t encourage us to start from our own idea of “love.” It encourages us to begin with God. We learn of Him as we read His Word. As we learn of His love, we learn that it is a holy love. God’s love is a holy love because God is a holy God. The difference between “love is God” and “God is love” cannot be overemphasized. To say “All you need is love. Love is all you need” is not the same as saying, “We need God.” When we say, “We need God”, we will not say, “all you need is love.” We will say, “We need God’s love and we also need His holiness.” Where do we learn of both God’s love and His holiness? – It’s from His Word that we learn of His holy love. We bow before Him in worship, echoing the words of Isaiah 6:3 – “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord … ” We rejoice in the wonder of His love, giving thanks for the great words of Isaiah 6:7 – “Your sin is forgiven.”

Lord, we thank You that You want to bless us ...

Genesis 27:1-40
Lord, we thank You that You want to bless us - more than we want to be blessed by You. We don't deserve to be blessed - but You keep on blessing us. Help us never to forget to say, "Thank You, Lord." Help us always to treasure Your blessing - and to keep on praying that it will grow and grow and ...

Great Sin And Even Greater Grace

"The Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth" (Genesis 6: 5) - This is great sin. "But Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord" (Genesis 6:8) - This is even greater grace. God could have looked on the whole human race , and said, "Enough is enough. That's us finished." He didn't do this. He didn't give up on us. He kept on going - with His purpose of grace, His plan of salvation. Beyond the flood, there was the new beginning. God was doing a new thing. This was the work of His grace. It had nothing to do with human righteousness. It had everything to do with divine mercy - the saving grace of God. When you read about the flood, look beyond the destruction - and see the salvation of God.