Your Daily Prayer: A prayer of praise and thanksgiving

November 20, 2018 By Leave a Comment

A Prayer of Praise and Thanksgiving – Your Daily Prayer – November 19, 2018

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A Prayer of Praise and Thanksgiving
By: Tim Brister

Your love, LORD, reaches to the heavens, your faithfulness to the skies. Your righteousness is like the highest mountains, your justice like the great deep. You, LORD, preserve both people and animals. Psalm 36:5-6

This prayer is taken from a collection Puritan prayers and devotions in a book called The Valley of Vision (highly recommended). It is almost always at my side in my personal devotion and study. This prayer/meditation has been pressed on me in recent days… Often I find the prayers of such a Puritan expressing my heart in a more suitable manner than I ever could. Meditating on such little prayers often causes one to find more “meat” for thought than most sermons today. O for ten thousand tongues to sing of the ten thousand pleasures He brings!

O My God,

Thou fairest, greatest, first of all objects,
my heart admires, adores, loves thee,
for my little vessel is as full as it can be,
and I would pour out all that fullness before thee
in ceaseless flow.

When I think upon and converse with thee
ten thousand delightful thoughts spring up,
ten thousand sources of pleasure are unsealed,
ten thousand refreshing joys spread over my heart,
crowding into every moment of happiness.

I bless thee for the soul thou hast created,
for adorning it, sanctifying it,
though it is fixed in barren soil;
for the body thou has given me,
for preserving its strength and vigour,
for providing sense to enjoy delights,
for the ease and freedom of my limbs,
for hands, eyes, ears that do thy bidding;
for thy royal bounty providing my daily support,
for a full table and overflowing cup,
for appetite, taste, sweetness,
for social joys of relatives and friends,
for ability to serve others,
for a heart that feels sorrows and necessities,
for a mind to care for my fellow-men,
for opportunities of spreading happiness around,
for loved ones in the joys of heaven,
for my own expectation of seeing thee clearly.

I love thee above the powers of language to express,
for what thou art to thy creatures.
Increase my love, O my God, through time and eternity.

Filed Under: Columns

Editorial: And now, a massacre at Mercy Hospital

November 20, 2018 By Leave a Comment

This time the bloodshed that indelibly stains Chicago violated this city’s first chartered hospital, a haven and healer that’s given life for 166 years. We’ll likely learn more in coming days about the why of this massacre on a Monday. For now, Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s characterization will suffice: What took the lives of innocents at Mercy Hospital — one of them a Chicago police officer — is the face and the consequence of evil.

Here’s a link to the editorial at the Chicago Tribune.

Filed Under: Columns

This Thanksgiving: How do we remain thankful when times are tough?

November 19, 2018 By Leave a Comment

The holiday of Thanksgiving reminds us that we ought to be thankful for the blessings and the people in our lives.

Here’s a link to the editorial at Fox News.

Filed Under: Columns

Your Daily Prayer: A Prayer of Lament

November 19, 2018 By Leave a Comment

A Prayer of Lament – Your Daily Prayer

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A Prayer of Lament
Debbie Przybylski

I know that my Redeemer lives, and that in the end he will stand upon the earth. And after my skin has been destroyed, yet in my flesh I will see God; I myself will see him with my own eye—I, and not another. How my heart yearns within me! – (Job 19:25-27)

Did you know that even in sadness you can worship God in prayer?

worship

You can worship Him in the midst of difficulty through a prayer of lament. There are many of these kinds of prayers in Scripture. All the major Bible characters poured their hearts out to God in lament. This is a type of prayer that we rarely hear about, yet at times, it is a necessary part of each one of our prayer lives.

When experiencing the dark night of the soul, prayers of lament are so helpful. We live in a broken world where things do not always go right. There are times when we don’t know what God is doing or which way to turn. Bringing before God a prayer of lament can make all the difference in the world, because God actually changes us during these times when we pour out our hearts to Him.

Prayers of lament are a form of worship and faith. We worship God even in the midst of pouring our difficulty out before Him. Instead of backing away from God during a hard time or a dark night, we face the pain and worship Him with it. As an act of love, we offer it all to God. We lay everything before His Throne.

“Lamentation is a powerful, and meaningful, form of worship because it places our love for God above even the worst of circumstances in our life… God does not ask us to deny the existence of our suffering. He does want us to collect it, stand in those things and make Him an offering. The Holy Spirit, our Comforter, helps us to do this: He aligns Himself with our will and says, ‘I will help you to will to worship God.’ The glory of the majesty of God is that He helps us will and do.” – Graham Cooke

A Prayer of Lament:

Lord, I know that you are faithful over all things, even the hard, dark times of my life. Help me not back away from you in my time of grief. Help me instead to lean into you and trust you, even when I do not understand your ways. Please keep my head above the waters of anguish and my feet from slipping off the ground of truth. Help me see you in these hard moments and glorify you in my response. In Jesus‘ Name, Amen

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Pastor Rick Warren: God’s Guarantee to Be Stress-Free

November 19, 2018 By Leave a Comment

God’s Guarantee to Be Stress-Free

by Rick Warren — November 18, 2018

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“If you do this, you will experience God’s peace, which is far more wonderful than the human mind can understand” (Philippians 4:7 TLB).

Americans are more stressed than ever. A 2017 American Psychological Association “Stress in America Survey” showed that those polled were more stressed about the country’s future than at any time in the survey’s 10-year history.And our stress is deadly. As of June 2018, suicide rates in the US are up 30 percent since 1999.

If we’ve ever needed God’s stress-free guarantee, it’s today.

The Bible shares God’s guarantee in Philippians 4:7, where it says, “If you do this, you will experience God’s peace, which is far more wonderful than the human mind can understand” (TLB).

This isn’t a stress guarantee from a doctor. It’s not a guarantee from a pharmaceutical company.

It’s so much better. It’s a guarantee from the Creator of the universe.

Wouldn’t you like to have your thoughts be quiet and your heart at rest as you trust in Jesus?

Imagine you’re in a situation where you have no logical reason to be at peace—but you are.

Sounds pretty good, right?

That’s God’s guarantee. That’s God’s promise.

There are more than 5,000 promises in the Bible, and every one of them has a premise. Every promise has a premise.

There is a premise behind God’s stress guarantee, too. The verse from Philippians 4 begins with, “If you do this.”

Over the next few devotionals, I’ll describe what God means—the things he wants us to do.

But let this sink in a bit. It is possible to “experience God’s peace, which is far more wonderful than the human mind can understand.”

Stress doesn’t have to win. Anxiety doesn’t need to control you.

There is hope.

Talk It Over

  • What are some of the biggest sources of stress in your life right now? How can you release them to God?
  • Have you ever experienced a time when God gave you a great sense of peace even though your circumstances were stressful?
  • How would your life change if you could experience God’s peace in the midst of your worst moments?

Give hope, prayer, and encouragement below. Post a comment & talk about it.

Filed Under: Columns

Commentary: TV news is as much to blame for democracy’s decline as Trump is

November 19, 2018 By Leave a Comment

Much is being made of the president’s targeting of CNN’s Jim Acosta, but TV news bears as much blame as anyone for our democracy’s dystopian decline, culminating in the presidency of an ignoramus with a personality disorder.

Here’s a link to the editorial at the Chicago Tribune.

Filed Under: Columns

The GOP’s woman problem

November 15, 2018 By Leave a Comment

It has been long rumored that the Republican Party has a woman problem, so much so that a few years ago GOP congressmen sent aides to classes on how to talk to and about women.

Here’s a link to the editorial at the Southern Illinoisan.

Filed Under: Columns

Independent counsels are a handy way to settle political scores

November 15, 2018 By Leave a Comment

CBS News reported Tuesday that special counsel Robert Mueller may soon issue new indictments. It’s not clear who will be charged, but there are indications of it. Some suggest that political consultant Roger Stone may be on the list.

Here’s a link to the editorial at Fox News.

Filed Under: Columns

Your Daily Prayer: A prayer for when you face change

November 15, 2018 By Leave a Comment

A Prayer for When You Face Change – Your Daily Prayer

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A Prayer for When You Face Change
By Katy McCown

“Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.” Hebrews 13:8 (ESV)

The sound of my steps bounced off the walls as I moved from room to room. Though this place sat empty, my hopes and dreams seemed to saturate every corner.

This home would be my very first place with my husband, Luke. Just a few weeks before, two major life moments unfolded. First, my husband began his career in professional football. Second, Luke and I held hands and shared vows before God and each other.

So, with our dog and our dreams, we packed the trunk with wedding gifts and headed north.

The fall brought news of yet another change: We learned we’d be adding our first child to the family. By springtime, nursery prep was in full swing. After a long weekend of work, I plopped down in the rocking chair.

I envisioned raising my boy in this room. Oh, the stories we’d read and lullabies we would sing. The hugs and snuggles we’d share. I shut my eyes happy that night with a heart brimming with expectation.

If only I could press the pause button right there. But life doesn’t have a pause button, does it?

The next morning I opened my eyes to the news we’d be moving … effective immediately. Less than one year after our future felt so full, we packed all those expectations into boxes and sealed them with packing tape.

We scrambled to relocate and rebuild in a city on the other side of the country. But just as we hit our stride in this new city, we found ourselves facing the same reality again. A late-night phone call bore the news, You’re moving again … tomorrow.

Fourteen years, six teams and six kids later, it’s safe to say the road has been anything but predictable.

Those first years of football taught me how quickly a game can rise and fall. A score’s only exciting until a mistake positions the other team to tie the game. A mistake’s only disappointing until a score puts your team right back in the game.

At first, I watched Luke’s games on pins and needles. I soared with successes and fell apart at failures. Whether we won or lost, I left every game exhausted from the roller coaster ride of emotions I experienced.

I think life can be like a football game. Rises and falls, highs and lows, sometimes every day. In the midst of these uncertainties and surprises, we have two options. We can filter our view of God through our ever-changing circumstances, or we can filter our circumstances through the unchangeable character of Christ.

Today’s key verse reminds us, “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever” (Hebrews 13:8).

Our circumstances may rise and fall, but we don’t have to go with them. When we cling to the unchanging character of Christ, we can weather the winds of change.

I’ve started to watch games differently now. Sure, I celebrate the successes. But I don’t hang on the high points and assume it’s all smooth sailing from there. I also don’t dwell on the low moments. I might sigh. I might even scream. But I don’t let the low moments determine the next moment.

Let’s celebrate the highs in our lives, but not let them soften us to hard work and perseverance. Let’s learn from the low points, but not let them sour us to expectation and anticipation.

Most of all, let’s choose to fix our eyes on the One who never changes, the One who steadies our souls, no matter what we face.

Thank You, God, that You are sure. I can always count on You, because You will never change. Thank You for a safe place to fix my eyes when everything else seems unstable. Only You are my Rock and my Fortress. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

Filed Under: Columns

Pastor Rick Warren: Instead of worrying, start praying

November 15, 2018 By Leave a Comment

Instead of Worrying, Start Praying

by Rick Warren — November 15, 2018

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“In everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God” (Philippians 4:6 NIV).

Worry won’t do you any good. But don’t just eliminate it from your life. God always replaces a negative with a positive. God always has something better for you.In the case of worry, replace it with prayer.

Right after God reminds us not to worry in Philippians 4:6, he follows it up with this: “In everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God” (Philippians 4:6 NIV).

Don’t panic, Paul says, but pray!

If you stopped worrying, you’d have so much more free time on your hands. It would create a great vacuum, a void in your life. Pray during that time.

If everyone who says they don’t have time to pray would spend their time praying instead of worrying, they’d have a whole lot less to worry about.

Notice the Bible says to pray “In everything.” Some people think God is only interested in you praying about “religious” matters. But that’s just not true. God is interested in everything in your life.

Also note the word petition. It is a specific, detailed request. Get specific with God. Tell him exactly what you want and what you need. Most people pray too vaguely.

In 1 Peter 5:7 the Bible says, “God cares for you, so turn all your worries over to him” (CEV). God wants us to take our problems to him, to pray instead of worrying.

I remember a few years ago reading a study from a life insurance company that found people who attend church once a week live almost 6 years longer than the general public. Why? Perhaps people who attend church every week are more likely to pray than to worry.

No problem is too big for God’s power or too small for God’s concern.

Talk It Over

  • How have you seen other people’s prayer lives help them to worry less?
  • What is your biggest blocker for being more consistent in prayer?
  • Is there anything you’re reluctant to pray about? If so, why?

Give hope, prayer, and encouragement below. Post a comment & talk about it.

Filed Under: Columns
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