Joshua 1:9

"Have I not told you: be strong and stand firm? Be fearless, then, be confident, for go where you will, Yahweh your God is with you."

My prayer with this scripture:

Help me, Lord - I am weak and I am fearful - I have no confidence in what I can say or do! But - in You I can be all that You would have me to be! Thank you for your promise that wherever I go, whatever I do, YOU go with me!

And Isaiah 41:9 1/2 through verse 10 and verse 13: "You are my servant, I have chosen you, not rejected you', do not be afraid, for I am with you; stop being anxious and watchful, for I am your God. I give you strength, I bring you help, I uphold you with my victorious right hand. For I, Yahweh, your God, I am holding you by the right hand; I tell you, 'Do not be afraid, I will help you'.

I thank you, My Lord, for knowing me through and through. You know I get fearful and anxious. I am so blessed to know you. To know you are my God, and you have chosen me - not rejected me! Thank you for giving me strength to face whatever is coming, thenk you for your help. I reach up to you, and put my hand in the hand of GOD ALMIGHTY. How could I be afraid. I know you are helping me. Please, Lord, help our country. Have mercy on your people. God bless Israel and America!

Lonely? Turn to me, says the Lord

I found this pamphlet from "Life Spring", and thought I would post it here. So many of us need to hear God speaking this message to us now.

"Turn to me and be gracious to me,
for I am lonely and afflicted.

Relieve the troubles of my heart, and bring me out of my distress.

Consider my affliction
and my trouble,
and forgive all my sins."

Psalm 25:16, 18

Even David, a king and a hero, knew loneliness and despair. In this psalm he asks God to help him in his troubles - - to comfort him. Each of us, at certain times, experiences loneliness. We wish that a friend or family member would reach out to us in a personal way. We would like to talk to and be with someone who cares about us.

Even though people aren't always there when we need them most, we can be assured that God is present with us at all times. God comes to us. God knows and hears our troubles. God is our constant companion and friend.

Prayer:

Dear Lord,

I feel very lonely today. No one calls or stops by. I feel like David - - lonely and afflicted. It helps me to know that you are there.

Thank you for being with me at all times, for hearing my troubles, and for forgiving my sins.

Amen


I picked this pamphlet up somewhere along the way - in Billings when I was the Religious Ed Director at St. Pius. The date on it is 7-02-90! copyright 1990 Augsburg Fortress. Couldn't be more perfect for right now, could it?

Praying the scriptures

I will often open my bible, and read what is there. I ask the Holy Spirit to reveal the truths and inspirations of those verses I read. A word or a phrase or a paragraph or whatever will sort of "come off the page at me", and I will stop there. I meditate a little (or a lot) and then I can usually use that as my "revelation" of what to pray for at that particular time. The bible is so full of prayers. The Psalms, the letters, Isaiah, have lots of prayers, as do so many other books of the bible. This reading from the book of Ephesians chapter 1, verses 16 and 17:

"I have never failed to remember you (insert name of person you are praying for) in my prayers and to thank God for you. May our Lord Jesus Christ give you a spirit of wisdom and perception of what is revealed to bring you to a full knowledge of him."

1 corinthians 16:verses 13 and 14: (I want to pray this one for myself, but insert whatever name you want here) "Lord, Help me to be awake to all the dangers; to stay firm in faith; to be brave and strong - to have courage and truth. Help me to do everything I do or say in love".

Or the passion of Christ and after the resurrection - Luke - chapter 22 through chapter 24. Meditate on each event there, and pray as you are being prompted by the Holy Spirit to pray. Or Luke Chapter 11 - The Lord's prayer. Wonderful scriptures to pray!

Pray with a daily devotional - one that has scriptures with that day. Read those scriptures, read the devotion for the day, then your prayer can take off from there.

Then, of course, the Psalms. Find one that is speaking to you and meditate on all the words. Pray it! Psalm 5 - titled MORNING PRAYER in my Jerusalem bible - especially verses 1-3, are a great prayer to start your day. Psalm 51 - a psalm of repentance. Just a few verses that pray!

Go on your own "treasure hunt" through the verses of the bible. You will be rich and blessed, and grow close to God.

Prayer and the words of God from scripture, are so powerful! They work well together.