Sometimes it is really hard to find the words for all that we are thinking and feeling. We want to express to God what is happening in the depths of our souls. We want to have the assurance that God knows and understands the path that we are walking. One day we can feel great hope and stride confidently along. The next we can find ourselves struggling to take even one step. It seems that when life is progressing more smoothly, we go through a day and may not give a lot of thought to what is happening for us and those around us. When we are living an experience of walking through a valley, we can know with certainty that God is with us there too. I am reminded of the gospel song that expresses, “ God on the mountains, is still God in the valleys. God in the good times is still God in the bad.” I am also reminded of words from the Old Testament Psalms where the psalm writer pours out his heart to God. He does not hold anything back in being completely honest with God about what he is thinking and feeling. He trusts that God hears and that God will respond to his cries for help. Consider with me Psalm 38:9,10;20,21: “9 All my longings lie open before you, Lord; my sighing is not hidden from you.10 My heart pounds, my strength fails me; even the light has gone from my eyes… 22 Lord, do not forsake me; do not be far from me, my God.22 Come quickly to help me, my Lord and my Saviour.” Whether we choose to use words from the Psalms or to form our own expressions of coming to God and having our longings lie open before Him, there is nothing to hide from our God. We do not need to think about hiding our sighs from Him. Our prayers provide a time to ask that God remain near. We can be honest too about our sense of urgency. Our real thoughts are given voice when we echo praying to God, “Come quickly to help me, my Lord and my Saviour.” When we pause for our WEDNESDAY PRAYER TOGETHER tomorrow July 20th at 1 pm, we will be confirming the reality that God is always God and we can trust Him completely.
Thanking God that He is always still God, Pastor Lola
Our Lord we come to You now for this regular time of prayer that has been and continues to be an essential time of seeking You and wanting to know You more. We trust that You are not far from us and we are aware of leaning on You to support us. Often God when we experience troubles or know of others facing troubles, we wonder what we can do to help. We are inclined to want to solve and to repair. In our prayers today, we are reminding ourselves that we are weak, but You are strong. We admit our weakness before You. If all we had to consider was our weakness and inability to know what to do, we would be without hope. Our God we are eternally grateful that when we do not know what to do, You do. With this promise in view, we name before You now all the pressing needs of our lives. Our sighing is not hidden from You. We can tell You all about everything and look to You to love us and to guide us. When our hearts pound and our strength fails, You do not forsake us. You God are never far away. We welcome You close with us today and we want to be conscious of Your holy Presence and we want to take time to spend with You. God, are there things that You have been trying to show us that we have been unwilling or too busy to recognize? We come to You for forgiveness. Please arrange what is necessary for us to pay attention to You. Show us what we need to perceive and to apply in order to please You. Our God, we pray that we would not keep on delaying giving You the place in our lives that You deserve and that belongs to You alone. Please be at the center of all that we think and say and do. Our prayer today is that You will come quickly to help us. We hold on to that simple prayer of asking You for help. We have come to believe and to expect that You are a God Who responds and helps us. We focus now on those words “my Lord and my Saviour.” That is who You are for us. Please come near God and fill us with delight for the mountaintop experiences of our lives. Please also prepare us and provide for us when we walk through the valleys. In our prayers today, we are asking for eyes and hearts to see and to respond with Your everlasting love when others are walking through valleys. We want You to show us how to walk with them and to demonstrate care. Allow us we pray, the blessing of inviting those in the valleys to turn to You our Saviour. You alone can save us and help us and lift us up. Renew our faith in Your and our confidence that You are Who You say You are. Give us accurate regard for Who You are and how You want to be for us both on the mountains and in the valleys. Thank You! Thank You! In the Name of Jesus. AMEN.