We did have a lot of fun riding tubes down the river while visiting our friends at their cottage near Buckhorn. The gentle flowing river seemed so peaceful and the setting was very tranquil. Then the current of the river began to move faster and it was apparent that there were some rougher waters ahead. I tried unsuccessfully to keep to the left. Instead, the rush of the river pushed me and my tube into a spot where the force of the water was so strong that I was stuck and not going either forward or backwards. I was trying to figure out my options. The others I was with had already been carried on down the river. I knew they were strong swimmers and that one of them would rescue me if need be. When they came back to see what had delayed me, one of them did just that. She swam against the current and came and reached out her hand and pulled me to safety. Psalm 31:1,2 expresses David’s prayer to God, “2 In you, Lord, I have taken refuge; let me never be put to shame; deliver me in your righteousness.2 Turn your ear to me, come quickly to my rescue; be my rock of refuge, a strong fortress to save me.” David had learned to trust God to rescue him. He did not hesitate to call out to God for help. When we find ourselves stuck in life’s circumstances or needing to move forward from a place where we cannot move freely, we too can pray that God will rescue us. This will be our prayer for this week’s WEDNESDAY PRAYER TOGETHER. We can pray tomorrow August 18th at 1 pm expecting God to reach out His strong arm and to rescue us. He alone can bring us to safety.
Thanking God that He is ready and willing to rescue us, Pastor Lola
Our God we do look to You as our refuge. Thank You that we can call out to You for help and we can know that You will respond. Sometimes we find ourselves trying to manage by ourselves when we are stuck. Instead we pray that You will remind us that You are available and want to help us. You want to rescue us. We think of different reasons that we get stuck. Sometimes long time patterns and attitudes keep us floundering and unable to get free. Thank You that You can immediately recognize what is happening and You can initiate our rescue. Loving God, when the force of the current we find ourselves in is so strong that we cannot move forward, please deliver us. When the choices we have made have resulted in us being stuck, thank you that rather than remind us of our mistakes, You see the possibilities of what we can be for You. Thank You God that we do not have to compete for Your attention. You do turn Your ear to listen and to respond to us with love and grace. And God as we recognize our need to be rescued by You, we are also praying for others who find themselves stuck and unable to move anywhere. Some people we know have given up on believing that You are available to help them. Some do not even bother to pray and to look to You for rescue. Please give us words to describe to others what You have done and are doing for us. We pray that this will inspire hope in them and that they too will come to look expectantly to you to help them. We think now of the people for which each of us is praying. We are praying about health concerns; for job opportunities; for healing of broken relationships; for friendship and care for those who are troubled; for hope on the horizon when rescue has not yet happened. For all the places where we are stuck and where people we pray for are stuck, we do look for Your answers God. This experience of the pandemic has at times felt like being stuck and unable to find a way out. We continue to pray and to trust You God to guide us to safety. Thank You God that You are willing to swim against the current to come and to reach out to help us. Thank you that Jesus Your Son has already secured our rescue from sin by willingly giving Himself for us. We do not want to remain stuck, we want to be set free so that we can move forward with your best plans for us. Please free us from the regret of time wasted and make this our moment of calling out to You and allowing You to rescue us and to set our feet on solid ground. In You our God, we place our trust because only You have the power to save us. We praise You in Jesus’ Name. AMEN.