There I was out for a morning walk, the day after Easter Sunday. I saw that the sun was rising and decided to take a different route than usual and to walk toward the rising sun. As the light from the sunrise was streaming into my face, I was reminded again of the hope of Easter. We encounter the life giving hope of our risen Saviour Jesus Christ and we celebrate that with great enthusiasm at Easter time. How necessary that each day we turn our focus toward the rising sun and remember Jesus the risen Son of God. When I was walking towards the sun the other morning, I was reflecting about where I really want to be. I want every day to find me facing toward Jesus God’s Son and seeking the light of His Presence. I felt encouraged this Easter to think that with such a degree of hopelessness all around us, our hope can be renewed when we turn toward Jesus and recognize Who He is and what He has done for us. In Revelation 1:16 we read John’s description of Jesus that says, “His face was like the sun shining in all its brilliance.” When we come to God in prayer, we can know that God welcomes us into the light of His Presence that shines to illuminate our path with His promise of hope. Please plan to join us for our WEDNESDAY PRAYER TOGETHER tomorrow April 20th at 1 pm.
Praying for God to urge us to keep turning towards the light of Jesus His risen Son, Pastor Lola
Our God of grace and mercy, thank You for all that celebrating Easter has meant for us. Thank You that we can truly carry the hope of Easter with us into each new day. When we find that the darkness threatens, please reveal the light of Who You are to us. When darkness veils Your lovely face, may we rest in Your unchanging grace. Sometimes our God, we feel as if our feet are finding more solid ground to stand on, only to find the ground beneath our feet shifting yet again. This is something of how we feel with news of COVID cases on the rise. The thought of moving back into restricted activities is very hard for us and others around us. We turn to You. We ask You to help us to focus our gaze on You and to have You firmly guide us in our attitudes and responses to the disappointment of what we face. And our God, we are looking for answers to our prayers for peace in The Ukraine. We do not know how You are going to bring this about. We do not know what sacrifices will be necessary for this to happen. We turn to You. As You shine Your light and truth into places where truth is often distorted or misrepresented, we pray that You will clear our vision to see You. Many people we know are carrying heavy burdens. They are looking for relief. We turn to You. Thank You God that You are completely accessible. You Lord do not put us on hold. Our intention is resolutely to keep turning toward You and the brilliance of your shining light. Please God shine the light of your love into our circumstances. We thank You this week for answered prayers and name those specific answers to prayer to You. We come to you with our painful experiences and our uncertainties about which way to turn. We turn to You. In the days ahead, we pray that we will persist in walking toward You and that we will be amazed by the brilliance of You shining Your light into our upturned faces. Please God, reveal more of what it is to know You and to see Your light illumine our darkness.
We turn to you and receive You Jesus as the Light to guide our way. In Your Name. AMEN.