Here we are anticipating the gift of the new year before us. As in the past year, there will be many opportunities in 2023 to turn to God in prayer. When we pray, we are asking God to guide our steps and to hold us and those for whom we pray close to Him. Consider the Scripture from Jonn 14:6 where Jesus declares, “I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life. No one comes to the Father, but by me.” I had a recent experience that reminded me of the importance of how we trust God and live our lives of faith knowing that Jesus does provide for us the Way to God our Father. Over the holidays, our oldest daughter and I were again hiking on the Bruce Trail. Winter time hiking can present some additional challenges. One of them is following the trail blazes where there is deep snow. Sometimes the markers just aren’t visible. At a certain point on the trail, we were along a steep section of the escarpment and we came to a wooden ladder buried in the snow and only barely visible. This ladder, which was tightly secured, made it possible to descend and we came down to ground level safely. As we approached the bottom, we could see 2 hikers who were looking intently up at us. It was only as we made our way down through the deep snow, that they could realize where the path was for them to ascend. We talked with them briefly and encouraged them on their upward way. Afterwards, I reflected that there are times when we are prayerfully following the life path that God has marked out for us and it will make it possible for others to find the path as well. This week, for our Wednesday Prayer Together tomorrow January 11th at 1 pm, we will be trusting God in prayer to guide us on His path for us and through us to help others to also discover Jesus Who is reliably the Way, the Truth, and the Life.
Thanking God that He has sent Jesus to be the Way to God for us, Pastor Lola
Our Loving God, You have inspired us with Your Presence in this year that we now leave behind. Thank You God for all the times that we have experienced Jesus Your Son walking with us and showing us the way to You. We think of the occasions when the path has been uncertain and we have wondered which way to turn. Sometimes we have searched for where to place our next step and have not known. In these times, we are so grateful that we can trust Jesus to be the Way, the Truth, and the Life. Thank You for those times when we have known where to walk because of others who have made it possible to see the path to follow. We are humbly praying today that You will allow us to also be the means of others regaining direction and finding their way to You. With all that is happening in our world that could obscure the path to follow, thank You that You have provided Jesus to be the Way, the Truth, and the Life. We want to keep coming near to You God our Father by trusting Jesus. In moving forward from our celebration of Christmas, we want our focus to remain centered on Jesus. How is it that You want us to respond to the unstable world in which we live? How do You want us to extend care for those in need? We consider God how today and the days to come can see us growing in our faith and desire to follow You consistently. While we do not know what is before us and what measure of blessing or adversity may be ours, we actively seek You. Our prayer is that as we face illness, we will find Jesus to be our Way to You. When we know sadness and loss, we ask that Jesus will guide us to find refuge in You. When our lives and circumstances do not go as planned, we want to be determined to look to You to show us the Way, through Jesus. In the times when we feel overwhelmed by the intensity of all the needs of people around us, we look to You to guide us in the way to respond. Throughout this new year 2023, we ask You to accomplish what You intend in us and through us now and always in the Name of Jesus Who has revealed Himself as the Way, the Truth, and the Life. AMEN.