For my New Year’s Facebook post, I wrote, “Giving what we do not know on this path ahead in 2022 to our God Who does know! Praying that we will experience God walking closely with us every step of the way. God bless for this New Year.” I included a photo taken while I was hiking the Bruce Trail last week. Even when we are following a trail with fairly reliable markers, we cannot know exactly what we will encounter next. There may be a steep climb that requires extra energy and focus. Sometimes there can be doubt if we will have the stamina needed to reach the top. There may be a sudden descent where caution is required to avoid slipping and falling. And sometimes the path may be quite level and we feel as if we could continue like this for an extended time. This parallels our life experiences. We do not know what we will next be facing. I have been hearing people weary of the ongoing effects of this COVID pandemic exclaim, “What next”? I have also heard people going through difficult personal circumstances with one hardship or adversity after another express with fatigue, “What next”? While we cannot know what is next on the path of life for us, we can know that God promises to be with us and to guide us. The uncertainties that we have all faced during this pandemic have reminded us of how much we need to depend on God. Recall with me the assurance of Scripture, “Trust in the LORD with all your heart and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him and He will direct your path.”(Proverbs 3:5,6)When we pray, it is an opportunity to affirm our trust in God and to seek His understanding and His provision for the path ahead.If you have been regularly participating in our WEDNESDAY PRAYER TOGETHER, I encourage you to continue. If you have not joined in this time before, this New Year is a new chance to come to our LORD in prayer and to trust our God as our Companion for the path before us. We will keep on following this weekly pattern for prayer each Wednesday. Refreshing time in prayer awaits tomorrow January 5th at 1 pm.
Praying that we will choose to trust in God with all of our hearts for the way before us, Pastor Lola
Our wise and loving God, we recognize that we can trust You completely. We do not want to attempt to walk this this path of life without You. We want to discover more of You in this time of prayer. We long to grow in our understanding of what it means to trust You. Sometimes we think we are trusting You, but then realize that we are still leaning on our own understanding. We limit our perceptions to our capacity to understand instead of relying on Your depths of insight. Please expand our view to recognize You willingly walking with us and directing our path. Forgive us we pray for the times that we insist on our way instead of Yours. Forgive us for insisting that we already know when we do not. We welcome Your understanding that will change both what we see and how we respond. We pray for this approach of trusting You not just for walking life’s path but for our relationships as well. When we think that we have understood another person, please reveal what we have not yet understood. When we think that we have understood the infinity of Who You are we pray that we will open ourselves to more. We come to You today praying about the state of our world. We see decisions being made out of desperation. We question what the outcome will be when people are limited by their own understanding. Please strengthen our resolve to depend on You through it all. For those who are advocating courses of action that will affect all of us we pray for humility and careful consideration. Our prayers continue for those serving in a health care capacity. We pray for medical personnel in hospitals trying to provide necessary response to a wide variety of health needs in the midst of cases of this variant increasing. We remember before you residents, staff and family members of care homes. Please direct the path for those trying to keep people safe. We hold up to you students, teachers, staff, and parents carefully listening and planning for what will happen in these weeks ahead in our schools. Our God may the educational process be restored and established with an approach that will support meaningful learning taking place. For those who are currently isolating or recovering from Covid, we pray for them to discover what it means to trust You. We also pray for our churches during this time of not meeting in person that our faith will deepen and that our dependence on You will widen. Whatever concerns are weighing heavily on us we release these burdens to You and welcome the relief of not having to carry them by ourselves. Thank You God for all the times You have clearly shown us that we can trust in You with all of our hearts. Our LORD, in this week before us, we want to love You more and know You more as we turn to You in quiet trust and allow You to direct our path. In Jesus’ Name. AMEN.