When I was trying to choose some fall garden mums for our front porch at the Garden Centre, I seemed to take a very long time to select. There were various shades of colour and different sized pots. Selection was a challenge. There are times in our everyday conversations that we are not sure what to say. Someone has said something to us and we are not sure how to respond. Sometimes we witness the heartache or grief that another is facing and we feel that we cannot begin to find the words to speak to that person, There are certainly occasions when it seems that words cannot possibly express all the emotions that we are feeling. In our own journey of dealing with the concerns for which we persistently pray, what words can we use to convey the weight of the burden we carry for ourselves or for someone else? And with our limited perspective, there are times when we do not know how to put into words our longings for God to touch and restore and bring hope to seemingly hopeless circumstances. One of the uplifting aspects of our faith in God is that we do not have to have what we consider, “the right words.” We can know with confidence that even without words, when we turn to God, our loving God knows what is needed. I love that God listens to us with His heart and is able to interpret how we are and what we need from Him. When we are waiting for the light to shine in the darkness, God is waiting with us and is able to renew our hope in Him. Consider this Scripture from Romans 8, “26 In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us through wordless groans.27 And He who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for God’s people in accordance with the will of God.” (Romans 8:26-27) The thought of God’s Spirit interceding and coming to God on our behalf can reassure us when words fail us in prayer. We will be relying on God’s Spirit to guide our prayers when we pause for our WEDNESDAY PRAYER TOGETHER tomorrow September 20th at 1 pm. Please plan to join us.
Thanking God that with or without words, we can come to Him in prayer, Pastor Lola
Our welcoming God, each time that we turn to You in prayer, we are reminded of how much we need You. Thank You for Your mercy and care for us. We are grateful that this never fades and never fails. We have prayed many prayers before and we continue to realize that taking time to spend with You in prayer is so essential. We come to You today aware of many needs for ourselves and others. We are not sure what words to select to convey our love for You and our dependence on You. Thank You that we do not have to have a detailed description of how our prayers would best be answered. We know that You God have this covered. You know what is needed even before we breathe a word of it. As we approach You now in this attitude of prayer, we are trusting You to see us as we are. You recognize where we have been and where we are going. You recognize where our wider world has been and where it is going. Our hope is in You Lord. Our hope is in You. The understanding that Your depth of love for us is fathomless, gives us courage to approach You in prayer. We invite Your Spirit to help us in our weakness. We look to You for strength. We admit to You that there are things we do not understand and this challenges our faith. Today we are relying on Your Spirit to lift us up to You. When our steps falter, we ask You to show us the way. You, oh God, can search our hearts and know the truth that we may struggle to acknowledge. In the light of Your Presence, we discover the promise that You will guide us to choose You and Your plans for us. Sometimes our lives seem such a swirl of different possibilities and we wonder what to do. Consistently, we want to choose You. We want to trust You to bring about Your will in us and through us as Your Spirit draws us close to You. Without You, we are without hope. Spirit of God, we are asking You to intercede with God in accordance with God’s will. Our desire is to live for You God in every choice we make. We pause to confess that sometimes it is not possible to see Your will because we are looking for and wishing for something else. Where our will does not match Yours, we ask for Your realignment. Our ongoing prayer is for our willingness to trust You and to walk in step with Your Spirit. What do You God, want to bring about in each of us? How do You need to change us in order for us to be prepared to enter into what You are already doing. Thank You God for this gift of life and for the gift of communicating with You in sincere prayer, enhanced by Your Spirit’s wisdom. We offer this prayer and ourselves to You in Jesus’ Name. AMEN
How lovely to hold a tiny baby. I so enjoyed this at the baby shower we hosted for my new little great niece last weekend. When we hold a newborn baby, there is so much promise. We can think of the fresh beginning of this wee person’s life. There is something about holding a baby that reminds us of the beautiful and hopeful things of life. Sometimes that hopeful anticipation of good things to come can get blurred with all the cares of life that we carry. I recall when our girls were babies that people would comment on what a a blessing is that time of life. For babies who are loved and cherished, their early years are pretty uncomplicated. They eat and sleep and cry if they need something and laugh with delight at those around them. Sometimes people express a desire to go back to the simple times of childhood. We find in Scripture a hopeful indication of the possibility of God’s work of making us new creations. It is a gift from our loving God to know that, “Anyone who is in Christ is a new creation. The old has gone. The new has come.” (2 Corinthians 5:17) When our desire is to be “in Christ” and we keep on surrendering our lives to His transforming power, then we are made new. The birth of a baby is welcomed and celebrated. We also have reason to celebrate new birth that comes to us because of Jesus. Hope in God’s redemptive work is something we can pray for and receive when we are committed to becoming new creations as God intends. What new things is God wanting to shape in each of us and how will our prayers welcome this vital work? When we pause for our WEDNESDAY PRAYER TOGETHER tomorrow September 12th at 1 pm, we will pray for what is new that God wants to birth in us and those around us.
Praying that each of us will want to remain in Christ and to be the new creations that He invites us to be, Pastor Lola
Thank You God that You specialize in making new. Thank You that we are not held by the past because You have power to make us new creations. We want to surrender to You what has been in our lives that You want to change. Forgive us our sins and also make us new by empowering us to forgive those who sin against us. Where there are damaged relationships, we pray for healing. For people who are not speaking with each other, we pray for resolution of that and a releasing of bitterness. We want to value and honour the gifts of family and friends and to treat each relationship with careful consideration. When there are misunderstandings, please help us to move quickly to find a way forward so that understanding can be restored and we can be new creations. It is only in Christ that we see this possibility of us being new creations, so we ask You to keep us firmly established in Christ with all of our thoughts and motives and intentions. For the times that we pray and do not see the answers we longed for, we ask that we will not turn away from You. Instead, we pray that we will come even closer to You, not wanting to miss what You are saying to us and how You are working to make things new in these times too. And God we are trusting You to guide all the words that we speak so that they will be life giving and contribute to how You want to make each of us into new creations. Please remind us that we will never get beyond needing Your redemptive work of making us new. This process will never be complete this side of heaven. With our awareness of this truth, we ask for the wisdom to keep bringing all of who we are to you for Your renovating. We think of old houses we have seen that have been completely rebuilt and made beautiful again. Our gracious God, please do this same kind of work in us. Remove what is old and needs replacing and may we as new creations bring glory to You our Creator. At times we grow discouraged because of the need in us for ongoing renovation and restoration. Thank You God that You are willing to persist with this divine work. Thank You today for those who have completed their time here on earth and are now raised to be the eternal new creations that You have designed them to be. We pray for comfort and peace for those of us who remain here and continue to struggle with the reality of sin. Our God, we pray that as we are made into new creations that our capacity for love and compassion will increase. In becoming more like Jesus, we expect that the outcome will be visible that we are new creations because we are in Christ and wanting to remain there always. Make us new Lord. Yes, make us new we pray, in Christ’s Name. AMEN.
1How lovely is Your dwelling place, Lord Almighty!2 My soul yearns, even faints, for the courts of the Lord;my heart and my flesh cry out for the Living God.3 Even the sparrow has found a home, and the swallow a nest for herself, where she may have her young—a place near Your altar, Lord Almighty, my King and my God.4 Blessed are those who dwell in Your house; they are ever praising You.
5 Blessed are those whose strength is in You, whose hearts are set on pilgrimage.6 As they pass through the Valley of Baka, they make it a place of springs; the autumn rains also cover it with pools.7 They go from strength to strength, till each appears before God in Zion.
8 Hear my prayer, Lord God Almighty; listen to me, God of Jacob.9 Look on our shield, O God; look with favour on Your anointed one.
10 Better is one day in your courts than a thousand elsewhere; I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than dwell in the tents of the wicked.11 For the Lord God is a sun and shield; the Lord bestows favour and honour; no good thing does He withhold from those whose walk is blameless.
12 Lord Almighty,blessed is the one who trusts in You.
Psalm 84 BLESSED ARE THOSE WHOSE STRENGTH IS IN GOD Springford Baptist Church: Sept. 10, 2023.
This is the time of year when many people are making pickles
and relishes and bottling all sorts of things. I remember when I would come home from school and my Mom would have wonderful smells of what she had been preserving in the farm kitchen. Now it is one thing to have these bottles of jams and peaches and pears and tomatoes and sauces lining the shelves, but as we know you need to be able to open the lids. If you have a jar that you are trying to open and cannot, what a relief to have someone whose strength is what is needed. We can be reminded that likewise when we are lacking strength that God can provide the strength we need.
We read in Psalm 84:5 “Blessed are those whose strength is in You (that’s God) whose hearts are set on pilgrimage.”
Do we live each day aware of needing God’s strength and reaching out to receive His strength?| Are our hearts set on pilgrimage? We will want to look more closely at what it can mean to have our hearts set on pilgrimage. I think of a Christian summer camp where their goal is to see the campers come “one step closer to Jesus”. When our hearts are set on pilgrimage and we want to keep travelling closer to our loving God, then we find that we are receiving strength from God for each step of the journey.
This Psalm 84 speaks of someone longing to come near to God in His temple.
It is this longing for God that sets our hearts on pilgrimage to come near to God and to find our strength in Him. As the psalm begins, the writer is expressing longing for the house of the Lord and being able to meet with God there. “1How lovely is Your dwelling place, Lord Almighty!2 My soul yearns, even faints,for the courts of the Lord; my heart and my flesh cry out for the living God.” (Psalm 84:1,2)
It is a compelling desire to be closer with God that would have our heart and flesh cry out for the living God. There is nothing that can replace an experience of God close with us. When we have experienced this then our hearts are set on pilgrimage. We long to again receive His strength and to be convinced that He is with us.
3 Even the sparrow has found a home, and the swallow a nest for herself, where she may have her young—a place near Your altar, Lord Almighty, my King and my God. (Psalm 84:3) The psalmist is here recalling that there are birds that have easy access to God’s temple and can even build a nest for their young near the altar.
This is our prayer that we have close access to God and also our children and grandchildren and nieces and nephews. Where we have found strength in God, we want those who are young to discover this same possibility.
I am reassured to think that as I can turn to God to provide strength for whatever I am facing so can those whom I love.
Those of you who have raised your families in church but don’t find them in church now, can trust God to reveal His love and care and strength for them when they do recognize that need.
4 Blessed are those who dwell in Your house; they are ever praising You. (Psalm 84:4)
When our hearts are set on pilgrimage closer to God, we do look forward to praising God in His house. Does this mean that when we come to worship God, we have no problems or anxious concerns? Absolutely not. Yet, when we do gather to worship God, we can receive reassurance of His strength and that we are never alone. This gives us reason to praise Him!
5 Blessed are those whose strength is in You, whose hearts are set on pilgrimage.(Psalm 84:5)
When we are finding our strength in the Lord, then we are determined to come nearer and nearer to Him. We recognize that nothing else is sufficient to satisfy us and so our hearts turn to Him.
6 As they pass through the Valley of Baka, they make it a place of springs; the autumn rains also cover it with pools.7 They go from strength to strength, till each appears before God in Zion. (Psalm 84:6,7)
This describes God’s people travelling to worship God in His temple in Zion (Jerusalem).
Even when our pilgrimage closer to God takes us through difficult valleys, we are given strength. God’s people on the way to Zion can remember the strength of God for their ancestors as they travelled through the desert of Sinai on their way to the Promised Land. What do you make of that phrase, “from strength to strength.” (vs. 7a)
This assures me of God extending His strong hand to help us and when we are passing through a difficult valley, God reaches out to give us strength so that we do not give up. There is fresh strength from God provided as needed! When we feel we cannot go another step, God is right with us to give us His strength. Our strength must be in the Lord not in our limited resources.
8 Hear my prayer, Lord God Almighty; listen to me, God of Jacob.9 Look on our shield, O God; look with favour on Your anointed one.
10 Better is one day in your courts than a thousand elsewhere; I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than dwell in the tents of the wicked. 11 For the Lord God is a sun and shield; the Lord bestows favour and honour; no good thing does he withhold from those whose walk is blameless.
(Psalm 84:8-11)
This intense desire to be close with God is expressed when the psalmist writes “Better is one day in your courts than a thousand elsewhere.” (vs. 10) There is nothing that can compare to a close encounter with God.We can be close with God when we come to church to worship God with other people who also love God. We can be close with God when we receive His strength in our day to day living and are deeply grateful.
There is blessing in finding our strength in the LORD.
We can echo the last verse of this psalm,
“12 Lord Almighty, blessed is the one who trusts in You.” (Psalm 84:12)
Wherever we are needing to find strength from God right now, I pray that we will choose to trust God and to receive the blessing of knowing God close with us and inviting us to keep journeying closer to Him always. May our hearts be set on pilgrimage.
I wonder how aware we are of what is making those around us happy or sad. We make a point of wishing people, “Happy Birthday”; or congratulating a family on the arrival of a new baby; or wishing people well who are starting a new school adventure or a new job position. We find ways to extend love and support when people are sick or when there has been loss of loved ones. Some people will be more inclined to let those around them know what is making them happy or sad. Some people will openly share what is making them pleased and grateful or anxious and troubled and others will choose to keep this to themselves. It requires prayerful sensitivity to find appropriate ways to follow the guidance of Scripture where we read, “Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn.” (Romans 12:15) In our desire to become more like Jesus, this is just what we need to do. And in order to be able to be happy with those who are happy and sad with those who are sad, we will need to see this possibility as both a gift and a responsibility. We can pray daily that God will give us eyes to see what is happening with others and hearts to care. If we are so caught up in our own concerns that we do not realize the concerns of others, then we can pray for God to change us. Sometimes when we do come to understand what someone else has been going through, we will exclaim, “I had no idea…” This week we are going to pray that we will want to know what is making others happy or sad. We will also pray that God will guide us in how to respond and to offer sincere “walking alongside” to people whatever they are facing. Please join in this week’s WEDNESDAY PRAYER TOGETHER tomorrow September 6th at 1 pm.
Praying for the compassion of Jesus as we respond lovingly to people however they are feeling, Pastor Lola
Our loving God, we begin by thanking You for the assurance that You always know what is causing us to feel happy or sad. You understand all of our emotions and you enter into both our celebrations and our sorrows. We want to be more like You in doing the same for others. We are praying that you will deepen our sensitivity and awareness to know how others are being affected by their circumstances. When people have promising and hopeful things happening for themselves or their families, we want to be delighted with them. We pray for this to be the real sentiment we have and not simply words we feel we should say. Guard us against wishing good for ourselves and getting focused on when things will work out in our own situations in ways that overshadow genuine gratitude that You are blessing others. As we embrace this responsibility, we want to discover You also rejoicing with those who rejoice. Thank You God for the blessings You are pouring into the lives of those we know. It is one thing to celebrate good times with people. We recognize that following Jesus asks more of us. We are also to share with others in their sad and desperate times. Please show us how to do this. We ask for Your forgiveness for the times we have not been available to mourn with those who mourn. In these moments, we consider the reasons there is mourning. Alert us to those who seriously ill and feeling worn out and hopeless. We recognize that those whose loved ones have ongoing health issues do at times become so overwhelmed. Remind us of those who have experienced broken relationships or job loss. We know that there are those who find certain days especially hard because a loved one died on that day or it is the birthday or anniversary of someone who has passed. These dates can be forgotten by us or go unnoticed, but we know for those who have held someone close that these dates can evoke painful memories. We need You God to continue to heighten our sensitivity both to what makes people happy and sad so that we can acknowledge this and join them in whatever is touching them deeply. As we learn more about rejoicing with those who rejoice and mourning with those who mourn, we pray that we will keep encountering You accompanying those whom You call us to accompany. May our love for people confirm Your infinite love for them. In the Name of Christ our Saviour. AMEN
As we recognize this approaching back to school time of the year, there are many ways that we can pray for and support in our prayers those who will be learning and those who will be part of a learning environment. God gives us lifelong opportunities to be learning. It is wise to understand that we are not ever intended to stop learning. In the wideness of our world and in the immensity of our God, there is always more to learn. Prayer is a key practice in order for us to be well positioned to learn from God. We can come to God in humble prayer and acknowledge what we do not know and have yet to learn. In prayer, we can choose to trust God to reveal to us and to teach us in personal ways the magnitude of Who God is and who are we. In Scripture we read, “Let the wise listen and add to their learning and let the discerning get guidance.” (Proverbs 1:5) Faithful prayer and recognition of God through prayer has us listening and adding to our learning and also receiving guidance and understanding that only God can provide. It will again be our privilege this week to pray for each other and to pray for us in apprehending lessons of faith that God wants to teach us. Please pause with us for our WEDNESDAY PRAYER TOGETHER tomorrow August 30th at 1 pm.
Thankful that we have God as our loving Teacher and that there is so much we can learn from our God, Pastor Lola
Our God thank You for these summer months and what we have had to learn from You in times of work and play and rest and relaxation. Thank You for all the lessons of Your mercy and grace displayed in the world around us. We see the beauty and intricacy of what You God have created. There has been pleasure in enjoying Your Presence with us always and reminders of Your love displayed everywhere. We want to keep listening for You in the stillness of the breeze. We want to be led by You to the quiet places where our souls are restored. And even as this summer has provided the chance to know You more, we want this journey of learning from You to continue into the months ahead. This is why we choose to listen for You our LORD. In thinking about learning, we want to come to You now to pray for all those who will be getting ready for back to school. For some very young ones, this will be their first time in a classroom and there will be so many lessons ahead of them. We pray for those who may be feeling anxious about this, both Junior Kindergarten students and their parents. In entering this new world of learning we pray that You will guide and help each family. We pray for teachers preparing for another school year. Please equip them well to teach with compassion in their hearts for their students and the unique needs of each student. For those who are looking forward to going back to school, we pray Your blessing. For those not looking forward to going back to school, we also pray your blessing. For those feeling uncertain about building friendships at school we pray for Your help. We are asking Lord for students, teachers, school counsellors, and all education workers to participate in building an atmosphere of caring. We know the reality of bullying and the damage it creates. For some students, they will be dreading going back to school because school has not been a positive experience for them. We pray that this school year can be a new beginning. We pray for school administration and parents to work together to build safe and respectful environments for learning. We also know that there are those who do not find school motivating and worthwhile and this challenges them in their learning. We bring all of this to You God and pray for positive learning possibilities for those we know and those we don’t know who will be returning to school. In our prayers we also pray for bus drivers and crossing guards and school secretaries and volunteers in the classrooms and school cleaning staff. Everyone contributes to the possibilities for learning and we ask that each one will feel important in their contributions. And our God we know that for all of us there are things for us to keep learning so we pray that we will keep listening for You and that we will have discernment that only You can give us for the guidance we need each day. Thank You God for taking time to teach us and making it possible for us to learn from You. Please show us how to apply what You teach us. We depend on You in Jesus’ Name. AMEN.
You won’t be surprised that my head is currently full of lessons learned while hiking the Bruce Trail. There are places on the Bruce Trail where there are big hills to climb. Whether there is an actual hill to climb or a circumstance in our lives that seems as daunting as climbing a mountain, we look for courage to keep going. If we stand at the bottom of a rise and shake our heads and determine that we just can’t make it then we do not advance any further. God invites us to take a different approach. Our loving God invites us to accurately recognize that there are challenges too steep for us to manage and then to turn to Him to help us. When we pray and admit to God that we cannot climb alone, God is ready and waiting to help us. Consider this Scripture: 28 Do you not know? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary, and His understanding no one can fathom. 29 He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak. 30 Even youths grow tired and weary, and those who are young stumble and fall; 31 but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint. (Isaiah 40:28-31) Every day we can be turning to God in prayer and placing our hope in Him. We can trust God to renew our strength and to enable us to climb the hill before us. We do not just pray for ourselves. We also pray for others facing obstacles of all sorts. We ask God to help them and to show us what we can do to support them in their walk of faith. God has been good and wise in moving us to pray for each other. Together we claim His strength and grace for our journeys. Tomorrow August 23rd at 1 pm we will again pause for our WEDNESDAY PRAYER TOGETHER. Wherever we are at that time, we can pause to lift each other up in prayer and we can affirm our dependence on God to supply the strength we need for the climb before us.
Hoping in the LORD, Pastor Lola
Thank You our God for the accurate perception that we cannot manage the hills of life by ourselves. Thank You that we can know that You are always available to help us. We declare our dependence on You and ask You to keep reminding us to come to You for strength. At this time, we do offer our prayers for all those who have been affected by wildfires. We realize that this is a frightening and uncertain time for many. For those who have had to leave their homes, we pray for reassurance. For those battling the fires and those seeking to help and support those who are displaced, we pray for courage and determination. Our prayer is that the fires will be brought under control. We think of those surveying what has been lost and wondering where they will live and how they will manage. Thank You that You are with them and can supply their needs. Thank You for strong community outreach to assist in a whole variety of ways. God, please guard us against a diminished response of compassion because the needs are so many and so persistent. At times we do feel overwhelmed by all that seems wrong in our world. Everywhere we turn there are multiple needs. This in itself could be the mountain before us that seems impossible to climb. Please show us when and how You want us to act on Your behalf to assist and encourage anyone facing a steep climb because of their circumstances. God, we do thank You for good things that are happening in the lives of people we know. We do not want the challenges we face to cause us to resent the blessings of others. As we find our strength and courage in You, we are grateful. As we witness You bringing strength and courage to others, we see answers to our prayers and want to keep on praying and trusting You. Again and again You reveal to us that when we are weak, You are strong. Your capacity for love and grace is unlimited. Thank You God for these summer months that have given us opportunity to enjoy the beauty of the world you have created. Thank You for evidence everywhere of Your intricate designs and for our ability to experience Your touch in nature and on us. Thank You for the gift of time spent with family and friends. We do pray for those who feel lonely and who do not have family and friends close by. We do pray for the living of each day as it comes. We cannot know what any day will hold, but You do God and so we again choose to commit ourselves and all the circumstances of our lives to You. We climb every mountain with You as our constant Guide and Source of hope and strength. And we openly acknowledge our dependence on You! In Jesus’ Powerful Name, AMEN.
