I am thanking God that the calendar indicates that it is spring and that we are moving steadily in that direction. Last weekend, in anticipation of spring’s arrival, I removed the evergreen arrangements from our front porch and fixed up my spring arrangement. I had finished getting it in place and went back inside. When I came back out again, it was snowing. Soon the spring flowers in the arrangement were all covered with snow. There is a life lesson here. Even when it is spring, that does not guarantee exclusive warm weather and sunny skies. Neither does day to day life guarantee this. What we can absolutely rely on whatever the weather is God’s loving Presence with us and His ever present help for us. Everything that we experience reminds us how much we need to depend on God and to look to Him to help us. Our hope in Him is solid and reliable! Recall the encouragement from Psalm 46: God is our refuge and strength. An ever present help in times of trouble.” When we pray we can affirm our trust in God. We can thank Him that He is always available to be our refuge and strength whatever the weather conditions of our lives. In our prayers we can specifically name where we need help and expect that God will respond. Please plan to join us for our WEDNESDAY PRAYER TOGETHER tomorrow March 22nd at 1 pm.
Placing our hope and confidence in God who is reliable when the weather is not, Pastor Lola
Our loving God, we do thank You for the promise of warmth of Spring after the long cold duration of Winter. While we cannot rely on the weather, we know that we can rely on You. Thank You God that everything we experience leads us to the realization of how much we need You. And as we pray together today we are deeply grateful that whenever we turn to You, we find that You are with us. You are for us our refuge and strength. Again today we take refuge in You. We know that You provide for us a place of safety and rest. You shelter us from the bitter winds of disappointment and distress. Our God, we also know that we can find our strength in You. We want to anticipate this new season ahead as a time when we will draw strength from You and keep growing stronger in our faith and dependence on You. We know so well the limitations of our own strength so we are greatly relieved to know that You Yourself are our strength. Today we pray for those we know who need the assurance of You being available to be their strength. For those who have not recognized You with them or have not been close with You, we pray that each one will come closer to You. In our prayers today, we acknowledge that we have come to know You as One who always welcomes each one who comes to You. We come as we are and receive Your much needed strength. We cannot know what this day holds or what the coming days and weeks hold. We are asking for Your grace for the succession of new days ahead. As we think about promising signs of the hope of Spring, we want to also be looking for promising signs of the hope of what You are bringing about for us. The fact that You are an ever present help for us in times of trouble, lifts us up. We know that we are not without Your help and hope. You lift us up and give us purpose and direction. When we have missed seeing where we need Your help, please show us. We want to be intentional about recognizing the ways that You have helped us and we want to make a point of thanking You. Please God, use us to bring strength and help to others who can also trust You to be ever present for them too. On our persistent journey towards the cross and the hope of Easter, we pray that we will be reminded that Jesus was determined to do Your will. We too want to be determined to carry out Your will for us every day. May this be so, in the Name of Jesus our Saviour. AMEN.