April 20, 2024

A Living Prayer

July 8, 2015 by

psalmshymnsspiritualsongskjv

In this world I walk alone
With no place to call my home
But there’s one who holds my hand
Through rugged roads, through barren lands

The way is dark, the road is steep
But He’s become my eyes to see
The strength to climb, my griefs to bear
The Savior lives inside me there

In Your love I find release
A haven from my unbelief
Take my life and let me be
A living prayer, my God, to Thee

In these trials of life I find
Another Voice inside my mind
He comforts me and bids me live
Inside the love the Father gives

Take my life and let me be a living prayer, my God, to Thee

Alison Krauss and Union Station
written by Ron Block

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This beautiful bluegrass ballad is an affirmation…a declaration…a commitment.  It is the heart-cry of the songwriter to his God.  I love that he wrote, ‘take my life and let me be a living prayer…’ .  He recognized that, even though he had so much in his heart he wanted to commit to God Almighty, he still needed God’s involvement.  He knew he needed God.

The writers of the Psalms often communicated very similar thoughts.

Give ear to my words, O Lord; consider my groaning.
Give attention to the sound of my cry, my King and my God,
for to You do I pray.
O Lord, in the morning You hear my voice;
in the morning I prepare a sacrifice for You and watch.

But let all who take refuge in You rejoice; let them ever sing for joy,
And spread your protection over them,
that those who love Your name may exult in You.
For You bless the righteous, O Lord;
You cover him with favor as with a shield.
Psalms 5:1-3, 11 and 12 ESV

Let me hear in the morning of Your steadfast love,
    for in You I trust.
Make me know the way I should go,
for to You I lift up my soul.
Psalm 143:8

Keep and protect me, O God, for in You I have found refuge,
and in You do I put my trust and hide myself.
I say to the Lord, You are my Lord;
I have no good beside or beyond You.

I have set the Lord continually before me;
because He is at my right hand, I shall not be moved.
Therefore my heart is glad and my glory [my inner self] rejoices;
my body too shall rest and confidently dwell in safety…
Psalms 16:1-2, 8-9

And as such it is with us, too. We cry out to our heavenly Father with our own words of commitment and declaration. Voicing the affirmation of our faith in Him…our trust and belief that He is faithful…our acknowledgment of our great need for our El Shaddai.

At the very end of the video clip above, is a quote from C. S. Lewis about prayer…

I pray because I can’t help myself.
I pray because I’m helpless.
I pray because the need flows out of me
     all the time, waking and sleeping.
It doesn’t change God, it changes me.

Take my life and let me be a living prayer, my God, to Thee!

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Everywhere That I Go

May 17, 2014 by

SeekingHimLogo

But let all those who take refuge and put their trust in You rejoice; let them ever sing and shout for joy, because You make a covering over them and defend them; let those also who love Your name be joyful in You and be in high spirits.  For You, Lord, will bless the [uncompromisingly] righteous [him who is upright and in right standing with You]; as with a shield You will surround him with goodwill (pleasure and favor).

Psalms 5:11-12

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I belong to You, You belong to me Lord
I’m surrounded everywhere that I go
I will walk with You, You will walk with me Lord
I’m surrounded everywhere that I go

(Oh, would you sing it with me?)

I belong to You, You belong to me Lord
I’m surrounded everywhere that I go
I will walk with You, You will walk with me Lord
I’m surrounded everywhere that I go
And I am Yours and You are mine, oh mine

You promised me You’d never leave
You promised me I’m never forsaken
I believe goodness and mercy will follow me
Surrounding me where I go, everywhere that I go

You, Lord, are a shield above me
Everywhere, everywhere that I go
You, Lord, are a shield above me
Everywhere, everywhere that I go

You, Lord, are a shield above me
Everywhere, everywhere that I go
Your grace and love surrounds me
Everywhere, everywhere, everywhere, everywhere that I go

I believe goodness and mercy will follow me
Surrounding me everywhere that I go

~  Performed by Israel Houghton and New Breed  ~

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Filed Under: Seeking Him Daily Devotional Tagged With: , , , , , , , , ,

Teaching the Young to Seek God

May 16, 2014 by

SeekingHimLogo

But let all who take refuge in You be glad;
let them ever sing for joy.
Spread Your protection over them,
that those who love Your name may rejoice in You.
Surely, Lord, You bless the righteous;
You surround them with Your favor as with a shield.
Psalms 5:11-12

My children are five and three years old respectively.  They are the light of my world.  I wear a necklace which has a birth charm for each of them (you know, the little boy and little girl charms that have their birth stones.)  When my husband got me that one, I hardly ever took it off.  However, I did eventually get bored and changed the necklace out.  This past Christmas my husband got me a silver cross that I have not taken off since December 25 (except for when I had my wisdom teeth pulled).

This cross necklace has come in handy over the last few months.  When our son was around the same age our daughter is now, we started teaching him about what the Cross stood for, and now we have started teaching our daughter the same.  They both know that it stands for Jesus and His death.  Now we are starting to work on the “why” with both—more so with the oldest.  If they can start learning their letters and how to read before the age of five, they can start learning about Jesus.

By helping them learn now, we hope and pray that they each will accept their own shield of faith before they can really be influenced by peer pressure and the outside world.  While they are this young, we still have some control over what parts of the outside world they see.  Hopefully by teaching them young, they will come to know how to seek out God’s protection before they hit their teen years.  They will need discernment to know right from wrong.  They will be able to spread the joy of God to those around them and be a good influence wherever they go.

I already pray daily that God protects them with His shield.  They are little and young.  They do not fully understand how the outside world works.  Hopefully we can equip them to be able to rejoice in the Lord and seek His protection when they are older and begin to spread their own wings.  May they be able to sing for joy to God when they do.

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Dear Heavenly Father, thank You for the blessings and protection You give our family. We seek to do right in Your eyes and to sing for joy in Your presence. In Jesus’ name we pray, Amen.

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Brandon’s Shield

May 15, 2014 by

SeekingHimLogo

But let all who take refuge in You be glad, let them ever sing for joy;
and may You shelter them, that those who love Your name may exult in You.
For it is You who blesses the righteous man, O Lord,
You surround him with favor as with a shield.
Psalms 5:11-12

On a Thursday evening I get a text from my son, saying he was not feeling well.  I ask him to describe his symptoms and I also get his step-dad involved.  We think he needs to drink something to help ‘clean’ him out.  When he does get the bottle of nasty-tasting stuff, he can’t keep it down.  He tries to sleep that night but not very well.  The next morning,  he asks that I call one of my friends who is a nurse practitioner and get him an appointment.  At 1:15 pm he goes for the appointment.  After the exam she determines it could be appendicitis, and sends him for a CT scan to get better information.  Brandon calls to say he is going in for the scan at 3 pm.  I am praying this whole time asking for God’s help in evaluating the situation quickly.  Brandon calls after the scan to say he is going home.  I suggest that he go over to see my friend/nurse practitioner, Julie, for the results. By the time he gets to the office she has called me to say he has appendicitis and for us to go to the emergency room.

I reach Brandon just as he is getting out of his truck, and tell him to meet me at the ER… that he does have appendicitis…and they will be operating today. I ask him to call his dad and I contact my husband, John.  I managed to get there before Brandon and tried to get paperwork started but he had to be there.  Once he arrives, he checks in.  This is about 4 pm. John arrives around 4:05 and we all sit down.  At about 4:15 we are called back to a room where everyone has a job and are asking Brandon questions.  They begin putting in an IV and drawing blood.  Julie had tried to reach the surgical group she knew that were very qualified to work on Brandon, but could not reach them.  When she spoke with the ER doctor, he said he would take care of reaching one of the team.

By 5 pm Brandon was being wheeled up to the surgical suite to begin the process. This was my first time experiencing emergency surgery on my child (who happens to be 23).  I was a nervous wreck, but Brandon had peace about the whole situation.  From the time he was hurting to the time we left the hospital, he had a peace about him.  I kept looking at the clock in the waiting room.  The surgeon had said it was a 45 minute procedure and recovery would be about an hour. A friend of ours came out who had assisted with the surgery.  Her name is Rose, and she has a sweet, sweet spirit.  It was then I knew Brandon was well covered in prayer while he was being operated on.  God is so merciful!

The surgeon came out and said Brandon was doing great!  Brandon would have to take it easy for a week to 10 days before he could go back to work.  I was just so happy to hear that he was fine!  I stayed the night with Brandon at the hospital and neither of us got much sleep.  Saturday around noon he was discharged; and we went to my house where he would stay with us for a couple of days.  He is a little sore, but moving around.  He is such a trooper…not asking for attention, just wanting to get better and get back to work.

Through this whole adventure, I can see how God shielded and protected Brandon.  Brandon was wise enough to listen to his body—the way God designed us—and knew that something was not right.  And from the CT scan we learned that Brandon was born with just one kidney that is functioning.  I know God has this covered, but we are now going to get a little education on what he should and should not do.

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Father, thank You for taking care of my son.  Thank You that I will be able to have many Christmas, birthdays, and other celebrations with him.  I thank You for Your mercy and Your shield.  I thank You that You give us mom-hearts to pray every day for our family and that we have great pray-ers as friends. I pray Your protection around those today who are hurting and seeking You. May someone give them a word of knowledge and comfort from You.  In Jesus’ name I pray, amen!

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A Promise to Surround

May 13, 2014 by

SeekingHimLogo

But let all those rejoice who put their trust in You;
Let them ever shout for joy, because You defend them;
Let those also who love Your name
Be joyful in You.
For You, O LORD, will bless the righteous;
With favor You will surround him as with a shield.
Psalms 5:11-12

If all God told me for the rest of my life was that He was my Shield, I would be okay. If all I heard was that I could trust in Him, and take joy in Him, I would be okay. Or if all I heard was that He would defend me, I would be okay.  But He doesn’t just tell us one or two of these things, He promises all that, AND on top of it all, He adds favor and love.

Joy is only one word I would use to describe how I feel when I step back and realize that He is my Shield.  On a day-to-day basis He stands in front of me, protecting me from the arrows that are being thrown at me and my family.  He is defending us against the attacks, seen and unseen.

For the LORD will be your confidence,
And will keep your foot from being caught.
Proverbs 3:26

Because I know that He walks with me and protects me, I can walk with confidence and be joyful in Him. Even on the days when I feel vulnerable and alone, I know He is there, and I can lift my head and rejoice in all He does for me.

This week I am going to focus on the word “surround” used in Psalm 5:12.  Not only does our Heavenly Father promise this, but He does it in a way that ensures our ultimate protection.  He doesn’t say that He will guard our front or back, He promises that we will be surrounded.  So dear sisters, take joy in the fact that His promises remain true; remember that we are protected from each side; and that the One who died on the Cross for our sins, not only did that but gives us love, protection, and the joy we need to walk the path He has created for us on a daily basis.

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Let’s Pray: Dear Heavenly Father, the hedge of protection that You surround us with on a daily basis is not some random story told in our youth, but instead it is a reality that we are blessed with through every breath we take. In Jesus’ Name, we pray, amen.

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Refuge In An Able God

May 12, 2014 by

SeekingHimLogo

I am one of those people who reads the Bible and then asks tough questions.  So, of course I had questions when I read Psalms 5:11-12.

But let all who take refuge in You rejoice; let them sing joyful praises forever. Spread Your protection over them, that all who love Your Name may be filled with joy. For You bless the godly, O Lord; You surround them with Your shield of love.

Do those who take refuge in God truly rejoice? Do they find protection? Do they rejoice?  I found my answers in the well-known story of David and Goliath told in 1 Samuel, chapter 17.

Summarized:  God’s army, led by King Saul, was up against the Philistines. Goliath proposed a one-on-one challenge to any man willing.  All of God’s army was afraid (verse 24).  David, a shepherd boy, challenged Goliath.  David defeated Goliath with a single stone.

Is God able to do as Psalms 5:11-12 says?  According to 1 Samuel 17, yes!  Let me point out some things in this story that I noticed.

Saul and the army of God ran in great fear—not fear of God but fear of Goliath. Lack of faith?  GOD’S ARMY ran in fear…something is not right about that.  Seeking refuge in God is a choice.

When Saul heard David would go fight, even though he was an inexperienced shepherd boy, he didn’t do much to stop him. For instance, he didn’t, oh, you know, GO FIGHT INSTEAD.  No!  He told David, “Go, and may the Lord be with you.”  So, God could be with David, but not with the entire army of God?  Seeking refuge in God is for everyone who calls Him ‘Abba’ !

David’s oldest brother, along with King Saul, and Goliath, all tried to discourage David, but he didn’t believe their lies. In fact, his faith was unshakeable.  Seeking refuge in God can shield us from discouragement!

I have done this to both lions and bears, and I’ll do it to this pagan Philistine, too,
for he has defied the armies of the living God!
The Lord who rescued me from the claws of the lion and the bear
will rescue me from this Philistine!
1 Samuel 17:36-37a

David had faith in an unfailing God. This is why we should choose to take refuge in our God—He said He’s got our backs and He does!

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Lord, thank You for giving me a safe place to go when I need refuge.  May I forever dwell in the safety of Your presence.  In Jesus’ name, amen

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