The Gift of This Day
Read: Psalm 139 In your book were written . . . the days that were formed for me. (v. 16) Life expectancy in the United States is around 75 years. That’s 27,375 days. What day are you on? Only God knows how many you have. He knew each of your days before even one day […]
Lord God King of Glory
Read: Psalm 24 The LORD of hosts, he is the King of glory! (v. 10) On the many occasions that I have prayed with the Words of Hope Uganda ministry leader, Titus Baraka, he almost always begins with, “Lord God, King of Glory . . .” When I asked why, he pointed out that Uganda […]
Most Merciful God
Read: Psalm 51 Cleanse me from my sin! (v. 2) David was the king by which all future kings of Israel would be compared. He foreshadows our eternal King, Jesus. And he sinned royally. In 2 Samuel 12, we read of his affair with a married woman who became pregnant. To cover up, David had […]
Holy God
Read: Isaiah 6:1-7 Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of hosts. (v. 3) I am privileged to pray with myriads of people around the world. I’ve noticed that people often begin prayers in a similar way each time. One friend of mine, Dr. Bill “Ruggles” Church, begins almost every prayer with “Holy God . . .” […]
Lord of Hosts
Read: 1 Samuel 1:1-20 I have been pouring out my soul before the LORD. (v. 15) Hannah is desperate. Her rival taunts her for being childless, which only compounds her disappointment. Her posture in prayer is deep distress and bitter weeping. As her lips quiver and she cries, the priest Eli chastises her because he thinks […]
How Prayer Begins
Read: Genesis 4:25-26 At that time people began to call upon the name of the LORD. (v. 26) Do you remember your first prayer? What did you say? I remember a childhood prayerlike poem that began, “Now I lay me down to sleep, I pray the Lord my soul to keep.” I remember my parents prayed […]
The Old Testament Book of Revelation?
Read: 2 Chronicles 36:15-23; Revelation 1:4-5 The LORD, the God of heaven . . . has charged me to build him a house at Jerusalem. (2 Chron. 36:23) Chronicles is the last book in the Hebrew order of what Christians call the Old Testament. While not using the same images as Revelation (the last book of the Christian Bible), […]
Living on the Perfume of an Empty Bottle
Read: 2 Chronicles 34:29-33; John 7:38 He read . . . all the words of the Book of the Covenant that had been found in the house of the LORD. (2 Chron. 34:30) When my after-shave cologne is nearly gone, I mix the remaining contents with a little water to get a little more use out of it. But […]
Springs of Faith for Inflection Points
Read: 2 Chronicles 32:24-33; John 9:7 Hezekiah closed the upper outlet of the waters . . . and directed them down to the west side of the city of David. (2 Chron. 32:30) At a recent adult education class, the presenter noted that we are at an inflection point in history—a time of change, a turning point. This is […]