May 11, 2015

Let's sing His praise today with "I sing the mighty power of God" by Isaac Watts
listen here: I Sing with orchestra

I sing the mighty power of God 
That made the mountains rise;
That spread the flowing seas abroad,
And built the lofty skies.
I sing the wisdom that ordained the sun to rule the day;
The moon shines full at His command 
And all the stars obey.

I sing the goodness of the Lord,
That filled the earth with food;
He formed the creatures with His Word,
And then pronounced them good.
Lord, how Thy wonders are displayed,
Where e're I turn my eye;
If I survey the ground I tread,
Or gaze upon the sky!

There's not a plant or flow'r below,
But makes Thy glories known:
And clouds arise, and tempests blow,
By order from Thy throne;
While all that borrows life from Thee 
Is ever in Thy care.
And everywhere that man can be,
Thou, God, art present there.

A single seed. Hard tiny kernel. Could crush it with my fingernail. Accidentally drop it and lose it. Yet You put life in it! Even in total neglect--even in the harshest conditions--even just a pocket of dirt in a crack of rock--even there You bring shoots of green.

In these tiny seeds we find hope. We see Your plan. We die to our life to grow--grow beautifully! abundantly!--in You.

We do not lose hope, because You have not. You continue to make the seeds grow. You continue to send the cranes and the geese and the ducks north to make their nests. You continue to surround us in beauty, just to bring us joy.

Lord may we live as children of hope this week. May we be so consumed with You that we can spill over into others' lives. May we not be the tired, the busy, the overwhelmed, the worried. May we be the joyful, the hopeful, the amazed, the grateful, the ones who press on...

We can only because of You--the never ending fountain of strength.

So many things need Your touch of life, Lord. For these, we take up our work of prayer. We ask for Your intervention:

--for the safety of our warriors, at home and abroad
--for the safety of our military families
--that the plans of the enemies to kill and destroy would be defeated
--for our Christian brothers and sisters in Iraq, and other countries, who are fighting for their lives
--for wisdom for the world leaders; for truth to be revealed amongst those tempted to join ISIS.

Lord, it seems like only death is coming out of these events. We ask that You would not hold back in bringing back life.

--We pray for revival in our ranks--that the dark times would bring them closer to You.
--We pray for our soldiers who have lost all hope. Lord be the light shining in their darkness. Please don't let them give up the fight.
--We pray for each other--for strength in the PCS season as we leave friends and have to run the gauntlet to get re-established.
--We pray for those who have been dealing with illness for so long.
--We pray for the ribbon of hope to continue running through the wounded soldiers' lives.


We follow You--a gracious and generous and fully alive God. Thank You Lord.