Sunday, January 28, 2018

February 4, 2018

Tis so sweet to trust in Jesus

Thank You Lord for our beautiful military brats.
Thank You for their global experiences.
Thank You for their unique perspectives.
Thank You for their diverse community upbringing.
Thank You for their brave outlook.
Thank You for their practice time of leaning on You.

Tis so sweet to trust You with their lives, and see them thrive under Your plan.

Just to take Him at His word
Just to rest upon His promise
Just to know, thus sayeth the Lord

We rest on Your promise that You love our children
We rest on Your promise that You hold the final victory
We rest on Your promise that You will be with them always
We rest on Your promise that no sacrifice is wasted

Jesus, Jesus How I trust You!
How I've proved You o'er and o'er
Jesus, Jesus, Precious Jesus

Precious Jesus who became a little child for us
who had to grow up
had to be humble
who always loved
and had compassion for all the unlovables
whose words pierced the soul
who gave everything

May You always be precious to us
May You be precious to our children

O for grace to trust You more

Lord we look to see what You will do with our children's lives
When dreams fall to ashes, we trust You to bring beauty again
When hard times come, we trust You to make our children strong

Father God please help the children of the deployed learn to trust You. May they find their confidence in You, beyond where their parent is.
We pray for our prodigals. Thank You Lord for Your grace and mercy. May they be broken from their pride and turn to You.
We pray for our kids who are lonely. May they find good friends, partners in living this life for You.
We pray for our kids who are sick. We ask for Your healing touch.
We pray for those struggling in school. May they have confidence in You for their purpose and their future.
We pray for our foster and adopted children. Lord give them the grace to truly accept the love offered. May they find their forever homes. May the courts rule according to Your will.
We pray for those making life decisions. Lead them through Lord.

And we pray against the spirit of suicide for this generation that seems so prone to it. Lord, please thwart all evil efforts to harm our veterans, our military members, our children.

I'm so glad I've learned to trust Him
Precious Jesus, Savior Friend
And I know that He is with me
Wilt be with me to the end.

Whatever it takes, teach our children, Abba.
Amen.

'Tis So Sweet to Trust in Jesus
Written by Louisa M.R. Stead
CCLI #7051633

Monday, January 15, 2018

January 28, 2018

Praying with excerpts from Psalm 118 today:

Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good;
His love endures forever.

Let the Air Force say, "His love endures forever."
Let the Army say, "His love endures forever."
Let the Navy say, "His love endures forever."
Let the Marines say, "His love endures forever."
Let the Coast Guard say, "His love endures forever."

Oh Lord, may all our ranks know Your love. Thank You for Your goodness--for every flight that comes home, for every boat that completes its mission, for every dad that returns to scoop up his child. Thank You for every act of heroism.

When hard pressed, I cried to the Lord;
He brought me into a spacious place.

Lord, we pray our forces would not get cornered. May they see Your way for all maneuvers.
May all of our warriors cry to You.

The Lord is with me; I will not be afraid. What can mere mortals do to me?
The Lord is with me; He is my helper. I look in triumph on my enemies.

God, please make our fighters brave only because they trust in You.
May we be victorious because we are doing right and following You.
Please bless our military's efforts to help the oppressed.

It is better to take refuge in the Lord than to trust in humans.
It is better to take refuge in the Lord than in princes.

Father God we pray for the military members we love. May they take refuge in You. May they see Your hand  and turn to You.

The Lord is my strength and my defense;
He has become my salvation.

Lord, please be the defense of our soldiers in Iraq, Afghanistan, Korea.
Please keep safe our sailors in the Pacific, the East China Sea, the Persian Gulf.
Please surround our airmen in the endless blue sky.

Shouts of joy and victory resound in the tents of the righteous:
The Lord's right hand has done mighty things!

I will give You thanks for You answered me;
You have become my salvation.

Thank You Lord for the many who have come home safely, repeatedly. May we not take for granted Your saving grace.
Thank You for the many who have turned to You. Thank You for giving them peace.
And we pray for our warriors who are hurting. May the enemy of suicide be kept away from our veterans.

Lord save us!
Lord grant us success!

We thank You for our military--for our technology, for our equipment, for our bravery, strength, resolve. Thank You for many good missions accomplished, and we ask You to help us to continue to do so.

Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good;
His love endures forever.

Lord You are strength and love.
You are power and grace.
May we follow in Your ways.

Friday, January 12, 2018

January 21, 2018

Lord we need You--even to love You!
The Great I Am is truly our all in all.
And we ask for Your continued mercy on our days.

When we scream at our kids, again,
Lord have mercy.

When we hurt and get hurt by our spouses, the ones we love the most
Lord have mercy.

When the smallest bill, change of plans, hiccups send us into an anxious tizzy
Lord have mercy.

When we forget You are God all-powerful
God all-loving
Lord have mercy.

When we're criss-crossing the country, creating homes like so many migrating birds
Lord have mercy

When we're facing days alone with our love on the other side of the world
Lord have mercy

Thank You Lord.
Thank You for mercy from creation to the cross to eternity
Thank You for Your new mercies we see every morning.
Thank You for being with us in every step of this crazy, wonderful military life.

Please help us have strength and joy for our family.
Please help us be lights for our community.
May we be examples for our children, steady rocks for our friends.
And may we be brave in following You--
Ready to tell
Willing to get dirty
And to risk pain
Believing in God-sized things
in God-sized mercies.

Amen.

Thursday, January 11, 2018

January 14, 2018

If You can make the cross beautiful
If You can turn mourning into dancing
If You can raise glory from ashes

If You can turn failure into character
weakness into revelation
fear into knowing

Then truly, we can trust You for our children.
We trust You to redeem their hard times.
We trust You to mold them even through pain.
We trust You to lead them, to put them in the right place at the right time.

Thank You Lord for so loving them.

We pray for our kids who are getting back into school.
Lord please be with them. Give them perspective on what they are doing.
We pray for our military brats who are away at college.
Lord please surround them with Your presence and help them make good choices.
The tests, the applications, the tuitions, the admissions, the decisions--Lord we lay these out before You and trust in You.

We pray for the little ones at home. Father, please keep them safe and raise them up. Give their parents strength and endurance.
We pray for the ones who are ill, especially the little girl in the hospital with a strange illness. Lord, please strengthen them.

We pray for our adopted kids. Lord please help them accept the love given. Fill their parents with Your Spirit, that they may be patient and kind and long-suffering. May more orphans find their home.

We pray for the babies coming. Father please help those parents.

And we pray for the special issues our military brats face, Lord. May they see Your hand in each PCS move. Be their rock when all else is changing.
Please be very near and real to those with deployed parents. Lord, please calm their hearts.

Father God we ask for your special mercy for the children of our fallen. Only You can make things ok, even beautiful. Please give wisdom and peace to the children of our struggling veterans. May joyful days be coming. And we pray against the spirit of suicide throughout our military family.

Thank You Lord Jesus for forgiving our children's debts
for setting them free indeed
for pouring out Your love on a rugged cross.
That is their one true need.

May we all learn to sing Hallelujah.

Click here to sing Man of Sorrows with Hillsong

Wednesday, January 3, 2018

January 7, 2017

God in heaven,
Who do we have in heaven but You?
Where else could we turn for courage?
Who else could give us strength?
Where could we find wisdom that sees beyond the present time?
What other leader, god, would give us compassion based on true understanding?
Who else can truly make the sacrifice worth it?

Only You, Lord,
Only You the Creator can know what is best for us
Only You, the One who holds time, can know when to make a move
Only You, the One who came to us as a baby, can be trusted to really love us

Thank You Lord.
Thank You for having a hand in every part of what is happening in the world.
Thank You we can trust that You will make all things good for us.
Thank You that You are all-powerful and all-loving.

We pray for a filling of Your Spirit--this courage, this strength, this love--into our leaders.
Please give our President wisdom for every decision he will make.
May his advisers have sound words that come from You.
Please be with those who are speaking with foreign leaders. Guide them in every interaction.
We pray for our Vice President. May his influence spread.
We pray for our Secretary of Defense. Lord, please be with him.

We pray for every leader throughout our ranks, Lord. Teach them. Embolden them and humble them as needed. May they make things better for those around them.
We pray for all the offices, the motor pools, the hangers, the cockpits, the bridges...Lord may there be unity in purpose.

And we especially pray for all of our Christian leaders in our military. Lord, may Your Spirit shine through. May they be willing, effective tools for Your kingdom.

Lord, only You can bring peace to our world, peace to our lives. We pray that our hurting warriors would see You surrounding them. May the spirit of suicide be defeated and may these people find purpose in You.

We pray for the people of Iran, Iraq, Syria, Afghanistan, North Korea. May Your will be done. We look to see Your hand.

And Lord, please be with our families of the fallen. Hold them as only You can.

Thank You for holding all of us.
Amen.

Tuesday, December 26, 2017

December 31, 2017

Lead on, O King eternal, The day of march has come;
Henceforth in fields of conquest Thy tents shall be our home.
Through days of preparation Thy grace has made us strong,
And now, O King eternal, We lift our battle song.

As we turn to another year
And some of us start a new home and ministry
And some of us face a year of change--
As we consider time passing out of our control
we look to You, the King of time
The Eternal One who doesn't fear death or challenges
the One for whom nothing is impossible

As we look into Your face, we can't help but be joyful and triumphant
ready to take on whatever battle You lead us into.

Lead on, O King eternal, We follow, not with fears,
For gladness breaks like morning Where'er Thy face appears.
Thy cross is lifted o'er us, We journey in its light;
The crown awaits the conquest: Lead on, O God of might.

May we see Your face daily this year, Lord
May we turn to You with every hardship
with every glimpse of beauty
with every smile
with every loss and every win

And Lord may this be the year Your warriors shine Your light.
Use us to spark revival throughout our ranks.
May Your Spirit be unleashed in every airplane and helicopter,
every battleship and cutter,
every stryker, humvee, platoon of marching soldiers,
every office and command center.

We thank You for the exciting growth to come in our kids this year, and we pray for them.
We thank You for Your hand in the world's affairs, and we pray for peace.
We thank You for our warriors, and we pray for their courage and skill.
We thank You for healing the broken hearts of our veterans, and we pray they will hold to You.
We thank You for the privilege of managing our homes, and we ask for Your perspective in it.
We thank You for our passions and ideas, and we ask You to lead us in using them.

We pray for those who are traveling.
We pray for those who are hurting and sick.
We pray for those who need You.

We thank You that You have conquered all.

CCLI#7051633
Lead On, O King Eternal by Ernest W. Shurtleff

Monday, December 18, 2017

December 17, 2017

When there is weeping in Ramah...

When family, friends are suddenly no more
When hearts are broken through separation of a PCS
When little ones lie in hospital beds
And mothers refuse to speak of their deadly cancer

God with us

God with us in the tears at the gravesite
God with us when we feel so very alone
God with us in the unknown

When our loved ones are on the other side of the world, surrounded by hatred
Or when they are right next to us, but a world away in their heart
When the worry of what's to come takes us away from the here and now
When we dread the morning's light because of the decisions of the day

God with us

When a shadow covers our Christmas
we remember the shadow of the cross over Your manger

Thank You Lord for truly being with us in all our days
for coming, for knowing our hurts, for crying with us, for feeling the pain

We pray we would shine Your light so brightly through our brokenness
that others will be so pulled in they can see You.

We pray for the extended family whose son had a severe skiing accident.
We pray for Your help in containing the California fires.
We pray for those who are terminally ill--may they find You in their last days.
We pray for those who are sick. May they acknowledge Your healing touch.
We pray for our deployed. Please keep them safe and give them peace in their hearts. May their families be encouraged.
We pray for safety for those who are on the road.
We pray You will go ahead of those PCSing and prepare a home for them.
We pray for peace in our homes, peace in the world. May Your Holy Spirit overflow.

And we pray for our hurting veterans, military members. Please hold them close. May the spirit of suicide be pushed away.

Cup our face Lord, turn our eyes to You. We look to You to dry our tears. We hold unswervingly to You for hope.
We thank You for the moment of laughter, the unexpected gift, the glimpse of a sparrow being cared for by Your hand. We thank You for the fresh, white snow creating new beauty. We thank You for the Christmas hymns running as a soundtrack through our days. We thank You for extra time with people we love. We thank You for deep breaths of cool air--for our life. We thank You for the cookies and the cards and the preparations reminding us of joy to come.

We thank You for turning our mourning into joy.