A Prayer For Every Day

Lord, we thank You that You are always with us – even when bad things are happening to us.

Lord, give us wisdom (1 Kings 4:29). Help us to share this wisdom with others (1 Kings 4:32-34). What, Lord, is wisdom? Is it knowing a lot about history, geography and science? No, Lord, true wisdom is knowing Jesus, knowing that He is our Saviour, knowing that He shows us what life is all about, knowing that His love is the greatest love of all, the love that changes everything, the love that changes us. Help us to share His love with others. This is wisdom – knowing Jesus, knowing that He loves us, being changed by His love. Christ is “our Wisdom” (1 Corinthians 1:30). Help us to rejoice in Him – and to share His love with the people that we meet.

‘Do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God, I will strengthen you and help you… I am the Lord your God who… says to you, Do not fear; I will help you… I Myself will help you, declares the Lord, your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel’ (Isaiah 41:10-14). When, Lord, we have something important to say, we repeat ourselves. We want to make sure that our message gets across. We say, ‘Do you get the point? Do you see what I mean?’ This, Lord, is what You are doing. Three times, You say, ‘ I will help you ’. You want us to get the point. You  want to leave us in no doubt. You want us to be sure of this: ‘I will help you’. You don’t want us to go around thinking, ‘I wonder if God will help me?’ You really do want to help us. You say it once. You say it twice. You say it three times: ‘I will help you’. Thank You, Lord.

Lord, help us not to rest content with going through the motions of religion. Beyond religion, there is redemption. Beyond ritual, there is reality. May our faith in Jesus, our Saviour, be a real faith, a living faith, a faith that changes us, a faith that brings glory to You.

‘The Lord is the everlasting God… He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak… those who wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength…’ (Isaiah 40:28-31). Far too often, Lord, we say, ‘I can’t’ when we really mean ‘I won’t’. ‘I can’t’ – This, Lord,  is an insult to Your power of God. You call us to do something special for Him. We say, ‘I can’t’. What are we really saying? We’re saying – ‘Lord, I don’t believe Your promise – “Those who wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength”’. Help us, Lord, to stop saying, ‘I can’t’. Help us not to get so busy with other things that we fail to wait upon You, Lord, and renew your strength. When You call us to serve Him, help us to say, ‘Yes, Lord, I will wait upon You. I will renew my strength. I will do Your will’.  

Lord, everything seems so hopeless   - when we take our eyes off You! Help us to keep our eyes on You. Fill us with fresh hope. Sometimes, we can be optimists. Often, we’re pessimists. You’re always “the God of hope” ( Romans 15:13 ). You’re always saying to us, “There is hope” ( Jeremiah 31:17 ). Lord, real hope comes from You. It’s more than human optimism. It’s Your gift to us. It’s Your “gift of eternal life” ( Romans 6:23 ). Lord, real hope comes from You. It’s more than just “hoping for the best.” It’s being lifted up by You, Lord – the God who raised Jesus from the dead (Acts 2::24). Thank You, Lord, for the hope that You give to us when we stand upon Your great promises: “I will pour out My Spirit… and everyone who calls on the Name of the Lord will be saved” ( Acts 2:18 , 21 ). You lift us out of our hopelessness. You give us strength to face the future with confidence – the strength which comes from knowing that You are the God of ho...