My grace is sufficient.

2 Corinthians 12:8-10

⁸Three times I pleaded with the Lord about this, that it should leave me. ⁹But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. ¹⁰For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

My grace is sufficient for you,
for my power is made perfect in weakness.

Power. Strength. Ability. We are not wired to be independent little islands and yet we work towards a level of self-sufficiency that often negatively impacts our relationship with our Savior. Our weaknesses reveal God’s strength. I am often too busy making sure I have done all the things that I forget who is really behind them. And having an ability apart from knowing who has granted it can lead me to a “I did it myself” type of attitude.

Let’s be sure to give the credit where it is due. And rest in God’s good gifts of grace!

Be merciful to me.

Psalm 57:1-3

Be merciful to me, O God, be merciful to me,
    for in you my soul takes refuge;
in the shadow of your wings I will take refuge,
    till the storms of destruction pass by.
²I cry out to God Most High,
    to God who fulfills his purpose for me.
³He will send from heaven and save me;
    he will put to shame him who tramples on me.
God will send out his steadfast love and his faithfulness!

Be merciful to me.

His mercies are new every morning. Do we start each day remembering God’s mercies?

I know there are times when my day simply starts and I don’t always pause to pray or dedicate my day to God and leave space for His work. But, I know my days always start better when I do. Recognizing my position in this world is important, especially in comparison to God. That isn’t to say that the things I am doing are unimportant, it’s just that knowing who I am in relationship to God helps me keep things in perspective. God…fulfills his purpose for me.

The Lord is my light and salvation.

Psalm 27:1

The Lord is my light and my salvation—
whom shall I fear?
The Lord is the stronghold of my life—
of whom shall I be afraid?

The Lord is my light and salvation
whom shall I fear?

There is a lot of fear going around these days. We are not quite through a pandemic which has altered many of our lives and livelihoods. And now there is a war in Ukraine. I can’t really stop any of these things that are going on in the world. But I can run to God with my fears and confusion.

Lord, be my salvation. Be the stronghold of my life. Be my confidence and truth. Be my defender. Be my healer. Be the one that knows the bigger picture and sees how it works together. Be the one I trust in all things. Hear me when I am afraid. Help me trust in You.

The Lord is my light and salvation
whom shall I fear?

Blessed is the man.

Psalm 1

Blessed is the man
    who walks not in the counsel of the wicked,
nor stands in the way of sinners,
    nor sits in the seat of scoffers;
²but his delight is in the law of the Lord,
    and on his law he meditates day and night.

³He is like a tree
    planted by streams of water
that yields its fruit in its season,
    and its leaf does not wither.
In all that he does, he prospers.
⁴The wicked are not so,
    but are like chaff that the wind drives away.

⁵Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment,
nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous;
⁶for the Lord knows the way of the righteous,
but the way of the wicked will perish.

Blessed is the man.

I have a natural tendency to make a stronger connection to any Bible verses that I know through song. This is one of those verses, thanks to Integrity Music’s Scripture Memory Songs, that hangs out in my head the moment I see the first four words on this Psalm.

I enjoy the song and words on a singing level, but I know how God works — the more I hear His Word in whatever form, the more the words sink into my heart and soul. The reminders, the encouragement, the promises all flow in and through my heart and mind and encourage my spirit.

Blessed is the man
    who walks not in the counsel of the wicked,
nor stands in the way of sinners,
    nor sits in the seat of scoffers;
but his delight is in the law of the Lord,
    and on his law he meditates day and night.

He is like a tree
planted by streams of water
that yields its fruit in its season,
and its leaf does not wither.
In all that he does, he prospers.

I probably first heard this song 20+ years ago and it still brings me encouragement. What songs, hymns, and spiritual songs are encouraging to you? Have you listened to them recently?

And a side thought — Have you thought of those songs you want played at your funeral? What songs might bring encouragement to those who will mourn your passing? What are the words from Scripture you want them to hold onto?

I know, this PrayerPoint took a weird turn. But I am going to make a list of words and songs that are important to me today. They may change by the time my time comes to be face-to-face with Jesus, but who knows? We don’t know when our day will come but having thought out a few things ahead of time will make some things easier for those who have to carry on.

Unite my heart.

Psalm 86:8-13

⁸There is none like you among the gods, O Lord,
    nor are there any works like yours.
⁹All the nations you have made shall come
    and worship before you, O Lord,
    and shall glorify your name.
¹⁰For you are great and do wondrous things;
    you alone are God.
¹¹Teach me your way, O Lord,
    that I may walk in your truth;
    unite my heart to fear your name.
¹²I give thanks to you, O Lord my God, with my whole heart,
    and I will glorify your name forever.
¹³For great is your steadfast love toward me;
    you have delivered my soul from the depths of Sheol.

Unite my heart to fear your name.

Have you ever had a divided heart? They aren’t hard to come by. I find myself longing for that thing I should not be longing for or I am stuck between choosing what is the right thing to do and the thing I would rather do. Maybe you have some other scenarios playing in your head. I want my heart to trust in God so I don’t have to look longingly at that other thing that I don’t need in my life. I want to “fear His name” with that sense of awe and reverence. While God is certainly all powerful, I never really look at His power as something to be fearful of in the current understanding of the word. Merriam-Webster defined fear as profound reverence and awe, especially towards God. That fits.

Even when I have really struggled with the burden of sin and consequences I never saw God as one to be afraid of so I appreciate the difference in the use of the word fear in the definition above. Not that God loves sin, He certainly doesn’t. But His patient love for me, even when I am in the middle of being ridiculous, is always evident.

Lord, unite my heart so it is undivided and that is is Yours. Let the rhythm of Your breath of life set the beat of my heart and let it all be for Your glory! Amen.

Teach me your way.

Psalm 86:8-13

⁸There is none like you among the gods, O Lord,
    nor are there any works like yours.
⁹All the nations you have made shall come
    and worship before you, O Lord,
    and shall glorify your name.
¹⁰For you are great and do wondrous things;
    you alone are God.
¹¹Teach me your way, O Lord,
    that I may walk in your truth;
    unite my heart to fear your name.
¹²I give thanks to you, O Lord my God, with my whole heart,
    and I will glorify your name forever.
¹³For great is your steadfast love toward me;
    you have delivered my soul from the depths of Sheol.

Teach me your way, O Lord,
that I may walk in your truth.

I never have to worry about whether or not God will teach me. But, as I am learning in my Hungarian lessons, sometimes it takes me a long time to learn something. The teaching is there — no doubt about that. But, am I a willing and interested student? And, as I am learning to walk in God’s truth, will I stumble and fall, just like a toddler does when they are starting out?

Absolutely.

I am pretty sure I am harder on myself about this than God is on me. I just need to remain teachable. I am in my 50s but I know there is still a lifetime of learning ahead of me!

P.S. Yesterday was a busy day and I wrote out the PrayerPoint but completely forgot to hit the publish button…so you ended up with two PrayerPoints today!

For you are great.

Psalm 86:8-13

⁸There is none like you among the gods, O Lord,
    nor are there any works like yours.
⁹All the nations you have made shall come
    and worship before you, O Lord,
    and shall glorify your name.
¹⁰For you are great and do wondrous things;
    you alone are God.
¹¹Teach me your way, O Lord,
    that I may walk in your truth;
    unite my heart to fear your name.
¹²I give thanks to you, O Lord my God, with my whole heart,
    and I will glorify your name forever.
¹³For great is your steadfast love toward me;
    you have delivered my soul from the depths of Sheol.

For you are great and do wondrous things;
you alone are God.

God has done marvelous things, He is doing amazing things, and so I know He won’t stop. It’s His nature.

I just need to take a look at my life to see His work, His provision, His care for me. Are the times of loss and difficulty? Of course, that is living this life. Any difficulty I have is not an indication of His lack of love or care for me.

Look back and remember what He has done for you. Look at today and see where He is providing for you. See the pattern? Tomorrow will be the same thing. You can count on Him!

Deliver me from bloodguiltiness.

Psalm 51: 13 – 19

¹³Then I will teach transgressors your ways,
and sinners will return to you.
¹⁴Deliver me from bloodguiltiness, O God,
O God of my salvation,
and my tongue will sing aloud of your righteousness.
¹⁵O Lord, open my lips,
and my mouth will declare your praise.
¹⁶For you will not delight in sacrifice, or I would give it;
you will not be pleased with a burnt offering.
¹⁷The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit;
a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.

¹⁸Do good to Zion in your good pleasure;
build up the walls of Jerusalem;
¹⁹then will you delight in right sacrifices,
in burnt offerings and whole burnt offerings;
then bulls will be offered on your altar.

Deliver me from bloodguiltiness.

Sin is sin. The earthly consequences often differ, but in the end, we are all guilty.

I believe satan loves to poke and needle the guilty. He wants us to never forget our sins. And his goal seems to be to interrupt or delay the recognition of our sin as sin and distract us from going to our Deliverer.

Have you ever been stuck in the cycle of sin-guilt-shame-hiding-isolation- discouragement-frustration-anger-distance-sin? It might look a little different in your life, but this type of cycle does not produce healing. Somewhere in the cycle needs to be the confession-forgiveness-deliverance!

Don’t let yourself be fooled by satan and his tactics. The world certainly gives us every reason to justify our behavior. We have been through a lot recently and it looks like things aren’t easing up just yet. But God — He longs to restore and renew us. Daily confession brings daily deliverance. What a beautiful way to start a new day!

Uphold me with a willing spirit.

Psalm 51: 7-12

⁷Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean;
    wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.
⁸Let me hear joy and gladness;
    let the bones that you have broken rejoice.
⁹Hide your face from my sins,
    and blot out all my iniquities.
¹⁰Create in me a clean heart, O God,
    and renew a right spirit within me.
¹¹Cast me not away from your presence,
    and take not your Holy Spirit from me.
¹²Restore to me the joy of your salvation,
    and uphold me with a willing spirit.

Uphold me with a willing spirit.

There are days (and weeks and months) where I need to be held up. Have you been through a season like that? It’s those days when relationships, health, finance, or work challenges are just too much.

Thank God that He sees and knows and sends His reinforcements! He lets us know He is there is so many ways: from taking care of the smallest details to sending the right people to us at just the right time. There are so many ways God holds us up and lifts us up. Sometimes, however, I am guilty of not allowing Him to uphold me. I get comfortable in a cranky place.

Lord, grant me a willing spirit Uphold me in faith with the joy of your salvation! Amen.

Take not your Holy Spirit from me

Psalm 51: 7-12

⁷Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean;
    wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.
⁸Let me hear joy and gladness;
    let the bones that you have broken rejoice.
⁹Hide your face from my sins,
    and blot out all my iniquities.
¹⁰Create in me a clean heart, O God,
    and renew a right spirit within me.
¹¹Cast me not away from your presence,
    and take not your Holy Spirit from me.
¹²Restore to me the joy of your salvation,
    and uphold me with a willing spirit.

Take not your Holy Spirit from me.

Another gut wrenching plea. The weight of our sin in unbearable except for Jesus’ work.

But, if I am honest, sometimes the weight of my sin doesn’t impact me to the core as much as someone else’s. How could that be? I think it is my sinful nature coming through along with the whispering lies of satan.

I am confident in God’s love, care, and provision for me. I am very confident. And yet I vacillate between the gravity of my sin and the work done for me. It’s difficult to hold both of those at the same time.

Do you struggle with this, too?