Tag: PrayerPoints

Wash me thoroughly.

Psalm 51:1-6

Have mercy on me, O God,
    according to your steadfast love;
according to your abundant mercy
    blot out my transgressions.
2 Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity,
    and cleanse me from my sin!

3 For I know my transgressions,
    and my sin is ever before me.
4 Against you, you only, have I sinned
    and done what is evil in your sight,
so that you may be justified in your words
    and blameless in your judgment.
5 Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity,
    and in sin did my mother conceive me.
6 Behold, you delight in truth in the inward being,
    and you teach me wisdom in the secret heart.

Wash me thoroughly.

A thorough washing has an attention to detail. God knows our details. He is thorough.

What Good News that is!

When I am thoroughly washed, I feel differently. I act differently. Give me a day or two in bed with an illness or injury and unable to take a shower, it feels icky and I don’t like it. At all.

When you take your next shower or bath, think about how God washes you thoroughly. Let the waters remind you of your baptism. Don’t fall for the lie that you’ve done too much or gone too far to be forgiven. That is satan whispering, talking, shouting….he wants there to be a wedge between you and your Savior.

But God….

He loves you.

He has mercy for you.

He blots out your transgressions.

He wants to wash away those sins and iniquities.

Thoroughly.

Blot out my transgressions.

Psalm 51:1-6

Have mercy on me, O God,
    according to your steadfast love;
according to your abundant mercy
    blot out my transgressions.
2 Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity,
    and cleanse me from my sin!

3 For I know my transgressions,
    and my sin is ever before me.
4 Against you, you only, have I sinned
    and done what is evil in your sight,
so that you may be justified in your words
    and blameless in your judgment.
5 Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity,
    and in sin did my mother conceive me.
6 Behold, you delight in truth in the inward being,
    and you teach me wisdom in the secret heart.

Blot out my transgressions.

What a relief that the God who created the Universe tends to my offenses. They are numerous, to be sure. And I am grateful. I can always endeavor to do better, but the fact remains that I am not nor ever will be perfect on my own. My perfection comes through Jesus.

It’s a relief that I don’t have to work and work to try to erase my own sins. The work has been done. And my response? It takes a different twist every time I consider what God has done — and is doing — for me.

I am relieved.

I am grateful.

I more easily forgive others.

I stand taller.

I rest.

I can relax knowing that the work is done. God’s work is complete and continuous — all at the same time. The depth of God’s love and mercy is more than I can even imagine!

May you know the deep relief of God’s mercy and grace as you consider your transgressions. His provision is more than enough.

Have mercy on me, O God

Psalm 51:1-6

Have mercy on me, O God,
    according to your steadfast love;
according to your abundant mercy
    blot out my transgressions.
2 Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity,
    and cleanse me from my sin!

3 For I know my transgressions,
    and my sin is ever before me.
4 Against you, you only, have I sinned
    and done what is evil in your sight,
so that you may be justified in your words
    and blameless in your judgment.
5 Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity,
    and in sin did my mother conceive me.
6 Behold, you delight in truth in the inward being,
    and you teach me wisdom in the secret heart.

Have mercy on me, O God

Originally, when I started this Lenten series, I was thinking about verbs and things that God asks of us through His Word. And then as I was processing the week and the highlighted verses, it seemed to me that I needed to shift the focus from what we should, can, or have been encouraged “to do” to what God has done.

It all starts with what God has done for us.

Can we give what we haven’t been given? No. Any mercy we can extend comes from the Mercy Giver.

So, as you go about your day, receive what God has gifted you. Consider His mercy today. And each day, during this Lenten season, let’s receive these good gifts from our Heavenly Father. An awareness of what we have been given better prepares us to give.

Pray without ceasing.

Each week or so there will be a focus verse. Within that verse, there will be daily reflections so we can all sit and soak on a section of Scripture. Granted, it is a very tiny section — just 5-10 sentences, but, as you know, God can say so much in such a little space. And, it is important to sit with His Word and let it take root in our heart and mind.

1 Thessalonians 5:12-24 ESV

12 We ask you, brothers, to respect those who labor among you and are over you in the Lord and admonish you, 13 and to esteem them very highly in love because of their work. Be at peace among yourselves. 14 And we urge you, brothers, admonish the idle, encourage the fainthearted, help the weak, be patient with them all. 15 See that no one repays anyone evil for evil, but always seek to do good to one another and to everyone. 16 Rejoice always, 17 pray without ceasing, 18 give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. 19 Do not quench the Spirit. 20 Do not despise prophecies, 21 but test everything; hold fast what is good. 22 Abstain from every form of evil.

23 Now may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. 24 He who calls you is faithful; he will surely do it.

Pray without ceasing.

The time to pray is always now, no matter the circumstances surrounding us. But, these days, there are increasingly more reasons to pray. In the midst of so much going on, I actually don’t even know what to say as I pray. Sometimes, that might be preferable. I look at all that is happening and I feel pretty powerless. But prayer is absolutely powerful. Don’t let discouragement stop you from looking to God for peace, rescue, healing, forgiveness, and provision.

Even if you have nothing to say, offer yourself. Sometimes, recognizing that we have nothing to offer is the very place we need to be for God to do His work. Sometimes, just handing the topic over to God and letting Him know what is on our hearts is enough.

Pray without ceasing…

… for Ukraine

… for peace

… for those displaced

… for all countries experiencing unrest

… for those things on your heart

Discernment

I often consider (rather over consider) what others think about what I am doing. This is a challenge in multiple areas of my life but definitely within the realm of PrayerPoints. You would think that after writing PrayerPoints for 12 or so years (I have totally lost count) that I would know my voice in this space. And if you have been following me for any length of time, you know that things ebb and flow — I come up with a plan to simplify things, but then I lose the spontaneity and, all the while, I am trying to be responsive to the most important voice in the matter — God’s.

But, I am this creature who responds to the rules of man, too. And the discernment of which is which is baffling me at present. PrayerPoints started out as a daily Lenten devotional and it was something I did every morning when I woke up. I would write what was on my heart — where God was working on me. And then, later, it became that thing that I was nervous about and I was thinking ,”Who am I to say anything?” and “Who am I, daring to speak something other than Scripture?” to “What if I am leading someone astray?” to knowing full well that God isn’t like that. He knows I am on this journey with Him. He knows I am growing and struggling and He loves me in and through all of it!

But then I struggled with the idea that I should be more organized and have a plan. And I have been trying spontaneously-planned Mondays — focusing on a verse for the month — being topical — writing more often — and all of the things you have noticed. But, I really think that PrayerPoints felt like the most natural communication was coming when it was a Lenten Devotional that each morning made its appearance in my heart. No planning ahead.

For now, I am going to take an intentional break from PrayerPoints outside of Lent. I am entering a crazy busy season and while I will still try to write down my thoughts on a regular basis, I won’t push the publish button unless something really feels like it should be shared.

I would totally love your feedback about all of this. And, please pray for my discernment!

I assume I will see you March 2nd, 2022 for the next PrayerPoints Lenten devotional series. That seems to be the rhythm that works. But, I am certainly open to what God has to say about that.

God’s peace to you as you navigate these days! I am thankful for God’s grace and care for me and my family. And I encourage you to look for where He is working in your life and heart!

In Him,
Liz

Waiting

We were in on a fun event over the weekend. Our youngest was coming home from Spain after being gone for 9 months and she created an elaborate scheme because wanted to surprise her sister who thought she was coming home a week later.

Things went pretty smoothly — although keeping track of all the “misleadings” was an awful lot of work. And there there were the delays: technical delays from New Jersey. The plane needed some mechanical work.

I couldn’t really argue with that, could I? I knew this plane was going to have precious cargo on it!!!

So, we readjusted our plans several times and tried to think of how we could still have a surprise. A little delay wasn’t a big problem. But the delay kept getting longer and longer. And pretty soon we were stuck spilling the beans to the sister who had no idea the real reason behind why we were visiting her.

We told the very confused and very excited state-side sister that the world traveling sister was coming home right now and we had to go get her from the airport. She was excited, of course, but trying to figure what clues she missed.

And so there would still be an element of surprise we decided it would be fun to surprise the surpriser!

We did a double reverse — when you have concocted a plan (surprise) but it flips around and you are the receiver of the surprise.

We let the state-side sister be the first one to greet the traveling sister at the airport. And, it worked!

So, our youngest is back “home” for a few months. She is hoping the babies (a niece and nephew) will remember her and she is looking forward to hanging out with the fam.

Sometimes our plans are sidetracked and delayed. It’s just how life goes. Sometimes there are important mechanical delays. Sometimes things just don’t go the way we wanted them to. And, sometimes, you get to be in on a surprise from start to finish. Knowing the big picture and having a well thought out plan does not mean things will go the way you want.

And that’s ok. And sometimes it is better. God always has a bigger picture in mind. I just have to keep trusting Him and doing the next thing!

The Places

Today, let’s focus on the places of your day!

Those places you actually go. It may feel pretty weird if you are getting out after being restricted for over a year… and maybe you are ready. And, maybe you aren’t quite ready.

Sometimes going anywhere is a treat!

Or, you may have restrictions on your movement due to any number of reasons, so it is definitely about where your mind goes…

Where you go and how you get there isn’t really the point. But do consider the places of your day. Sometimes we are “in a place” and we haven’t moved a muscle. Other times we dread going to a certain place or, at the very least, it brings up uncomfortable memories. Sometimes we are in a mood and I definitely consider that a place — even though it is more of a place of emotion.

Sometimes we are in a place of grief, disappointment, discouragement, disillusionment….

And, sometimes we are in a place of joy, peace, contentment, wonder…

Sometimes all of those places happen within the space of a day. Where we are makes a difference. Presenting all of the above to God is important because it is an opportunity to recognize where we are — in heart, in spirit, and in body.

Even more importantly, let’s let Him be our dwelling place — whether or not we are moving about we can always be in connection with God — being sustained by Him — and recognizing our place with Him from sunrise to the darkness of the night.

Lord, you have been our dwelling place
    throughout all generations.
Before the mountains were born
    or you brought forth the whole world,
    from everlasting to everlasting you are God. Psalm 90:1-2 NIV

Thank you, Barb, for the verse!

Philippians 4:6-7

I have always loved this verse!

During May, I plan to explore different sections of these two verses and I encourage you to mull them over and make a deeper connection with them too! For now, commit it to memory if it isn’t already tucked away. If you have been reading PrayerPoints for any length of time, you know that music is very important to me. So, of course, I have to point out a song for this Psalm.

In the beginning…

1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. 3 Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. 5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. John 1:1-5

Let’s back it up to the beginning and take a look at what was. How it all began.

The Word. The Light. The Life.

And let’s focus on the Light. To be honest, I am feeling the darkness, and it is a bit overwhelming. So, I need to make sure The Light is around me.

The Light helps my perspective…. it helps my vision….. it helps my processing. It helps me see what is true and good. And it is so amazing what a little bit of light can do in a dark place!

I am holding onto this promise:

“And the darkness has not overcome it.”

Stinkin’ Thinkin’

Have you ever needed an attitude adjustment? Do you have a crazy situation from your past that was a unfair and created a huge life change?

  • Job loss
  • Natural disaster
  • Unexpected pregnancy
  • Cross country move
  • Friendship loss
  • Illness
  • __________________________ (go ahead, fill in that blank!)

I know not everything has a happy ending. This life on Earth is filled with struggles and disappointments. And yet, God can bring about good from difficulties. It doesn’t erase the pain from the situations. Some people are living through some extremely difficult circumstances. Ones that I cannot even imagine walking through. I don’t have any easy or pat answers. But I know time can help. Time and distance can give us a perspective that we cannot possibly have in the moment.

God can take the manure dumps of life and use them to fertilize some other things that need to grow. That tilling and hoeing of our lives can produce new and different fruit. How many ministries have come out of despair? How many incredible hymns and books have been written that show God’s transformative work?

You have surely had an ugly thing or two happen to you. If it happened 5-10 years ago and you realized a truth of God at a deeper level, consider sharing that with someone.

May you see God at work in your past as well as in your today!
Liz