Prayer & Praise: April 11-17
ⶠ   A PSALM OF ASAPH.
¶    Truly God is good to Israel,
to those who are pure in heart.
But as for me, my feet had almost stumbled,
my steps had nearly slipped.
For I was envious of the arrogant
when I saw the prosperity of the wicked.
¶    For they have no pangs until death;
their bodies are fat and sleek.
They are not in trouble as others are;
they are not stricken like the rest of mankind.
Therefore pride is their necklace;
violence covers them as a garment.
Their eyes swell out through fatness;
their hearts overflow with follies.
They scoff and speak with malice;
loftily they threaten oppression.
They set their mouths against the heavens,
and their tongue struts through the earth.
Therefore his people turn back to them,
and find no fault in them.
And they say, âHow can God know?
Is there knowledge in the Most High?â
Behold, these are the wicked;
always at ease, they increase in riches.
All in vain have I kept my heart clean
and washed my hands in innocence.
For all the day long I have been stricken
and rebuked every morning.
If I had said, âI will speak thus,â
I would have betrayed the generation of your children.
¶ But when I thought how to understand this,
it seemed to me a wearisome task,
until I went into the sanctuary of God;
then I discerned their end.
¶    Truly you set them in slippery places;
you make them fall to ruin.
How they are destroyed in a moment,
swept away utterly by terrors!
Like a dream when one awakes,
O Lord, when you rouse yourself, you despise them as phantoms.
When my soul was embittered,
when I was pricked in heart,
I was brutish and ignorant;
I was like a beast toward you.
¶    Nevertheless, I am continually with you;
you hold my right hand.
You guide me with your counsel,
and afterward you will receive me to glory.
Whom have I in heaven but you?
And there is nothing on earth that I desire besides you.
My flesh and my heart may fail,
but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.
¶    For behold, those who are far from you shall perish;
you put an end to everyone who is unfaithful to you.
But for me it is good to be near God;
I have made the Lord GOD my refuge,
that I may tell of all your works.â
(Psalms 73:0â28 ESV)
This was the text of my very first message -my candidating message, in fact – at my present church.
I love this passage.
“Whom have I in heaven but you?
And there is nothing on earth that I desire besides you.
My flesh and my heart may fail,
but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever”
I love that this is where we end, through Gods mercies, when we suffer betrayal of men. The more men fail us, the more Gods faithfulness is made famous in our spirits.
What a rare treasure we have in how God loves and cares for us. It is incomparable.
I pray the we would respond to this miraculous love today with a single mind and a hunger for genuine intimacy with the Lover of our souls
“What a rare treasure we have in how God loves and cares for us. It is incomparable.” amen Nomans, amen …
“My flesh and my heart may fail,
but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.” and more – He is the strength of our minds
Dear friends: May I ask for prayer for me and my family? My health issues have been getting worse. I’ve now been diagnosed with a new condition that is quite difficult to deal with. This is in addition to the PTSD and Chronic Fatigue Syndrome I’ve been dealing with for years now.
We’re really not sure where this is leading us. We would very much appreciate your prayers.
Thanks.
Psa 73:26
My health may fail, and my spirit may grow weak, but God remains the strength of my heart; he is mine forever
Dear Cash,
Praying for you. May Jesus be your strength and meet your every need.
Praying for you, Cash….praying for healing and strength and wisdom and God’s merciful presence.
Cash, Joining the rest in prayer for you, and your family. May the Lord carry you through this, and give you much strength. Bless you Cash..
oh Cash, I am so sorry…joining the others in prayer for you.
Cash, praying.
Amen to today’s Psalm.
Praying for Cash.
Praying Cash.
Joining the others in prayer for Cash …
You are in my prayers Cash.
Cash, praying for healing and comfort
You guys are all awesome. I knew I could count on you! đ
Cash – praying.
Cash,
Prayers are ascending.
Praying Cash
praying
Dear faithful prayer warriors … please pray for my mom … she now has this nasty chest cold too. It seems to be hitting her hard as well. I still feel terrible … coughing a lot … now my mom is coughing badly & is having trouble breathing. This could get serious very quickly … please pray! Please especially pray for wisdom for me … if & when to take her to the hospital. It’s always such a hard call … she may need to go … but it always takes it’s toll also … hard call … uggg. Anyway … prayer needed.
Nancy,
Praying…
Nancy, I’m so sorry. Praying right now, for healing and for wisdom. Praying as well for God’s strength to sustain.
nancy praying
Thanks … you are all the best! Mom settled a little bit … for now anyway. I made her get out of bed. That seemed to help once she caught her breath from moving around … oh … & trying to yell at me for making her get up. đŻ Right now she’s sitting up in her recliner watching Pride & Prejudice … she had a little chicken soup … and is breathing much better. She’s still coughing hard but not as much as before. Thanks bunches for the prayer … it’s greatly needed.
So far I’ve been able to keep my mom comfortable at home. During the night is when things tend to get the most tricky … so please keep her in prayer.
praying for your mom Nancy. Praying also for you my friend. ((hugs)))
Nancy, In prayer tonight for your mom and you as well. I took my mom to the dr the other night, and she has pneumonia! I just hope your mom will be ok, and you are able to get some rest as well. Blessings to you..
My mom did pretty well during the night … some coughing but not too bad. She was able to sleep … me on the other hand … I was coughing a good bit of the night. đ Oh well … the good news is … I was awake enough to keep giving her cough meds every 4 hours. That seemed to do the trick. It’s morning and things always seem better in the morning … thanks for praying us through the long night.
Nene, I’m so sorry your mom has pneumonia … I’ll add her to my prayers.
Glad mom is doing better, Nancy…will be praying for you to get ahead of this. I was up most o the night coughing from allergies and asthma. I’ll remember to pray for you through the night..
Lord, strengthen these beautiful daughters here who carry the burdens of family so faithfully. They are such blessed women; the men who are tasked with family responsibilities, Lord i pray that You will be their strength and provision. A fuller measure of the ministering of God the Holy Spirit, Lord. Quiet confidence, Lord. Be to them a strong provider and hope. We’ll walk, Lord. You provide. We’ll praise Your name – no matter what – renew our minds in Your Truth to praise You.
ââGod uses chronic pain and weakness, along with other afflictions, as his chisel for sculpting our lives. Felt weakness deepens dependence on Christ for strength each day. The weaker we feel, the harder we lean. And the harder we lean, the stronger we grow spiritually, even while our bodies waste away. To live with your âthornâ uncomplainingly â that is, sweet, patient, and free in heart to love and help others, even though every day you feel weak â is true sanctification. It is true healing for the spirit. It is a supreme victory of grace.ââ
â J.I. Packer
My mom is still really sick … me too … & my husband too … đ but so far not to the point where we can’t handle things at home. Please keep us in prayer …
praying.
Praying, Nancy.
Michael…whew, that is something to think on. To live with your thorn uncomplainingly….ugh, I am so far from that.
if the torn is left by God’s plan for you…He will give you the strength to endure it so you and rejoice in the power of Christ.
also…it is ok to pray for release from the thorn if God has not made it clear that He will use it for His will…even then we can ask to have the cup removed …but not my will but Yours be done…
Nancy, praying for you and your family for complete healing. love you
Thanks for the prayer … we all made it through the night without too much drama. Thankfully my mom was able to sleep pretty well.
Really glad, Nancy!
Jumping in to ask for prayer … I’m having trouble settling my mom’s coughing …
Praying, Nancy. Lord, have mercy.
Could use some prayer for encouragement. Very discouraging things happening at work that I may need to confront. Please pray for God’s wisdom and discernment.
Nancy-praying for your Mom and you…
Linnea, praying.
I can do all things through Christ, who strengthens me.
Linnea,
You got it…
Praying here as well, Linnea
Nancy…still praying for you and mom.
reading and praying
God keep all close and comforted this night
from Michael’s link to Piper’s sermon – it ends with:
“Implication #7: Jesus Gets the Full Glory
Give Christ all his glory in the work of salvation, not just half of it. Half is the work of pardoning sin by becoming our wrath-absorbing punishment. But the other half is the work of providing our perfection by fulfilling everything that God required of us, and then imputing it to us.
Donât rob the Lord of half his glory in bringing you to God. Christ is our pardon. Christ is our perfection. Therefore, knowing that Jesus and Paul preached the same gospel, letâs join Paul from the heart in saying
I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith.
In the end, we sing:
Hallelujah! All I have is Christ.
Hallelujah! Jesus is my life.”
sweet, sweet words
it’s all Christ – help us Lord to live and move and find reality where You are
My mom was admitted into the hospital … she’s not happy about it but it’s where she needs to be. Her breathing … & coughing was just too bad to handle things at home. She looked much better when I left her tonight at the hospital than she did today. She’s all settled into a room & getting the breathing treatments she needs. Her heart is acting up a bit … but thankfully not too much so far. Anyway … thanks for the prayer …
Linnea, Praying!
Oh … & I told my mom you were all praying for her & she thought that was really nice. đ
Nancy,
Take this time and get some rest…that’s an order. đ
joining everyone in prayers for Linnea and Nancy and family. Praying God’s best for you two lovely ladies.
Linnea and Nancy, praying for you both..job and mom.
Dusty, you too..praying..
Thank you for your prayers.
Cash..praying for you this morning…
Sarah…praying for your asthma and allergies, as well as for your Mom and family
Michael… great quote by Packer, and so true. As Sarah said, to accept the thorn without complaint is the real challenge. I, too, am so far from that, but know through experience that this present suffering yields spiritual gain. Who chooses suffering? Not I.
Michael,
Not that I usually follow orders well … but I’m trying. If I could just stop coughing long enough to actually get some rest …. yikes! đ
My mom is getting better slowly … she actually sounds better than me. đ Hopefully her lungs will clear up in a couple days & they will let her come home. She really very much dislikes being in the hospital … but I think even she somewhat admits it’s where she needs to be right now … well … at least at times she admits it. đ Thanks for all the prayers!
Nancy, continuing to pray for you and your mom. Praying especially that you get some rest tonight.
đ went to post that i was praying tonight and up came a little notice, “looks like you’ve already said that” … well computer genie i’m still doin it – so there!
Good Morning…
I could really use some prayer cover today and next week. Please pray for God”s wisdom, discernment and spiritual, physical and emotional strength as I deal with some very tough issues. Thank you so much for always faithfully praying.
Praying, Linnea.
praying the list … and beyond đ
it’s all Christ – “to God be the glory, great things He hath done” and there’s more to come
God keep all close, comforted and edified this weekend
haven’t seen Jeff around…remember he and Karen in prayer..as she continues to battle cancer.
Em, glad you are not listening to the computer genie. đ
Lennea, still praying for you.
‘went to post that i was praying tonight and up came a little notice, âlooks like youâve already said thatâ ⊠well computer genie iâm still doin it â so there!’
Me too, so there. Praying this wonderful evening.
Praying for all the PP family on the prayer thread…and thanking God for the PP Women Prayer Warriors who are so faithful!!!
Father please forgive me for my unbelief and give me belief.
Please forgive me for unrighteous anger and convict me of sin and crush it out of me. It is Your will that I do not sin and I am praying according to your will. It is your will that I should be filled with the power of your Holy Spirit and I am praying according to your will. Your will be done, not mine. Show me your will. Fill me with the power of Your Holy Spirit. Do whatever it is with me you want me to do. Give me the ability to hold nothing back from you and to surrender all, daily.
Father, I am praying for miracles…not as an evil generation seeking a sign…true miracles so that You will be glorified and your people will be awed and encouraged and comforted in their pain (spiritual, emotional and physical).
Praying in the name of Jesus Christ the Messiah.