"Oh, Lord, You're Beautiful!" My Maundy Thursday Prayer

Dearest Lord:

The early mornings during this Passion Week have been moving for my heart, mind, soul, and strength. To see the splendor of a full moon vying for attention with the brilliant colors of each sunrise has been spectacular.

What I'm trying to say is, "Oh Lord, You're Beautiful!" I cannot grasp the magnitude of Your Love. How could the very God who tells the sun, moon, and stars when to rise and shine also have cared so much about my seemingly insignificant soul to actually become human like me. And why did you become human like me? So, You could become the Supreme, Sacrificial Lamb of God and be slaughtered to make atonement for my sin? Unfathomable! Unimaginable! Undeniable! That's what Your compassion is to me, my God.

Finally, I thank You that until You can get me safe and sound to Your eternal Home in Heaven, You have made Your Home in me. As I worship You today, Maundy Thursday, may You surely sense the depth of my full devotion for You, as I truly realize the massive debt of love I owe to You.

In Jesus' Name. Amen.

Click here: Oh Lord, You're Beautiful - Keith Green - YouTube

Jesus, You were dead. But on Easter Sunday You told Yourself to "rise and shine". Indeed, I give you the glory, glory!
Grateful

Adonai

The Names of our God are so Glorious.

This song below celebrates one of His Holy Names, Adonai. Abraham addressed God as Adonai, meaning Lord, Lord, LORD, my Master -- the Master has a right to His possession.

Click here: Paul Wilbur - Adonai - Live - YouTube

Exclusively God's Possession!
Grateful

Lord...You Keep Your Promises.

Seems like this week I need to know and to trust that God keeps His promises more than ever. This verse solidifies my soul like an anchor in the Solid Rock:

LORD God of Heaven, You are great and fearsome. And You faithfully keep Your promises to everyone who loves You and obeys Your commands. -- Nehemiah 1:5 (CEV)

My Lord, You Are Faithful and I am...
Grateful

My Upholder, My Sustainer

Behold, God is my Helper and Ally; the Lord is my Upholder (my Sustainer)... -- Psalm 54:4 (Amplified Bible)

Cast your cares on the LORD and He will sustain you; He will never let the righteous be shaken. -- Psalm 55:22 (NIV)

Lord, search my motives, my mind, and my mysteries...
Grateful

The Sailor's 23rd Psalm

I was raised on an island where the sea meets the land. The imagery that inspires me most deeply is ocean imagery. I recently found in my research this sailor's paraphrase of the 23rd Psalm. I hope it encourages you as it does me:

The Lord is my Pilot, I shall not drift.
He guides me across the dark waters.
He steers me through deep channels.
He keeps my log.
Yea, though I sail ‘mid the thunders
and tempest of life,
I shall dread no anger, for He is with me;
His love and His care, shelter me.
He prepares a quiet harbor before me.
He anoints the waves with oil
My ship rides calmly.
Surely sunlight and starlight
shall guide me on the voyage I take,
And I will rest in the Heaven's port forever.

Here's a favorite old song of Seaside souls:
Click here: YouTube - Bessie Griffin: Old Ship Of Zion

Peace, be still...
Grateful

His Joy Equals Your Strength

This verse has been wonderfully invigorating to my soul lately:

Do not sorrow, for the joy of the Lord is your strength.
-- Nehemiah 8:10b (NKJV)

ALL JOY TO YOUR WORLD!
Grateful

If We Harbor Unforgiveness?

If we harbor unforgiveness in our hearts against others, the Lord will not listen to our cries for His mercy.

If I had cherished sin in my heart, the Lord would not have listened.
--Psalm 66:18 (NIV)

Blessed are the merciful for they will be shown mercy.
-- Matthew 5:7 (NIV)

For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.
-- Matthew 6:14-15 (NIV)

IF MY PEOPLE... WILL? I WILL! God's Promise in 2 Chron. 7:14.
Grateful

Last Laugh

Lord, when You have the last laugh over the devil and the powers of darkness, I want to be laughing with You. In the name of Jesus. Amen.

IF MY PEOPLE... WILL? I WILL! God's Promise in 2 Chron. 7:14.
Grateful

Arise & Shine!

Arise, my soul... for Your Lord is Risen!
Shine, be light... for Your Lord is Glorified!

The children's praise chorus shouts aloud:
Rise and shine. Give God the glory, glory!

Awake, you who sleep. Arise from the dead. And Christ will give you light.-- Ephesians 5:14 (NLT)

IF MY PEOPLE... WILL? I WILL! God's Promise in 2 Chron. 7:14.
Grateful

The Lord Kept Watch Over the Ship

If I did not see that the Lord kept watch over the ship, I should long since abandoned the helm. But I see Him -- through the storm, strengthening the tackling, handling the yards, spreading the sails -- aye more, commanding the very winds! Should I not be a coward if I abandoned my post? Let Him govern, let Him carry us forward, let Him hasten or delay, we will fear nothing! -- Martin Luther

IF MY PEOPLE... WILL? I WILL! God's Promise in 2 Chron. 7:14.
Grateful

Lord, Give Me Your Eyes.

The Lord is teaching me to pray today through Colossians 1:24:

Now I rejoice in what was suffered for you, and I fill up in my flesh what is still lacking in regard to Christ’s afflictions, for the sake of His body, which is the church. (NIV)

But part of my work is to suffer for you; and I am glad, for I am helping to finish up the remainder of Christ’s sufferings for His body, the Church. (TLB)

I pray that the Lord will allow me to enter His agony in my prayer life. Why? I want to see the world He died for from His perspective. He invites you and me to share in the fellowship of His sufferings when we pray. Surely, if we see from His perspective while on our knees, we will walk into the world and make it different.

I don't know about you, but I now pray fervently the words of the contemporary Christian song by Brandon Heath: Lord, give me Your eyes. Amen.

Click here: YouTube - Brandon Heath - Give Me Your Eyes

Pray all the time. Ask God for anything in line with the Holy Spirit’s wishes. -- Ephesians 6:18 (TLB)

IF MY PEOPLE... WILL? I WILL! God's Promise in 2 Chron. 7:14.
Grateful

Forever?

I challenge you to come up with a definition for the word forever. It will be a frustrating but inspiring experience if the Lord is Your Good Shepherd.

Psalm 23:6 (TLB) -- Your goodness and unfailing kindness shall be with me all of my life, and afterwards I will live with You forever in your home.

IF MY PEOPLE... WILL? I WILL! God's Promise in 2 Chron. 7:14.
Grateful

Raise Praise

In the coastlands of the sea, praise the name of the LORD...
-- Isaiah 24:15 (NLT)

Lord, as a native island boy, I raise Your praise in holy harmony with those who dwell in the coastlands of the sea! Let everyone that has breath Raise Praise in the name of Jesus. Amen.

IF MY PEOPLE... WILL? I WILL! God's Promise in 2 Chron. 7:14.
Grateful

Your Hope

...put your hope in the LORD — now and always.
-- Psalm 131:3 (NLT)

IF MY PEOPLE... WILL? I WILL! God's Promise in 2 Chron. 7:14.
Grateful

Intensify My Hunger

Lord, intensify my hunger for You. Amen.
-- Dennis Kinlaw's prayer recorded in his book, The Mind of Christ

Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,for they will be filled. Matthew 5:6 (NIV)
-- Words of Chrst recorded in His Sermon on the Mount

IF MY PEOPLE... WILL? I WILL! God's Promise in 2 Chron. 7:14.
Grateful

His Hallowed Presence, Our Human Pursuits

Holiness is a life caught in awe of His Hallowed Presence, not a lesson taught by all of our human pursuits.

Oh, worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness!
Tremble before Him, all the earth.
-- Psalm 96:9 (NKJV)

IF MY PEOPLE... WILL? I WILL! God's Promise in 2 Chron. 7:14.
Grateful

Precious Death?

Precious in the sight of the LORD is the death of His saints.
-- Psalm 116:15 (NIV)

For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain.
-- The Apostle Paul's Words in Philippians 1:21 (NIV)

IF MY PEOPLE... WILL? I WILL! God's Promise in 2 Chron. 7:14.
Grateful

Looking Like The Gardener?

Rev. Bill Wilson planted this thought in my mind a few years ago:

Did you ever think that maybe the Resurrected Jesus came back in appearance on that first Easter Morning looking like "the Gardener" (to Mary Magdalene) so He could help us through the agony of our own Gethsemanes?

John 20:11-18 (NLT) -- (11) Mary was standing outside the tomb crying, and as she wept, she stooped and looked in. (12) She saw two white-robed angels sitting at the head and foot of the place where the body of Jesus had been lying. (13) "Why are you crying?" the angels asked her. "Because they have taken away my Lord," she replied, "and I don’t know where they have put Him." (14) She glanced over her shoulder and saw Someone standing behind her. It was Jesus, but she didn’t recognize Him. (15) "Why are you crying?" Jesus asked her. "Who are you looking for?" She thought He was the gardener. "Sir," she said, "if You have taken Him away, tell me where You have put him, and I will go and get Him." (16) "Mary!" Jesus said. She turned toward Him and exclaimed, "Teacher!" (17) "Don’t cling to Me," Jesus said, "for I haven’t yet ascended to the Father. But go find My brothers and tell them that I Am ascending to My Father and your Father, My God and your God." (18) Mary Magdalene found the disciples and told them, "I have seen the Lord!" Then she gave them His message.

IF MY PEOPLE... WILL? I WILL! God's Promise in 2 Chron. 7:14.
Grateful

Breathe Holiness

My conscious, desperate prayer to the Lord for a few days now and my unconscious, desperate prayer for all of my days is seven words from King David's prayer in Psalm 51:11 from The Message Paraphrase of the Holy Bible:

Don't... fail to breathe holiness in me!

IF MY PEOPLE... WILL? I WILL! God's Promise in 2 Chron. 7:14.
Grateful

The Lord "Had" Left Him

In Psalm 51:11 (TLB), King David included this plea in his passionate prayer of repentance: Don’t toss me aside, banished forever from your presence. Don’t take your Holy Spirit from me.

Precious Holy Spirit, let me never put You off, lest You would put me off. In Jesus' name. Amen.

(16-17) She (Delilah) nagged at him (Samson) every day until he couldn’t stand it any longer and finally told her his secret. "My hair has never been cut," he confessed, "for I’ve been a Nazirite to God since before my birth. If my hair were cut, my strength would leave me, and I would become as weak as anyone else." (18) Delilah realized that he had finally told her the truth, so she sent for the five Philistine leaders. "Come just this once more," she said, "for this time he has told me everything." So they brought the money with them. (19) She lulled him to sleep with his head in her lap, and they brought in a barber and cut off his hair. Delilah began to hit him, but she could see that his strength was leaving him. (20) Then she screamed, "The Philistines are here to capture you, Samson!" And he woke up and thought, "I will do as before; I’ll just shake myself free." But he didn’t realize that the Lord had left him. -- Judges 16:16-20 (TLB)

At the very end of his life, Samson humbled himself, prayed, sought God, repented and wouldn't you know the Lord returned upon His life with power.

We read the end of the story in Judges 16:28-31 (TLB) -- (28) Then Samson prayed to the Lord and said, "O Lord Jehovah, remember me again—please strengthen me one more time, so that I may pay back the Philistines for the loss of at least one of my eyes." (29) Then Samson pushed against the pillars with all his might. (30) "Let me die with the Philistines," he prayed. And the temple crashed down upon the Philistine leaders and all the people. So those he killed at the moment of his death were more than those he had killed during his entire lifetime. (31) Later, his brothers and other relatives came down to get his body, and they brought him back home and buried him between Zorah and Eshtaol, where his father, Manoah, was buried. He had led Israel for twenty years.

IF MY PEOPLE... WILL? I WILL! God's Promise in 2 Chron. 7:14.
Grateful