A Message to Pray On

Dear Lord; Good morning Father.  For the last day or so Lord, I’ve had a Bible verse on my heart.  It’s always been one of my favorites, but I’m feeling like I should be paying particular attention to it at the moment; That somehow it’s important that I keep it at the front of my mind.  The verse is from the Book of Joshua :

“Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go.” – Joshua 1:9 (NIV)

Now, I’ll admit to having been discouraged about a number of things as of late so maybe that’s the key here, but I just feel there’s more to it than that.  I went back this morning and reread Joshua 1 in it’s entirety to put the verse in full context, and found another passage that set off bells in my head as well :

“Be strong and very courageous. Be careful to obey all the law my servant Moses gave you; do not turn from it to the right or to the left, that you may be successful wherever you go.” – Joshua 1:7 (NIV)

This immediately clicked with a blog posting I read last night on the website “A Mile in My Schu’s” about how we can get “Off Course” from our path to You.  I always find it fascinating how when You need to get a point across to me, I seem to see it repeated and led to in so many places.

Ok Father, I get that this verse is important for me at the moment.  It’s certainly a positive message, and one I try to remember when my life heads in uncertain directions.  However I still feel there’s more behind Your insistence to me to focus on this missive than I’m seeing right now.

For example, these verses both enforce the command to “Be strong and courageous”… Hmmm, have I been that lately?  If I’m honest with myself Lord, probably not so much as I should be.  There’s so much to contemplate and pray about here…

Heavenly Father, thank You for Your constant Presence and Guidance in my life.  Please give me the clarity and focus to serve Your Will as You intend me to, and to see through my own flaws so I can focus on Your Glory.  Amen.

~Phather Phil

You shall not give false testimony…

Dear Lord; Happy Monday Father.  As always, I’d like to start today by thanking You for the Blessings You bestowed on me this past weekend.  While we had some disappointments in regards to plans that had been made, I did get to spend quite a bit of relaxed time with my family and some friends.  All in all, it was a quiet but happy couple of days and I thank You for that.

This morning Lord, I’d like to talk about honesty if I may.  It’s been a topic on my mind the last couple of days, as our disruption in plans this past weekend appears to have been the result of some deceit from someone Shannon and I had trusted.  We haven’t been able to confirm our suspicions yet, but it’s extremely likely that we’re correct in this case.  Either way, the situation got me thinking about the importance of truth in our lives in general, and how as Your Children we need to focus on it in our lives.

To begin with, I have to beg Your Forgiveness Lord.  When I started going over the whole subject in my head, I put myself and my actions in a “litmus test” against Your Law and I found myself lacking.  While I like to think of myself as an honest individual, if I truly subject myself to Your Absolutes I lie nearly every day in some fashion.  Whether it’s a “little white lie” to avoid hurting someone’s feelings, or telling my secretary that I’m out if someone I don’t want to hear from calls, they’re lies no matter how you slice it.  And when I expand that examination outward, it appears that we’re a dishonest society in general Lord.

Wow… What an intense realization for a Monday morning.

“You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor.”  – Exodus 20:16

Ah yes, the good old 9^th Commandment.  Although we all know this one, we also all violate it at some point as well.  There are many other edicts about misrepresenting the truth in Your Book as well Lord, including :

“Do not steal.  Do not lie.  Do not deceive one another.”  – Leviticus 19:11

“The LORD detests lying lips, but he delights in people who are trustworthy.” – Proverbs 12:22

“Those who walk righteously
and speak what is right,
who reject gain from extortion
and keep their hands from accepting bribes,
who stop their ears against plots of murder
and shut their eyes against contemplating evil—
they are the ones who will dwell on the heights,
whose refuge will be the mountain fortress.
Their bread will be supplied,
and water will not fail them.”  – Isaiah 33:15-16

Forgive us Lord, for in this respect we have lost our way.

Heavenly Father, please forgive us for our misdeeds.  Purge our fragile hearts of dishonesty, and help us focus on Your Guidance and Light as we go about each day, so that we may serve Your Will with honesty and Integrity.  Amen.

~Phather Phil

Be Strong and Courageous

Dear Lord; Good morning Father.  Today Lord, I’d like to spend some time talking about discouragement.  As You well know, I’ve been dealing with this particular feeling quite a bit recently and it can be an extremely overwhelming emotion if not kept in check.  I’ve also received messages from many others struggling against similar demons, so I thought it was worth discussing today.

In my case, the bulk of my challenges with discouragement are centered around running a business in a radically depressed economy.  While we’ve persevered through what I hope is the ugliest part, I was forced to make some very unhappy, but necessary decisions for the survivability of the company.  On top of that, the road that always seemed reasonably obvious for me has been clouded by a wide variety of uncertainties, leading to deep feelings of doubt, fear and discouragement.  I know that when the dust settles that we’ll be the better for our trials, but in the meantime not allowing Satan to use these moments of earthy weakness to attack my spirit can be a difficult task.

Of course, there are many other forms of discouragement as well.  Each day I see and speak with people struggling with these feelings over problems with schoolwork, dieting, quitting substance addiction and a plethora of others.  These situations lead to moments of emotional weakness which can truly leave us vulnerable and wanting, and keep us from hearing Your Voice clearly.

So Father, how do we combat these attacks on our spirits in times of turmoil?  Looking to Your Book for guidance, I find quite a bit to focus and encourage me :

“I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” – John 16:33

“Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go.” – Joshua 1:9

“Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time.  Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.  Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.” – 1 Peter 5:6-8

We were never promised an easy life on earth, but we’re fragile creatures Lord and it’s easy to forget that sometimes.  You did promise us however that if we follow in You and honor You, that You will never leave our sides.  What an amazing Gift!  You’re there celebrating with us in our moments of joy, and You’re there to comfort us in our times of need… We simply need to quiet the “noise” in our minds, and open our hearts to Your Voice.

Heavenly Father, I thank You for Your Guiding Presence in our lives.  Please help us filter out that emotional “noise” and focus our hearts on Your Will.  Bring comfort and direction to all those struggling with feelings of discouragement and depression, and let them know the true worth they have being one of Your Children.  Amen.

~Phather Phil

Accepting my Limitations

Dear Lord; Good morning Father, and happy Wednesday.  Well, first off I want to thank You for limiting the snowfall in our neck of the woods.  What potentially could have been a huge mess ended up being limited to a 3 – 4” coating that simply covered everything with a pretty white blanket.  The kids still got a day off of school but everything else seems to be moving along as normal, for which I’m very much appreciative.

Today Father, I’d like to discuss one of my biggest challenges if I may.  I Lord, am a “fixer”; my nature is to try to fix things no matter what.  While in many cases that can be a positive character trait, in some situations it ends up causing more trouble than helping.  This morning was a case in point for the latter.

Shannon had a very rough night and didn’t sleep well due to some pain in her legs, and woke a little on the edgy side.  I tried talking with her about it and after several pointed questions to see what I could do to help, it became apparent that all I was doing was aggravating her further.  I completely misread the situation and in my efforts to “solve a problem” I missed the point and handled it poorly.  Thinking about it on my ride to work this morning, I realized that this part of my nature needs to be more carefully tempered going forward.  For that to happen, when my urge to “jump in” strikes I need to remember a couple truths :

I’m not in control.  I can’t fix everything.

While I actually do know this Father, my brain sometimes ignores these seemingly simple facts when I see something I feel that I can help with.  I need to know when to simply sit and listen, and when to realize that things are outside my scope and to leave them in Your Loving Care.

Heavenly Father, please steer and temper my yearning spirit.  Help me make good choices as to how I can best serve Your Will, and to be the best Child of God that I can.  Where I can be of help, may Your Presence be my Guide to a positive end.  However when my involvement is not warranted, please help me recognize my limitations and lift those situations to Your Care.  In You, all things are possible Lord.  Amen.

~Phather Phil

Thanks on a Monday

Dear Lord; Happy Monday Father!  Well Lord, I just want to thank You for another lovely weekend.  Date night with my lovely wife on Friday was a blast, Saturday we began to reclaim our home from the Christmas decorations, and Sunday was a wonderful lazy day watching the epic 1956 film “The Ten Commandments” with my family.  The house is still in quite a bit of chaos, but all in all it was a wonderful, productive time and I thank You so much for it.

I also want to take a minute to thank You for sending Your healing power to me over the last week.  As You know I ended up at my doctor’s office last Wednesday with serious stomach distress.  I was in a fair amount of pain Lord, and while I still have some discomfort it’s worlds better than it was.  Thank You so much for Blessing me with an excellent Primary Care Physician, and for Your Comfort during this episode.  It’s woken me up to some necessary changes I need to make in my diet, stress level and sleep habits if I want to avoid potentially serious medical issues in the future.  Please help me keep proper focus and have the strength to make the right choices going forward.

And finally Lord, I’ve been hearing quite a bit this month about the idea of having One Word to focus and pray on for the new year, instead of a series of resolutions which usually don’t get followed through on.  The more I’ve thought about the idea, and seen some examples on other devotional blogs the more I like it.  Therefore Father, today I’m starting my prayers for You to help me choose the word that will guide me for the coming year.  I place my heart and mind in Your Hands Lord, and look forward to Your Counsel on my focus.

Heavenly Father, please bring Your Loving Presence to all those in need.  Help us be productive, focused and compassionate servants of Your Will, and guide us to where we can best be used for Your Grand Purpose.  Give Your Comfort and Strength to those who are suffering, and help us all be extensions of Your Love on Earth.  Amen.

~Phather Phil