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Category Archives: Hymns and Songs

“O Silent God” by Rufino Zaragoza

28 Mar

“O Silent God” by Rufino Zaragoza

O silent God, Holy One, God Unseen, God unknown.

Hear my prayer, hear my cry. Have you abandoned me?

In this dying I join your dying; in rising, I join your rising;

In this dying, I join your dying with Jesus, the glory of God.

Dear God, my wife and I were talking earlier this week about your silence. There have been times when we felt like you were being ridiculously silent. But she pointed something out to me that made me reply, “Now that’s a thought that’s going to fester.” She said that when she looked back, you were always talking to us. You weren’t really silent. You just weren’t giving us the answers we were looking for.

I’ve talked about pains in my life. I’ve brought them before you. And I’ve been frustrated at the years of silence on these issues. I’ve lamented. But she’s right. You’ve still been talking to me about so many other things.

  1. The most recent is my involvement in Christian Men’s Live Skills, a class for men to learn about soft skills like self-esteem and leadership, useful knowledge about important things like substance abuse and anger management, and then personal finance–all within a Christian context and alongside Bible study. I’ve loved it.
  2. You got me involved in mentoring a really neat young man who has a lot of challenges life has put in front of him. You’ve guided me to him.
  3. You’ve given me the Parents of the Bible project that I think has blessed others.
  4. You’ve given me opportunities to speak and preach to church groups.
  5. You’ve given me an upcoming opportunity to speak to some graduating seniors in the National Honor Society.
  6. You’ve given me success at work, and you’ve answered my cries when I’ve needed help and during crisis.
  7. I don’t know that the recent honor I got from the local Chamber of Commerce was from you, but I tried to use it to bring you glory and not myself.
  8. You’ve given me a wife who is loving an encouraging.
  9. You’ve given me three good friends who strengthen and nurture me with your love and wisdom.

As I think about this partial list (I could go on and on), I think about Naomi rolling back into Bethlehem in Ruth 1:19-21.

19 So the two of them continued on their journey. When they came to Bethlehem, the entire town was excited by their arrival. “Is it really Naomi?” the women asked.

20 “Don’t call me Naomi,” she responded. “Instead, call me Mara, for the Almighty has made life very bitter for me. 21 I went away full, but the Lord has brought me home empty. Why call me Naomi when the Lord has caused me to suffer and the Almighty has sent such tragedy upon me?”

Naomi thought you were being silent, but you were working in ways she couldn’t see, starting with giving her Ruth. Of course, that would develop into Ruth and Boaz, and by the end of the book, she would be holding Ruth’s baby Obed. And she didn’t know that Ruth would lead to Israel’s greatest king, David, and then David would lead to your pathway for Jesus to enter the world. She only thought you were being silent, but you were actually speaking in so many ways.

Father, I’m just going ot have to accept that you are not prepared to give me the answers to my most fervent prayers right now. It’s not the plan. But it doesn’t mean you aren’t doing anything in that area or that you are being silent to me in general. You are doing a lot. You have done a lot. You will do a lot. My job in this moment and for all of the subsequent moments is to worship you and love others as much as I can. Help me to do that and to be who you need me to be in someone else’s life. Let me be your voice for them.

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
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Posted by on March 28, 2026 in Hymns and Songs, Ruth

 

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“Banks” by NEEDTOBREATHE

24 Mar

“Banks” by NEEDTOBREATHE

I wanna be there when the voices in your head
Are loud enough to make you lose your mind
Just the same when you’re dominating the day
I wanna be the one who’s by your side

You know my love is not the jealous type
It doesn’t matter if we win or lose
I could stay or I could come
No matter where you’re coming from
I could be the one to let you choose

I wanna hold you close, but never hold you back
Just like the banks to the river
And if you ever feel like you are not enough
I’m gonna break all your mirrors
I wanna be there when the darkness closes in
To make the truth a little clearer
I wanna hold you close, but never hold you back
I’ll be the banks for your river

I’ll be the banks for your river

I’ll be the banks for your river

You are beautiful and wild at every turn
Who am I to take control of that?
Everybody needs a voice they can follow
When the water and the winds get bad

You know my love is not the jealous type
And it don’t matter if we win or lose
I could push or I could pull
No matter what you’re trying to do
As long as I can flow along with you

I wanna hold you close, but never hold you back
Just like the banks to the river
And if you ever feel like you are not enough
I’m gonna break all your mirrors
I wanna be there when the darkness closes in
To make the truth a little clearer
I wanna hold you close, but never hold you back
I’ll be the banks for your river

I’ll be the banks for your river

I’ll be the banks for your river

Baby, I ain’t saying that you need my help
But you don’t have to do it all by yourself
So, baby, when the current gets strong
You need somewhere to rest your bones
I wanna be there for you
I wanna be strong for you, oh, oh, oh

I wanna hold you close, but never hold you back
Just like the banks to the river
And if you ever feel like you are not enough
I’m gonna break all your mirrors
I wanna be there when the darkness closes in
To make the truth a little clearer
I wanna hold you close, but never hold you back
I’ll be the banks for your river

I wanna hold you close, but never hold you back
(I’ll be the banks for your river)
And if you ever feel like you are not enough
(I’ll be the banks for your river)
I wanna be there when the darkness closes in
To make the truth a little clearer
I wanna hold you close, but never hold you back
I’ll be the banks for your river

Source: Musixmatch

Songwriters: Nathaniel Rinehart / William Rinehart / Trent Dabbs

Dear God, I remember back when my wife and I got married there was a Steven Curtis Chapman song called “Go There With You.” The big wedding song from him at the time was “I Will Be Here,” and we even had that sung at our wedding, but the one I liked more was “Go There With You.” The tune was a little more…I don’t know…soaring. And I loved it because it talked about caring for my wife no matter what. Being there for her. Being not only a man for her, but being your man for her. Your husband for her.

I came across this song a few days ago, and I liked it. It gives me that same vibe. It says a lot of what I feel for my wife. I want to be what you need me to be for her to completely live out the life you have for her to live. To knock over all of the dominoes you have for her to knock over. I want to do everything I can to be her enabler in serving you with joy and gusto. And it can be awkward because you’ve given me dominoes to knock over with my life too. You want me to have an impact on the world around me. But I guess I hope I live out the idea that my highest and first calling is to make sure she is living out her calling in you.

Father, I know I fail in this. Sometimes I fail her and I fail you. I’ve certainly failed our children in the past. I wish I hadn’t, but I have. But I ask that you please give me eyes to see and ears to hear. Help me to see for my wife what you see and where you want her to go. Give her good counsel through me and through her friends. Help her to hear your voice and be drawn to it. And if you have a role for me to play in guiding her then help me to do it gently and quietly. But please don’t let me get in your way. I want to only be what you need her to have through me. Help me to do that.

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
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Posted by on March 24, 2026 in Hymns and Songs

 

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“‘Tis So Sweet to Trust in Jesus”

19 Mar

“‘Tis so Sweet to Trust in Jesus”

1 ‘Tis so sweet to trust in Jesus,
and to take him at his word;
just to rest upon his promise,
and to know, “Thus saith the Lord.”

Refrain:
Jesus, Jesus, how I trust him!
How I’ve proved him o’er and o’er!
Jesus, Jesus, precious Jesus!
O for grace to trust him more!

2 O how sweet to trust in Jesus,
just to trust his cleansing blood;
and in simple faith to plunge me
neath the healing, cleansing flood! [Refrain]

3 Yes, ’tis sweet to trust in Jesus,
just from sin and self to cease;
just from Jesus simply taking
life and rest, and joy and peace. [Refrain]

United Methodist Hymnal, 1989

Written by Louisa M.R. Stead

Dear God, I heard my wife playing something on the piano this morning as she prepared to sing at church in about an hour. I don’t think she played this song, but whatever she was playing put the earworm of this song in my head. I just found myself singing it to myself as I walked in here to pray. Thank you for that. Thank you for giving the world this song through Louisa M.R. Stead and teaching it to me so that it is something that lives with me.

So I figured I would just sit with the lyrics this morning and try to bask in them a little. I could use a little comfort. I could use a little direction. I could use your presence. I could use some rejecting of idols and putting trust in you.

1 ‘Tis so sweet to trust in Jesus,
and to take him at his word;
just to rest upon his promise,
and to know, “Thus saith the Lord.”

Sometimes I try to put myself in the mindset of the person writing this at the time. What were they experiencing from an emotional or even worshipful standpoint as they put down these words. Was their strife in their life? Was Mrs. Stead trying to just break it all down and simplify her faith into trusting Jesus and his words. Resting on the promises you gave us that are beyond this life. Turning loose of what is here in our physical world to embrace the promises you give us for eternity. Those are good reminders for me too.

2 O how sweet to trust in Jesus,
just to trust his cleansing blood;
and in simple faith to plunge me
neath the healing, cleansing flood!

Oh, to be clean. Again, I forget sometimes just how much you’ve forgiven me for. Just how much you’ve done for me. When I am unforgiving it can usually be remedied by remembering how much you’ve forgiven me through Jesus’s life, brutal death, and resurrection. I’ve been plunged beneath the healing, cleansing flood!

3 Yes, ’tis sweet to trust in Jesus,
just from sin and self to cease;
just from Jesus simply taking
life and rest, and joy and peace.

I like the words that I will stop living in my sin and selfishness. I lay it all down and I embrace life, rest, joy, and peace.

Refrain:
Jesus, Jesus, how I trust him!
How I’ve proved him o’er and o’er!
Jesus, Jesus, precious Jesus!
O for grace to trust him more!

I pray that this can be my song. I pray that when people see me they will see that I am nobody without you and that they will want some of that for themselves. I have proved you o’er and o’er. Please give me your grace and help me to trust you even more today.

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
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Posted by on March 19, 2026 in Hymns and Songs

 

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“How Long, O Lord” by Daniel Schutte

16 Mar 
"How Long, O Lord" by Daniel Schutte
Based on Psalm 13, 22
Refrain: 
How long, O lord, will you hide your face
How long will the heavens be silent?
How long, O Lord, must we call out your name
'til you hear us and reach out your hand?

Verse 1:
Behold your children, forgotten, foresaken
Lost in our shame and our sadness.
Our hearts are barren, our spirits are broken.
Where is the love that you promised?

Verse 2:
Our hope is shaken, poured out like water
Dried like the sand in the desert.
Our hearts are hungry, famished and frightened
Where is the love that your promised?

Verse 3
By day we crow out in hunger and heartache
Hoping that heaven will hear us.
At night, in darkness, our spirits are restless
Waiting the dawn of your promise.

Verse 4
For you our parents had gambled their future
Trusting their fate to your kindness
Through fire and famine seeking their homeland
Staking their lives on your promise.

Dear God, in a couple of nights I’m going to be talking about prayers of desperation for a Lenten service. I picked Psalm 42, Elijah in the cave, and Jesus in the garden as the passages to be read.

We just don’t talk about praying through our pain enough. Modern songs are mostly about overcoming and victory in you, but we forget that sometimes we just need to lament. We feel weak. We feel betrayed. Maybe even abandoned. Maybe we can recognize that it was our sin that lead us away from you and to our current situation. But maybe it’s just life and neither the blind man nor his parents sinned to cause this situation (John 9). Maybe it is here so that your glory might ultimately shine. And it might be years before the glory shines.

The other thing for me to remember is that the lament keeps me on my knees. Even now, as I type this, I stopped typing for a few moments while I thought about sorrows in my life. Pain that I feel. And I see no end in sight. But that pain has become such a part of me now through the last several years that I’m not sure what my life would look like without it. Would I be who I am without that pain. Who would I be?

Father, I need to start putting together an outline of my talk on Wednesday. I think a piece of what I’m going to say is that we would not be who we are without the pain in our lives. For David, the author of the psalms that inspired this hymn, he wouldn’t have been who he became without the years of running from Saul. Elijah wouldn’t have been who he was without having to run from Ahab and Jezebel. Jesus’s sacrifice wouldn’t have been legitimate if he hadn’t shown us his pain in the garden. This life shapes us. Molds us. And if we allow you to use it to form us in the right way, then you have an opportunity to fill us. So form me into your vessel and then fill me with your Holy Spirit.

It’s with that Holy Spirit and through Jesus I pray,

Amen

 
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Posted by on March 16, 2026 in Hymns and Songs

 

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Waiting

04 Mar

“We Are Waiting” by Geoff Moore & The Distance

We are waiting, waiting
All of Your people anticipating
Come hear our plea, we are down on our knees, our knees
Oh come quickly Lord, You’re all that we need
Come find your people are waiting

From all across the earth our voices can be heard
A chorus of the faithful calling to the word
A hymn of invitation, our humble offering
Come find Your people are waiting

We are waiting, we are waiting
All of Your people anticipating
Come hear our plea, we are down on our knees
Oh come quickly Lord, You’re all that we need
Come find your people are waiting

With hands into the soil, and hearts toward the sky
We wait to hear Your call to draw us to Your side
But ’til that final day may You find us in the fields
Working with hearts that are waiting

We are waiting, we are waiting
All of Your people anticipating
Come hear our plea, we are down on our knees
Oh come quickly Lord, You’re all that we need
Come find your people are waiting

As a mother awaits her baby, all of creation is ready
For the trumpet to sound and the heavens unfold
We’ll rise from the ground to see You Lord
All of Your people anticipating
Come hear our plea, we are down on our knees

We are waiting, we are waiting
All of Your people anticipating
Come hear our plea, we are down on our knees
Come quickly Lord, You are all that we need
Come find your people are waiting

Written by Geoff Moore and Geof Barkley

Dear God, I thought about the patient prayer this morning and waiting on you. That’s when this old song from Geoff Moore about 30 years ago came to mind. I was initially thinking more along the lines of perseverance and just waiting on you to answer our prayers in your time so I didn’t think this song really fit where my head was. But then I spent a little bit of time with it and thought about it some more. As I looked at the verses I really liked the imagery in the second verse:

With hands into the soil, and hearts toward the sky
We wait to hear Your call to draw us to Your side
But ’til that final day may You find us in the fields
Working with hearts that are waiting

At the end of the day, you are what I’m waiting for. Now, frankly, I’m not really toiling and looking for Jesus to return any given day. I expect to die and see you then. But while I wait for that day, I will pray to you for the things of this earth that I care about: my wife, my children and their significant others, my family, my friends, my community, my country, my world, etc. And there are things that are going in ways that I don’t like. And there are some things that I pray a lot about. And there are some things that I’m frustrated you haven’t made it all work out the way I selfishly want it to work out. And so I keep praying, and through that process I hope you are doing your good in those situations and those lives. But that doesn’t mean I am called out of the world to just sit and wait. No, as this verse says, I need to keep working (with hands into the soil) and seeking you and your direction (heart toward the sky). And when the day of my death or your return comes, may you find me in the field where you’ve place me, working alongside others who are waiting.

Father, I remember Gary Thomas saying in a talk on marriage that I heard him give that he doesn’t hear enough sermons on perseverance. Help me to persevere in my prayer, in my discipleship with you, in my work, and in my waiting. And as far as the things I’m praying for that have not come to fruition in the way I think they should, I pray that you will give me the peace to know that you aren’t doing any of this so that I get things the way I want them. You are doing it so that your will might come and be done on earth as it is in heaven. Help me to be about your work and to have patience to wait.

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
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Posted by on March 4, 2026 in Hymns and Songs

 

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“One More Song for You” by The Imperials

02 Mar

“One More Song for You” by The Imperials

As long as there is time
And one breath left in me
There will always be one more song for You
And as long as there is room
For one more voice in praise
And a need for a word of love and truth
To help my brother through
There’ll be one more song for You

You were there
With Your songs of laughter
Words of hope for my fears
But what are songs
When no one else will sing them
What are words when no one hears
There were times life became a question
And when I asked, no one knew
‘Til I found the answer in You

So as long as there is time
And one breath left in me
There will always be one more song for You
And as long as there is room
For one more voice in praise
And a need for a word of love and truth
To help my brother through
There’ll be one more song for You

Written by Michael and Stormie Omaritan

Dear God, I was listening to a YouTube video this morning about the new movie about Elvis called EPiC (Elvis Presley in Concert). They were talking about the gospel music influence on Elvis’s music, and they listed a bunch of gospel quartets. One of the groups they mentioned was The Imperials. Now, The Imperials that would have influenced Elvis would have been a much older more traditional sound than the Imperials from the 70s and 80, but for whatever reason, this was the song that came to mind when I thought of the Imperials.

As I thought about this song and sang it in my head, I was thinking about this series on prayer and how worship is one of the key aspects of prayer. It’s interesting that I tend to do my acclaiming of your awesomeness and majesty through song more than through actual prayer. But either way, there are times when my prayer is just pure worship. Actually, what we could probably use are more Christians songs of Christian lament before you. Songs of disorientation, like I talked about a couple of days ago. I can flip through the hymnal or listen to Christian radio and not really hear, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” We aren’t really supposed to say that in church without claiming the victory on the other side.

Father, as long as there is time and one breath left in me, there will always be one more song, one more acclamation, and one more prayer of worship for you. As long as there is room for one more voice of praise, I’ll lend my voice to it. You are my God. I put my trust and hope in you.

I pray all of this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
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Posted by on March 2, 2026 in Hymns and Songs

 

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“There is a Redeemer” by Keith Green

16 Feb

“There is a Redeemer” by Keith Green

There is a redeemer
Jesus, God’s own son
Precious lamb of God, Messiah
Holy one

Jesus my redeemer
Name above all names
Precious lamb of God, Messiah
Oh, for sinners slain.

Thank you oh my father
For giving us your son
And leaving your spirit
‘Til the work on earth is done.

When I stand in glory
I will see his face
And there I’ll serve my king forever
In that holy place.

Thank you oh my father
For giving us your son
And leaving your spirit
‘Til the work on earth is done.

There is a redeemer
Jesus, God’s own son
Precious lamb of God, Messiah
Holy one

Thank you oh my father
For giving us your son
And leaving your spirit
‘Til the work on earth is done.
And leaving your spirit
‘Till the work on earth is done.

Source: Musixmatch

Songwriters: Melody Green

Dear God, I heard this song for the first time in a long time about three days ago, and it really struck me how small we are. You are so…well, amazing. Awesome. Powerful. EVERYTHING! And I am so small. Even John the Baptist is less than the least in heaven. When I hear angels referred to as “Saints,” it almost seems like an insult to the angels. Like they can have the same title/designation as a human! No, we can be “Saints.” They are way above that.

So what do we do as these little, seemingly insignificant creations who are loved by you? We look to our redeemer. Jesus God’s own son. Precious lamb of God. Messiah. Holy one! You sent a piece of you to redeem us from Satan and make us part of your kingdom. To give us a path into your kingdom.

Father, I have embraced this gift for myself. Help me to offer it to others. Help me to share it with others. Help me to explain to them the difference between believing in your and accepting your redemption through Jesus and then walking through the narrow gate of discipleship. Help me to share that well.

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
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Posted by on February 16, 2026 in Hymns and Songs

 

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“Your Love Broke Through” Keith Green

14 Feb

“Your Love Broke Through” by Keith Green

Like a foolish dreamer, trying to build a highway to the sky
All my hopes would come tumbling down, and I never knew just why
Until today, when you pulled away the clouds that hung like curtains on my eyes
Well I’ve been blind all these wasted years and I thought I was so wise
But then you took me by surprise

Like waking up from the longest dream, how real it seemed
Until your love broke through
I’ve been lost in a fantasy, that blinded me
Until your love broke through

All my life I’ve been searching for that crazy missing part
And with one touch, you just rolled away the stone that held my heart
And now I see that the answer was as easy, as just asking you in
And I am so sure I could never doubt your gentle touch again
It’s like the power of the wind

Like waking up from the longest dream, how real it seemed
Until your love broke through
I’ve been lost in a fantasy, that blinded me
Until your love, until your love, broke through

Source: LyricFind

Songwriters: Keith Gordon Green / Randy Stonehill / Todd Fishkind

Dear God, I can’t believe I’ve seemingly never done a prayer journal on this song before. Not that I could find anyway. I’m surprised because it’s the first Keith Green song I remember hearing. I might have sung one or two of his other songs in church, but it’s the first time I remember hearing a song and connecting it to this guy named Keith Green.

It’s one of those great, humble songs. My wife and I were listening to it over breakfast this morning, and I just go full-body chills. Just who I am in relation to you. I’m so small. I’m so insignificant in the Kingdom of Heaven, but Jesus reached out and pulled me in. Jesus came. Jesus provided the bridge. Jesus welcomed me. He couldn’t override my will. He wouldn’t make me come to you, but he was ready for me when I was done. I’m grateful, I suppose, that my “hitting bottom” was pretty shallow. I certainly came to the end of myself pretty quickly. I guess what frustrates me so much is how tempted I am to take it back. To take my life back. To take control. To start to set my own agenda. Yeah, that frustrates me very much.

I think I’m going to spend the next few days with Keith Green and some songs. I told my wife this morning that he reminds me a lot of Rich Mullins. He didn’t have a classically great or traditional singing voice, but somehow it makes the great songwriting even better. You took both of them young. I think they were both in their late 30s. Keith died in a plane accident, and Rich died in a car accident. You took them young, you took the quickly. In some ways, I guess they went out like Elijah. For my part, I don’t care how old I am, Father, when you take me. And I guess I used to pray that you take me quickly. But that’s selfish too, I suppose. You just do with me whatever you will. My life is not my own.

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
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Posted by on February 14, 2026 in Hymns and Songs

 

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1 Kings 11:26-40

13 Feb

26 Another rebel leader was Jeroboam son of Nebat, one of Solomon’s own officials. He came from the town of Zeredah in Ephraim, and his mother was Zeruah, a widow.

27 This is the story behind his rebellion. Solomon was rebuilding the supporting terraces and repairing the walls of the city of his father, David. 28 Jeroboam was a very capable young man, and when Solomon saw how industrious he was, he put him in charge of the labor force from the tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh, the descendants of Joseph.

29 One day as Jeroboam was leaving Jerusalem, the prophet Ahijah from Shiloh met him along the way. Ahijah was wearing a new cloak. The two of them were alone in a field, 30 and Ahijah took hold of the new cloak he was wearing and tore it into twelve pieces. 31 Then he said to Jeroboam, “Take ten of these pieces, for this is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: ‘I am about to tear the kingdom from the hand of Solomon, and I will give ten of the tribes to you! 32 But I will leave him one tribe for the sake of my servant David and for the sake of Jerusalem, which I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel. 33 For Solomon has abandoned me and worshiped Ashtoreth, the goddess of the Sidonians; Chemosh, the god of Moab; and Molech, the god of the Ammonites. He has not followed my ways and done what is pleasing in my sight. He has not obeyed my decrees and regulations as David his father did.

34 “‘But I will not take the entire kingdom from Solomon at this time. For the sake of my servant David, the one whom I chose and who obeyed my commands and decrees, I will keep Solomon as leader for the rest of his life. 35 But I will take the kingdom away from his son and give ten of the tribes to you. 36 His son will have one tribe so that the descendants of David my servant will continue to reign, shining like a lamp in Jerusalem, the city I have chosen to be the place for my name. 37 And I will place you on the throne of Israel, and you will rule over all that your heart desires. 38 If you listen to what I tell you and follow my ways and do whatever I consider to be right, and if you obey my decrees and commands, as my servant David did, then I will always be with you. I will establish an enduring dynasty for you as I did for David, and I will give Israel to you. 39 Because of Solomon’s sin I will punish the descendants of David—though not forever.’”

40 Solomon tried to kill Jeroboam, but he fled to King Shishak of Egypt and stayed there until Solomon died.

1 Kings 11:26-40

Dear God, I just spent too much time looking for an image on my phone. I wasn’t able to find it, but I found it in two parts on someone else’s Facebook post when I Googled it.

It basically takes all of the kings of Judah and Israel and labels them as having done right, done evil, or mixed. The first time I saw this a few years ago, I saw that, while Judah had a mixed bag of kings (with most of them doing evil), Israel itself, including Jeroboam in this story, had nothing but kings who did evil. You knew this already in this story. I thought of a line from the opening of the movie Spaceballs as I read this story this morning (paraphrasing): “Unbeknownst to Jeroboam, but knownst to us…” The conversation Ahijah had with Jeroboam that day should have been enough to scare Jeroboam into not falling away from you. But it wasn’t. And all these stories should be enough to keep me from falling away from you, but I do it time and time again. Just yesterday morning as I was reading about Solomon I found myself repenting.

There’s a Keith Green song called “I Don’t Want to Fall Away from You.”

“After all the things that you have shown me, I’d be a fool to let them slip away.” But I am a fool.

Father, once again, I’m here this morning. I always do things I shouldn’t do, but you know, Lord, I don’t want to fall away from you. Help me. My faithfulness to you is the one things you can’t force. Well, you can, but you gave me free will. I can’t pray that you will never let me slip away. That’s my choice. But I can ask that you help me. I am “prone to wander, Lord. I feel it. I’m prone to leave the God I love. If it’s possible, here’s my heart, Lord, take and seal it. Seal it for thy courts above.”

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
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Posted by on February 13, 2026 in 1 Kings, Hymns and Songs

 

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Mary, Joseph, and Confusion – A Christmas Eve Prayer

24 Dec

Dear God, as I sat down this Christmas Eve morning to enter this time with you, I struggled with what scriptures to use as my base. Then I started thinking about friends who are struggling right now. I have a friend who just lost her mother-in-law a month ago (I found out yesterday). It was difficult. The family relationships with the woman who died were complicated. There is pain this morning. Maybe even some regrets on the parts of some. It can all be so confusing and overwhelming. I ask that you please be with this friend, her husband who lost his mother, his sister, the grandchildren, and anyone else affected by this loss. Father, in your mercy, hear my prayer.

I have another friend who texted me yesterday about her mother being taken by helicopter to a hospital because of a stroke. I don’t know what the outcome will be, but I know that relationships with this woman are similarly complicated as the ones with the woman I just talked about. There has been a lot of pain and hurt between people. No one is innocent. No one is completely guilty. It’s just the pain we cause each other when we are hurt. The old saying: “Hurt people hurt people.” And some awful things have happened. But our human love and sense of loyalty that you put into us–that is part of your nature–is still there drawing us to each other. So I ask that you make this pain count. Don’t let it be wasted. For the woman who is sick, do exactly what you need to be doing in her life. Love her. I know she worships you although I’m not sure she knows what discipleship looks like. But I think there is mercy for that. Heal her relationships with her children, grandchildren, and everyone else around her. Use this pain as an opportunity to heal relationships, draw each person into a deeper relationship with you, and make this family a beacon of light that draws others around them into your presence and relationship with you as well. Father, in your mercy, hear my prayer.

I have a list of friends who are facing challenges. Health challenges. Relationship challenges. End-of-life challenges. Loss of a loved one. Long-term care challenges for their aging spouses or themselves as they age. I know people who are struggling financially. Struggling in their careers. Struggling to make sense of life. Use these, please. Heal. Guide. Provide. Comfort. Strengthen. Support. Father, in your mercy, hear my prayer.

Of course, I have my own pain, sorrow, concerns, needs, etc. For my wife. For my children. For my relatives, friends, work, community service, etc. It can all seem so big, and I can feel so small. Maybe that’s where these two songs are coming in this morning. Confusion with your plan or what to do next isn’t anything new. Sorrow, pain, and hurt aren’t new. Doubt. Fear. Anxiety. They have all existed for a long time. And Mary and Joseph were no strangers to them. Two thousand-ish years ago, they were sitting next to a manger with a tiny baby wondering how this would all work out. And while you sent them affirmations in the form of angel visits, shepherds, and later Simeon and Anna, they were still left to take it all one step at a time. That’s us now. That will be us for as long as this timeline marches on. Wars and rumors of war. The sorrow, pain, hurt, doubt, fear, and anxiety. They will always be with us. But there is something you uniquely add to the equation. Hope. Peace. Somehow, you pierce through the darkness and give us a hope that there is something bigger than all of this. An existence with you that transcends the mess we create here. Help me to embrace this process now. I don’t want to kick against the goads. I just want to flow through this river with you as my guide. Steer me around the rocks so that the boat of my life might be there for the other boats in the water. Thank you for being the one constant. Thank you for being the same God in the Old Testament as the one that Jesus described in the Prodigal Son parable. Thank you for being that God today.

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
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Posted by on December 24, 2025 in Hymns and Songs

 

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