How, Lord, are we to come to You?

Jeremiah 3:1-25 Lord, You call us to ‘return’ to You (Jeremiah 3:14,22). You call us to make our response to You. You invite us to say, ‘Yes, we will come to You, for You are the Lord our God’ (Jeremiah 3:22). How are we to come to You? We are to come to You, confessing our …

You call us, Lord, to ‘lead a life worthy of Your calling.’

Joshua 13:1-14:25 You call us, Lord, to "lead a life worthy of Your calling" (Ephesians 4:1). We say, 'I can't.' You say to us, "I have blessed you, in Christ, with every spiritual blessing" (Ephesians 1:3). Why we do allow our lives to be controlled by our own weakness when we can be transformed by …

Help us, Lord, to walk with You in the light of Your Word.

Lord, we read the words – “He turned away from the Lord” (2 Chronicles 25:27), and our hearts are sad. Is this only the story of other people? Is it not also our own story? You’re calling us to stop turning away from You. You’re calling us to start turning to You. Help us to …

What does the future hold for us?

We think, Lord, about the future, and all we can say is this, “We don’t know what the future holds.” We turn to You. We ask You, “What does the future hold for us?” You give us Your answer to our question. It may not be the answer that we were looking for – but …

Help us, Lord, to hear and heed Your Word of warning.

2 Kings 24:18-25:30 “Finally, in the end, it came to the point that He cast them out of His presence” (2 Kings 24:20). Help us, Lord, to hear and heed Your Word of warning. We thank You, Lord, that You are “patient… not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance” (2 Peter …

Teach us, Lord, that it’s not all about us.

Exodus 36:8-38 Teach us, Lord, that it's not all about us. It's not about getting ourselves noticed. It's all about You. It's about giving all the glory to You.

Help us, Lord, to become better people – not bitter people!

Help us, Lord, to learn from the failure of King Uzziah. He began well – “He did what was right in the eyes of the Lord … He set himself to seek God” (2 Chronicles 26:4-5). He lost his way – “When he was strong, he grew proud, and he was false to the Lord …

Which is most important to us – “building our own house” or “building the House of the Lord”?

Which is most important to us: “building our own house” or “building the House of the Lord” (1 Kings 3:1-3)? How often, Lord, do we think about the things that matter most to You? Are we too busy thinking about the things that matter most to ourselves? These are not questions to be ‘brushed under …

The Lord Leads Us in His “Everlasting Way.”

We thank You, Lord that, through Christ our Saviour, You lead us ‘in the way everlasting’: ‘God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son’ (Psalm 139:24; 1 John 5:11). Your great purpose of eternal salvation seems ‘too wonderful’ - ‘too good to be true’! ‘It is a thing most wonderful, …

Even when we get ourselves into a right mess, You’re still in control.

Even when we get ourselves into a right mess, You're still in control. You are Lord. Nothing changes that. we wonder, "Can things be turned around?" You say to us, "Yes. They can." You say to us, "It's not all about you. I am there with you. I have never left you. I'm not going …

Lord, give us Your wisdom.

Lord, give us Your wisdom. Help us to see that walking in Your way is better than getting our own way. When we are being drawn away from Your way, bring us back again - back to the way of obedience, back to the way of blessing.

“Those who wait on the Lord shall renew their strength.”

Lord, we sense Job’s deep disappointment, as he says to his ‘comforters’, “How then will you comfort me with empty nothings? There is nothing left of your answers but falsehood” (Job 21:34). We thank You, Lord, that Job was looking beyond his ‘comforters’. He was looking to You: “He knows the way that I take; …

We thank You, Lord, that victory comes from You.

We thank You, Lord, that victory comes from You: "I have handed Jericho over to you" (Joshua 6:2). Help us to receive Your victory by faith: "By faith the walls of Jericho fell down" (Hebrews 11:30). We don't achieve this victory in our own strength. You give us Your promise of victory. Help us to …

Lord, when You speak to us

Genesis 1:4-13 Lord, when You speak to us, help us to say, ‘Your will be done’ (Matthew 6:10). ‘Let it be to me according to Your Word’ (Luke 1:38) - This was Mary’s prayer. May it also be our prayer. By ourselves, we are helpless and hopeless - Without Your help, we have no hope of …

Lord, we thank You that the blood of Your Son, Jesus, cleanses us from all sin.

Lord, we thank You that the blood of Your Son, Jesus, cleanses us from all sin (1 John 1:7). We come to the Cross of Christ in our failure. At the Cross of Christ, we receive Your forgiveness. We bring our sin to the Saviour. He gives to us His salvation. Bring us, Lord, out of …

The Kingdom will be the Lord’s.

‘The Kingdom will be the Lord’s’ (Obadiah 21). When, Lord, Your Kingdom comes, there will be both salvation - ‘The house of Jacob will possess its inheritance’ - and judgment - ‘There will be no survivors from the house of Esau’ (Obadiah 17-18). ‘Not by works but by Him who calls’ - This is the …

Help us, Lord, to offer our whole life to You – not just the ‘religious’ part of it.

1 Chronicles 26:1-27:34 Lord, You're calling us to serve You. We're to serve You in the world. Before we can serve You in the world, there must be this: "ministering in the House of the Lord" (1 Chronicles 26:12). Part of our worship involves the dedication of "gifts for the maintenance of the House of …

Help us, Lord, to thank You for Your good days, and to trust You in our bad days.

When, Lord, we start wondering, ‘Why are these bad things happening to us?’, help us to start thinking something else: “Why have You blessed us with so many good things?” (Job 30:27,31; Job 29:4-5). Help us, Lord, to thank You for Your good days, and to trust You in our bad days.

We thank You, Lord, for the love of Jesus.

We thank You, Lord, for the love of Jesus. There is no love like the love He has for each and every one of us. Before we ever thought of loving Him, He loved us. Before we were even born, He gave Himself, in death, for us. What a wonderful love! It’s the greatest love of …

You, Lord, are the God whom we worship. You are so much greater than the worship we bring to You.

‘Great is the Lord and greatly to be praised. His greatness is beyond understanding’. We worship You, Lord - our great God: ‘I will exalt You, my God the King. I will praise Your Name for ever and ever. Every day I will praise You and extol Your Name for ever and ever’ (Psalm 145:1-3). …

Help us, Lord, to see the light at the end of the tunnel – “the salvation of our souls.”

Proverbs 13:1-11 “The light of the righteous rejoices” (Proverbs 13:9). We thank You, Lord, that Jesus is our Light. He’s “the Light of the world” (John 8:12). In Him, we rejoice (Romans 5:11 – “the blood Of Jesus, Your Son, cleanses us from all sin” (1 John 1:7). We thank You that, through Jesus, You …

Thank You, Lord, for giving us our own name – and the Name of Jesus.

1 Chronicles 2:1-55  Thank You, Lord, for giving us our own name. It makes us feel special - "I'm me. I'm not somebody else." We thank You, even more, for giving us the Name of Jesus. His Name is the Name of our salvation. Among all the many names of people, from all over the …

We hear so much bad news. We wonder, “What, Lord, do You think of all this?”

“Carried off to Babylon” (2 Kings 20:17); “Fallen! Fallen is Babylon the Great!” (Revelation 14:18 & 18:2). Everything seems to be falling round about us. We hear so much bad news. We wonder, “What, Lord, do You think of all this?” Even “in Babylon” there were “the chosen” – people who belonged to You (1 …

Lord, we thank You that Your love is “an everlasting love.”

Lord, we thank You that Your love is "an everlasting love" (Jeremiah 31:3). Human love can be strong. It can be weak. Human love can come to an end. Your love is always strong. Your love never comes to an end. Your love is "everlasting love" - the only "everlasting love"!

Lord, we look at Solomon – and we see ourselves.

Lord, we look at Solomon – and we see ourselves. There is strength (2 Chronicles 8:16) – and there is weakness (2 Chronicles 8:11; 2 Chronicles 9:12). We want to love You more, but the world keeps on pulling us back – away from you and into sin. We come to You, Lord. We come …

Where, Lord, does true comfort come from? It comes from the Holy Spirit – the Comforter.

Job 15:1-16:5 Lord, we feel the pain of Job. He’s been listening to Eliphaz. Now, Job says, “how often have I heard all this before! What sorry comforters you are!” (Job 16:1). Job needed “words of encouragement” (Job 16:5) – but he didn’t get them from Eliphaz. Where, Lord, does true comfort come from? It …

Lord, You are God.

Genesis 2:15-17 Lord, You are God. Who are we to tell You what to do? Who are we to say, “We’ll do what we like” - when You’re saying to us, “I know what’s best for you.” Help us to choose Your way - and stop insisting on getting our own way. How are we …

A Faith That Is Personal – But Not Private

Jeremiah 16:1-21 ‘O Lord, my Strength and my Stronghold, my Refuge in the day of trouble, to You the nations will come from the ends of the earth… They will know that My Name is the Lord’ (Jeremiah 16:19,21). Give us, Lord, a faith that is personal – The Lord is my Strength, my Stronghold, my …

I am not forsaken. I am forgiven.

Psalm 22:1-18 “My God, my God, why have You forsaken me?” (Psalm 22:1). This was the Psalmist’s prayer. Often, it’s our prayer – it’s the way we feel, even if we don’t actually speak the words! More than that, it was our Saviour’s prayer (Matthew 27:46). On the Cross, “our sin was laid on Him” …

Lord, You call us to return to You.

Lord, You call us to return to You: ‘Seek the Lord while He may be found...’ (Isaiah 55:6-7). No one seems to be listening. What are we to do? Help us to remember Your promise: ‘My Word will not return to Me empty’ (Isaiah 55:11). We do not see all that You are doing. You …

Lord, We Rejoice In Your Constant Love.

Lord, we rejoice in Your ‘constant love’. This is our ‘comfort’ - You keep on loving us no matter what’s going on in our lives. We may be going through really hard times - ‘Men persecute me with lies... They have almost succeeded in killing me’. There’s one thing that never changes - Your ‘constant …

We find it so easy, Lord, to forget You…

We find it so easy, Lord, to forget You and all that You have done for us. We feel the pull of the world - drawing us back to what we were before we met You, drawing us away from all that You are calling us to become. Give us grace, Lord, to remember You, …

Let us worship God – with joyful thanksgiving.

‘Come, let us sing for joy to the Lord… Let us come before Him with thanksgiving… Come, let us bow down in worship… ’ (Psalm 95:1-2,6). Lord, You’re calling us to worship You with joyful thanksgiving. We rejoice in You. We give thanks for Your love. You are ‘the great God’. You are ‘our God’. You are the God of creation – ‘In His …

Lord, You want to lead us in the way of victory.

Lord, You want to lead us in the way of victory (1 Chronicles 5:22). You don't want us to be disobedient and defeated. You want us to be obedient and victorious. Why do we draw back from the kind of commitment that will bring blessing into our lives? Do we think You're going to 'lead …

Where does our faith come from?

Where does our faith come from? – It comes from You, Lord. You put it into our hearts. You brought us to Jesus, Your Son – Jesus, our Saviour. You brought us out of unbelief and into faith. We came to You in our sin. You gave to us Your salvation. Thank You, Lord.

Build For The Future – Pray And Witness.

"The Lord is your keeper" (Psalm 121:5); "My help comes from the Lord" (Psalm 121:2). Such words fill us with hope - and they call us to prayer. They do not fill us with a superficial optimism. They stir us to receive more of the Lord's help, and to know more of His keeping power. …

Devote Yourselves To Prayer.

God calls us to pray - ‘Devote yourselves to prayer’. We are to pray with concern - ‘watchful’. We are to pray with gratitude - ‘thankful’ (Colossians 4:2). We are to pray for those who preach God’s Word. Thank God for the past. Trust Him for the future. Remember - the important thing is the …

Lord, You speak to us about our sin and Your salvation.

Lord, You speak to us about our sin - ‘Son of man, you are living among a rebellious people’ - and Your salvation - ‘I will... put a new spirit in them...’ (Ezekiel 12:2; Ezekiel 11:19-20). Show us, Lord, that we must receive’ with humility, the bad news concerning our sin - ‘The wages of …

Praying Through God’s Word: 3 John

What kind of influence do we have on other people? Do we do a lot of good? Do we do a lot of harm? These, Lord, are questions that we need to ask ourselves. They are questions that You are asking us. They are questions that demand an honest answer. They are questions that call …

You call us, Lord, to be changed by You …

You call us, Lord, to be changed by You – changed by Your love, changed by Your power. Being changed by You is very different from being changed by the world. How are we being changed? Are we being “conformed to the world” or “transformed by the Lord”? Help us, Lord, to be wary of …

Praying Through God’s Word: James

James 1:1-27 Lord, there seems to be nothing but hard times. What are we to do? We turn to You. We ask You, “Lord, what are You teaching us?” You’re teaching us to trust You. You’re teaching us to be changed by You. Even when everything seems so hard, help us to pray, “Your will …

We thank You, Lord, that we do not fight against Satan in our own strength.

We thank You, Lord, that we do not fight against Satan in our own strength. You fight for us (Joshua 10:42). Victory is never our own achievement. It is always Your gift: "Thanks be to God who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ" (1 Corinthians 15:57).

Praying Through God’s Word: Judges

Judges 1:1-2:5 When things are going well, help us, Lord, to thank You. When things are going badly, help us to trust You. Judges 2:6-3:11 Sometimes, Lord, You say to us, “This is the way, walk in it” (Isaiah 30:21). Sometimes, You say to us, “This is not the way. Do not walk in it.” …

Sometimes, Lord, Your ‘No’ means ‘Not now – later.’

1 Chronicles 16:37-17:27  Sometimes, Lord, Your "No" - "You shall not build Me a House to dwell in" (1 Chronicles 17:1-4) - means "Not now - later" - "one of your sons ... shall build a House for Me" (1 Chronicles 17:11-12). What are we to say about the 'delay'? We call it a delay. …

When Satan is hurling his accusations at us (Praying Through God’s Word: Job 11-20)

Job 11:1-12:25  We read, Lord, about Job – “a righteous and blameless man! (Job 12:4). He was suffering, and he was confused. Was He being punished by You? That’s what Zophar was telling him – Job must have done  something pretty awful to deserve this. You, Lord, were saying something very different – “My servant Job” (Job …

Help Us, Lord, To Resist Satan – In Your Srength.

“The king of Babylon brought captive to Babylon all the men of valour… all of them strong and fit for war” (2 Kings 24:16).  A prisoner war is taken out of the battle. What a sad state of affairs it is, Lord,  when Satan sweeps in and takes control of our lives. Help us to …

Lord, we hear the questions.

Lord, we hear the questions, "Who shall ascend the hill of the Lord?" and "Who shall stand in His holy place?" - and we say, 'This is too much for us." We thank You, Lord, that there is Good News for us. There is One who has ascended the hill of the Lord. There is One …

We thank You, Lord, that Your Son, Jesus, is “our Lord and our God” (John 20:28).

We thank You, Lord, that Your Son, Jesus, is "our Lord and our God" (John 20:28). We thank You that, through Jesus, the risen Lord, we have received Your gift of eternal "life" (John 20:31). As we think of all that You have done for us and given to us, may we keep on trusting …

Lord, we feel like we’re making a right mess of things.

Lord, we feel like we're making a right mess of things. Everything's going wrong. This is the story of today's world. It's not just everybody else's story. It's our story. None of us can escape the truth: we're sinners. Thank You, Lord, that this is only part of the truth concerning us. We are loved …

Who chooses what is important to us?

Who chooses what is important to us? Is it You, Lord? or Are we the ones who are in control?  Help us, Lord, not to pay lip-service to You, without really opening our hearts to You and giving You first place in our lives.

Lord, we thank You that our lives are not controlled by what we are. They are transformed by who You are.

Praying through God's Word - Judges 14:10-16:3 Lord, we thank You that our lives are not controlled by what we are. They are transformed by who You are. We are sinners. You are the God of grace, Shall our sin triumph over Your grace? - "God forbid!" (Romans 6:1-2). "Sin shall not have dominion over us" (Romans 6:14). Your …

Lord, You have done so much for us.

Lord, You have done so much for us. What are we doing for You? You tell us about Your redemption. You call for our response. Our response is inspired by Your redemption. Thank You for the grace of Your redemption: "By grace you have been saved." Give us the grace to make our response: "Saved …

Lord, we thank You that You are there for us in our time of need.

‘He brought His people out with joy’(Psalm 105:43). When things are going badly and we feel like giving up, help us, Lord, to remember Your Word: ‘The joy of the Lord is your strength’(Nehemiah 8:10). You're calling us to ‘rejoice in You always’. You do not leave us on our own when our time of …

What, Lord, is most important to us – the person who leads us in worship, the place where we worship, or the God whom we worship?

Praying through God's Word: 1 Kings 8:14-53 What, Lord, is most important to us – the person who leads us in worship, the place where we worship, or the God whom we worship? We know what our answer should be – but, often, our lives tell a very different story. Help us, when we worship, …

We look at ourselves, Lord – and our heads go down.

We look at ourselves, Lord – and our heads go down. Again and again, Lord, we let You down – but You, Lord, never let us down. You lift us up. When we fail You, help us to remember Your faithful love – and to be lifted up into a life that is more faithful …

In our own homes – let us lift up our hearts and voices to the Lord.

The first four worship videos are choruses I remember from my youth. I hope they will encourage you all in the Lord. The first one is sung by a young man, who is, also, playing his guitar. For God so loved the world https://youtu.be/Gl1uoaLVwkM ‘Let us go to the Lord’s House; let us worship before …

Lord, help us to prepare for the future.

Lord, help us to prepare for the future – Your future. Life without a future is no life at all. Often, we feel like we are stuck in the prison of the present. You lift up our eyes. You show us Your future. You fill our pathway with Your light. It is Your light that …

Less trying to get our own way

Lord, may there be less trying to get our own way and more walking in Your way.

Help us, Lord, to love You with our whole heart.

‘With my whole heart I cry; answer me, O Lord!’ (Psalm 119:145). Lord, You’re calling us to pray. There is nothing more important than this. If other things have become more important in our lives, we need to think about the way we are living. You want to send Your blessing into our lives: ‘Ask, …

We think, Lord, of Your redemption.

We think, Lord, of Your redemption, and our hearts are filled with thanksgiving and hope. We think and we thank. we look back on all that You have done for us, and we say, "Thank You, Lord." Give us the spirit of thanksgiving, the attitude of gratitude and, with it, give us the confidence to …