Thursday 9 August 2018

Praying Through God’s Word: Job

Job 1:1-2:13
Lord, Your power is greater than the power of Satan. Help us never to forget this. Satan is “roaming through the earth”, “prowling around like a roaring lion, seeking for someone to devour” (Job 1:7; 1 Peter 5:8) – but he can only do what You allow him to do (Job 1:12; Job 2:6). When Satan seems to be getting the upper hand, remind us that You’re the One who’s in control – not him!
Job 3:1-4:11
What are we to do when, like Job, we find ourselves sinking into a state of deep depression? Help us, Lord, to remember Jesus. Help us to remember His suffering. He suffered for us. He suffers with us. We thank You that Jesus knows how we feel. He’s been there. He went to the Cross – for us. Behind His suffering, we see His love. In our suffering, we need Jesus. We need His love. Without His love, things will only get worse. Thank You for Jesus – for His love and His help.
Job 4:12-6:7 
Lord, we read about Eliphaz. We see so much pride. We don’t see much love. Satan is speaking through Eliphaz. Help us not to listen  to Satan. He’s trying to put us down. He’s trying to keep us down. Help us to listen to the voice of Your love. Your Word lifts us up. Help us to look to You, to be lifted by You, and to give all the glory to You.
Job 6:8-7:21
We read about Job, going through hard times. We remember Jesus, suffering for us – ‘My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me? At the Cross, there is no Voice from heaven, saying, ‘This is My beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased’ (Mark 15:34; Matthew 3:17). Job is suffering. Jesus is suffering.  What are we to make of this? Where are You, Lord, while all this is happening? What are You doing about it? We remember the words, spoken by Jesus to His enemies, shortly before His crucifixion: ‘This is your hour, and the power of darkness’ (Luke 22:53). You allow Satan to have his ‘hour’. ‘The power of darkness’ appears to have the upper hand. This is not the end of the story. There is ‘a happy ending’. Job is raised from his depression (42:10,12). Jesus is ‘raised’ from the dead (Acts 2:23-24). Help us, Lord, to look beyond what’s happening to us right now. Help us to catch a glimpse of the glorious future for which You are preparing us.
Job 8:1-9:19
We read the words of Bildad. He speaks as a ‘know-it-all’. He sees what has happened to Job, and he thinks, ‘Job must have forgotten God’. He fails to see that not forgotten God You. Help us, Lord, to see that bad things can and do happen to people who love You as well as people who don’t love You. When things are going badly, help us, Lord, to remember Your long-term purpose. You’re preparing us for ‘eternal life’ (Matthew 19:29). Help us to look beyond our sufferings. They are ‘slight and short-lived’. Help us to look ahead to the ‘eternal glory that is greater than anything we can imagine’ (2 Corinthians 4:17).
Job 9:20-10:22
What are we to do, Lord, when, like Job, we think that You are “against” us (Job 10:2)? Where do such negative thoughts come from? Do they come from You? No! They come from Satan, the “accuser ” of Your people (Revelation 12:10). When Satan attacks us, help us to remember that You love us, that Jesus died for us, that “there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus”, and that “we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us” (Romans 5:8; Romans 8:1; Romans 8:37).
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 1:8). When Satan is hurling his accusations at us, help us, Lord, to keep on listening to what You’re saying to us. May the voice of Your love lift us out of the pit of our despair.
Job 13:1-14:22
Sometimes, Lord, we need to say, “The less said, the better.” We read what Job said about his ‘friends’ – “Oh that you would keep silent, and it would be your wisdom!” (Job 13:5). We feel for Job. From his ‘friends’, there was nothing but one accusation after another. What was he to do? What are we to do? We turn to You, Lord. Can we look beyond our suffering? Is there something better? – “If a man dies, shall he live again?” (Job 14:14). We thank You, Lord, for the answer of faith: “I know that my Redeemer loves … Even after my skin has been stripped off my body, I will see God … ” (Job 19:25). Help us, Lord, to look to Jesus, the risen Lord, to hear His Word of triumph: “Death is swallowed up in victory”, and to offer to You our joyful praise – “Thanks be to God who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Corinthians 15:20,54,57).
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 comes from the Holy Spirit – “the comforter” (john 14:26). Help us, Lord, to listen to the voice of the Spirit – and to speak with His voice, the voice of “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control” (Galatians 5:22-23).
Job 16:6-17:16
“There is no violence in my hands, and my prayer is pure” (Job 16:17). We wonder, Lord, ‘Is this no more than Job’s own opinion of himself?” Your Word tells us that it’s also Your view of Job: “My witness is in heaven, and He that vouches for me is on high” (Job 16:19). As we read about Job and his suffering, Help us to think about ourselves. How do we react when suffering comes our way? Do we become bitter – blaming You and turning away from You? Or, do we become better – “the righteous holds to his way, and he that has clean hands grows stronger and stronger” (Job 17:9)? How, Lord, can we become better – and not bitter? It’s Your  love that changes us (Romans 5:3-5). It’s Your love that lifts us when we feel like we’re falling down. Lead us, Lord, out of the bitter way and into the better way.
Job 18:1-19:7
“How long will you torment me, and break me in pieces with words?” (Job 19:2). Lord, we read Job’s reply to the harsh words, spoken by Bildad, and we ask, “What about us? What effect do our words have on other people? Lord, You speak to us about our use of words “The tongue is a fire … set on fire by hell …With it we bless the Lord and Father, and with it we curse men, who are made in the likeness of God. From the same mouth come blessing and cursing. My brothers, this should not happen!” (James 3:6,9-10). As we think about what You are saying to us, help us to pray that “our conversation will be always full of grace” (Colossians 4:6). Lord, may our words “bring a blessing to those who hear” them (Ephesians 4:29).
Job 19:8-29
“I know that my Redeemer lives … In the end He will stand upon the earth” (Job 19:25-26). Lord, we read these great words of faith, spoken by Job, and our thoughts turn to Jesus. We think of His resurrection – He “has risen” from the dead” (Matthew 28:6). We think of His return – He will return “with power and great glory” (Matthew 24:30). We think of “our redemption” – “When  He appears, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is”; “We shall always be with the Lord” (Luke 21:27-28); 1 John 3:2; 1 Thessalonians 4:17). We think of all of these things – Christ’s resurrection, His return, our redemption, and we give to You, Lord, our thanks, our praise, our hearts and our lives. To You, Lord, be all the glory!
Job 20:1-29
Lord, we read Zophar’s detailed description of “the wicked man’s portion from God, the heritage decreed for him by God” (Job 20:29). We wonder if Zophar has ever thought of asking the question:’ Help us, Lord, to learn from Zophar ‘Does all of this apply to Job? Is Job a wicked man? Is Job being punished by God? Help us, Lord, to learn from Zophar’s mistakes. Help us to listen to what You’re saying to us before we start telling other people what we think You should be saying to them. may our words be Gospel words – words of love, words of encouragement, words of hope. May our words bring glory to Your Name, the Name of love, the Name of Your salvation.
Job 21:1-34
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; when He has tried me, I shall come forth as gold” (Job 23:10). When life is hard, and it’s difficult to understand what’s going on, help us to hold on to Your promise: “Those who wait on the Lord shall renew their strength, they shall mount uo with wings like eagles … ” (Isaiah 40:31).
Job 22:1-23:7
Lord, we read Job’s question: “Would He contend with me in the greatness of His power?” We also read his answer: “No; He would give heed to me” (Job 23:6). We thank You that You are not only the God of great power. You are also the God of great love. If You, Lord, were nothing but power, we would have good reason to be terrified of You. At the Cross of Jesus, we see how much You love us. In Jesus’ resurrection, we see Your power. It’s  not just the power to do strange and mysterious miracles. It’s the power of Your love – the love that lifts us when we’re down, the love that leads us on to a life, in which there will be “no more death or  mourning or crying or pain” (Revelation 21:4).
Job 23:8-24:5
Lord, life can be so confusing. We see Job, trusting in You – “he knows the way that I take … ” (Job 23:10). we also hear him saying, ” … the Almighty has terrified me … ” (Job 23:16-17). where, Lord, do these negative thoughts come from? Do they come from You? No! They come from Satan! This is not “the fear of the Lord which is the beginning of wisdom” (Psalm 111:10; Proverbs 1:7). This is the fear that comes from Satan What are we to do when fear threatens to overwhelm us? What are we to do when fear threatens to destroy our trust in You? We look to You, Lord. You “have not given us a spirit of fear.” You’ve given us Your “Spirit of power and love.” You give us “a sound mind.” Help us, Lord, to keep on looking to You. May Your “perfect love cast out our fear” (2 Timothy 1:7; 1 John 4:18).
Job 25:1-27:6
Lord, we hear biting sarcasm in Job’s response to his ‘comforters': “How you have helped him who has no power! How you have saved the arm that has no strength!” (Job 26:2). We hear Job’s searching question: “With whose help have you uttered words, and whose spirit has me forth from you?” (Job 26:4), and we pray, “Lord, help us to listen for the voice of Your love – and not to be deceived, discouraged, and distressed by words that come to us from Satan.”
Job 27:7-28:28
“The fear of the Lord – that is wisdom, and to shun evil is understanding” (Job 28:28). Give to us, Lord, the wisdom that is centred on Christ, the wisdom that receives “salvation through faith in Christ Jesus”, the wisdom that leads us to become “mature in Christ”, the wisdom that is Christlike, the wisdom that gives glory to Christ (1 Corinthians 1:30-31; 2 Timothy 3:15; Colossians 1:28; James 3:17).
Job 29:1-30:31
When, Lord, we start wondering, ‘Why are these bad things happening to us?’, help us to start thin king 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.
Job 31:1-40
“Job … was blameless and upright, one who feared God, and turned away from evil” (Job 1:1). Again and again, Lord, we fall far short of this ideal (Romans 3:23). How can our sins be forgiven? How can our guilt be removed? We thank You that “the blood of Jesus, Your Son, cleanses us from all sin” (1 John 1:7). This is more than having our sins forgiven. You, Lord, are leading us n the paths of righteousness. Create in us a deeper longing to become more like Jesus, our Saviour – and help us to give all the glory to You (Psalm 23:3; Psalm 51:10).
Job 32:1-33:18
“Understanding” comes from “the breath of the Almighty” (Job 32:8). “God does speak – now, one way, now another – though man may not perceive it” (Job 33:14). We thank You, Lord, that You have spoken to us through Your Word. You still speak to us through Your Word. It’s Your Spirit who brings Your Word to us. We do not always understand what You are saying to us. There is always more than we can take in. When, Lord, we feel that we’re out of our depth, help us to keep on listening, to keep on believing – and to pray for “understanding” that will lead to new life; q life that is grounded in the Scriptures, a life that is centred on the Saviour, a life that is filled with the Spirit, a life that brings glory to You.
Job 33:19-34:20
When things are going well, help us to remember to say, “Thank You, Lord.” When things start going badly, help us to remember that You are still with us – and You haven’t stopped loving us. You haven’t left us on our own. You’re there beside us, every step of the way. In all of life – our times of suffering as well as our times of blessing, draw us, Lord, closer to Yourself and give us this powerful testimony; “He redeemed my soul from going down to the pit, and I shall love to enjoy the light” (Job 33:28-30).
Job 34:21-35:16 
“If you have sinned” (Job 35:6). Help us, Lord, to think about Job, about Jesus, and about ourselves. “Job feared God and shunned evil” (Job 1:1). Job wasn’t being singled out for special punishment, because he was much more sinful than anyone else – but this doesn’t mean that he had never sinned (Job 7:21; Job 13:26). Help us, Lord, to look beyond Job to Jesus. He did not sin (Hebrews 4:14-16) – but He did suffer: “He suffered for us … He bore our sins … He died for us … He died for our sins” (1 Peter 2:21-24; Romans 5:8; 1 Corinthians 15:3). Thank You, Lord, for Jesus, our Saviour. When we sin, help us to come to Jesus. He is our “Redeemer” (Job 19:25). He gives us “quietness” and “songs in the night” (Job 34:29; Job 35:10). Help us, Lord, to “be still and know that You are our God.” Help us to “shout for joy to You” (Psalm 46:10; Psalm 98:4).
Job 36:1-33 
“God is mighty, and does not despise any” (Job 36:5). Lord, You are great in power. You are great in love. How sad it would be if You had great love for us, but did not have the power to save us. How terrifying it would be if You had great power, but had no love, in Your hear, for us. What a joy it is to know that You are both the God of great power and the God of great love. You are “abundant in power.” You “heal the broken-hearted and … lift up the downtrodden.” We think, Lord, about Your great power and Your great love, and we say, “Praise the Lord!” We “sing to You with thanksgiving.” We “make melody to You.” We “sing praises to You” (Psalm 147:1-7).
Job 37:1-24
“The Almighty is great in power and … He does not oppress” (Job 37:23). Lord, Your power is loving power. Your love is powerful love. We see Your power in Jesus – “He is able to save to the uttermost all who come to God through Him” (Hebrews 7:25). We see Your love in Jesus – “I will never turn away any one who comes to Me” (John 6:37). In the world, we see the love of power. It’s a very destructive thing. In Jesus, we see the power of love. Hew uses His power to show us His love. He shows us His love when, through His mighty power, He saves us. Thank You, Lord, for Jesus. What a great Saviour He is!
Job 38:1-38
Lord, we do an awful lot of talking about ourselves, and not very much listening to You. When it seems to us that our problems are bigger than Your power, help us to start listening to what Your Word is saying to us. There are many questions for which we have no answers – Why has this happened to us? Why did it turn out this way? Why this? Why that? When, Lord, it seems to be all questions and no answers, help us to remember this: “I lift up my eyes to the hills. Where does my help come from? My help comes from the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth” (Psalm 121:1-2).
Job 38:39-40:14
“I am unworthy – how can I reply to You? I put my hand over my mouth … I have no answer … I will say no more” (Job 40:3-5). When, Lord, You speak to us about sin – “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God”, we have nothing to say in our own defence: “every mouth is silenced” (Romans 3:23,19). We thank You, Lord, that, when You speak to us about our sin, You also speak to us of Your love, the death of Christ for our sins, the forgiveness of our sins and the cleansing of our hearts and lives (Romans 5:8; 1 John 1:7-10).
Job 40:15-41:34
“Who can stand before Me?” (Job 41:10). Lord, You put this question to every one of us. There are two answers to this question. The first speaks to us of our sin. The second speaks to us of our Saviour. When, Lord, You speak to us of our sin, it’s bad news: “There is no-one righteous, not even one” (Romans 3:10). When You speak to us of our Saviour, it’s Good News. Jesus is “without sin.” He is “Your beloved Son with whom You are well pleased.” He has “died for our sins” (Hebrews 4:14-16; Matthew 3:16-17; 1 Corinthians 15:3). Thank You, Lord, for Jesus – Your beloved Son, our wonderful Saviour.
Job 42:1-17
We read, Lord, about Job being brought close to You, his ‘friends’ being forgiven by You and everyone being happy about the way things turned out for Job (Job 42:5-11). We wonder, “Is there always a happy ending?” In this earthly life, we will never reach a stage where there will be no more problems, and everything will be just fine. Help us, Lord, to look beyond this earthly life. Help us to catch a glimpse of the “salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.” Our suffering will be for “a little while.” We thank You, Lord, that Your salvation will be forever (1 Peter 1:5-7).

Praying Through God’s Word: Exodus

Exodus 1:1-2:10
Lord, what are we to do when we’re going through a hard time? Hard times can be the breaking of us – or the making of us. We can blame You – or we can trust You. Help us to trust You – to know that You are near, even when it feels like You are far away.
Exodus 2:11-3:22
We thank You, Lord, that You have blessed us. We have come to You with our sin – and You have forgiven us. We thank You, Lord, that You call us to bring Your blessing to others. We have received Your blessing. Help us to share it with others.
Exodus 4:1-31
Often, Lord, we fail You – and we wonder why You bother with us. We thank You, Lord,that You never fail us. When we let You down, You lift us up. Help us, Lord, not to be shaped by our failure. Help us to be transformed by Your love and power. Help us to respond to Your call to “attempt great things for You and expect great things from You” (William Carey).
Exodus 5:1-6:13
Lord, what are we to do when we face determined opposition from people who refuse to listen to what Your Word is saying to them? Lord, teach us to pray. Teach us to take our problems to You – and help us to leave them with You. When troubles come our way, help us to “wait upon You and renew our strength” (Isaiah 40:31).
Exodus 6:14-7:24
Lord, we come to You in our weakness. We receive Your strength. In our weakness, we fail. Through Your strength, we shall triumph. When we’re stumbling along in weakness, help us to say, with ever-increasing faith, “Our God is marching on to glorious victory.”
Exodus 7:25-8:32
Lord, show us our pride – and teach us to humble ourselves before You. Show us Your power and teach us to trust You to do great things in and through us.
Exodus 9:1-32
Lord, help us not to rest content with going through the motions of religion. Beyond religion, there is redemption. Beyond ritual, there is reality. May our faith in Jesus, our Saviour, be a real faith, a living faith, a faith that changes us, a faith that brings glory to You.
Exodus 10:1-29
Touch our hearts, Lord, with Your love. So often, our hearts are hard. How can this hardness be broken down? You must do it. We can’t do this for ourselves. We can’t do this by ourselves. It’s Your love that changes us. It’s Your love that makes us new. Open our hearts to Your love. Fill our hearts with Your love.
Exodus 11:1-12:28
Help us, Lord, to receive Your forgiveness – and to respond to Your call to holy living. You give to us Your peace. It comes to us with Your gift of forgiveness. You give to us Your power – the power to live for Your glory. May Your peace and Your power equip us for living as Your people.
Exodus 12:29-13:16
Often, Lord, we feel trapped – trapped by our sin. We try to break free – but we can’t make it happen. Our sin has such a strong hold on us. We wonder, “Is there a way to freedom?” Jesus says, “Yes. There is.” He says to us, “I am the Way to freedom.” Set us free, Lord, from our self-centredness. May there be less of self and more of You in our lives.
Exodus 13:17-14:31
Lord, we are surrounded by so many temptations. We cannot avoid this. There’s no getting away from it. It’s part-and-parcel of our life in this world. What are we to do when temptation comes our way? What are we to do when we feel the powerful pull of the world, drawing us away from You? Lord, help us to turn to You. Help us to renew our strength – in You.
Exodus 15:1-21
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 face the future, knowing that it is more than our future. It is Your future for us.
Exodus 15:22-16:36
Lord, You love us so much. Help us never to forget this. Help us to remember Jesus – to remember that His body was broken for us, and His blood was shed for us. Help us to feed on Jesus, and to be strong in Him. Lord, when the going gets tough, help us to remember that Your love keeps going and going and going  …It is a love that never comes to an end. It’s everlasting love – the only everlasting love.
Exodus 17:1-18:27
Lord, we come to You with questions. You give us victory. Sometimes, our questions are not answered. Always, You give us the strength that we need to keep on walking with You. Lord, when our life gets busy, help us to take time to pray. When we have so many things to do, help us to find time for listening to what Your Word has to say to us. If we’re too busy to pray, we’re too busy! Help us, Lord, not to be “worried and upset about many things.” Help us not to forget this: “only one thing is needed” – “listening to what Jesus is saying” to us (Luke 10:38-42).
Exodus 19:1-25
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 through faith for good works” (Ephesians 2:8-10). Lord, help us to have less self-confidence and more confidence in You. Self-confidence is all about us. It has nothing to do with You. Confidence in You is so different. It comes from faith – not from pride. Help us to find our true strength. It’s not our strength. It’s Your strength.
Exodus 20:1-20
Less of our sin, more of Your love – Lord, this is our prayer. Our sin does us nothing but harm. Your love always does us good – nothing but good. We’re sinners, Lord. Why do You keep on loving us? We don’t know why – but we’re glad that You do! We rejoice in this: “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners” (1 Timothy 1:15).
Exodus 20:21-21:32
Your redemption, Lord, is more than rules and regulations. It’s not about the things that we do for You. It’s about all that You have done for us. Jesus died for us – This is what inspires us to live for Him. What a great thing Jesus has done for us! Help us, Lord, to do great things for Him. Help us, Lord, to receive Your great salvation – and to give all the glory to You.
Exodus 21:33-22:31
Lord, we’re on a journey. We’re travelling from grace. We’re travelling to glory. Everything comes to us from Your grace. Everything is leading us to Your glory. You have given us all that we need – all that we need to bring us into Your salvation, all that we need to take us on into Your glory. This is not our journey. It’s Your journey. You’re our Travel Guide. You’re with us every step of the way. Thank You, Lord.
Exodus 23:1-33
We rejoice in Your love. Help us, Lord, not to forget Your holiness. You fill us with Your love. You call us to be holy. Lead us, O Lord, in Your way of love. Lead us in Your way of holiness. It won’t be easy – walking with You on Your pathway of holiness. When the going gets tough, help us to remember that we’re not on our own. You are with us every day. You are with us – all the way.
Exodus 24:1-18
Lord, You call us to speak Your Word – but, first, You call us to listen to Your Word. How can we speak for You if we’re not listening to You? Help us to come to the Cross of Christ. Help us to hear the voice of Your love. Send us from the that holy place – the place of His crucifixion, the place of our salvation – back into the world. May we return to the world as people who’ve been changed – changed by the love of Christ.
Exodus 25:1-40
Lord, we thank You for Your Son, Jesus. What a wonderful Saviour He is. There is no-one like Him. None can compare with Jesus. He is greater than all the prophets. He is greater than all the apostles. The prophets cannot save us. The apostles cannot save us. They can only point away from themselves. They point us to Jesus. They are only servants. Jesus is the Saviour. We thank You that He was able to do what the prophets and apostles could never do for us – He “came into the world to save sinners” (1 Timothy 1:15).
Exodus 26:1-37
Open our eyes, Lord. Help us to see Jesus – to see Him in His holiness and confess our sin, to see Him in His love and receive His forgiveness, to see Him in His power and be changed by Him, to see Him in His glory and worship Him.
Exodus 27:1-19
Sometimes, Lord, we don’t feel like the sun is shining upon us. When we feel like this, help us to know that the light and love of Your Son is always shining upon us. When we’re feeling down, help us to remember that You raised Jesus up – “Up from the grave He arose with a mighty triumph o’er His foes.” This is what we need to hear. This is what lifts us up: up – into Your presence, up – out of our sin, up – into Your salvation’ upwards and onwards – to Your eternal glory.
Exodus 27:20-29:9
Sometimes, Lord, our lights are switched off. Sometimes, they’re switched on. The light of Your love is never switched off. It’s always switched on. Your love is ‘all the time’ love. There is no love like Your love for us. It’s the only ‘always and forever’ love. Thank You, Lord, for the light that never stops shining – the light of Your undying love. This is the only light that is always shining.
Exodus 29:10-46
Often, Lord, we come to Your House with so little expectation of Your blessing. Where does this attitude come from? – It doesn’t come from You. You are the great God. You fill our hearts with ‘great expectations.’ When Satan comes to us, filling our hearts with apathy – the ‘couldn’t-care-less’ attitude, help us to tell him that You are the great God (Psalm 135:5) – great in holiness, power and love, the faithful God who comes to us with great promises of blessing. When, Lord, we are blessed by You, help us to give all the glory to You.
Exodus 30:1-38
So often, Lord, we get preoccupied with ourselves. Our words say that You are more important than anyone else. Often, our lives tell a very different story – ‘It’s all about us. It’s all about what pleases us.’ How can we be changed? Lead us to the Cross of Your Son, Jesus. Show us Jesus – dying for us. Teach us to live for Him. Lift us out of our weakness and failure into Your strength and victory – and help us to praise You with hearts that are becoming more God-centred and less self-centred.
Exodus 31:1-32:14
Lord, You call us to serve You. How are we to serve You? How can we serve You? – Our sin keeps on getting in the way. We start off well – and then, we take our eyes off Jesus, and things start to go badly. Lord, we need Your Spirit. He is the Holy Spirit. How can we possibly serve You – if we are not learning to walk with You in the way of holiness. Before we pray, “Help us to serve You better”, help us to pray, “Lead us in the way of holiness.”
Exodus 32:15-33:23
Lord, You are the God of holiness. You are the God of love. Your holiness is loving holiness. Your love is holy love. Help us to see that Your holiness and Your love belong together. It’s not one without the other. It’s not holiness without love. It’s not love without holiness. We need both – Your holiness and Your love. Your holiness shows us our sin. Your love forgives our sin. You love us. Help us to love You – and be changed by Your holy love.
Exodus 34:1-35
Lord, You are the faithful God. You give us Your promises. You keep Your promises. You never go back on Your Word. You always stand by the Word that You have spoken. Your promises come to us from the past. They lead us on into Your future. What a wonderful future You are planning for us. We thank You for Jesus’ great promise: “I go to prepare a place for you” (John 14:2). Help us to receive His Word, to rejoice in His promise, yo be renewed by His love.
Exodus 35:1-36:7
Help us, Lord, never to think that we have nothing to offer to You. We can never save ourselves. That is something that You must do for us. We have been saved by Your grace. Now, we must serve You in Your strength. You gave Your Son for us. Help us to give ourselves to You. May we never be half-hearted in our devotion to You. Help us to be whole-hearted in all that we do for You.
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.
Exodus 37:1-29
We thank You, Lord, that Your Son, Jesus, is “pure gold.” There’s nothing better than Jesus. there’s no-one better than Him. He’s the very best. What Jesus has done for us – this is “pure gold.” He died for us. He was raised to life for us. This is Good News. It’s the best news we could ever hear. Lord, help us not to get bogged down in the bad news of our sin. Lord, lift us up with the Good News of our Saviour.
Exodus 38:1-31
Lord, there is work to be done. It’s Your work. Help us all to play our part. We leave it to someone else – and it never gets done. Change us, Lord. Spectators can become workers. Help us not to hang back – on the sidelines. You’re calling us to come into the centre of Your will and Your work. When we’re tempted to stand back and watch, help us to come forward and work. Help us to remember this: “There’s a work of Jesus none but we can do.”
Exodus 39:1-43
Lord, we want blessing – but we’re not so keen on obedience. Help us to learn from Jesus. For Him, obedience was everything. He was fully obedient. For Him, it meant the Cross (Philippians 2:8). Lord, help us not to be thinking, “What are we going to get out of this?” Help us to be praying, “How can we do Your will? How can we bring glory to You?”
Exodus 40:1-38
Lord, help us to listen to Your Word, walk in Your way and “worship You in Spirit and in truth” (John 4:24). These are the things that matter most. Are they our priorities? We know, Lord, that they should be our priorities – but we are often distracted. We lose our focus. Other things become more important to us. “Restore our souls and lead us in the paths of righteousness for Your Name’s sake” (Psalm 23:3).

Praying Through God’s Word: Genesis

Lord, help us to get our priorities right – Your priorities. May our lives be more centred on You – less centred on ourselves. Help us to listen for Your Word – not to jump straight in with our own words. Help us to open our hearts to Your Holy Spirit. May He move among us – in power, in love, in holiness, in victory. Transform our life, O Lord – May we live as a new creation in Christ (2 Corinthians 5:17). May we know the great blessing of knowing that Jesus, our Saviour, is always “God with us” (Matthew 1:23).
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 doing Your will and pleasing You. We need Your Holy Spirit – May the Spirit’s ‘living water’ flow in us (John 7:37-39). Thank You, Lord, for the gift of Your Holy Spirit – He gives us the power to ‘walk in the light’ (1 John 1:7) with You. Lead us in the way of fruitfulness – the way of “love, joy, peace … “(Galatians 5:22-23).
Lord, You have made us – to praise You. You call us to live for Your glory. Praise to God, glory to God – Where does this come from? We look into our hearts – and it is not there. We look at our lives – and we say, “Where is this praise to God?, Where is this glory to God?” Lord, we can only praise You when You give to us the song of praise. You alone can fill our hearts with praise to You. You alone can fill our lives with Your glory. Without You, Lord, our life is a spiritual wasteland. Come, O Lord, to this spiritual wasteland. Come – and make our life a song of praise to You. Come – and make our life a hymn that says, “Glory to God.”
Lord, You are our Creator. We have been created by You. We have been created for You. What have we done with this great blessing? We have turned away from You. We have gone our own way. We have done our own thing. Have You lost patience with us? Have You given up on us? We often feel like we are a waste of Your time – then we remember Jesus. That’s when everything changes – We remember Jesus. He came from where You are. He came to where we are. From where we are to where You are – This is what Jesus does for us.
Lord, we look at ourselves, and we say, “This is my life. This is the way I’ve always been. I’ll never change. I’ll never be any different.” Is this all that we can say about ourselves? Is this what You’re saying about us? We’re always thinking about what we are. You’re always saying to us, “This is what you can become. This is what I am going to make you.” Help us to listen to what You’re saying to us. Help us to make a new “beginning” with You – as we believe and receive “the Good News of Jesus Christ, the Son of God” (Mark 1:1).
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 to do this? Jesus tells us, “If the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed” (John 8:36). How, we wonder, does Jesus make us free?
He shows us “the truth” – the truth about ourselves, the truth about Jesus.
We are sinners. Jesus is our Saviour. This is the truth. It’s “the truth that sets us free” (
John 8:32). We are sinners. Jesus is our Saviour. This is the truth that brings us out of the prison cell of our own making. This, Lord, is the truth which brings us on to the pathway of Your blessing, the pathway of true and lasting joy, the pathway to Your eternal glory.
Lord, we thank You that You have a place in Your heart for us. Why? What have we done that You should keep on loving us? Is there something good about us – something that makes us worthy of Your love? Whatever way we look at it – the answer’s always “No.” No! No! No!
There’s no way back to You, Lord, that begins with ourselves. We cannot begin with ourselves – but “Is there another starting-point?”
Lord, there is only one place. We begin with Your love – “God so loved the world that He gave His only Son … “ (John 3:16). We hear these words, and we ask, “Why, Lord, have You loved us like this?”
From our side, there’s no answer to this question. We can only say, “We’re sinners.” There’s nothing else we can say about ourselves.
What do You, Lord, say to sinners? “God shows His own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8).
Lord, we are often tempted – tempted to forget all about You. The pull towards self-centred living is so strong.We think that we can go it alone. We think that we don’t need You. We think that we can manage all right without You. Where does this kind of thinking come from? Does it come from You? – To ask the question is to give the answer. You would never make us think like that! This kind of thinking must come from somewhere else – from someone else. It can only come from Satan – the devil. He’s the one who wants us to forget all about You. Lord, You are “our Father” (Matthew 6:9). Satan is very different. He’s “the father of lies” (John 8:44). Lord, help us to stop listening to Satan – and to start listening to You.
Lord, we have wandered far from You. There seems to be no way back. We feel like we’re ready to give up in despair. Is this all that there is – wandering around in the wilderness of life, always travelling but never arriving at our destination? We’re groping around in the darkness – then something happens, something wonderful. Lord, You come to us. You come to us in our darkness. You come to us with Your light. It’s the light of Christ. It’s the light of love. It’s the light of salvation. “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners” (1 Timothy 1:15).
Lord, we have failed You over and over again. It never seems to stop – failure, failure, failure ..! This is the story of our life – from beginning to end. Can we escape from this – failure, failure, failure …? This is nothing new – It goes back to the Garden of Eden. It started off so well – but it turned out so badly. Is there a way out of this – failure, failure, failure …? Lord, we thank You that there is! Jesus has succeeded – where everyone else failed. “There was no other good enough to pay the price of sin, He only could unlock the gate of heaven and let us in.”
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’s only part of the truth concerning us. We are loved by You. We hear this, Lord – but still we wonder, “Can You do anything with us?” Has this world reached the end of the road? Is our situation hopeless? Is there any hope for any of us? We feel ourselves being dragged into a black hole – then we hear Your Word speaking to us: ‘the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord’ (Romans 6:23). Gift? – It’s not earned by us. It’s given to us. Hope? Where does it come from? – From Jesus Christ our Lord!
Lord, when we come to You, we come with our sin. We can’t do anything else. Sin is a part of what we are. It’s the heart of what we are.
Lord, our life is a journey. We can be travelling with You – or we can be running away from You. Day-by day, we are further down the road – closer to You or further away from You. Day-by-day, we must choose: Will we travel with You, Lord? or Will we go our own way?
Often, we make bad choices. We take a wrong turning. Things go from bad to worse. We lose sight of You. We get lost. We wonder, “Is there a way back home? Is there a way back to the Lord?” We thank You, Lord, that You are waiting for us. In love, You are waiting for us to turn around – to make our way back to You. You are waiting for us to stop wandering – and start returning. Lead us, Lord. Lead us to Yourself. Lead us out of the wilderness of our sin. Lead us into the promised land of Your salvation.
Lord, You are always with us – but we are not always with You. There is never a time when You are not there at our side – but there are many times when we don’t realize that You are right there, beside us at every stage in our journey through life. Life isn’t easy! Bad things happen to us – and we take our eyes off You. Before we know it, we’re going round in circles – getting nowhere quickly. What are we to make of all this? Are we to say, “Why have You left me, Lord?” Our difficult circumstances are shouting at us, “God has left you. You’re on your own. Make the most of it – without Him.” Lord, help us, when we feel like this, to keep on listening for Your “still, small voice.” Help us to hear the “gentle whisper” of Your love (1 Kings 19:11-12). When our emotions are pulling us this way, pulling us that way, pulling us all over the place, help us to hear and believe Your precious promise: “I will be with you always” (Matthew 28:20).
Lord, where have all the years gone? Five years becomes ten years. Ten years becomes twenty years. Twenty years becomes forty years …. Is there something more than this? – We thank You that You are the eternal God. In all the changing circumstances of our life, help us to remember this: “The eternal God is your refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms” (Deuteronomy 33:27). You are the eternal God. Your love is unchanged, unchanging and unchangeable. This is our encouragement – when everything around us is changing. We are encouraged. Lord, may we also be challenged: How much of our life is bringing glory to You?
Genesis 5:18-32
Lord, help us to walk with You. Sometimes, we wonder, “Where is our life leading us?” That depends, Lord, on who’s doing the leading. Are we being “led by the Spirit of God” (Romans 8:14)? or Have we allowed the devil to slip into the place where You alone should be? Lord, lead us to the place of blessing. Lead us by Your grace. Give us the faith which says, “Jesus is stronger than Satan and sin. Satan to Jesus must bow” (A.C.D.). When Satan – the intruder – tries to take Your place in our hearts, help us to give the answer of faith, “Satan has no authority here in this place. He has no authority here” (Debbye Graafsma). Help us to “leave no unguarded place, no weakness of the soul.” Help us “to keep our armour bright.” Help us to “attend with constant care, still walking in our Captain’s sight and watching unto prayer” (Charles Wesley).
Lord, we thank You for Your “amazing grace” – “I once was lost but now am found” (John Newton). We think about our life. Did we find our way back to You?  – No! You found us! You came looking for us – and You found us. We think about this – and we say, “Hallelujah!” We say, “Praise the Lord!” Do we say, “Hallelujah! We have found Him”? We do say this – but there is something more than this: “Hallelujah! He has saved me.” Thank You, Lord, for Your amazing grace.
Lord, we thank You for Your great love. There is no love like Your love. We think of Your Son giving Himself, in death, for us. We think of His suffering for us and we say, “Saviour of the world, what have You done to deserve this?” We look at the Cross, and we see more than suffering. We see love, and we say, “Saviour of the world … what have we done to deserve You?” Beyond “the mystery of undeserved suffering”, we catch a glimpse of something else – something very, very wonderful: “the deeper mystery of unmerited love” (Common Order, Prayer for Good Friday).
Lord, we thank You for Jesus – There is no-one like Him. What a great Saviour He is! He does for us something that we could never – ever – do for ourselves. He forgives our sins – and He forgets them!
The forgiveness of all our sins – What a great blessing this is! We read the words, “I will remember their sins no more” – and we think to ourselves, “How wonderful is this?” We think of Jesus. We think of all that He has done for us. He was crucified for us. He has risen for us.
Our sins have been forgiven – and forgotten. Can we even begin to understand this? Do we need to understand all of this? We do not understand it all. How can we possibly understand all that You have done for us?  “Jesus Christ, we greet You! … risen from the grave … You have come: not to answer our questions, but to show us Your face” (Common Order, Prayer for Easter). Thank You, Lord, for Jesus – Your Son, our Saviour. Thank You for His love – Love is shining from His face. In His face, we see His smile. It is the smile of His love (“Still the night, holy the night!”)
Lord, we thank You for Jesus – He is the Rock of our salvation. Often, in our journey through life, we’re walking on shifting sand. As we walk along, we discover that it’s more than shifting sand – It’s quicksand! It’s sucking us in – and it’s dragging us down. Is there any hope for us? Is there any solid ground? Yes! There is! Jesus is “the Solid Rock” (“My hope is built on nothing less than Jesus’ blood and righteousness … On Christ, the solid rock I stand, all other ground is sinking sand.”) Lord, we thank You that You’ve not left us to fall down in our own weakness. You’ve given us Jesus, our Saviour – We stand in His strength. When we feel like we’re sinking, help us, Lord, to look to You, to find new strength in You. When we’re almost overwhelmed by the flood of unbelief that seems to be coming at us all the time, help us to come to You and receive Your strength: “Be strong in the Lord and in the strength of His might” (Ephesians 6:10).
Lord, we thank You for the rainbow – It tells us that You love us!
Sometimes, we see a rainbow. Do we wonder about it? Does it have a message for us? We look at the rainbow. Help us to look beyond the rainbow – to the Cross. There’s a great children’s song about the rainbow (it’s sung to the tune, “Early one morning just as the sun was rising … ). It’s a song about God’s love. “When you see a rainbow, remember God is love. When you see a rainbow, remember God is love. Yes, God is love. Yes, God is love. When you see a rainbow, remember God is love.” When the sun is rising … when the rainbow is in the sky … at all times of the day, help us to remember that You love us. Help us to look beyond the rising sun to the risen Son. Help us to look beyond the rainbow to the Cross: “upon the Cross we see, in shining letters, ‘God is love.’” Help us, when there’s no rainbow and there’s no sunshine, to keep on “singing the praise of Him who died, of Him who died upon the Cross” (Thomas Kelly).
Lord, we need Your strength.
Without Your strength, we fall. Without Your strength, we fail.
With Your strength, everything changes.
You lead us from our defeat into Your victory.
Help us, Lord, to trust You.
In ourselves, we are weak. In You, we are strong.
Where does this strength come from? – It comes from this: Jesus has risen – and He lives in us!
“Resurrect in our lives faith, hope, and love, as surely as You raised Jesus Christ from the grave” (Common Order, Prayer for Easter).
Lord, Your love makes us feel very special.
There are plenty of times when we’re down in the dumps – and we need some encouragement from You.
When we feel like this, help us to remember that Your love makes us very special: “I’m special because God loves me.”
How do we know that You love us? – You gave Your Son, Jesus, to be our Saviour.
What are we to say when we think of Jesus – crucified for us?
“Thank You Jesus, thank You Lord, for loving me so much.”
We look at ourselves – and we know that we’re nothing special.
We look at Jesus. We think of His love for us – and something happens. We begin to feel that we are very special – to You!
“Help me feel Your love right now, to know deep in my heart that I’m Your special friend” (Graham Kendrick).
Lord, help us not to get too big for our boots.
Sometimes, we get down in the dumps. When this happens, we need to get lifted up – by You!
Sometimes, we have a very different problem. We get too big for our boots – and we need to be brought back down to earth!
Brought down with a bump: How often this has happened to us – and it was just what we needed!
Bringing us down – We thank You, Lord, that this is only the beginning of Your work in us.
You never bring us down – to leave us there. You bring us down to build us up again!
Building us up – That’s what You do for us.
We’re broken down – and You put us together again!
Lord, this is so encouraging.
When we forget You, You never forget us.
When we feel like giving up, You say to us, “I haven’t finished with you yet. I’ll never be finished with You: What I have planned for you is nothing less than this – eternal life.”
Lord, sometimes, the things that happen to us don’t seem to make sense – to us!
We try to tell the story of our life. We try to make sense of it all. We try – but we fail.
Why? – We don’t know the full story.
Sometimes, we feel like we’re living on Dead End Street!
You say to us, “You’re missing the point! You don’t need to understand what it’s all about. You can leave that to Me.”
Help us, Lord, to know that we’re not alone – trying to make sense of our life. Help us to know that You’re with us. Help us to think of Jesus. He is “God with us” (Matthew 1:23). 
When everything seems to be so confusing, help us to remember that
Jesus understands us. He knows what we’re like – and He hasn’t stopped loving us. He never will!
He loves us – and He’s praying for us: ”We praise You, our glorious Lord and Saviour, and are for ever glad that now there is in heaven One who understands and intercedes for us” (Common Order, Prayer for Ascension).
Lord, sometimes, we feel like we’re stuck in a rut.
When we feel like this, help us to see that You’ve moved on ahead of us. You’re calling us on – into Your future!
Do we need to see exactly where You’re leading us? – No! We don’t! We just need to keep on following You.
The future may be unknown to us – but it’s never unknown to You!
“Face the sun and the shadows will fall behind you. Look to the One who can put your past behind you. Be the one you were born to be – Don’t you want to be free? … There ‘ll be brighter days ahead” (Garry Brotherston).
Lord, let there be no more fear of an unknown future. Help us to look to the Son. Help us to know that, with Him, we can never be stuck in a rut! Help us to move forward with Him and for Him.
Lord, help us to make good choices.
When we’re at the crossroads of life, we can so easily head off in the wrong direction.
At the crossroads of life, we need Jesus. He is the Way – the true and living Way (John 14:6).
“Without the Way, there is no going. Without the truth, there is no knowing. Without the life, there is no living.”
Help us to choose well. Help us to choose Jesus.
Lord, give us this great testimony: “It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me” (Galatians 2:20).
Lord, help us to keep on praying this prayer: “May there be less of self and more of Christ in me” (John 3:30).
Lord, what are we to do when we can’t find any peace of mind?
Where are we to look? Are we to look inside of ourselves? Is that where we’ll find peace? Is there an inner peace – if we look deep enough, we’ll find it?
Jesus says something very different. He says, “My peace I give to you” (John 14:27).
Peace is His gift to us. It’s not something that’s already there in our hearts – if we look deep enough we’ll find it. It’s something that has to be given to us. We have to receive it from Jesus.
Inner peace, peace of mind – All of this seems to be so much about ourselves: if you look deep enough, you’ll find it!
What does all this have to do with You, Lord? – Nothing at all! It’s all to do with ourselves. It’s all about self-discovery.
Lord, teach us Your way of peace. Show us that real peace is peace with You. Show us that this peace comes to us “through faith in our Lord Jesus Christ” (Romans 5:1). 
We can’t escape from our sin. It follows us everywhere we go.
Lord, when we come to You, You speak to us wonderful words of love, wonderful words of forgiveness, wonderful words of cleansing.
You say to us, “the blood of Jesus Christ cleanses you from all sin” (1 John 1:7). We worship You. We bring our praise to You. We sing to You, “Ransomed, healed, restored, forgiven, who like me His praise should sing?” Lord, lead us to the Cross. Lead us to Jesus – and may He lead us out of the emptiness of our life without Him and into His fullness: “a life made up of praise in every part.”
Genesis 15:1-21
Lord, we thank You that You are always with us – even when bad things are happening to us.
Lord, living for You isn’t easy – Satan makes sure of that!
We try to escape his evil clutches – but he’s always there, and he’s up to no good!
Satan is such a determined enemy. Help us to remind him that he’s a defeated enemy.
We’re often tempted – and we feel so weak.
Help us to tell Satan that Jesus is Lord – and we belong to Jesus!
Satan wins some battles with us. He gives us a hard time. Often, he gets the better of us.
Help us to remind him that the final triumph belongs to Jesus.
Beyond our present conflict, there is His final triumph; “This day the noise of battle, the next the victor’s song” (from “Stand up, stand up for Jesus”).
Lord, everything seems so hopeless  – when we take our eyes off You!
Help us to keep our eyes on You. Fill us with fresh hope.
Sometimes, we can be optimists. Often, we’re pessimists.
You’re always “the God of hope” (Romans 15:13). You’re always saying to us, “There is hope” (Jeremiah 31:17).
Lord, real hope comes from You. It’s more than human optimism. It’s Your gift to us. It’s Your “gift of eternal life” (Romans 6:23).
Lord, real hope comes from You. It’s more than just “hoping for the best.” It’s being lifted up by You, Lord – the God who raised Jesus from the dead (Acts 2::24).
Thank You, Lord, for the hope that You give to us when we stand upon Your great promises: “I will pour out My Spirit … and everyone who calls on the Name of the Lord will be saved” (Acts 2:18,21).
You lift us out of our hopelessness. You give us strength to face the future with confidence – the strength which comes from knowing that You are the God of hope.
Lord, Your love is greater than our sin.
You have a great purpose for every one of us – but our sin gets in the way!
You want to make us more like Jesus – but there’s so much of self in us!
You want to lead us in the pathway of victory – but Satan’s always trying to trip us up!
What are we to make of all this? Are we to give up in despair?
No! We must not give up – because You, Lord, never give up on us.
Your love is greater than our sin. You will fulfil Your great purpose in us. You will make us more like Jesus. You will lead us in the pathway of victory.
Our sin shall not triumph over Your love. Satan will be defeated. Your “love has the victory for ever!” (Mission Praise, 86).
To You, Lord, be all the glory – You have done so many great things for us.
So many blessings – and they all come from You, Lord.
Our sins have been forgiven. You’ve come to live in us.
Such great blessing – but this is just the beginning!
You’re leading us on to eternal life.
Lord, when our heads go down, help us to lift up our eyes.
Help us to “come and see the shining hope.” Help us to look through heaven’s “open door.” Help us to catch a glimpse of “the mighty multitudes of heaven … singing, ‘Alleluia!’ … Love has the victory for ever!” (Mission Praise, 86).
Lord, the world seems so strong – but You are stronger!
“The world is ever near … my foes are ever near me … but, Jesus, draw still nearer, and shield my soul from sin” (CH4, 644).
Sometimes, the battle seems to be too much for us. Sometimes, we feel like giving up.
Come to us, Lord. Show us Your love. Without Your love, we are helpless. Our situation is hopeless. Your love brings us help. Your love gives us hope. It’s Your love that makes us “more than conquerors” (Romans 8:37).
Lord, help us to walk with You.
We can be so good at talking the talk – but we’re not so good at walking the walk: “I can say, ‘I love you’, but do I show it by the way I live? … Talk is cheap. Lip-service is no service at all” (“Talk Is Cheap” – Garry Brotherston).
Lord, help us not to be content with saying the right things. Help us to live the right way.
We need Your grace every day – if we’re to walk the walk as well as talking the talk.
Lord, help us to walk with You.
Lord, what You have done for us – we could never have done for ourselves!
It’s so amazing what You have done for us.
We were making plans for ourselves – but our plans didn’t include You!
You came to us. You said to us, “I have a wonderful plan for your life.”
We look at the plans we had for ourselves, we look at the plan You have for us – and we say, ‘Your way is so much better than our own way.’
Your way is the way of blessing. It’s the way of giving glory to You.
Lord, where would be – if You had not come to us, if You had not led us into Your way, if You had not brought us into Your blessing?
You did not wait for us to start looking for You – You came looking for us.
You did not wait for us to start saying, ‘Bless us, Lord’ – You came to us with Your blessing.
You did not wait for us to lift ourselves up – You lifted us up.
Thank You, Lord.
Lord, You are with us – even when we feel that You are far away from us.
We think about what’s going on in our life – and we get it all wrong!
We look at what’s happening – and we think that You’ve gone away and left us.
When will we learn? – It’s us who’ve gone away and left you!
We start thinking, ‘You need to come back to me, Lord.’
You’re saying to us, ‘No! You’ve got it all wrong. It’s you that needs to come back to Me.’
Even in our darkest days, You’ve never gone away and left us.
You’ve always been there – all the time.
You’ve always been there – for us.
Thank You, Lord.
Lord, help us to remember that You are the everlasting God.
We are so changeable. Your love for us is unchanged, unchanging and unchangeable.
Our feelings take us here, there and everywhere. Your love brings us back to the place where our love for You grows strong.
How does our love for You grow strong? Is this something that we do for ourselves? – No! It’s something that You do for us.
You show us how much You love for us. You take us to the Cross of Christ.
You show us that Your love for us remains strong even when our love for You has become very weak.
This is the way in which our love for You grows strong. We are strengthened by a stronger love, a love that never becomes weak, a love that is always strong – everlasting love.
These are things we must never forget – Lord, help us to remember that You are the everlasting God. Help us to remember that Your love is everlasting love.
Lord, we thank You that Jesus came to earth for us – and we thank You that He died for us.
He ‘came to seek and to save the lost’ (Luke 19:10). He came to bring us back from our wandering about in the shadows of our life. He came to bring us into the light of Your love.
Lord, we give You thanks for Jesus.
Lord, we thank You that You guide us – You keep us in the right way. You lead us in the way that brings glory to You.
You show us Your love. You teach us to trust in Your faithfulness. You fill our hearts with praise. You fill our lives with Your ‘overflowing blessing’ (Malachi 3:10).
For all of these things, we give You our thanks.
Teach us, Lord, to count our blessings.
We try to think of all the good things You have done for us, all the great gifts You have given to us.
We cannot keep up with You, Lord. There is so much to count, so much for which we can only say, ‘Thank You, Lord.’
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 makes our future very bright – brighter than we can put into words, brighter than we can even imagine.
Lead us, Lord, into Your future. Help us to walk with You on Your pathway to glory – Your eternal glory.
Genesis 25:19-34
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.
Genesis 26:1-35
Lord, when our hold on You is weak, help us to remember that Your hold on us is strong. Often, we get bogged down in our sin. Lift us up by Your grace. Give us strength to rise above our sin – strength to become all that You want us to be.

Genesis 27:1-40
Lord, we thank You that You want to bless us – more than we want to be blessed by You. We don’t deserve to be blessed – but You keep on blessing us. Help us never to forget to say, “Thank You, Lord.” Help us always to treasure Your blessing – and to keep on praying that it will grow and grow and …

Genesis 27:41-28:9
Lord, we thank You that we’re not left to go it alone. You’ve given us Your Spirit – the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of love, the Spirit of truth, the Spirit who leads us to Jesus, the Spirit who makes us more like Jesus. Thank You, Lord – with Your Spirit, we can go from strength to strength. Help us to walk in Your Spirit.

Genesis 28:10-22
Lord, we thank You that You are so determined to keep on blessing us. There are times when we’re not expecting very much – and then You come to us with Your blessing, and everything changes. Everything becomes so much brighter. You are with us. You are leading us forward. You are leading us on into more and more of Your blessing. Thank You, Lord.

Genesis 29:1-30
Lord, Your way is the best way. We, often, wander off on our own. We forget that we are called to follow You, to walk in Your footsteps. Again and again, we need to be reminded that Your way is the best way. Help us to see that Your way is a wonderful way – even when it turns out to be very different from what we had expected.

Genesis 29:31-30:24
Lord, we can, so often, get preoccupied with the things that matter most to us – and we forget about the things that matter most to You. We start to get comfortable, sorting things out to suit ourselves – and then You come to us with a very challenging question, “What matters most to you?” Help us, Lord, to see that pleasing You is more important than pleasing ourselves.

Genesis 30:25-31:21
Guide us, Lord, by Your light and Your truth (Psalm 48:14; Psalm 43:3). Let Your light shine into our darkness. Let Your truth lift us out of the way that leads away from You and into the way that leads to You. Lead us to Jesus – He is “the Way, the Truth and the Life” (John 14:6).

Genesis 31:22-42
Lord, so often we forget the things that matter most. So often, we forget You. The more we forget You, the more we miss out on the blessing which comes from knowing that You are the Lord our God. You are the God who is with us – even when we feel that You are far away.

Genesis 31:43-32:21
Lord, help us to stand upon Your Word. You have given us a firm foundation for our faith. You have given us Your salvation. When everything around is shaking, we can stand firm because we know that You are our God. You are the God who has saved us through the death of Your Son. You are the God who gives us new power for living – the power of the Holy Spirit. You are the God who will lead us into the glory of Your eternal Kingdom – Your Kingdom of everlasting love, everlasting life and everlasting light.
Genesis 32:22-32
We thank You, Lord, that we have the victory in Christ. This is not our own victory. It’s His victory. On the Cross, He won the victory over Satan. How do we know that He has won the victory? – You raised Him from the dead. We thank You, Lord, that Jesus didn’t win the victory for Himself. He won the victory for us. He gives His victory to us. Help us, Lord, to walk with You in victory. When we stumble and fall – as we so often do, pick us up and set us on our feet again. Help us to take our stand against Satan. help us to take our stand in Christ. Lead us on, Lord, from victory to victory.

Genesis 33:1-20
Lord, You call us to love You – and to love our neighbour. Help us never to think that we can grow in our love for You if we are not also learning to love our neighbour with the love that You give to us. Help us never to forget You. Help us always to rejoice in the love that You have for us – and to let Your love shine out through us to others. May our love for our neighbour never become a substitute for loving You.

Genesis 34:1-31
Lord, we thank You that You don’t give up on us – even when we don’t pay much attention to You. We can become so self-centred. Everything revolves around ourselves. You keep on coming to us. You come to us in love.  You’re calling us back to Yourself. You’re calling us to bring You back into the centre of our lives. Lord, may it be less of self and more of You.

Genesis 35:1-15
Again and again, Lord, Your blessing comes to us. In Your blessing, we see Your love. Time and time again, we have failed You. When did You ever fail us? – Never! You are completely faithful, entirely trustworthy and absolutely reliable. You keep on loving us. Help us to keep on loving You.

Genesis 35:16-36:43
Lord, there are two ways of looking at every situation. There’s the way of faith – and there’s the way of unbelief. We can look up to You – and be lifted up by You. We can look at our circumstances and fail to see that You are there, waiting to lift us up, to raise us above our circumstances and make us “more than conquerors through Him who loved us” (Romans 8:37).
Genesis 37:1-36
Lord, our situation seems hopeless – but it’s not! You are there with us, every step of the way. This is what gives us hope: knowing that You’re always there – even when the going gets tough!

Genesis 38:1-30
Lord, help us to put You first in our lives. No-one is more important than You. Why do we forget this – again and again. When we forget You, Lord, bring us back to the Cross of Christ. Show us – all over again – that You have not forgotten us, that You never will forget us.

Genesis 39:1-23
Lord, we make everything so complicated. We go our own way – and everything gets very messy. Everything would be so much simpler – if we kept our eyes on You. When we are tempted to turn away from You, help us, Lord, to keep on looking to You – and to know that we are “loved with everlasting love” (Jeremiah 31:3).

Genesis 40:1-23
Lord, Your Word challenges us, “What do you want to get out of life?” Help us to look carefully at what is important to us. Are we ‘looking after No. 1’? Lord, give us ambitions that do not centre on ourselves. Give us a deep persistent desire to glorify You in all that we do – and to find that this is the way of true and lasting joy!
Lord, we thank You that You are in control of the things that are happening to us. We do not always understand what’s going on – but you do!
Sometimes, Lord, we wonder what it’s all about! When we feel like this, help us to know that You love us. Help us to see that You are working in us – to teach us to love You.
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”!Genesis 44:1-34
So many things are changing, Lord. How are we to live in a changing world? We trust in Your unchanging love. In our changing world, Your love remains the same – unchanged, unchanging and unchangeable.  You are also the changing God – the God who changes us. Your love is a changing love. Your love changes us. Help us, in our ever-changing world, to keep on praying for the best kind of change – being changed by You – changed by Your love. Help us to become less self-centred and more Christ-centred.
Lord, You’re leading us on to glory. You’re taking us to a better place – a place where there will be no more weakness, a place where we will be surrounded by the strength of Your love.
Lord, we thank You that we do not need to live in fear. Your love is greater than our fear. Where does fear come from? It comes from the devil. Who is he? He’s our enemy. He’s a determined enemy. He’s also a defeated enemy. Lord, we rejoice in Your word of victory: “Thanks be to God who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Corinthians 15:57).
Lord, we give all the glory to You. We think of Jesus, crucified for us – and we say, “Thank You, Lord – You have done for us what we could never have done for ourselves.” You have brought us out of the darkness of our sin and into the light of Your salvation – out of sadness and into gladness. Help us never to forget that You have saved us. Help us to live, each day, as Your faithful servants.
Lord, help us to have faith in You – faith that is humble, and faith that is confident. Lord, give us a humble faith. Give us the humility that comes from knowing that You are God – and we’re not God! Lord, give us the confidence which is confidence in You – and not self-confidence!
Lord, we thank You for Jesus, our Saviour. In Him, You have given us “every spiritual blessing” (Ephesians 1:3). What blessings You have given to us – the forgiveness of sins, the Holy Spirit living in us, eternal life with You (Ephesians 1:7,13-14). Help us to praise You today. Help us to praise You every day.
Lord, when hard times come our way, help us to remember that “Your steadfast love never ceases” (Lamentations 3:22). When bad things are happening to us, help us to keep on remembering that You are still the good God. Who are we to say that You are no longer with us – just because we’re going through a hard time? You’re with us in our bad days as well as our good days. You’ve promised to be with us every step of the way. Who are we to suggest that You’ve gone away and left us to go it alone? Help us to trust Your promises – and not to get dragged away from You by our feelings which can go up and down like a yoyo. Sometimes, we’re up. Sometimes, we’re down. With You, there are no ups and down – You’re always the faithful God. You’re always near to us – even when we feel that You’re far away from us. We’ve wandered far away from You – but You’re always near to us. Thank You, Lord, that You are always with us.

Notes on the Psalms