A Pastor in The Northwest

This morning (Monday) I read this in my devotional time: When we encounter trouble, we tend to look wherever we can for help: We turn in whatever direction seems most promising at the moment. In doing so, we may unwittingly walk away from Yahweh. Should practicality or convenience stand between God and us?  Barry, J. D., & Kruyswijk, R. (2012). Connect the Testaments: A One-Year Daily Devotional with Bible Reading Plan . Lexham Press. How are you doing with that? Sometimes it is very difficult to wait for the Lord when we want to just try and fix things ourselves right? Our big takeaway Sunday was TRUST, WATCH and WAIT for the Lord to come through and believe that He will! Remember that to trust God, to be alert for Him to work and to wait for His timing is ACTIVE and takes courage and tenacity! Yet I am confident I will see the Lord’s goodness while I am here in the land of the living. Wait patiently for the Lord. Be brave and courageous. Yes, wait patiently for...

 I wanted to share a phrase that occurs in Psalm 119:36 and 119:112: 36 Incline my heart to your testimonies and not to selfish gain. And again, 112 Incline my heart to perform your statutes forever, to the end. Incline - that is to be bent toward.  In The Message version, Eugene Peterson translated it as 'grant me an appetite.'  The Psalmist is praying that God would grant a desire to be obedient and that the Lord would turn the heart toward doing God's will. May that be our prayer today as well, "Lord, enable us to be leaning toward your righteous commands every day!" Photo by Enrico Naletto on Unsplash

Sometimes I'm at a loss for words when it comes to prayer. Changing moods, circumstances, struggles, etc. all seem to affect my prayer times. Can you relate? We're not alone! In Romans 8 (NLT) we read this, 26 And the Holy Spirit helps us in our weakness. For example, we don’t know what God wants us to pray for. But the Holy Spirit prays for us with groanings that cannot be expressed in words. 27 And the Father who knows all hearts knows what the Spirit is saying, for the Spirit pleads for us believers in harmony with God’s own will. For a bit more encouragement in prayer today, here's a prayer that shows up 4 times in Psalm 107: "Lord, help!" Maybe that's all we can muster some days - so let's muster it up with all our might! Photo by Brett Jordan on Unsplash