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Stillness

 “ “Be still, and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth!”” Psalm 46:10 ESV In the words of another Scripture, as famously sung in Handel's Messiah, 'why do the nations so furiously rage together?' When we watch the news of all the tumult in the world, we can be tempted to get worked up. God commands us to be still. Of course, it's not enough to simply be still, 'like a lemon' as it were! The Psalmist goes on to tell us to know that the Lord is God. He is sovereign over all the chaos in the world. God might not currently be exalted among the nations. Yet he insists that he will be. The main way he does that is through his people proclaiming him, and his Holy Spirit accompanying his proclamation with transformative power. The Lord will be exalted in the earth. Every knee will bow and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. It's better to bow our knees willingly now rather...
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Trust

 “ “Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, whose trust is the Lord.” Jeremiah 17:7 ESV The Bible doesn't present faith as a leap in the dark. Trusting in the Lord is to step out of the darkness and into the Light. Even if we're a 'reluctant convert' like C.S. Lewis, we can be 'surprised by joy' and blessedness. Like Augustine, we might have our back to the Light. Maybe we're preoccupied by stuff that reflects the Light. 'From the best bliss this world imparts, we turn unfilled to You again'. We need to turn our back on the darkness and come into the Light. As Augustine did, we need to renounce our deeds of darkness and trust in the finished work of Christ. We're to trust in the Lord, not in our own religiosity. Sometimes people have a caricature of God as a cosmic killjoy. Jeremiah recognised the Lord as the Source of all joy and blessedness. When we trust in Jesus we're like an evergreen, fruitful tree by a stream in the wilderness of li...
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Train

 “ Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it.” Proverbs 22:6 ESV Proverbs provide general principles rather than guaranteed rules. It's possible to be a relatively good parent and to have a child not turn out so well. I'm sure Solomon wasn't the worst of dads but his son Rehoboam didn't turn out well. As a general rule though, if we parent well, our kids should turn out alright. All we can do as parents is to point our children in the right direction. Whether they follow our advice or not is up to them.  I think we should parent our children like God parents us. Father God isn't too prescriptive, he doesn't micromanage our lives. What he does is to give us general principles to live by and calls us to follow Jesus. Jesus is the Way to Father God personified. We as parents aren't simply to teach our children to be moral. We're to teach them to follow Christ for eternal life. 'Heavenly Father, please help ...
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Opportunity

 “So then, as we have opportunity, let us do good to everyone, and especially to those who are of the household of faith.” Galatians 6:10 ESV We all have opportunities. Even if it's just to offer a prayer for someone, that is to do good for them. God has been so good to us, so it's only right that we do good to others in response. The Apostle Paul isn't telling us to do good to the household of faith to the exclusion of others. He's saying basically that 'charity starts at home'. Yet charity (or love) shouldn't end at home.  If we only love and do good to those who love and do good to us, that's not good enough. Even the pagans do that. We're to love our enemies, and pray for those who persecute us. The best thing we can do for anyone is to tell them the good news of salvation through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Even if we're already in the household of faith, we need reminding. We forget all too easily. 'Good Father God, please help us t...
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Abundance

 “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly. ” John 10:10 ESV The devil wants us to waste our lives. He wants us to fritter them away in pointless and unhelpful pursuits. Jesus came to give us life to the full. Satan wants to steal our souls. He has no authority to do so thankfully. He wants us dead. If the evil one gets his way, we'll end up in everlasting destruction with him. God however wants to give us abundant life. The Lord provides everything we need. Jesus as our Good Shepherd doesn't necessarily give us everything we want. He does give us everything we need though. He empowers us to overcome all that would assail us. 'Gracious God, we're grateful for your shepherding of us through life. Please deliver us from the evil one, for the honour of your name, amen'.
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Peace

 “What you have learned and received and heard and seen in me—practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you.” Philippians 4:9 ESV The Apostle Paul had great integrity. He didn't just talk the talk. He walked the walk. Paul called the Philippian church to do as he said. Yet he wasn't like the religious leaders of Jesus's day. He practiced what he preached. Insofar as the Pharisees preached Moses, Jesus called people to obey them. Yet he knew they didn't put Moses into practice. So he warned people not to do as they did. If we want to know God's peaceful presence, we do well to live godly lives. If we don't practice Christlikeness, we rightfully probably won't feel peaceful. There's peace in lives of integrity. 'God of peace, please give us your peace, even as we seek to live for you. In Christ's name we pray, amen'.
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Confess

 “Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working. ” James 5:16 ESV I don't think James is so much talking about physical healing necessarily so much as spiritual and emotional healing. We all get hurt emotionally etc. We can be healed though. Even if hurt has been done to us, we all have sins we need to confess. Hurt people hurt. Even unforgiveness is sin. If God forgives, so should we. The Christian life isn't so much J.A.M. (Jesus And Me) as J.O.Y. (Jesus, Others, You). We're not to be self absorbed. Instead, we are to 'do life together' instead of in isolation. We might not feel righteous. We might feel sinful. Yet if we trust in Christ, his righteousness is credited to our bankrupt spiritual accounts. 'Gracious God, help us to prove the truth of this verse in our lives. For your honour and praise we ask this, amen'. 
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Plans

 “For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope. ” Jeremiah 29:11 ESV Note that God has plans for us in the plural. It's not that if we mess up plan A we're doomed. God doesn't plan to condemn his people. God wants good for his people. Jesus even blessed us when we're persecuted, because great is our reward in heaven. God can even bring good out of evil circumstances. We have a glorious future to look forward to if we belong to Jesus. We have eternal life guaranteed with him in glory. We just need to trust in him. Our hope is assured. Because Christ defeated death, we can too. We will rise to meet our Lord and Saviour, and to be forevermore with him. 'Lord our God, we're grateful for your good plans for us, in the midst of the evils in this life. Please lead us safely home to glory, in Christ's name, amen'.
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Immoveable

 “ Cast your burden on the Lord, and he will sustain you; he will never permit the righteous to be moved.” Psalm 55:22 ESV The Lord doesn't want us to go around burdened. He wants us to cast our burdens upon him. He promises to sustain us. Jesus's shoulders are broad enough to bear our burdens. He gave his life to liberate us from the burden of sin. By his blood he sets us free. We're not naturally righteous. Through faith in Christ however, we can be made righteous. If we are righteous in him, we're safe and secure. Spiritually, we're immoveable if we belong to Jesus. We can't be knocked off from our security in Christ. We're safe in him. 'Lord, we cast our burdens upon you and ask you to make us immoveable spiritually. In Jesus' name we pray, amen'.
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Mercy

 “And have mercy on those who doubt; ” Jude 1:22 ESV Mercy is to not treat someone as they deserve. If someone doubts the truth of the Gospel, they don't deserve to receive the Good News. Yet Jesus is our only hope. There's a difference between doubt and cynicism. Some people have genuine doubts, concerns and questions about their faith. Others just dismissively pour scorn upon the Bible. If in doubt, we should take our doubts to God in prayer. We can be honest with him about how we feel. He is omniscient/all knowing, after all! The father of the demon possessed boy is a good example to us. When Jesus asked if he believed that nothing is impossible for God, the man replied, 'Lord, I believe, help my unbelief'. Of course, Jesus mercifully delivered his son. 'Lord, have mercy upon us. Please help us to overcome our doubts and be merciful to doubters. For your glory, amen'.
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