“Let today be the kind of day where you forget to worry about your worries, because you’re so wrapped up in worshipping the One who takes them away.” MHN
I started this blog post about two months before it posted. It started with the quote above but then the Lord spoke to me about a situation I was worrying about and I’ve added to it.
“Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.”Philippians 4:6
I want you to think about some questions.
Do we know how to live in peace?
Do we believe and walk out this scripture?
Or are we so accustom to or so engulfed in our culture, that worry, fear, and anxiety rein in our lives?
Have you ever had an issue or situation or season in life where you feel like you can’t even speak? You don’t even know what to say or how to say it.
“O God in Zion, to you even silence is praise! You are the God who answers prayer; all of humanity comes before you with their requests.”Psalm 61:1-2
Have you ever felt like you’ve gone too far this time, you’ve messed up too much this time, you’re overwhelmed or just exhausted?
“Though we are overcome by our many sins, your sacrifice covers them all.” Psalm 61:3
This Psalm really spoke to me today. There’s a lot going on and I know that many of you have a lot going on also, in your personal lives, family life, spiritual things you’re dealing with. God invites us close, He has Chosen us. What joy is found in His presence. The first part of this Psalm reminds us How great He is. How powerful He is (below).
“O God in Zion, to you even silence is praise! You are the God who answers prayer; all of humanity comes before you with their requests. Though we are overcome by our many sins, your sacrifice covers over them all. And your priestly lovers, those you’ve chosen, will be greatly favored to be brough close to you. What inexpressible joys are theirs! What feasts of mercy fill them in your heavenly sanctuary! How satisfied we will be just to be near you! You answer our prayers with amazing wonders and with awe-inspiring displays of power. You are the righteous God who helps us like a father Everyone everywhere looks to you, for you are the confidence of all the earth, even to the fatrthese islands of the sea. What jaw-dropping, astounding power is yours! You are the mountain maker who sets them all in place. You muzzle the roar of the mighty was and the rage of mobs with their noisy riots. O God, to the farthest corners of the planet people will stand in awe, startled and stunned by your signs and wonders. Sunrise brilliance and sunset beauty both take turns singing their songs of joy to you.” Psalm 65:1-8
Verse 4 says “How satisfied we will be just to be near you.” Are we so satisfied by Him, are we so lost in worship to Him that we forget our worries? Or do we trust in man and in what we cannot see? He answers our prayers with amazing wonders, awe-inspiring displays of power, jaw dropping and astounding power! Our confidence should be in Him.
The rest of the Psalm, to me, so beautifully paints a picture of God’s Creation. Do we take time to notice His “visitations of glory that bless the earth” as verse 9 says or are we so wrapped up in worry and rushing that we miss it?
“O God to the farthest corners of the planet people will stand in awe, startled and stunned by your signs and wonders. Sunrise brilliance and sunset beauty both take turns singing their songs of joy to you. Your visitations of glory bless the earth; the rivers of God overflow and enrich it. You paint the wheat fields golden as you provide rich harvests. Every field is watered with the abundance of rain showers soaking the earth and softening its clods, causing seeds to sprout throughout the land. You crown the earth with it’s yearly harvest, the fruits of your goodness. Wherever you go the tracks of your chariot wheels drip with oil. Luxuriant green pastures boast of your bounty as you make every hillside blossom with joy. The grazing meadows are covered with flocks, and the fertile valleys are clothed with grain, each one dancing and shouting for joy, creation’s celebration! And they’re all singing their songs of praise to you!” Psalm 65:9-13
I was leaving church one Sunday afternoon and a friend asked how I was. I told them I was good but that when things ran so smoothly on a Sunday I felt like I was missing something or forgetting something. Someone else asked me how things were going with a church event I was planning, I told them something similar. So, I will ask those questions from the beginning again;
Do we know how to live in peace?
Do we believe and walk out this scripture?
Or are we so accustom to or so engulfed in our culture, that worry, fear, and anxiety rein in our lives?
We say we trust the Lord, and we just might! We say there is freedom, and there is! We say we can walk in peace, and we can! But why is there a disconnect in walking this out in the day to day? We have a problem at work, we stress about it. We have a problem in our family, we stress about it. We have a problem with a friend, we stress about it. (Read 2 Kings 18-19) For awhile now my reaction when things come to mind or when I’m praying to the Lord is to lay things before the Lord like Hezekiah did and ask Him to take care of them. But there is still this worry. Do we trust the Lord to handle the things before us? Do we trust the Lord to take care of us? Do we trust Him at His word? We should!
If you truly trust the Lord to take care of you, your family, your job, your life, your future, your children, and the list goes on! Then act like it! Don’t walk in fear and worry! Don’t speak those things over you! The power of LIFE and DEATH is in YOUR tongue! What are you speaking? Get. In. The. Word! Read your Bible and know what the Lord says about you, about your situation, and about who He is. Choose to trust Him, choose to walk in freedom and victory. Choose to walk in trust.
Journal Prompts:
(Suggestion: When you see scripture listed below with a journal prompt or throughout the blog, writing that scripture out and hanging it somewhere that you will see it frequently is always a good idea. Learn the scriptures throughout the week, meditate on them, speak them over yourself.)
1. Write Philippians 4:6 and put it somewhere that you will see it, read it, and repeat it often!
2. Write some prayer requests that are on your heart.
Now pray over these things, speak life. The power of life and death are in your tongue (Prov. 18:21).
3. Write at least a sentence for each prayer request that speaks life. (Example: Unsaved loved one (write their name) – I declare that she will know the Lord, she will surrender her life to Jesus, will have a revelation of who He is and will serve Him passionately.)