Psalm Devotional - A Sample

I posted a while back about the Psalms devotional book that my writers' group put together, but I failed to give you a sample. So while the electricity is cooperating in the midst of this icy day of rolling power black outs, I thought I'd share one of mine.

Enter his gates with thanksgiving, and his courts with praise! Give thanks to him; bless his name! Psalm 100:4 (ESV)

“Father God, forgive me of my sins, protect my family and I throughout the day and night, give us good health, . . . .” The same prayer night after night. The same order, the same basic requests, and the same repetitive words: “me” and “I.”

Delights that just hours earlier I had sworn not to forget went unpraised because I allowed my mind to be consumed with my needs and my desires. I forgot to thank God for the smiles, laughter, and joy he had given me. I neglected to give God the praise that he is due as God, Creator, Lord of lords, and Holy of holies.

Frustrated that my prayers failed to convey my heartfelt praise, I decided to start listing my praises each day before I lifted up my prayers. To help remind me, I use a spiral notebook and write on the top of each page, “Father, I praise You for . . .”; toward the bottom of the page, I write, “Father, I lift up to You . . . .”

This little tool of keeping a praise/prayer journal not only redirected my me-centered prayers, helping me to put the focus back on God by praising him from the start, but also made me on the lookout for God’s handiwork throughout the day. Before I started keeping a daily praise list, a sunset that took my breath away might have lasted only a moment. Now I know I want to record it later in my journal, so I pay more attention to it in the moment. Similarly, an answered prayer does not slip through the cracks of my memory as easily because I have written prayer requests down and can look back through them to note when they are answered.

It took a little work to put into practice Psalm 100:4’s wisdom and to enter his gates with thanksgiving. But now, instead of waiting to thank God until I have spelled out all of my needs and my desires, I look forward to listing my praises first and seeing how they often far outnumber my requests.

Father God, thank You for all the big and little ways that You touch my heart throughout the day. You alone are worthy of all my praise.

What one step could you take to make praising God an integral part of your prayer time? (A few suggestions include memorizing Psalm 100:4, listening to praise music, keeping a list of praises, or beginning your prayers with praise rather than petitions.)

Celebrating Thanksgiving

I don't want to start the Christmas season before taking time to reflect on Thanksgiving 2009. Throughout this holiday, I have been thankful:

For the health of my family;

For friends who provided transportation to work, to the train station, and from the train station home;

For a friend who watched my dog while I was gone;

For a job that doesn't require me to work on holidays and provides the money to go home;

For getting to spend time with my mom and have a relaxed, simple celebration; and

For God from whom all these blessings flow.

The Sacrifice for Freedom

With today being Independence Day, I can’t help but take some time to reflect upon the sacrifices that have been made to purchase my freedom. I am sure that at some point today the newscasters will talk about the number of soldiers who have given their lives in Iraq and Afghanistan. But by simply giving a number or death toll, I think it de-personalizes or de-personifies the situation. Each life has been given to obtain so much more than a number can ever signify.

So many men and women have fought valiantly and exchanged their lives so that I can live in a country known as “the land of opportunity.” A place where I don’t have to be fearful of a dictator’s crazy whims, suicide bombers, or land mines. A country in which women have the opportunity to obtain an education, to vote, and to be anything they want to be. A nation in which I am free to worship as I choose.

And this nation is a nation under God. One who intimately knows the depths of sacrifice because He gave His only Son to remove my sins and yours. As a result, you and I are free from the destructive impact of sinful behavior and have the freedom to communicate openly with Him and to experience true freedom that can only come from God.

So on this Independence Day, I thank all those who have served and are currently serving in the military (especially Bryan and Matt who serve in the USAF and Daniel who serves in the US Navy) for your willingness to sacrifice your life for the freedom that we have. And to You, oh Lord, please help us not to take any of our freedom for granted. Continue to protect this great nation, and help us as a nation to remember Your sacrifice.

Thankful Thursday

I’ve always thought that Thanksgiving should be a daily celebration. I’m not suggesting that we need the Macy’s parade, the big feast (though that & a good college football game would be nice), or even the time off from work.

Instead, I’m thinking more along the lines of a daily discipline of taking time to reflect on the many blessings that we’ve received during the day. Some people do this in the form of a gratitude journal, and that’s something that I’ve tried to incorporate into my life this year.

I started journaling my answered prayers and my daily blessings because it reminds me of God’s faithfulness in the little stuff. His faithfulness in the big stuff is pretty easy to remember. But, it’s those little things He does daily--like answering those tiny prayers that I sometimes don’t even speak out loud or even have time to fully develop--that I want to remember. Because they add up. And because they show me that God is at work every day.

When I’m waiting on God to answer one of my big prayers, and MY deadline for Him has long since come and gone, I want to give up. I tend to think that God has entered retirement. But, I know that can’t be true because I’ve got a whole list of things that He did yesterday and the day before that and the day before that and so on.

And because I know I’m going to write down these blessings at the end of the day, I am constantly on the lookout for God at work. I don’t know that I necessarily see more than I used to see, but I definitely pay more attention and hopefully have a more thankful attitude in general.

Today, June 7, 2007, God showed me that He was at work by having new neighbors move into a house across the street that has been vacant for almost a year (and by having them mow the 2-foot-tall yard, to boot!), by giving me energy to make it through the day in spite of a late night last night, and by healing an eye inflammation that has bothered me for two days.

So, what are you thankful for today? I’d love to know how God made you smile today.