A Prayer for Leap Day

Satisfy us in the morning with your unfailing love,

     that we may sing for joy and be glad all our days.

(Psalm 90:14)

A Prayer for Leap Day.

Today is a bonus gift, O Lord. It is Leap Day, an extra day.

You give us 365 days every year. 

But every four years you give us an extra day.

Today, like every day, is the day that you have made, 

     so I will rejoice and be glad in it.

Today, like every day, is a gift from you.

But today is a bonus, because it is Leap Day.

Thank you for this gift, O Lord.

Thank you for an extra 24 hours in which I can

  glorify you,

    serve you faithfully,

      love you with all my heart, soul, mind, and strength,

        love my neighbor as myself.

You do satisfy my heart with your steadfast love,

that I might sing for joy and be glad all my days;

grant, O Lord, that today I might sing just a little louder,

and be just a little more glad.

Because today is Leap Day,

an extra day,

a bonus gift.

To the infinite grace you bestow upon me,

you have added yet one more day.

And I thank you.

I should leap for joy.

Because it is Leap Day, after all!

With love that overflows my heart,

I give you thanks,

through Jesus Christ my Lord. Amen.

During the season of Lent, I am "Praying with David," using the prayers found in the psalms as inspiration for personal prayers.

A Prayer for Those Who Ask, "Why?!"

Why do you hide your face?

   Why do you forget our affliction and oppression?

…

Rise up, come to our help.

   Redeem us for the sake of your steadfast love.

(Psalm 44:24, 26)

Today, O God, I pray for those who ask, “Why?”

For those whose hopes were dashed by outcomes other than the one for which they had prayed so fervently;

For those who earnestly sought you, and the answer that you gave was not the one they wanted to hear;

For those who have borne the thorn in their flesh for months, years, even decades;

For those whose loved ones have been taken from them far too soon;

For those whose suffering has made them bitter toward you, even wondering whether you care – or if you are there at all...

Today, O God, I pray for those who ask, “Why?”

I confess, O Lord, that I don’t know what to say. 

   I don’t have magical words to make their pain go away.

   I won’t tell them “God works all things for the good…,”

      no matter how much I believe it,

      because that’s not something they can hear right now.

   I won’t say, “God won’t give you more than you can bear,”

      because they’ll call me a liar.

I don’t know what to say, so I pray for them. 

I lift them up to you.

For you know their pain.

   You know their pain, because in your Son you suffered it.

   You know what it is to cry out, “Why?!”

   You know the agony of betrayal and abandonment.

Answer them, O Lord, with your loving presence.

   As they walk through the dark valleys, 

      assure them that you are with them.

   Dispel their darkness, I pray, with 

     your grace,

       your compassion,

          your mercy,

            your peace,

               your steadfast love.

     "This I call to mind, therefore I have hope:

        the steadfast love of the Lord never ceases,

        his mercies never come to an end;

        great is your faithfulness.”

Today, O God, I pray for those who ask, "Why?"

Rise up, O Lord, come to their help.

Redeem them for the sake of your steadfast love.

Please, God: Heal your precious children.

Amen.

P.S., In case I may be an instrument of your healing,

I offer myself to you. Use me, O God, as your agent

of comfort, peace, and love. Amen again.

During the season of Lent, I am "Praying with David," using the prayers found in the psalms as inspiration for personal prayers.

...So that my soul may praise You

You have turned my mourning into dancing;

     you have taken off my sackcloth

     and clothed me with joy,

so that my soul may praise you and not be silent.

    O Lord my God, I will give thanks to you forever.

(Psalm 30:11-12)

I praise you, O God, for your goodness toward me.

You have redeemed me from my sin;

   you have blessed me with infinite abundance.

I praise you, O God, for your goodness toward me.

You have walked with me through dark places,

   and the light of your love has dispelled the darkness.

Because you are good to me,

   I will praise you, and not be silent;

   I will proclaim your steadfast love wherever I go.

Because you have been gracious toward me,

   I will give thanks to you

   forever.

In light of your mercy,

   I present myself to you

   as a living sacrifice.

A sacrifice of thanksgiving,

   through Christ, my Lord. Amen. 

During the season of Lent, I am "Praying with David," using the prayers found in the Psalms as a model and inspiration for my own prayers.

Then I Acknowledged My Sin to You

Then I acknowledged my sin to you

     and did not cover up my iniquity.

I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the Lord.”

    And you forgave the guilt of my sin.

Therefore let all the faithful pray to you

     while you may be found…

(Psalm 32:5-6)

Gracious and forgiving God,

I begin this 40-day journey toward the empty tomb

painfully aware that the reason for this season is sin – 

     even my sin,

     and the sin of the whole world.

It is sin – even my sin – that drove your Son to the cross.

It is sin – even my sin – that pounded the nails 

     into his hands and feet.

It is sin – even my sin – that caused him to cry out,

My God, My God, why have your forsaken me?

I confess to you, O God, my own complicity

in the scandal of the cross.

I am a sinner.

And yet…

And yet, you did not send your Son to condemn the world,

but that the world might be saved by him, and through him.

And yet, you are gracious and compassionate,

slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love.

I am a sinner. And you offer me your forgiveness.

I ask for and accept your offer of grace and mercy.

I desire to counted among your faithful ones

who pray to you.

I desire to live into the truth of your unconditional love.

In all honesty, Lord,

I pray that these 40 days will inform all the days of my life,

so that every day I will confess to you,

and receive your mercy,

and offer myself as a living sacrifice

for you.

Through Jesus Christ,

my Savior and my Lord.

Amen.

During the season of Lent, I am "Praying with David," using the prayers found in the Psalms as a model and inspiration for my own prayers.

Praying with David

I love the Lord, for he heard my voice;

     he heard my cry for mercy.

Because he turned his ear to me,

     I will call on him as long as I live.

(Psalm 116:1-2)

Praying with David

It’s that time of year again. It starts with ashes being smeared on one’s forehead in the sign of a cross, “Remember, O mortal, that you are dust; and to dust you shall return.” It usually includes giving something up, or as properly known, “fasting.” Fish sandwiches start to appear on the menu boards of fast-food restaurants. 

That’s right, we’re just a day away from the season of Lent.

Three years ago, I started this blog as a lenten discipline. I committed to writing a devotion every day, inspired by the beauty that I try to capture in my photography, along with my love for the truth proclaimed in Scripture. The next year, I wrote daily prayers. 

Last year, I skipped out. I was tired, and I needed a break. Or so I thought. In all honesty, I feel like last year’s lenten journey for me was a bit empty. I missed out on the joy of a daily exercise of reflection, meditation, and writing for the glory of God.

And so, I’m back.

For several months, I have had this nudging in the back of my mind – theologians will probably call it the Holy Spirit, and who am I to disagree? – that I need to renew the blending of my passions for God’s beautiful Word and capturing the beauty of God’s world through photography. And this nudging in the back of my mind – again, probably the Holy Spirit – has kept pointing me to the Psalms.

When people ask me what my favorite book in the Bible is, I quickly answer, “Psalms.” Granted, it’s not really fair for someone to expect that out of 66 books, I must choose one that is my favorite. But if I must choose only one, I choose Psalms. 

The Book of Psalms, probably more than all the other books of the Bible, captures the essence of the struggle of faith. Each psalm is deeply personal, and if they are not directly addressing God, then they are talking about God. And always in ways that reflect raw, emotional, authentic faith. In the psalms we find unbounded joy, but we also see fists being shaken at God in dismay; we find awe and wonder at the beauty of the world, but we also see despair that God seems to let evil have its way; we find faith and trust in the Lord, alongside doubts and questions about whether or not God really cares.

Maybe that’s why I am so attracted to the Book of Psalms, because I can identify with the expressions of faith that fill each psalm.

And so, for the next 40 days (not counting Sundays), I will use prayers found in the psalms as inspiration for my own prayers; and I will post my prayers to this blog. I’ll probably even post a picture or two that may or may not be related to the theme of the prayer. Just because.

I invite you to join me on this 40-day journey. I will share the blog on Facebook and through a link in my Instagram profile (@revshw). Or you can have the blog entries emailed to you by filling out your email address in the space in the upper right hand corner of this page (note: It will probably be sent to the “spam” or “junk” folder in your email account until you mark it as “not junk.” I’m not sure why the internet seems to have a low opinion of my thoughts…). I also encourage you to share the post with others, if the Spirit moves you to do so. I am not being self-promoting when I suggest this; rather, I think that God's goodness and mercy and glory merit our sharing to the ends of the earth.

Together, let’s pray with David. And the others who wrote the psalms.

Remember How Fleeting Is My Life

Remember how fleeting is my life.
     For what futility you have created all humanity!
Who can live and not see death,
     or who can escape the power of the grave?

(Psalm 89:47-48)

Recently it snowed in my small town in eastern North Carolina. Evidently, it causes quite a stir when it snows in these parts. A forecast of anything more than a 50% chance of winter precipitation triggers a survival response that makes otherwise rational people run to the store to buy eggs, bread, and milk. 

Yes, only those three things. It seems that french toast is a necessity for one’s survival in the snow.

Also, once someone has verified that at least 126 snowflakes have fallen across our county, the schools close. I told you, snow causes quite a stir around here.

Anyway, it snowed overnight, so I decided to get up early and walk to the nearby cemetery to capture some photos of the sun rising over the fresh blanket of snow. It was beautiful, I must admit, to see the sun cast its rays through the trees and upon the glistening white frozen ground. 

Later in the day, I went back to the cemetery while walking our dog. At one point, I stopped at a place where I had watched the sun come up, and now the snow had completely disappeared; it had melted and evaporated in just a few hours. I thought it was a good metaphor for the fleeting nature of life – here one moment, and gone the next.

The Bible teaches us that life is finite. Truth is, we don’t need the Bible to tell us that, because our finitude is evident to us every day. But the Bible does tell us things like “The grass withers, and the flowers fade… surely the people are grass,” and “Teach us to number our days…,” and “Remember how fleeting is my life...”

Here one moment, and gone the next. Life is fleeting, indeed.

I know, you’re probably saying, “Thanks a lot – just what I needed to hear today. What an uplifting message.

You’re welcome. But stick with me for a moment, won’t you?

Wednesday is the beginning of the season of Lent. Around here, we call it Ash Wednesday. You probably do, too. On Ash Wednesday, we are called to consider our mortality and our sinfulness. We are also invited to turn our hearts toward the cross, and to take a forty-day journey of reflection on the love of Jesus that compelled him to walk steadfastly toward the cross in order to redeem us from our sin and to grant us eternal life.

Because though our lives are fleeting – we’re here one moment, and gone the next – our lives are also precious to Jesus. 

Jesus loves you. 

Jesus loves me. 

With an everlasting, redeeming love.

I hope that, wherever you are, you will take advantage of this special gift that we call Lent. Sure, you need to think about what it is that sent Jesus to the cross. You need to think about your own sinfulness, your brokenness, your need for redemption. All of us need to think upon these things. 

But on this side of the cross, we also have the joyful privilege of embracing the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord, and in the knowledge that there is nothing in all of creation that can separate us from that love. And so this journey of 40 days not only is a time of reflection on our sin and brokenness; indeed, it is even more a call to turn to our Lord, to depend on our Lord’s love and grace.

“Remember, O mortal, that you are dust; and to dust you shall return.”

Life is fleeting, indeed. But by the grace of God it is so very precious. 

And so are you.

Repeat These Words

“The Lord of hosts is with us;

the God of Jacob is our refuge.” (Psalm 46:7, 11)

refrain / ri ‘frein /: a phrase or verse recurring at intervals in a song or poem, especially at the end of each stanza; chorus.

Recently my morning devotions led me to the 46^th Psalm, which most of us know by two lines:

“God is my refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble...” and 

“Be still, and know that I am God!”

I, like many of you, love the psalm precisely for the message and sentiment of those two lines. But this time as I read the psalm, something else struck me. It was twofold recurrence of the line, “The Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge.” Musically (for the psalms were often set to music), and poetically, the line serves as a refrain.

A refrain is a line that is repeated for the sake of emphasis of a thought. Often it highlights the central theme of the poem or song in which it appears. In the case of the 46^th psalm, certainly the theme presence and protection of God is effectively underscored by the words, “The Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge.” 

In many ways, a refrain can become a personal mantra that we may use to speak a truth to our hearts. I can imagine that in times of trouble, one may cultivate a sense of inner peace by the frequent repetition of the words, “The Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge.” 

It makes me appreciate the treasure we have in the words of Scripture, for all throughout Scripture we find words and phrases that can serve as a personal refrain for us. A few examples, just off the top of my head:

“The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want...”

“In all things God works for the good...”

“The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end.”

“I lift up my eyes to the hills; from where does my help come?”

“The grass withers, and the flowers fade, but the word of our God shall stand forever.”

“Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me.”

“Come to me, all you who are weary and carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest.”

“Rejoice in the Lord always! I will say it again – Rejoice!”

When you regularly spend quality time in Scripture, then you begin to store up in your heart these little treasures. And when you find yourself in need of words of comfort and encouragement, then you can reach into the treasury you have built up, and find a refrain to lift you up, to refresh and renew you. Use them much as the instructions on the back of a shampoo bottle (lather, rinse, repeat) – use them frequently and often (redundancy intended).

What are the refrains that give you strength, that fill you with hope, that instill a sense of peace and well-being in your heart? Build up the treasury of biblical refrains in your own heart. Your faith will be strengthened, and you will experience the blessing of God whispering his grace into your spirit.