Prayer

The Lord has put so much on my heart lately, it would take hours for me to share. As I look at the state of the world -- the natural disasters, the emotional disasters -- I feel grief and anguish, but I also feel so pressed that God's Word is being revealed in Creation and that He's reaching out to us like never before. This is a little more intimate than I usually like to be on-line, but I see so much hurting everywhere I look, and know there is only ONE who can truly heal the world. I thank a lot of people through blogging, and I sadly don't always thank the One who really deserves the thanks, so today, I will. May you all be blessed today. I love all of you.

Dear Lord, thank You for my life. For being EVERLASTING when I didn't feel like lasting. Thank You for breathing for me when it hurt, for celebrating for me when I had both nothing and everything to celebrate, for picking me up when I fell, for praying for me when I had no words and for giving me what I don't deserve. Thank You for Your forgiveness. Oh, where would I be without the promise of Eternal Life and Your Grace? I never really understood Grace or forgiveness until You gave me a man who forgives because You forgive. Forgive me for not seeing me in Your eyes sooner, and hear my prayer that women and men everywhere are less dense to this than I.

Dear Lord, thank You for David and for showing us how to celebrate marriage. How to cherish it and to see it as a joy and a calling and a privilege. Thank You for giving us the understanding of why we want so earnestly for marriages to succeed and be blessed -- so that YOU can be glorified and so that families can be healthy and growing in You -- so that men and women can be whole and be sharpened together in a way that goes deeper than any other human relationship. Bless the elders as the respected ones in their homes, bless the men as the leaders, bless the women as the warriors and bless the children as Your precious legacy.

Dear Lord, thank You for my time of singleness. Thank You for showing me your Peace, though we both know that took quite some time. :) Thank You for teaching me to wait and believe in the journey, and thank You for all You let me do while I waited. Bless all my friends who are single, by choice or by season, and bring them the peace and the knowledge that YOU are in control -- that You always have been and always will be -- that Your timing is not ours, but perfect. We are not to rush You, Lord, and You have showed us, through the history of Your people in the Word, that rushing Your timing only brings consequences that grieve You and us.

Dear Lord, thank You for my family and my friends. Oh, who am I to be so blessed? Thank You for a mother and a father who are honestly the best parents in the world for a girl like me... parents who love me and saw a future for me and gave me everything they had and still give me everything they have. Thank You for new parents who love me like their own and gave me my best earthly treasure...a man after Your heart who loves and protects my heart. Thank You for a sister who is closer to my heart than my own self... who always inspires me to be a better woman and who is one of the kindest people You have shown to humanity. Thank You for a brother who consistently amazes me with his talents and insight...who has an endless supply of love and hugs and who I know will do great things for You. Thank You for a brother-in-law who watched over me while I was single and waiting on You and who continues to keep his eye on me. Thank You for two new little sisters...sisters-in-law who bring happiness to my life and who remind me how beautiful life is through all their gifts and talents. Thank You for a nephew who stole my  heart before he even entered the world, and for the blessings, incredible blessings, he brings to all of us. Oh, Lord, he is such JOY to us and I pray You keep His little life tightly in Your hands. Thank You for my Grandparents and extended families. They are my lineage from You and I am so proud of all of them. Thank You for my friends, male and female alike, who bless me. Thank You for those who have walked many miles with me, and thank You for those who I have just met along the way. Oh, that I might be worthy to give them what they have given to me! Thank You for those who challenge me and who remind me how to love like You love.

Dear Lord, thank You for a job in this time of joblessness for so many. Though I confess times of grief and stress during the workweek, I really am so thankful that You have given us a way to provide for our families and for others. May our money be a blessing to Your work.

Dear Lord, thank You for our home and for the rooms that fill it. We pray the rooms are filled with Your people, for it is not our house, but Yours. Even if it takes years to paint and fix, we are so proud to have it.

Mostly, I thank You for this vapor of life, this puff of time on earth that I have. I know there is so much I could do better, so much I wish I could change. But praise to You -- You have made a way to make me holy and pure and perfect in Your eyes. Thank You for Your Son who died and rose to reign with You so that one day, I might share in the Glory...a prize only YOU could imagine. Keep me straight on the journey, keep me pure before You. Help me to run the race with faith and with the TRUTH of Your Word, so that when I see You, my time here will not have been in vain. I declare war on the evil of this world and the evil that attempts to destroy lives, families and Truth. Be our battle shield, so that when the battle is over, we will stand as You have promised.

Bless the people of this world, Lord, the people You have made. Help them to see their worth in You. Help them to see You. Replace hopelessness with hope, grief with grace, loneliness with love and judgement with joy.

Thank You for saving this sinner and loving me even before You washed me clean. May YOU be glorified and may Your people know YOU.

Love,
Your Daughter