Unfailing Love

The words "unfailing love" appear in the Psalms 39 of the 40 times the two words appear together in our NIV Bibles. Interesting that through the ups and downs, the battles, the worship, the praises, David anointed king, then running for his life... and all the other drama and high adventure, God's "unfailing love" takes it's place.

Let the morning bring me word of your unfailing love, for I have put my trust in you. Show me the way I should go, for to you I entrust my life. Psalm 143:8

What if we could start every morning with that sense of unfailing love? Knowing that our God, the God of the Universe, loves us with an unfailing love.

How fearless and focused would that free us up to be?

Here's the Psalms where the words appear- this week find one to have with breakfast : )

Or be highly adventurous and write down one a day for the next 40 days and see where that leads...

Psalm 6, 13, 18, 21, 26, 31, 32, 33, 36, 44, 48, 51, 52, 62, 77, 85, 90, 94, 107, 143

Exodus 15:13 

In your unfailing love you will lead the people you have redeemed. In your strength you will guide them to your holy dwelling.

Life at the Speed of Prayer

When? Ever wonder when God's going to answer a prayer? God sent the prophet Daniel an angel to answer that question...

Dan 9:23 At the beginning of your petitions an answer went out, and I have come to give it, for you are treasured by God. So consider the message and understand the vision... Holman Christian Standard Bible.

An answer given, at the beginning of the prayer...Isn't that exactly what we want God to do? Read more about Daniel's prayer in Daniel, chapter 9. Other translations say, "a word was given". So let's just look at the order here-

• At the beginning of Daniel's prayer
• An answer went out
• OK, so we don't all get an Angel to deliver the message : )
• For we are treasured by God
• So consider the message and understand the vision...

Consider how that might change how we pray. We know that one of the purposes of prayer is to get us into God's presence.

Think for a minute about just that. In our real lives, when we take a minute and sit down with someone we love- what's the first thing we want to talk about? Often, it's a "how are you?" or something related. Would we ever ask God, "So, how's it going?" Probably not, and yet we, who are made in His relational image could reflect back to Him what He is to us. Words of worship, gratitude, His own words form the Word, or silence- just gathering ourselves into His presence.

And then, at some point, knowing that an answer will be sent, we can pour out our hearts and requests. Knowing He's a big God whose ways we may not always understand...but we know Him and that we are treasured even beyond our capacity to understand. And it is that God on the receiving end of all our prayers...

Timeless Words from a Faithful Friend : )

On August 1st, some friends and I started a daily journey through the Psalms...taking the meandering route of just one Psalm a day : ) If we stay on track, we'll finish right as this years ends. Probably doesn't sound overly exciting...here's the catch. We are asking God to lead us into reflection and prayer for each other based on those Psalms.

For years, part of the morning routine was to start with the Psalm(s) of the day- 1, 31, 61, 91, 121; then the Proverb of the day and finish off with a reading from the New Testament. Through those years, certain days and Psalms intersected events and seasons of my life in ways that carry with them many memories.

Like Psalm 29, where the focus is on the voice of the Lord being over the water. One of the times I read it was June 29, 1998, in the Fincantieri Shipyards near Venice, Italy on board the Disney Magic... which was departing the next day- headed across the Atlantic for the first time.

The voice of the Lord is over the waters; the God of glory thunders, the Lord thunders over the mighty waters.The voice of the Lord is powerful; the voice of the Lord is majestic.   Psalm 29: 3-4

These words also bring my friends Jean and Richard to mind. They were guests on the trip (their daughter was a key executive) and I met them- only to learn learn later how deep their roots in Christ went. Richard would circle the ship, praying for us, many of whom he did not know- daily for those 11 days.

This week, let's let God take us back to those places in Scripture that intersect our memories each time we read or hear them.

Then reflect upon and express to God how faithful He is in every detail of our lives...with or without our awareness or knowledge of His works on our behalf.