This week’s readings are filled with prayers and promises that call me to a higher place of His Presence. I love the prayers of God’s faithful people, that they are recorded in Scriptures for us to read and to pray, as everyone who has ever read the Scripture before has done also. We are literally praying with the thousands of saints that have gone before us as we adopt the prayers in Scripture as our own. It’s an awesome thought to imagine how many have spoken these words to God before us, and now, we join the heavenly throng with voices lifted to heaven, proclaiming our amazing Lord and His mighty deeds and in agreement with His Word, we proclaim a hearty Amen.

This is the Good News of the Lord. Those who proclaim it, those who seek it are filled with joy. “Announcing peace, proclaiming news of happiness: Our God reigns. Our God reigns.” Listen to the words of Nahum 1:15 as the prophet proclaims the joyous news: “Look, there on the mountains, the feet of one who brings good news, who proclaims peace!” Use me like that, Lord! May my own flesh die that I might be filled with Him so that my words proclaim peace and my feet walk in His ways that others may be overcome with joy to know that I bring a Word from the Lord. I bring His Presence, I bring His peace. Oh, that is my prayer. That is His promise.

How do I pray to Him who knows everything, who holds the very world in His Hands? I look to the lives of the  saints. I ask God for that type of manifestation in me like King Josiah had with His saving Lord. 2 Kings 23:25 “Neither before nor after Josiah was there a king like him who turned to the Lord as he did-with all his heart and with all his soul and with all his strength.” With all my heart, with all my soul, and with all my strength, let me turn to You, seeking direction and in obedience, following Your Will for my life.

I proclaim Habakkuk’s words in his heart-felt prayer. You are the Famous One! Renew your deeds in our day, Lord! In your anger, remember Your mercy on us. For we fear you, knowing You are a righteous and holy God. Habakkuk 3:2-19 “Lord, I have heard of your fame; I stand in awe of your deeds, O Lord. Renew them in our day, in our time make them known; in wrath remember mercy.’. .”

I thank the Lord, as long as there is breath in us, there is always a way back to Him:  Jeremiah 8:4 “‘This is what the Lord says: ‘When men fall down, do they not get up? When a man turns away, does he not return?” Then in verse 5, He asks, “Why does Jerusalem always turn away?” That is the sixty-four thousand dollar question. Why do we turn away, when even birds know what to do with God’s direction? Why do I turn away and follow the wrong path?  The Lord answers His question in verse 7-9: “But my people do not know the requirements of the Lord. ‘How can you say, “We are wise, for we have the law of the Lord,” when actually the lying pen of the scribes has handled it falsely? The wise will be put to shame; they will be dismayed and trapped. Since they have rejected the word of the Lord, what kind of wisdom do they have?” How can we know the requirements of the Lord, except by our reading and understanding His Word? Lord, reveal Yourself and Your requirements to our hearts. We long to know You, to walk in Your ways.

Jeremiah 9:24 “but let him who boasts boast about this: that he understands and knows me, that I am the Lord, who exercises kindness, justice and righteousness on earth, for in these I delight,” declares the Lord.” The only thing that counts in the Lord’s eyes is to understand and to know Him. Nothing else is a worthy pursuit in this life. Nothing else will reap a higher reward. Delight in me, Lord, as I seek to know You, to grasp the smallest understanding of Your vast and immeasurable identity.

Jeremiah 10:12 “But God made the earth by his power; he founded the world by his wisdom and stretched out the heavens by his understanding.” No one can fathom the mind of God…Until I die, Lord, may my last breath, with the Holy Spirit’s wisdom, find me seeking more of who You are.

And that brings us to Jeremiah’s aching prayer in Chapter 15: 15-20-“You understand, O Lord; remember me and care for me. Avenge me on my persecutors. You are long-suffering-do not take me away; think of how I suffer reproach for your sake. When your words came, I ate them; they were my joy and my heart’s delight, for I bear your name, O Lord God Almighty. . .Why is my pain unending and my wound grievous and incurable?” And the Lord answers in verse 19, “Therefore this is what the Lord says:  “If you repent, I will restore you that you may serve me; if you utter worthy, not worthless, words, you will be my spokesman.” I continue my prayer, claiming the promises the Lord spoke over Jeremiah, “Make my words useful, to speak worthy, not worthless words. Cause Your Word to flow from me, as your servant. As I repent with my whole heart of sins unspoken here, but known to You, make me useful in Your kingdom, serving You alone, my Lord and my God.

In Daniel’s prayer of praise, God reveals Himself so beautifully to him: Daniel 2:19-22-“Then Daniel praised the God of heaven and said: “Praise be to the name of God for ever and ever; wisdom and power are his. He changes times and seasons; he sets up kings and deposes them. He gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to the discerning.  He reveals deep and hidden things; he knows what lies in darkness, and light dwells with him.” He reveals himself so intricately and magnificently to those who seek Him.

Come back tomorrow and read the rest of this novel. Or take a nap. Love you guys, Annette