For safety and security for each member of the cabinet as they travel and tend to their daily responsibilities
Rescue me, O LORD, from evil men; protect me from men of violence.
--Psalm 140:1
Mighty God, I praise and thank You for the godly example You have given us in King David, who had many foes, from without and within his rule, that threatened his well-being. I praise and thank You for the way David sought You, O God, for deliverance from the plots against his life and slander against his name. He relied on You for help and trusted in You for protection, and for this I rejoice, O God.
We pray today, mighty God, just as David did�but not for our own safety. Instead, Lord, we pray that You would watch over and care for the men and women appointed by President Obama to serve on his cabinet. We ask You to guard and protect these individuals of authority and leadership, God, as they traverse the country and the world, as they see to their duties in service to our nation. Let them sense Your presence and protection, and draw them to You as You rescue them, enfolding them in Your strong arms. We ask this in Jesus� name, amen.
the precepts of the LORD are right, rejoicing the heart;
the commandment of the LORD is pure, enlightening the eyes;
"...a man's life cannot be ordered aright unless it is framed according to the law of God, and that without this he can only wander in labyrinths and crooked bypaths.
"But to the saints who serve God with true affection of heart there arises unspeakable joy also, from the knowledge that they do not labour in his service in vain, or without hope of recompense, since they have God as the judge and approver of their life. In short, this joy is put in opposition to all the corrupt enticements and pleasures of the world, which are a deadly bait, luring wretched souls to their everlasting destruction."
(Commentary from Heart Aflame: Daily Readings from Calvin on the Psalms)
James 5:13-18
Are you hurting? Pray. Do you feel great? Sing. Are you sick? Call the church leaders together to pray and anoint you with oil in the name of the Master. Believing-prayer will heal you, and Jesus will put you on your feet. And if you've sinned, you'll be forgiven--healed inside and out.
Make this your common practice: Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you can live together whole and healed. The prayer of a person living right with God is something powerful to be reckoned with. Elijah, for instance, human just like us, prayed hard that it wouldn't rain, and it didn't--not a drop for three and a half years. Then he prayed that it would rain, and it did. The showers came and everything started growing again.
What is God inviting me to be or do in this passage? First, he is inviting me to pray. Because I'm hurting. Not physically (well, maybe somewhere, but that's not my priority right now), but emotionally. I'm hurting because we are in such constant "limbo" over Stephanie's circumstances. Even with the positive news we got Thursday, nothing firm has been decided yet, so we are still in a "holding pattern." Second, God is inviting me to sing. Because I also feel great. There are parts of life that are wonderful. Even with all the "bad" things that are going on in the world, we still have faith in God, we know that he will never leave us or forsake us, no matter what. My wife and I both have jobs (so far). So I will sing. But I need to sing more than just on Sunday mornings, right? If I only worship when I am in congregation with other believers, I lose out. God wants me to sing continuously.
Third, do I need to call the "church leaders" together to pray over Stephanie?? Well, why not? The word of God instructs us to do that, right? And she is sick right now, with something that leaves the doctors curled up in fetal position babbling like monkeys. Ok, that was a slight exaggeration, but that's the mental image I have of most doctors right now. So, maybe I will do that.
Grace and peace, friends.