Prayer Index Cards for Life
Today I’m sharing seven PICs as a help for the challenging instruction of Psalm 37- FRET NOT!
When we pray God’s Word, we know that we are aligned with His will. When His Word goes out, it never returns without accomplishing His work. (Isaiah 55:10-13)
I’ve also linked previously written devotions that go along with several of today’s PICs–
Today marks the first day of school for many of us in the South. As I watched the school bus drive down the street, I thought about all the emotions that swirl around the fall schedule resuming. Whether you are a student, a parent, a teacher, or simply feeling the ease of summer days coming to a close, you may be experiencing some feelings of stress and anxiety that to me might be best described as an order of hash browns from Waffle House.
CHOPPED (chopped potatoes)- so many people, so many tasks, all need a small piece of you, leaving you fragmented and out of sorts
SCATTERED (hash browns with onions)- the demands on your time and the responsibilities in front of you have you feeling like you are going in many directions but not getting much done- you’re scattered, just like the onions in the potatoes
SMOTHERED (hash browns with cheese)- the demands of life have you feeling overwhelmed, like you can’t breathe.
Today I’m sharing two PICs to help you navigate when you feel life’s griddle heating up on you-
Setting your mind on God and seeking Him first is the best way to Jump Back In– whatever your fall schedule brings!
As I continue to make my way back through the memory verses from Fight Back with Joy, this week brings me to Habakkuk 3:17-18, a difficult couple of verses, but to me, a picture of faith-
Though the fig tree should not blossom, nor fruit be on the vines, the produce of the olive fail and the fields yield no food, the flock be cut off from the fold and there be no herd in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the LORD; I will take joy in the God of my salvation. God the LORD is my strength; he makes my feet like the deer’s; he makes me tread on my high places.
Habakkuk 3:17-18, ESV
A person who lives by faith is driven by what he believes and knows is true, not by what he sees.
There will be times when there is no evidence in view- no obvious blessing, fruit, or answer. There will be times when our eyes see lack and perhaps failure.
In these times, faith rejoices anyway. This seems an impossibly hard choice to make- to be joyful in what you know is true about God and from God even if you can’t see it. God blesses this obedient act of faith by providing strength to continue the climb- up and over and through that mountain or high place. Taking joy in the LORD becomes your strength!
This is a powerful PIC-
I don’t have to be overwhelmed by circumstances that seem insurmountable and unchanging in front of me. In the face of those, I can choose to rejoice in the LORD. I can tell Him what makes me glad about Him- what I know is true of Him. This is living by faith. This equips me with strength and enables me to continue the climb- up and over the mountain as surefooted as a deer on the heights.
Today, LORD God, help me live on the heights by faith and full of joy!
Romans 5:3-5 is next up in the set of verses I’m memorizing again from Fight Back with Joy. I shared a post in March of 2020 entitled More Than Getting Through when I last focused on this scripture.
As I read back over these verses and practiced writing them in my journal a few times, I couldn’t help but think I’m more full of fatigue than rejoicing over what seems to be one challenge after another. I can’t see the end of endurance, and I’m tempted to think its fruit may be overrated; perhaps I have enough character and hope as I am.
I am loved by God. He has given me the Holy Spirit so that I am filled with his love! His work in my life is motivated by love. He has not given up on me in exasperation. Just as I wanted my own children to grow and thrive and become all that God created them to be, so He desires I grow and mature, living confidently and full of hope because He loves me!
The Amplified Bible says it this way-
And not only this, but (with joy) let us exult in our sufferings and rejoice in our hardships, knowing that hardship (distress, pressure, trouble) produces endurance; and endurance, proven character (spiritual maturity); and proven character, hope and confident assurance (of eternal salvation). Such hope (in God’s promises) never disappoints us, because God’s love has been abundantly poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us.
Romans 5:3-5, AMP
So today I’m focusing on a new word from a familiar passage and reminding myself of a foundational truth-
God has filled my heart with His love by the Holy Spirit. He has given me the Holy Spirit so that His presence and power dwell in me; therefore, I have the strength to make it through any hardship, pressure or trouble, knowing God will use all these things to grow me up in Him. Nothing is wasted. Everything is purposeful. I am always secure because I am loved!
When I don’t rest and trust in the perfect LOVE of God, life feels random and a bit mean at times. Today, I’m glad (rejoicing) that I am ok in the perfect love of God.
I shared in a post last week that I’m going back through the memory verses from the study Fight Back with Joy by Margaret Feinberg. This has led me to meditate on and consider the short version of Nehemiah 8:10, “Do not be grieved, for the joy of the LORD is your strength.”
Do not be grieved can be reworded- do not feed on what distresses you.
I’ve been convicted that when I fall into a pattern of complaining and grumbling over circumstances that are hard or cause me trouble, I am in fact feeding the things that cause me stress. This quenches the strength that comes from rejoicing in the LORD.
James 1: 22 challenges believers to be doers of the word, and not hearers only, so today, I’m sharing two PICs that I’m keeping before me in mind and prayer as I seek to be a doer in this- to replace the old pattern with a new one.
Living in a world where negativity and division are the norm, it’s easy to feed our stress. Will you join me today with a new pattern of praise? Will you shine as a light in this dark world?
A previous post, Without Complaint, may be helpful as well.
Daily PICs for Life 