Today we continue an ambitious project! For the next nine months, you and I will get the opportunity to read through, and more importantly, pray through the Psalms together. See this post for more info.
The audio file below is the entire episode for today. The text below is today’s prayer. I’m reading the Contemporary English Version of the Text, copyright 1995, by the American Bible Society.
God. Abba. Father.
Some days we wonder “Where are you, God?” We are weary from the trials, from the persecution, from the illnesses, from the loss. We are confused as we seek your face and yet, through our worn out eyes, we can’t seem to find you. Our enemies are winning. This is all wrong! Why is this happening?
Please, LORD God, hear our prayers. Answer us when we cry. We long for the day when our eyes will sparkle again as they did when we first met you. Take a good look at us, God. Please don’t let our foes laugh when we fall down, when we fail.
No, we will stand and shout, “We trust you, God! We love you, God!” You ways are perfect and true. Your love is unfailing. We sing praises to your name. Our heart rejoices for you will, no, you have, answered our prayers. You have been so good to us! We are humbled at your care for us. Thank you.
Today we continue an ambitious project! For the next nine months, you and I will get the opportunity to read through, and more importantly, pray through the Psalms together. See this post for more info.
The audio file below is the entire episode for today. The text below is today’s prayer. I’m reading the Contemporary English Version of the Text, copyright 1995, by the American Bible Society.
God. Abba. Father.
Help us LORD, Yahweh. We look around at what is happening in the streets, in our governments and schools and churches, and in the media and we wonder, “Where have all the faithful gone? Where are those who trust completely in you? Where are those who will obey your Word and follow as disciples?” It seems that everyone has a mask on. They say they are healthy and fine. They boast and brag and post about only the wonderful and bright things in their lives. And it seems that many believe their own lies, and they show nothing but contempt and disdain for things that are holy.
Thank you, Lord, that you see and know the truth, because you are the truth. Thank you that you see the poor in spirit, you see those who are homeless and who are mistreated and helpless and ill and you boldly proclaim that you will rescue those who suffer. You will heal the brokenhearted.
Thank you, Lord, that your promises are true and your Word is greater than the finest treasures on earth. You are perfect and flawless. Thank you for protecting us, your children. Thank you for keeping us safe, always, from the wicked. Give us wisdom to sort out the truth from the lies, to stand firm in your Word from those who promote their shameless acts.
We thank you for your grace. We celebrate your Son, who is the Way, the Life and the Truth. And we pray in His name. Amen.
Today we continue an ambitious project! For the next nine months, you and I will get the opportunity to read through, and more importantly, pray through the Psalms together. See this post for more info.
The audio file below is the entire episode for today. The text below is today’s prayer. I’m reading the Contemporary English Version of the Text, copyright 1995, by the American Bible Society.
God. Abba. Father.
Thank you for being our fortress, our rock, our refuge in times of trouble. Even when the enemy has it out for us who are righteous. And of course, Lord we are only seen as a good person because of the work on the Cross by Jesus. We are only called righteous or good because of your Son. Thank you for your grace.
When the earth is crumbling, as it appears it is more so every day, what can we do? We run to you, sitting high on your mountain throne in heaven. We know that from that vantage point, you have your eyes on earth, you see everything. You test those who are honest. You despise those who are cruel and who love violence. Give us your eyes, Father. Let us see the way you see. Let us see the potential for good in everyone. Thank you for giving each person a choice in loving you or loving evil.
May your judgement pour down in your wrath. We thank you that your grace is swift to those who run to you. Thank you for loving justice. Thank you for your plan to ultimately put everything right in this world. Thank you that one day, those who call out to you, who repent before you, one day, we will see your loving face. And we will worship. In glory and in truth.
Today we continue an ambitious project! For the next nine months, you and I will get the opportunity to read through, and more importantly, pray through the Psalms together. See this post for more info.
The audio file below is the entire episode for today. The text below is today’s prayer. I’m reading the Contemporary English Version of the Text, copyright 1995, by the American Bible Society.
God. Abba. Father.
We don’t understand when you feel far away. We draw near to you today, God. Help us. We need you. We always need you, God. We cannot do life without you.
We look at the proud and arrogant and wonder why you let them continue in their ways. They boast in their own success. They curse and hate you, Lord. They do not seek you nor care about your holy ways. They curse and tell lies. They plan evil and scheme ways to hurt innocent victims. They pounce like a wild beast and suggest that you are nowhere to be found.
But we know that is not true, oh God. You see our troubles and our distress. Do not forget the helpless. See our troubles caused by the merciless. Make them stop. We cry out to you with hope for you are our king. We trust in your unfailing grace.
We thank you that everyone who calls out to you is called your son or your daughter. There are no orphans in your Kingdom! One day your Kingdom will come on this earth and terror will cease. We thank you for that Day!
We thank you for taking our hand as we lift it to you, like a child who reaches for their parent! In Jesus’ name. Amen.
Today we continue an ambitious project! For the next nine months, you and I will get the opportunity to read through, and more importantly, pray through the Psalms together. See this post for more info.
The audio file below is the entire episode for today. The text below is today’s prayer. I’m reading the Contemporary English Version of the Text, copyright 1995, by the American Bible Society.
God. Abba. Father.
We praise you, Lord, Yahweh, with all our hearts. We will tell the world about all your wonders, all your miracles, day after day. We celebrate, we rejoice, we sing praises! You are the One True God. The Most High God. There is none like you!
When our enemies see you, they stumble, they are destroyed. You are the great judge. Your decisions are right and fair. You have upheld our cause. You have called out the godless nations for their unbelief. You will destroy the wicked. You will wipe out their names forever. The names of Your enemies and our enemies will be blotted out once and for all. Their cities will be torn down. Their memory a vapor.
You, oh God, will rule forever from your great throne. Your judgement is true. You are just. You judge the world fairly. We thank you that the poor can run to you and find comfort in times of trouble. It doesn’t matter if they are poor in possessions or poor in spirit. We thank you that everyone who honors your name can trust you. You are faithful. Your home is a safe house where everyone can find rest. You will never forsake those who seek you.
We will sing about you to the nations, oh Lord, Yahweh, because we desire everyone to know of your great love and mercy. Thank you that you do not ignore the cries of the afflicted. You punish the guilty with justice.
Have mercy on us all, oh God. Our enemies knock at our doors and mistreat us. Be kind to us. Keep us from gates of death so that we may proclaim your praises at the gate to Zion and rejoice in your gift of salvation.
The godless nations are trapped in their evil ways, in their own pits. You have shown your merciful hand, your ways of justice. Thank you.
Thank you that you will never forget about those who are poor and homeless. No, they will always find a place of rest in your home. They will always find true hope at your front door.
For those who mistreat the poor and homeless, judge them for their evil ways. For the nations who turn their back on you and your children, shake them, God. Let them know just how weak they are and that they need you. We confess that need you too and we humbly pray in Jesus’ name. Amen.
Today we continue an ambitious project! For the next nine months, you and I will get the opportunity to read through, and more importantly, pray through the Psalms together. See this post for more info.
The audio file below is the entire episode for today. The text below is today’s prayer. I’m reading the Contemporary English Version of the Text, copyright 1995, by the American Bible Society.
Lord. Abba. God.
Your Name is Wonderful! Your Name is Majestic! Your Name is Brilliant! Let your glory shine in every corner of the earth.
Thank you for the praises of infants. Their cooing and giggles releases armies of angels. Thank you for the shouts of children. Their laughter drowns your enemies and silences the unbeliever. You have established your fortress through the lips of our children. Thank you!
Lord, when we look skyward, when we see your creativity unleashed in the clouds, the stars, the moon, we ponder, “Why? What is it about us? Why do you consider us? What is it about us that you find so encouraging?”
You made man, woman, the children and infants to be just lower than the angels that serve at your throne. You shine your love and favor on us. And you’ve put us in charge of the earth, the flocks that graze in the lowlands, the wild beasts of the forests, even the birds in the sky and the fish in the sea. You given them all to us.
You are amazing, oh God! You are Yahweh, our Ruler. How majestic is your Name everywhere on earth!
Good News! The RichlySpeaking Podcast launches on August 30th.
If you’ve enjoyed the blog at RichlySpeaking.com, you will likely discover a similar place of rest for your soul, finding inspiration, encouragement, and observation through the lens of Scripture.
(Play the RichlySpeaking Podcast trailer.)
For the next several months we’re going to read through and pray through the book of Psalms together. There are 150 Psalms, which I’ve broken up into 180 separate readings — one for each day of the typical school year. Now, we know the ’20-’21 school year is going to look quite different than most. So, perhaps you are suddenly a homeschooling family, or you’re going to need to find a routine or rhythm this year, I’ll be here with five new episodes each week, beginning August 30th, so feel free to tune in daily. Maybe you can join me for a quiet start to the day, or a lunch break pause, or at bedtime… And we can be encouraged together, as we read through and pray through the Bible’s beautiful book of poetry, hymns, and personal journal entries by at least eight different authors. Each day, I’ll read the Psalm, or portion of the psalm, then pray through it.
Be sure to like, forward and subscribe so you don’t miss an episode. One of the reasons I love finding inspiration from the Bible every day is found in the Gospel of John. In Chapter 20, verse 31, he writes “these things are written, the Bible is written, so that you might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the son of the Living God and that believing you may find life in His name.” May you find life in Jesus’ name today. God bless you.
Five new episodes will be released each Sunday, beginning August 30, and continuing to May of 2021. I look forward to hearing how God blesses the reading and praying of His Word together.
Quiet streams of Living Water in the Wilderness of Zin in the middle of the Israeli Desert. A place of rest. A place of peace. A place of refreshing. A place of intimacy.
Do you have a “One Word” for 2014? A single, focused idea or goal for the New Year? My word is “intimacy.” As in, “I want to walk closer in intimacy with God the Father.” To do so, I think, means to be stretched in my times of prayer. My hope is that it means significant prayer. True connecting prayer. Two way conversations of prayer between God and me. Lingering prayer. Not check-list prayer.
Intimacy. A good pastor friend of mine used to say it this way: “Into me, see.” As in opening your heart and life to one who truly sees into your heart and soul. For most of us, that’s our spouse. But isn’t it also God? And I believe that His true desire is for us to see as deep into His heart as we acknowledge that He sees into ours.
That’s the deep, intimate, prayer-stretching kind of focus that I desire in my personal walk with God the Father, His Son and the Holy Spirit in 2014.
In the past ten days I have eaten up a book I literally stumbled upon at Barnes and Noble the day after Christmas. Its title grabbed me: Signs, Wonders and a Baptist Preacher, How Jesus Flipped My World Upside Down.[1] The Bible says in John 14:12 (NIV): “Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father.” Have you ever wrestled with these words of Jesus?
My spiritual background has included seasons of beauty in seeing God move supernaturally. It has also included seasons of awful abuse of the Biblical text and manipulating God and people seeking Him in prayer. The bad seasons soured my praying for people for years.
And yet God…
In His grace and love I’m wondering if there is a new season ahead for me personally and others in my circle of friends and family and prayer partners… a time of seeing Him move “in power” as a direct result of walking in intimacy with Abba, Father?
Curiously, it’s been a long time since a single book spoke to me the way this one has. The author’s unassuming approach is delightful. I can’t believe how much I’ve underlined, circled and starred… thoughts and ideas that have struck a chord in my heart. Perhaps they will speak to you?
Author Chad Norris talks about walking the walk that Jesus walked while He was here on earth. Can the supernatural be natural for us? Here are a few direct quotes from the first chapters:
If we had followed Jesus while He was on the earth, what would He have asked us to do? … The only answer I can come up with is that He would have asked us to do what He asked His other disciples to do, even if it led to some awkward moments that left us wondering how we ever got into such a strange situation. (p.43)
I want things that I cannot explain to happen in my life on a daily basis. I want heaven to be attracted to my life in the way it was attracted to Jesus’ life. (p.44)
I yearn to do the things my Master did while He was here. This is not because I want superpowers, this is because I want to follow Jesus. (p.45)
If you long to see more… or maybe just different and faith stretching from God, great! Let’s talk and pray and see where it leads.
I spoke about some of this in a sermon on December 29, 2013. If you want to listen to it you can find it on iTunes. Search “Rich Ronald podcasts.” Look for the sermon called “Gideon’s Power is Our Power Too.”
I’m eager to be more intimate with God the Father in 2014 and see where He guides. How about you?
Jesus, in the Garden, prays for you and me, asking that we may live in unity. (John 17:21-23)
I have a friend who is a gym teacher at an all boys elementary school. He loves to tell a great story about watching kids line up for gym class. You can see them, can’t you? All dressed identical in little navy gym shorts and grey t-shirts. Timmy pokes Jason in the side. Jason pokes him back. Timmy slaps Jason. Jason slaps him back. Soon, it escalates to shoving, and before you know it, one of them is on the ground looking up at the gym lights and rafters.
Sometimes, it is that way with grown-ups too, isn’t it? At work. In your family. Even at church. Mr. Smith says something to Mr. Franklin that just happens to push Mr. Franklin’s buttons. Before you know it, Mr. Smith is offended. At Men’s Bible study coffee the next morning, Mr. Smith is telling Mr. Thompson about how horrible a man Mr. Franklin is. Mr. Thompson sees Mr. Franklin the next Sunday morning and decides not to talk with him any longer. Mrs. Franklin then sees Mrs. Smith at the Ladies Bible Study on Tuesday and gives her an earful and Mrs. Thompson stands off to the side and can’t imagine why her two dear friends are terribly miffed at each other.
Miscommunication. Being misunderstood. A short email not intended to be mean-spirited turns into hurt feelings and an offended heart. Holding grudges then turns into bitterness. And it can be like a malignant cancer that spreads not only through one person, but among a whole group of people. And things get ugly.
And every one of us is susceptible to ugliness, because every one of us is human… and we are sinners. Relational conflict is a part of a normal life. Solomon suggested it is healthy as it sharpens us. Ugliness and slander and gossip, however, are sin.
The Bible is full of great counsel on how to handle relating to one another.
If you look at the Ten Commandments, they are all about relating. The first four outline our relationship to God; the other six provide rules for our relationship with one another. There are hundreds of scriptures that deal with relationships and communication. Here are a few:
A gentle response defuses anger, but a sharp tongue kindles a temper-fire.
Proverbs 15:1 (The Message)
Watch the way you talk. Let nothing foul or dirty come out of your mouth. Say only what helps, each word a gift.
Ephesians 4:29 (The Message)
Avoid godless chatter, because those who indulge in it will become more and more ungodly.
2 Timothy 2:16 (NIV)
“Death and life are in the power of the tongue.”
Proverbs 18:21
Or as the Living Bible puts it:
“Those who love to talk will suffer the consequences. Men have died for saying the wrong thing!”
The gospel according to my mom said it this way: “Ask these three questions before opening your mouth: Is it needful? Is it truthful? Is it kind?”
Words are important.
Think about that for a moment. Think about when words have lifted you up and given you life. “It’s a boy!” “Yes, I will marry you!” Or those times when you have been devastated by words, and even brought death… death to a marriage, death to a lifelong friendship, death to a dream. All because someone merely spoke some words.
Jesus takes it a step further by saying in Matthew 18. verse 18: “What you say to one another is eternal. I mean this.” Your words are eternal! Once spoken they continue on into the cosmos forever… like a stone that ripples in a borderless pond.
Yet, even with all this warning in the Bible, sometimes we say dumb things, don’t we? Sometimes we don’t think before we speak, do we? And when that happens, there is a “blazing flame of destruction and disaster” (see James 3).
So, if we can control our tongue that’s good. If we think before we speak, that’s good. But when we don’t, we often hurt other people. And then what happens next? There is anger. Bitterness. Friendships are strained. Lifelong relationships are fractured.
But Jesus… the grace of Jesus gives us some very practical tools to bring reconciliation. And that is why during this Thanksgiving season we can be thankful for His grace and His perfect plan of forgiveness. With the Holy Spirit guiding us, we have the ability to walk with joy with one another.
What is His plan for forgiveness? Matthew 18:15-17 and Ephesians 4 are great resources you can explore. Can you commit to walking in a Biblical model of forgiveness? Can you agree to this covenant:
I will not pass along a bad report about anyone.
I will first go to the one who offended me and seek reconciliation.
Only if we cannot be reconciled person-to-person, I will meet with an elder or pastor to discuss the situation, with the goal being a meeting with the person who offended me and an elder or pastor.
I will guard the unity of the Body of Christ.
This is a model that is not convicting, but rather freeing, in how we can walk in personal relationships. When Jesus prayed for us in the garden in John 17, He asked the Father to give us the grace to walk in unity as the Father and the Son are unified.
Jesus is asking that we, fellow Believers, be one… just as the Father is of one heart and one mind with the Son. We can be united SO THAT the world will believe. That’s key isn’t it? Yes, of course, we are human. We will have relational and communication issues as sure as the sun shines every day. And even this week, when you get together with your family for Thanksgiving or next month at Christmas… sometimes those are the hardest times and the most difficult people to offer grace and forgiveness to, right?… But we don’t have to let our differences, our offenses, destroy that which God has established.
Jesus has made a way for us to be reconciled… eternally with God and right now with each other. And that is something for which we can all be thankful.
If you’d like to hear the full sermon from this message, go here: http://bit.ly/1a4VIJf
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