I love how psalm 66 starts out with songs of praise to God for His glory, greatness, and works. Oh how easy it is to sing such wonderful songs when we feel surrounded by God’s glory. Those times we experience a spiritual, physical, and emotional closeness with Him. Usually it’s due to a received blessing, answered prayer, or a need fulfilled. We feel as if we’re walking on a cloud. Our hearts are filled with the joy, comfort, and warmth of fellowshipping with our Lord. And in our thankfulness we swear to never again forsake God, vowing to faithfully follow His will. 

Then life goes on, and it’s business as usual. And slowly our focus wanders away from the Lord. Our time and energy is spent once again pursuing our fleshly desires. We let go of His hand, stray from His path, and go about attempting to meet our needs in our own strength. We put God in our back pocket, never pulling Him out again until the next crisis. But the joyful news is this. No matter how much we forget or reject God, He never does the same in kind. Never will our Heavenly Father withhold His precious love, time, or attention. Nor ever turn a deaf ear to our prayers. 

Don’t you hate it when you’re trying to reach someone and your call goes straight to voicemail? That never happens with God. Through the privilege of prayer, we have a direct and open line of communication with the Lord. And no matter how long it’s been, He picks up on the first ring. Because God is always excited to hear from His children. For He’s been anxiously waiting, ready and eager to receive our call. Sadly, some Christians mistakenly believe that God only wants to hear from us about the big stuff. But the truth is, He cares and wants to hear about every area of our lives both big and small.

So much so that one of the many wonderful names of God is El Roi, the God who sees me. Our Lord never slumbers nor sleeps. His eyes are always watching over the righteous, His ears always listening for their prayers. Take a minute and really think about that. As Creator of the universe, God has His hands full. But even so, not a moment goes by where He takes His eye off of us. For He is the One who, “keeps us in life, and does not allow our feet to slip.” (Ps. 66:9)

Prayer is a gift God gives to us so that we can come to Him anytime, anywhere, with anything. Be it a petition, guidance, thankfulness, or to unburden our heart, God wants to be our first and daily destination. Out of His great love, when we talk to Him, God promises to both listen and respond. And although we may not like the answer, we can give thanks that no prayer will go unanswered! 

Pause and Reflect -

How much time do you give God each day? Do you make Him a top priority? How does spending time in His presence daily make a difference in your life? 

How can making a joyful noise to God bring happiness to God and to you, even when you do not feel joyful? Why do you think expressing joy is important to both us and God? 

Finally let’s pray together, 

Our dearest Father in heaven, hallowed be Thy name. Heavenly Father we lift up our voices in praise to Your glorious name, for You alone are worthy, You alone are the Lord Almighty. You have saved us from the pit and have set our feet on the Rock of salvation. How awesome are Your deeds. We thank you Lord for remembering and never forsaking us. You are always faithful, even when we are not. Father thank You for the gift of being able to come to You in prayer. Please cleanse us from all wickedness harbored in our hearts. Free us from anything that hinders You hearing our pleas. For we know You bless obedience, not stubbornness. Father we give thanks for Your precious Son, Jesus and praise your awesome works. In Jesus precious name we pray, Amen.

Good morning and welcome to Scripture Saturday!

O God, You are my God; earnestly I seek You; my soul thirsts for You; my flesh faints for You, as in a dry and weary land where there is no water. (Psalm 63:1)

Knowing that God is my God, my living water, shows me that it is only in Him that my soul will be satisfied.

In Psalm 63, David writes how he longs for God…how God is better than life itself. David has a passion for God. Am I as passionate for Him?

“You are my God”…sounds so simple doesn’t it? But those words contain so much meaning! He is my God and if I have claimed Him as my own I must have an intimate, personal relationship with Him. He isn’t just this being that is somewhere way off, uninterested in me and my life. No, He is an ever-present God. He is sufficient for all of the difficult circumstances in my life. There is nothing that I can’t go to Him about. So I must “earnestly” seek Him just as I would for water in a dry, parched land. He should be my “living water” and I should “earnestly” seek Him as I am living in the world today. I must read and meditate on His Word, I must go to Him in prayer, I must go to Him when I need wisdom, correction, forgiveness, acceptance, understanding. And as David said, then, “My soul will be satisfied…” (v.5) 

For He promises that when our soul clings to Him, His right hand will uphold us. 

Let’s all praise God!

Don't forget to share with us the attribute of God that most spoke to you this week!

Here is this coming week’s schedule of readings…

            Seeing Jesus/Going beyond God’s attributes

Monday 11/28 Psalm 66         Luke 9:35 &

            Hebrews 10:19-22 again

Tuesday 11/29 Psalm 67         Numbers 6:24-26

Wednesday 11/30 Psalm 68         Isaiah 45:22

Thursday 12/1 Psalm 69                 John 15:21-27

Friday 12/2 Psalm 70                 Romans 15:1-4

*Knowing that God is _____________ shows me that _________________________________.

Here is the link to our study on Facebook...WitW Facebook Page

Have a blessed week everyone!

Sandra

*from Jen Wilkin’s book,  Women of the Word.