God makes me laugh

"Don't be afraid, Jacob, you worm." Isaiah 41:14 (God's Word translation)

Okay, here I was feeling all anxious and severe and I come across this. You maketh me laugh, O Authentic One, O One Who Calls It As It Is. Seriously, I appreciate it. And at the risk of taking us to new levels of hilarity (with a near-Peter-Gabriel reference): I'll be your sledge. Thank you for the joy... Signed, Another of Your Worms

"I will help you," declares the LORD, your Defender, the Holy One of Israel. "I am going to make you into a new threshing sledge with sharp, double-edged teeth. You will thresh the mountains and crush them to dust. You will turn the hills into straw. You will winnow them. The wind will carry them away. The windstorm will scatter them. But you will find joy in the LORD and praise the Holy One of Israel." Isaiah 41:15-16 (God's Word translation)

to establish my husband in righteousness

You will be established in righteousness. You will be far from oppression, so you will not be afraid. You will be far from destruction, so it won’t come near you. “If anyone attacks you, it will not be my doing. Whoever attacks you will be defeated by you. I’ve created blacksmiths to fan the coals into flames and to produce useful weapons. I’ve also created destroyers to bring destruction. No weapon that has been made to be used against you will succeed. You will have an answer for anyone who accuses you. This is the inheritance of the LORD’s servants. Their victory comes from me,” declares the LORD. Isaiah 54:14-17 (God's Word Translation)

Father, we live far from oppression as most of the world knows it. Our lives are awash in peace, paid at a price that we hardly know. Yet there are times we find ourselves under attack and know anger in the face of injustice. Continue to establish my husband in righteousness, and keep your church-yet-to-be from harm. May no weapon be formed to prevail against him who guides and guards the ones you miss the most. May my husband have an answer for all who accuse him, and the wisdom to find the path you make for him, for his inheritance and his victory is in you.

Expand the space of your tent. Stretch out the curtains of your tent, and don’t hold back. Lengthen your tent ropes, and drive in the tent pegs. You will spread out to the right and left. Your descendants will take over other nations, and they will resettle deserted cities. Don’t be afraid, because you won’t be put to shame. Don’t be discouraged, because you won’t be disgraced. Your defender is the Holy One of Israel. He is called the God of the whole earth. Isaiah 54:2-5

To exchange ashes for roses

To all who mourn in Israel, [God] will give a crown of beauty for ashes, a joyous blessing instead of mourning, festive praise instead of despair. In their righteousness, they will be like great oaks that the Lord has planted for his own glory. Isaiah 61:3 (NLT)

God our Shield and Fortress, I pray for a weary pastor. He has seen the Enemy prowling nearby, sated from a recent victory, and my friend grows tired from grief and strain. Send your angels to keep watch over his family as they cling together; do not let them lose heart! Give them reminders of beauty, moments of praise to inspire their souls, and send their roots deep so that they sway in the storm but do not break. Send this family your refreshing rain, and let them find healing in your waters. May this season of heartbreak and despair pass into one of renewal and splendor for the sake of your Name and in the sight of your people.

to hear God's praise above the noise

I saw the Lord seated on a throne, high and exalted, and the train of his robe filled the temple. Above him were seraphs, each with six wings: With two wings they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and with two they were flying. And they were calling to one another: "Holy, holy, holy is the LORD Almighty; the whole earth is full of his glory." At the sound of their voices the doorposts and thresholds shook and the temple was filled with smoke. Isaiah 6:1-4 (NIV)

El Elyon, Most High God, in these days of shift and change, anxiety and uncertainty, I lift up my friend Fred and his family to you. Like your servant Isaiah he is faithful and speaks your word to the people to whom you call him. As he comes into your Presence may he see you high and exalted, shimmering clear and mighty. Let him hear the praise of your heavenly hosts above the noise and confusion of our world, so his soul rises up within him at the declaration of your holiness.

for my friend's peace during a time of worry

Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:6-7 (NLT)

You will keep in perfect peace
all who trust in you,
all whose thoughts are fixed on you. Isaiah 26:3 (NLT)

O God, our Shield and Strength, my friend is pursuing your peace. Instead of worrying, he is praying. He is letting praise and petition shape his worries into prayers and leaving them in your care. He does not know what the future will bring (do any of us?) but he is allowing you to guard his heart and thoughts and keep him from needless anxiety. Committing to you, leaning on you, drawing peace from your Presence…my friend has given you his trust and I know you are steadfast. For this we both give you thanks.

prayer to a mothering God

When Israel was a child, I loved him, and I called my son out of Egypt. But the more I called to him, the farther he moved from me, offering sacrifices to the images of Baal and burning incense to idols. I myself taught Israel how to walk, leading him along by the hand. But he doesn’t know or even care that it was I who took care of him. I led Israel along with my ropes of kindness and love. I lifted the yoke from his neck, and I myself stooped to feed him. Hosea 11:1-4 (NLT)

Can a mother forget her nursing child? Can she feel no love for the child she has borne? But even if that were possible, I would not forget you! Isaiah 49:15 (NLT)

Rejoice with Jerusalem! Be glad with her, all you who love her and all you who mourn for her. Drink deeply of her glory even as an infant drinks at its mother’s comforting breasts. This is what the Lord says: "I will give Jerusalem a river of peace and prosperity. The wealth of the nations will flow to her. Her children will be nursed at her breasts, carried in her arms, and held on her lap. I will comfort you there in Jerusalem as a mother comforts her child.” Isaiah 66:10-13 (NLT)

…how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings... Matthew 23:37 (NIV)

Like an eagle that rouses her chicks and hovers over her young, so he spread his wings to take them up and carried them safely on his pinions...You neglected the Rock who had fathered you; you forgot the God who had given you birth. Deuteronomy 32:11, 18 (NLT)

Mothering God, you have loved us, your children, and never will you turn away from us. Can a mother forget her nursing infant, or have no compassion for the child she has birthed? Never will you forget us. We will nurse and be satisfied, we will delight in your overflowing abundance. You have carried us on your arm and dandled us on your knee. You have taught us to walk, taking us by the arms; you led us with ties of love. But though you have raised us, often when you called us in we turned and went further from you. How you have worked to gather us together like a mother hen gathers her chicks under her wings! When we were hurt, it was you who healed us. As a mother comforts her child you have soothed and reassured us. Like an eagle that stirs up her nest and hovers over her young, you have cared for and watched over us. Spread your wings to catch us when we fall away. May you alone lead us. May we never forget you who gave us birth.