Author: Ken Crawford

My mouth is filled with your praise,
declaring your splendor all day long.
Psalm 71:8 (NIV)

Our mouths can be physically filled with wholesome food or junk food. We can also choose for our mouths to be filled with praise for God and his loving grace or our mouths can spew garbage. Our daily conversations can be about many things and speak to many different people about many different subjects. Or… we can choose to declare the greatness, majesty, and splendor of our heavenly Father all during our day. Why don’t we choose to praise God with our mouths and tell him of his greatness and let others know of his grace as we go about today’s activities?

Holy and marvelous Father,
you are God of all creation
and also God of all grace.
Thank you for your kindness
shared with me in Jesus.
Thank you for your powerful
victory over death when you
raised him from the dead.
Thank you for your patience
with me as I sometimes stumble,
but am always desiring to more
perfectly reflect the character of Jesus.
Please help me, O Lord,
to profess and to show my
love and admiration for you
all during this day. In Jesus’ name I pray.
Amen.

Jesus brought this Good News of peace
to you Gentiles who were far away from him,
and peace to the Jews who were near.
Now all of us can come to the Father
through the same Holy Spirit
because of what Christ has done for us.
Ephesians 2:17-18 nlt

God’s grace is abundantly available to everyone. Equal access means assured grace! Because of Jesus’ sacrifice and because of the work of the Holy Spirit, we are all welcomed at the throne of grace regardless of gender, social status, or race. This brings a kind of peace that wars can’t accomplish and diplomacy can’t achieve. This is a peace brought to us because Jesus paid the price for the peace and sent the Spirit to give us the assurance that we are loved and heard by the Almighty God.

O God, you are incomparable!
No one can stand before you in arrogance.
I recognize that I can come before you
only because of your desire to cleanse me
at great cost and give me the gift
of the Holy Spirit to bring true peace.
I ask now, for the peace
that surpasses all understanding
and ask that you lead and guide me
in the way I should live in grace.
In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Christ is also the head of the church,
which is his body.
He is the beginning,
supreme over all
who rise from the dead.
So he is first in everything.
For God in all his fullness
was pleased to live in Christ, 
and through him God reconciled
everything to himself.
He made peace with everything
in heaven and on earth
by means of Christ’s blood on the cross.
Colossians 1:18-20 NLT

We sometimes think we have control over our lives and have the ability to save the day by our own efforts. We must be reminded that God is in control… of absolutely everything. Jesus is the living leader and head of his church. There is no man who has this right. No one but Jesus has earned this position. Jesus is supreme. Even though supremacy is rightfully his because of his divinity, he has earned his supremacy by what he has done for us. He was there before there was a beginning, he was the Creator of all that is, and he was the one who passed through death victoriously for us.

Lord Jesus,
I ask you to take control of my life,
your church, and your Body.
Please glorify yourself in us
and permeate our leaders’
hearts with your will.
We want the world
to see your supremacy
because of our unity
and devotion to you.
And Holy God,
please glorify yourself
in Jesus through the Church.
To you, Lord God,
and to your Son and our Savior Jesus,
be all honor and glory
and praise for now, and forevermore.
Amen.

Christ is also the head of the church,
which is his body.
He is the beginning,
supreme over all
who rise from the dead.
So he is first in everything.
For God in all his fullness
was pleased to live in Christ, 
and through him God reconciled
everything to himself.
He made peace with everything
in heaven and on earth
by means of Christ’s blood on the cross.
Colossians 1:18-20 NLT

We sometimes think we have control over our lives and have the ability to save the day by our own efforts. We must be reminded that God is in control… of absolutely everything. Jesus is the living leader and head of his church. There is no man who has this right. No one but Jesus has earned this position. Jesus is supreme. Even though supremacy is rightfully his because of his divinity, he has earned his supremacy by what he has done for us. He was there before there was a beginning, he was the Creator of all that is, and he was the one who passed through death victoriously for us.

Lord Jesus,
I ask you to take control of my life,
your church, and your Body.
Please glorify yourself in us
and permeate our leaders’
hearts with your will.
We want the world
to see your supremacy
because of our unity
and devotion to you.
And Holy God,
please glorify yourself
in Jesus through the Church.
To you, Lord God,
and to your Son and our Savior Jesus,
be all honor and glory
and praise for now, and forevermore.
Amen.

Down to the smallest detail… perfect!

Jesus is before all things,
and in him all things hold together.
Colossians 1:17 (NIV)

Before there was an earth, universe, or nature, there was Jesus! He was before they were made. He will be after they are long gone. In fact, his power and his presence are what hold our world, our universe, and our nature together. He is the sustaining force, the enabling power, and the generous preserver of life as we know it. So if he could provide us these things and they are but a faint anticipation of what is yet to be, won’t it be great to see him, just as he is, and share in his glory with him!

In the beginning the Word already existed. The Word was with God, and the Word was God. He existed in the beginning with God. God created everything through him, and nothing was created except through him. The Word gave life to everything that was created, and his life brought light to everyone. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness can never extinguish it. (John 1:1-5 NLT)

Thank you, Jesus,
for your gracious
providence this day.
Thank you for creating this
incredible world in which I live.
You are worthy of all praise,
honor, glory, and thanks!
I look forward to the day
when I can worship you face to face,
and give thanks to our Father
for his wonderful love.
To you, and in your name, dear Jesus,
I offer all my thanks and praise.
Amen.

Almighty and Most Loving Father God,

We know that worry and fear are not of Your heart. 1 John 4 reminds us that perfect love casts out all fear, and we pray Your perfect love upon the hearts of all those who are burdened with fear of this virus. Lord, we know with no doubt that You are bigger than the threat of anything, especially illnesses. Please comfort those who are living in fear, please free them from the bondage that anxiety creates within. Remind them that You are still on the Throne and that You are still in control. Fully rain down the serenity that comes only from the Prince of Peace. Help those who are living in unease to trust You in this time so that in times to come we may rest assured that You will be faithful to be with us until the end of age. We find our respite and rescue at the Throne of the Almighty and we rely on your word for comfort and strength.

“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” Matthew 11:28-30

Whoever dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of the LORD, “He is my refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust.” Surely he will save you from the hunter’s snare and from the deadly pestilence. He will cover you with his feathers, and under his wings you will find refuge; his faithfulness will be your shield and rampart. You will not fear the terror of night, nor the arrow that flies by day, nor the pestilence that stalks in the darkness, nor the plague that destroys at midday. Psalm 91:1-6

You are the ultimate Healer. Father, we come before You to pray for those infected with this virus. We pray for not only their healing, but for them to be comforted while they heal. Lord, please eradicate every ounce of this virus from their bodies. Please heal every cell in their bodies, every infected part of their being. We pray for no lasting effects in their bodies from this illness. Father, please heal them inside and out and provide them with the medical care they need, with the medications they need, and with the healing not only physically but spiritually so that they may live life and life abundantly ahead.

We also come to pray for those who are caring for the sick. It takes a kind and selfless heart to care for those who are sick, and so Father we pray for them. We pray that You would be their source of rest, their source of replenishment when weary, and their source of hope in such overwhelming times. Lord we know that whosoever pours out shall be given back in proportion (Luke 6:38), so we pray blessings upon these caregivers. We also pray for their health that they may not fall ill. Father protect them with a hedge of protection against the germs of coronavirus and help those who are giving to be protected as they apply their God-given skills and nurse others back to health.  Bless them abundantly, uphold their strength, and give them proper rest.

We call upon all the powers of your Holy Spirit and pray in the name of Jesus, Amen.

Lift up your eyes to the heavens, look at the earth beneath; the heavens will vanish like smoke, the earth will wear but like a garment and its inhabitants die like flies. But my salvation will last forever, my righteousness will never fail.
Isaiah 51:6 (NIV)

I don’t know about you, but sometimes the Bible is so brutally honest it hurts! We consider our world, our earth, to have been here a long time and assume it will be here a long time more. But God reminds us that it is temporary! We are even more temporary: just like flies, we’re here for a short while, and then we’re gone. But not gone, gone! Christians are just gone from the temporary existence of earth because our lives are caught up with Christ in God’s salvation which lasts forever and God’s righteousness that will never end or fail. The Temple of tomorrow is a house not built by feeble human hands… it is marvelously and meticulously crafted with limitless splendor, perfect precision, and unmatched majesty completed by the Lord of Lord’s own hand.

All we want in Christ, we shall find in Christ. If we want little, we shall find little. If we want much, we shall find much; but if, in utter helplessness, we cast our all on Christ, He will respond with grace and be to us the riches of heaven.

Lord and Savior who hears my prayers and strengthens me for the journey, thank you for the assurance that what I have as a Christian goes beyond the boundaries of death, the limitations of my humanity, and the vulnerabilities of my weaknesses. Thank you that I am tied to you and your salvation and that you see me as your righteous and holy child. Amen.

Hear my prayer, O LORD; listen to my cry for mercy. In the day of my trouble I will call to you, for you will answer me.
Psalm 86:6-7 (NIV)

Sometimes there are no immediate answers for the troubling events in life. We have prayed and cried and tried and gone sleepless and mourned and shouted. Still there are no answers. The days roll by in an agonizing parade of pain. Still there are no answers we can identify. What do we do? We can go to the Psalms. We allow let them raise up our heart’s cry. We are honest with the God of the entire universe and yet we can still anticipate mercy from him. We are convinced that in our troubles, he will not only hear us, but he will also care about what is happening in our lives.

Almighty God,
the only true Healer
of disease and Mender
of broken hearts,
please hear the cry today
of those I love who are
in such desperate situations.
May your will be done
in every one of their lives
with tenderness, grace,
and a sense of your presence.
And Lord, please be near me,
and help me see your
answer to my prayers.
Forever yours in the name of Jesus.
Amen.

God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ.
Acts 2:36 (NIV)

Understanding Jesus is not simply knowing who He is, but more than titles, these two names of Jesus (Lord and Christ) are the pillars around which we can build our new lives in God’s Kingdom.

Jesus is Lord! He is our Ruler and King. He is our Master and Teacher. Our hearts are yielded to his will and open to his leading. We hold no rival to Jesus in our hearts and lives. Jesus is the Christ! He is the Messiah, the promised Savior of the Old Testament.

He is the one of whom the prophets spoke. Ruler and Savior, Master and Messiah, Jesus is God’s gift to bring us home. Jesus is the one who went to the Cross to bring us forgiveness, redemption, and salvation. The Crucified One is both Lord and Christ.

We praise your mighty Name,
O Lord, and thank you for your
gracious and sacrificial love.
We praise you dear Father,
for sending your Son Jesus
to die for our sins and
to be raised for our
hope and salvation.
Please help me, God,
to yield my heart
to Jesus my Lord as well as
open my lips in praise to
the Christ of my salvation.
In the mighty name Jesus
and through the intercession
of the Holy Spirit I pray.
Amen.