This week I'm leading VBS Junior Highers through worship and it's been a blast so far. The students are with it and they seem like they really want to get in and have fun praising God. It's definitely nice to see them singing and being a part of the worship.
As a worship leader, I encounter experiences every week that are different and I want to be sensitive to those situations. Sometimes the place is rocking and the kids are engaged, just like today; other times, it's like people are waiting for something to happen and not with it, sitting on the sidelines of worship, despite standing right in the middle of the room. I know I've been there myself, as well, where instead of seeking God I'm waiting for a signal; some sort of event, cue, prayer, scripture...something, anything to magically help me to engage with God. I know there's a reason for it; often it's ourselves.
It seems like with all our hearts, we want to live that abundant life and experience that abundant worship, but we wait for others to take that first step. We're afraid of the people around us thinking we're bizarre if we really feel desperate and demonstrate that desperation to God. And the person who does end up stepping out either senses that others will not do the same and feel like a fool, or others will look to them for leadership and responsibility in worship they didn't sign up for. So everyone kind of looks around the room and wonders why the band is so loud as they perform the songs that are intended for everyone's worship.
Let's all think for a minute - we're in a church; a place where people generally come because they know they can't do life alone - a place where the broken can find restoration, where the wounded can find healing, and where the sinner can find salvation. ...and yet, we're weird if we think we really need God THAT badly to outwardly admit it and demonstrate through our actions our need for God and His leading in our lives. Our culture fights against any notions of dependency and submission; both of which are necessities for Christian faith to exist. If church should be different - and it should - we need to create, develop, and be the change; a change that says it's okay to acknowledge our brokenness, it's okay to be desperate for God's presence, and it's okay to let God set us free in worship.
I'm not saying you need to do any outside of what feels comfortable but we need to be willing to accept people within our church whether they're raising their hands, jumping up and down, or even deciding to sit in their chair or pew because they don't get "this Christian thing." It starts with us.
My personal blog about a lifestyle of worship
Tuesday, July 12, 2011
Wednesday, February 9, 2011
Worship Leader Training
Worship Leader Training – Session 2
Reflection
This session isn’t so much about the product of worship leading as much as the process. It’s important that our hearts and minds are in line with what God is doing and how He is cultivating us, as followers of Christ.
How we are spending our time, money, and energy – moving beyond the Sunday morning worship set and looking at the other 167 hours of the week – is a key question to answer. As I stated in the last session, it is not so much about what we’re doing but about what He’s doing.
What He has done
Now, I am going to be completely honest here: I don’t think I pray as much as I should and I don’t think I read the Bible as much as I should. I know I fall short from God’s standard. However, I so greatly desire to demonstrate God’s glory through how I interact with others: to be a support, to encourage others, and to use the gifts that I have to reflect Him in all ways. I know God well enough to understand that His grace covers my deficiencies, inadequacies, hang ups, and goofs. He accomplished that 2,000 years ago on the cross.
Don't forget Him
It sounds silly that we'd forget the God we serve but so often we leave Him out of the equation. When things go wrong, as I stated before, you can trust God and what He’s doing. It’s not ours to worry about. Worship leaders, pastors, and people in positions of authority can lose that. People look to them to lead; they look to them for answers and to understand certain events and circumstances. It is their job to be at their best - however, all pastors and leadership are subservient to our God; while everyone knows this, we can be so quick to forget. While I’m not saying that we can’t plan or execute or work hard to improve and equip, I also am saying that God is sovereign.
God told us to seek Him first – the vertical relationship is most important to Him. Nurture that relationship first. Then He said all the other things – conditions, relationships with others, belongings, comfort – will be given to us. There is nothing about our relationship to God that’s “set it and forget it.” It has to be a self-sustaining movement towards transformation, which is why the Bible tells us that God makes all things new. That statement includes Christians as we go in life; if my faith looks the same now as it did a year ago, I’ve overlooked something of great importance.
I apologize that this session has much of the same themes as the previous session. The first was an overview; Worship Matters discusses the similar themes in the first couple chapters, as well. In the next session, I’ll be looking at chapters 3 and 4 in Worship Matters and talking about how having a grasp on theology and musicianship are indispensable parts of worship leadership. Next week, we will begin to hone in on our responsibilities and how to apply ourselves rightly to the God we serve.
Some ideas have been inspired by the book Worship Matters by Bob Kauflin.
Thursday, February 3, 2011
Worship Leader Training
In my new position, I have the privilege of helping disciple young worship leaders and I thought about how I could help them grow and learn about what we do on the platform and how to engage the congregation in fresh, new ways. I put together this little introductory lesson and, along with our talks, we're going through Bob Kauflin's book "Worship Matters" together. I figured this would be a great time to get back to blogging (it has never been my forte), and use our talks and reading together to inspire this part of my life more.
So often I don't spend the time to really think about what I'm doing and just do it, especially when it comes to time on the platform. I can get "in a zone," which can be good for me, but then what often happens is I put the blinders on and stop responding to the group in front of me; a group who wants, so desperately, to be led. Here's what I shared with these awesome guys last night:
Worship Leader Training – Session 1
In a nutshell
Helping believers connect with Christ in a tangible way, using:
- Prayer
- Readings
- Meditation
- Lyrics and Music
- Multimedia
What we’re not doing
We’re not performers; performers generally have a set list, don’t have much interaction outside of the music, may occasionally share stories about their songs (i.e. invention, creative inspiration, an event) which can be good, but many times it is done for self-promotional reasons. We are to be Christ-promotional at all times. If we see ourselves as performers, we too easily get in the way.
We’re not the mediators; if we think we can be the channel or conduit, we will simply get in the way; we must be led by the Holy Spirit to make any kingdom impact. Christ is our Great Mediator. The Bible tells us he prays for us on our behalf, He took on our sin at the cross, and paid our debt once and for all. If we think our worship is enough for the congregation we’re missing the point of worship leader. We will burn ourselves out faster than anything that way.
What we ought to be doing
We are ambassadors for Christ in all ways and all times. We are to be living vessels for Him; living missionally, demonstrating Christ to embolden Christians around us and witness non-Christians to understand what Christ would look like if He walked with us today. Up on the platform Sunday mornings, our goal is just the same; but this time, we really do have the opportunity to put that to words and music. It’s what we do with that opportunity that helps worship leaders become “good” or “great.”
Matt Redman, Louie Giglio, and Paul Baloche have okay voices but they communicate the mission and vision of being Christ followers so well in their songs and with the words they speak that people will be able to find God in it; they are truly “great” worship leaders.
Do your best, forget the rest
We want to be able to help people find Christ and be encouraged when they leave to continue to live for Him. As much as we can rehearse, prepare, and pray, things sometimes will not go our way on a Sunday morning. We can trust though, that it was God’s choice; if we honestly can say that we made our best effort - when things are awesome, we give God the glory and when things seem weird or not in sync, we know that God just chose that route, as well. There’s a no lose, no stress situation for us. It’s a blessed place for us worship leaders to be in.
Free blog by Bob Kauflin:
http://www.worshipmatters.com/
Free Passion blog:
http://268generation.com/blog/
Free worship together blog:
http://blog.worshiptogether.com/
Tuesday, May 4, 2010
Outreach Post #2: A thought on unChristian by Kinnaman and Lyons
You know, if you're staying tuned with the series, good for you. It's only been, say...six months between posts. Now, granted, my wife had an unbearably difficult and medically mind-numbing third trimester. Between massive placenta separation bleeding and hospital bed rest, my wife and I were at some very difficult and stressful times. God is great, though; Josh is ALREADY two months old. He's healthy, strong, and LOUD (particularly when crying and grunting), and Grace has no lingering health issues. I hope to get back to blogging more regularly, however.
Well, quickly I just wanted to discuss outreach in a bit different context. I've been reading a bit a book put out by David Kinnaman and Gabe Lyons through research by the Barna Group called unChristian: What a New Generation Really Thinks About Christianity...and why it Matters. In the book, the authors point out that essentially the main difficulty people have with Christianity is, well, Christians. The perception of Christians is really bad outside of the church. It's really kinda scary. We're simply not being great ambassadors for the Kingdom, according to the thoughts of those who are on the other side of things.
Some of the main points Kinnaman brings up are political (you have to be conservative or liberal [yes, I've heard that, too] to be Christian), judgmental (we don't want you if you can't look the part), hypocritical (do as He says, not as I do); just to name a few. Even being a Christian, I have come across people in my past where I can look back and say that I've seen these same things play out. It's kind of maddening to know these perceptions exist...we are all still human. Yes, I do believe every Christian needs to be striving for Christ's example and allow the Holy Spirit to guide each one to the same goal; however, we all have our hang ups. This isn't heaven. We're not perfected. We never will be on earth. I think, though, that God works best when we are united in our front spiritually.
John 13:34 says, from Christ Himself, "A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another." Stupid hang ups like the ones stated above will melt away before an unbeliever's eyes when they see this being displayed. Guys, He commanded it. There is not a whole lot more we can or have to do when we do this. People will wonder. They will look at us like we're weird. But ultimately, many will ask questions; if not to us (in which case we can give them the answer), then at least in their heart and recognize they're missing something in their lives. Hopefully, one of us could be there to help them pick up the pieces to find what they're looking for.
Well, quickly I just wanted to discuss outreach in a bit different context. I've been reading a bit a book put out by David Kinnaman and Gabe Lyons through research by the Barna Group called unChristian: What a New Generation Really Thinks About Christianity...and why it Matters. In the book, the authors point out that essentially the main difficulty people have with Christianity is, well, Christians. The perception of Christians is really bad outside of the church. It's really kinda scary. We're simply not being great ambassadors for the Kingdom, according to the thoughts of those who are on the other side of things.
Some of the main points Kinnaman brings up are political (you have to be conservative or liberal [yes, I've heard that, too] to be Christian), judgmental (we don't want you if you can't look the part), hypocritical (do as He says, not as I do); just to name a few. Even being a Christian, I have come across people in my past where I can look back and say that I've seen these same things play out. It's kind of maddening to know these perceptions exist...we are all still human. Yes, I do believe every Christian needs to be striving for Christ's example and allow the Holy Spirit to guide each one to the same goal; however, we all have our hang ups. This isn't heaven. We're not perfected. We never will be on earth. I think, though, that God works best when we are united in our front spiritually.
John 13:34 says, from Christ Himself, "A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another." Stupid hang ups like the ones stated above will melt away before an unbeliever's eyes when they see this being displayed. Guys, He commanded it. There is not a whole lot more we can or have to do when we do this. People will wonder. They will look at us like we're weird. But ultimately, many will ask questions; if not to us (in which case we can give them the answer), then at least in their heart and recognize they're missing something in their lives. Hopefully, one of us could be there to help them pick up the pieces to find what they're looking for.
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
Outreach; Post #1: Acts 2
I'm going to be starting a series of posts about outreach. It is an integral part of the church to reach out to those around us (Jesus told us to with the Great Commission), and a lot of our churches do not do it so effectively. It is unfortunate that our churches can so struggle with it. It is often easier to help out by supporting missionaries or evangelistic ministries than raising a question or comment to our neighbors, coworkers, or friends about Christ or our home church. Why is that, you may ask?
Well, for one, our culture does not want to believe that there are any absolute truths. In fact, that seems to be the only absolute is that there are no absolutes. It is certainly frustrating to try to discuss with someone the need for Christ when he or she thinks that there is no such thing as sin and most people are "not bad." On the other hand, a lot of those folks believe that we're the misguided ones. They may think to themselves, "why would this person want to limit what they can or can't do? If anyone wants to do something, they should be able to do it." Sometimes, for all of us, it simply feels like we're banging our head against the wall. Those ways of evangelism and outreach worked for a time: during modernism (up between 1980-1990). But the people and thought processes of this generation are amazingly different.
Believe me, there is so much to like about this postmodern generation. I don't know if there has been a time in humanity when a generation has been so willing to step up to the plate in volunteering for what the individual perceives as noble causes. Just alone, the voting rate for this generation (1980-1990) is the highest ever recorded. This generation of people WANTS to be actively involved in working and serving in communities, changing circumstances and livening up the nation to act, work, and serve.
But as this is going on, our churches are having a very difficult time remaining strong in life, fellowship, discipleship, and health. We're just not doing a great job in realigning the way we evangelize, the way we reach out, and the way we approach others in the name of Christ. If we can try to do what the Bible says, it would be easier, though. Acts chapter 2 is a great model to follow. While there is 2000 years between that church and the one in our midst, humanity is amazingly similar now to then. Human beings still long for the same things: friendship, community, comfort. Acts 2 demonstrates great examples for us to follow.
First, God used a great work to amaze the people who were not endowed with the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost. In this case, tongues were spoken to everyone in their native language and they were astounded. I'm not saying here that churches need to speak in tongues to get the message across. What I am saying is that this was a mighty work of God, and our churches ought to reach out in the means of works or a work to the surrounding community.
Second, explain why the work was done. Peter addressed the crowd when they were in bewilderment of the great work completed in their midst, and explained biblically what was going on. This could be as simple as someone explaining that we are doing this to serve the Lord and to help them in their journey. Peter used and cited the Gospel message, of how Christ died on the cross to pay the penalty of sin, so that all people could receive the good news of Jesus Christ, enter in to His Spirit, and live with Him forever in heaven.
In response, three thousand were added to the church that day. 3,000! That is an incredible number. Now, this was ordained by God; but if we are obedient and do what God tells us, even if it seems like an impossible feat, He will accomplish so much more than even our wildest expectations allow us to think.
Then, when all that work is finished, Acts 2 summarizes the inner workings of God's ministry. Their devotion to fellowship, the breaking of bread, and prayer; their devotion to serving one another, praising God...all this was outward demonstrations of an inward realization that God came first in their lives. And God added to their numbers daily.
When all is said and done, and that outreach project is over, God continued to work in the lives of the people. They put God first, and he continued to bless that ministry. He brought others who wanted the same things- all were like-minded- and he blessed all of them in bringing others to the Lord.
It's awesome to think that God could do the same thing now. In fact, I know He can do it. We've just got to continue to look towards Acts 2 and submit to God to help us be bold in our works. He'll bless it. This generation needs Him, and God wants to use us; He has called us to be His hands and feet. Let's do it.
Well, for one, our culture does not want to believe that there are any absolute truths. In fact, that seems to be the only absolute is that there are no absolutes. It is certainly frustrating to try to discuss with someone the need for Christ when he or she thinks that there is no such thing as sin and most people are "not bad." On the other hand, a lot of those folks believe that we're the misguided ones. They may think to themselves, "why would this person want to limit what they can or can't do? If anyone wants to do something, they should be able to do it." Sometimes, for all of us, it simply feels like we're banging our head against the wall. Those ways of evangelism and outreach worked for a time: during modernism (up between 1980-1990). But the people and thought processes of this generation are amazingly different.
Believe me, there is so much to like about this postmodern generation. I don't know if there has been a time in humanity when a generation has been so willing to step up to the plate in volunteering for what the individual perceives as noble causes. Just alone, the voting rate for this generation (1980-1990) is the highest ever recorded. This generation of people WANTS to be actively involved in working and serving in communities, changing circumstances and livening up the nation to act, work, and serve.
But as this is going on, our churches are having a very difficult time remaining strong in life, fellowship, discipleship, and health. We're just not doing a great job in realigning the way we evangelize, the way we reach out, and the way we approach others in the name of Christ. If we can try to do what the Bible says, it would be easier, though. Acts chapter 2 is a great model to follow. While there is 2000 years between that church and the one in our midst, humanity is amazingly similar now to then. Human beings still long for the same things: friendship, community, comfort. Acts 2 demonstrates great examples for us to follow.
First, God used a great work to amaze the people who were not endowed with the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost. In this case, tongues were spoken to everyone in their native language and they were astounded. I'm not saying here that churches need to speak in tongues to get the message across. What I am saying is that this was a mighty work of God, and our churches ought to reach out in the means of works or a work to the surrounding community.
Second, explain why the work was done. Peter addressed the crowd when they were in bewilderment of the great work completed in their midst, and explained biblically what was going on. This could be as simple as someone explaining that we are doing this to serve the Lord and to help them in their journey. Peter used and cited the Gospel message, of how Christ died on the cross to pay the penalty of sin, so that all people could receive the good news of Jesus Christ, enter in to His Spirit, and live with Him forever in heaven.
In response, three thousand were added to the church that day. 3,000! That is an incredible number. Now, this was ordained by God; but if we are obedient and do what God tells us, even if it seems like an impossible feat, He will accomplish so much more than even our wildest expectations allow us to think.
Then, when all that work is finished, Acts 2 summarizes the inner workings of God's ministry. Their devotion to fellowship, the breaking of bread, and prayer; their devotion to serving one another, praising God...all this was outward demonstrations of an inward realization that God came first in their lives. And God added to their numbers daily.
When all is said and done, and that outreach project is over, God continued to work in the lives of the people. They put God first, and he continued to bless that ministry. He brought others who wanted the same things- all were like-minded- and he blessed all of them in bringing others to the Lord.
It's awesome to think that God could do the same thing now. In fact, I know He can do it. We've just got to continue to look towards Acts 2 and submit to God to help us be bold in our works. He'll bless it. This generation needs Him, and God wants to use us; He has called us to be His hands and feet. Let's do it.
Thursday, October 22, 2009
Coming back to Life
I've been away for a while, mostly due to full time job search and working in my church part time. It's been a while but I would love to share some great places to go for some great information on worship:
1. Ron Man is a very knowledgeable guy when discussing worship. He is very heady but that is what I most appreciate about his writings. A lot of times we forget what we're doing, why we're doing it, and Ron is awesome at keeping someone like me honest. Always theological in his articles, this discussion explains a bit what Christ is and does in our worship.
I had read an awesome article a couple months ago in WorshipLeader magazine which was similar to Ron's thoughts here. We really can take the onus off ourselves in worship when we allow Christ to do HIS work in the hearts and minds of the people we are "leading." It is frustrating as a leader to not really sense others honestly praising God. These types of articles remind us that it's not really our job. God does the work. We simply want to allow God to do it, get out of the way, and ask Him to break hearts for His glory.
2. Lifeway's Research Blog has a GREAT article by Ed Stetzer. This really articulates well the "Worship Wars" going on in our churches across the country.
Some thoughts on this:
I have sensed some difficulty on this topic in my own position but God is working it out in His time. I believe that compromise can become our idol fairly often in our churches today. Instead of thinking about how to best serve God, we often decide to marginalize everyone by being people focused instead of God-focused. I constantly pray to God for direction as I am going about planning songs, preparing our worship folks, and discussing with them and others certain ideas I have moving forward. It is best to be open about things but, no matter what, you can never please everyone. I purposely am transparent when it comes to these things. It is upsetting that styles and genres can be SO divisive.
God says it Himself: Man looks at the outward appearnace but the Lord looks at the heart. It doesn't matter whether saved or unsaved: we look at the color of the carpets, the quality of the furnishings, the lighting, textures and music. I think that God has kind of hard-wired us this way for some good reasons: making sure we maintain progress during our lives and taking care of what we have (being good stewards).
I have recently discussed with a couple folks here that no matter what style we choose, we want to approach our music with excellence. God knows our heart and that shouldn't even be a question when it comes to music in our churches. This is not "American Idol," "Making the Band," or even "America's Got Talent." I don't think that should even be an issue. If it is, then we're not even CLOSE to what God intends for His ministry in our churches today. But we definitely want to make sure the people up there have both the heart of a servant and a voice that makes a "joyful noise" to everyone who hears. I'm not interested in "consumer worship." But I am interested in music that brings people to the throne of God with nothing standing in their way.
1. Ron Man is a very knowledgeable guy when discussing worship. He is very heady but that is what I most appreciate about his writings. A lot of times we forget what we're doing, why we're doing it, and Ron is awesome at keeping someone like me honest. Always theological in his articles, this discussion explains a bit what Christ is and does in our worship.
I had read an awesome article a couple months ago in WorshipLeader magazine which was similar to Ron's thoughts here. We really can take the onus off ourselves in worship when we allow Christ to do HIS work in the hearts and minds of the people we are "leading." It is frustrating as a leader to not really sense others honestly praising God. These types of articles remind us that it's not really our job. God does the work. We simply want to allow God to do it, get out of the way, and ask Him to break hearts for His glory.
2. Lifeway's Research Blog has a GREAT article by Ed Stetzer. This really articulates well the "Worship Wars" going on in our churches across the country.
Some thoughts on this:
I have sensed some difficulty on this topic in my own position but God is working it out in His time. I believe that compromise can become our idol fairly often in our churches today. Instead of thinking about how to best serve God, we often decide to marginalize everyone by being people focused instead of God-focused. I constantly pray to God for direction as I am going about planning songs, preparing our worship folks, and discussing with them and others certain ideas I have moving forward. It is best to be open about things but, no matter what, you can never please everyone. I purposely am transparent when it comes to these things. It is upsetting that styles and genres can be SO divisive.
God says it Himself: Man looks at the outward appearnace but the Lord looks at the heart. It doesn't matter whether saved or unsaved: we look at the color of the carpets, the quality of the furnishings, the lighting, textures and music. I think that God has kind of hard-wired us this way for some good reasons: making sure we maintain progress during our lives and taking care of what we have (being good stewards).
I have recently discussed with a couple folks here that no matter what style we choose, we want to approach our music with excellence. God knows our heart and that shouldn't even be a question when it comes to music in our churches. This is not "American Idol," "Making the Band," or even "America's Got Talent." I don't think that should even be an issue. If it is, then we're not even CLOSE to what God intends for His ministry in our churches today. But we definitely want to make sure the people up there have both the heart of a servant and a voice that makes a "joyful noise" to everyone who hears. I'm not interested in "consumer worship." But I am interested in music that brings people to the throne of God with nothing standing in their way.
Tuesday, August 11, 2009
Worship Ministry/Thought of the Day
I am excited about happenings in the worship ministry. Coming up next week is a worship service on the beach at Ocean Grove. Tuesday night at 7:30 pm, we will be serving at the Pavilion. I am hoping that a bunch of people will come and be excited about it. We’ll see…this is the first time we will be doing worship outside of our church doors and while Ocean Grove is about as Christian of a town there can be, I hope there will be people there who do not know God. I really, more than anything, want God to be evident (He’s always here so I can’t say “show-up”) there. There can be a feeling of weirdness when we’re not at our home church, so I pray that God could get us around that. I know that if He wants to, though, He could bless this thing with so much.
Well, right now things are going well. I have been so blessed with such awesome, talented, and humble people in our church body and worship ministry. It has been a wonderful opportunity to continue to serve and see God doing great things through the ministry.
However, we are going to be, sadly, saying goodbye to one such member, Terrence K., as he moves to Maine. He’s got such a humble spirit and kind heart. He is also an incredibly talented piano player who we will surely miss. It has been a great time knowing and playing with him and although he says he will be coming down a couple times a month to the church, I cannot see that being best for him and his family. I hope that things will be working out for him in this move and that they’ll find a place where they will b comfortable and happy!
WORSHIP THOUGHT: A few minutes before I started writing this blog, though, I prayed. The economy is yet still shrinking, I am still under-employed, and one of our most faithful servants is going to be leaving. But I lift up this prayer to God because of who He is:
I call on Your name, o God, and You hear my cry. I listen for your still small voice and there You are. I praise You, God, because of Your faithfulness that endures forever. Lord, even when my circumstances seem overwhelming and my life can seem desperate, I know I can trust You. In times of trouble, You are there and guide me. Though things may seem impossible, nothing is impossible with You. Thank you that You care enough for me, even to endure death, that You continue to love me and help me through the difficult times. I will praise Your name all the days of my life.
-Amen
God is great. I hope that this prayer serves as a reminder of that. So often we can forget! But He is there; more than there, HERE; He is real, and wants to carry your burdens for you. No matter what life brings you, God can handle it. Release them to Him and know a peace that surpasses all understanding. Please be encouraged with this today.
Well, right now things are going well. I have been so blessed with such awesome, talented, and humble people in our church body and worship ministry. It has been a wonderful opportunity to continue to serve and see God doing great things through the ministry.
However, we are going to be, sadly, saying goodbye to one such member, Terrence K., as he moves to Maine. He’s got such a humble spirit and kind heart. He is also an incredibly talented piano player who we will surely miss. It has been a great time knowing and playing with him and although he says he will be coming down a couple times a month to the church, I cannot see that being best for him and his family. I hope that things will be working out for him in this move and that they’ll find a place where they will b comfortable and happy!
WORSHIP THOUGHT: A few minutes before I started writing this blog, though, I prayed. The economy is yet still shrinking, I am still under-employed, and one of our most faithful servants is going to be leaving. But I lift up this prayer to God because of who He is:
I call on Your name, o God, and You hear my cry. I listen for your still small voice and there You are. I praise You, God, because of Your faithfulness that endures forever. Lord, even when my circumstances seem overwhelming and my life can seem desperate, I know I can trust You. In times of trouble, You are there and guide me. Though things may seem impossible, nothing is impossible with You. Thank you that You care enough for me, even to endure death, that You continue to love me and help me through the difficult times. I will praise Your name all the days of my life.
-Amen
God is great. I hope that this prayer serves as a reminder of that. So often we can forget! But He is there; more than there, HERE; He is real, and wants to carry your burdens for you. No matter what life brings you, God can handle it. Release them to Him and know a peace that surpasses all understanding. Please be encouraged with this today.
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