All praises belong to you, my Lord and my God, for your intelligence and wisdom. You put together this whole material world. What I learn about this world you created helps me better understand your spiritual world. What I learn about life in this world helps me better understand true life in your world. How awesome and amazing it all is.  How awesome and amazing you are. More than I can grasp but tantalizing and testing me to try.  And you smile. It is what you planned for me to do. You wanted me to touch you.

Father, when I lie or cheat or steal or break the law, I am being ungodly. When I am jealous or bitter or impatient, I am being ungodly. Oh, help me overcome my frailties, my sins.

I have been studying the Bible with some people who just now called and cancelled it. Do I dare thank you for that? They live too far away. I must go somewhere closer to my home. A nursing home perhaps. There are people there with nothing to do who would welcome time with friends in the Bible. Thank you for that thought.  And it rained a little bit last night. The night before the sky was so clear with no moon and the stars glistened like diamonds. Oh, the enchantments you bring with the changes in the sky, each good in their own way. Storm clouds, rainbows, funny-shaped clouds, sunsets and sunrises. Ah, my Lord, thank you.

Ah, my God, I adore you. I look up to you in awe that you, my Creator, allow me up so close to you. I am frail. I am feeble. I am made of dust. But you breathed into me the breath of life. Just think!  I have the breath of God in me.  Oh, miracle of miracles! I will return that breath to you in songs of praise. With that same breath I will extol you to the end of my days on earth, and then resume in your world before your throne forever.  As small as I am, you take time to know me ~ the good and the bad ~ and love me still, and make me your friend. More, you have made me your child. Wonder of wonders.

Lord, I still have trouble forgiving sometimes. The only way I can think to overcome it is to “bless those who curse me” as you said. Your way works. I know that. Help me remember to do it. I have to force myself to bless them, but when I do, I feel a release. Forgive me when I don’t forgive.

Thank you, Lord God, for times of worshipping with my brothers and sisters in Christ. Thank you for freedom to worship you. Thank you for your protection. Nothing can hurt me without your permission. And when sometimes I am persecuted, thank you for the privilege of standing tall, forgiving my persecutors, and declaring your majestic divinity before them. And, should I die at their hands, let it be while praising you.

So powerful you are, Oh, God. There is nothing you cannot do for anyone except for those who refuse your help and refuse to even believe you exist. How you must weep for them. “I’m right here,” you say to them in a million different ways. How you rejoice over those who give in to your love and guidance.  Your wisdom is so far above me ~ as far above me as mine is above the animals. Your powers to create are so far above mine ~ as far above us as mine is above the animals.  Animals cannot comprehend what I understand and can do, and I cannot comprehend what you understand and can do. Just observing a telescopic view of hundreds of billions of galaxies boggles my mind because you are so much greater than that.  You hold their vastness in the palm of your hand.  I am less than a spec and yet you notice me, know my name, know my every act and thought, and you actually love me. Magnificent God resplendent in glory, I worship you.

Lord, help me be content with nothing if my possessions are ever taken from me by people or storm or flood or fire. I fear that right now and I know I shouldn’t. I know I should be content under any circumstance. Take that fear from me and forgive me.

Thank you, my Father, for bringing Jesus back to life this morning two thousand years ago ~ the turning point for mankind. Now we knew for sure it was possible to come back to life after we die and live forever in the heavens. Now we understood so many things. We had seen for ourselves. Such power. Such potency. Such intensity of the divine.

All praises belong to you, Jehovah my Maker, Creator of my soul, the re-Creator of my life. You are astonishing in everything you do. When I call out for help, your chariot races through the storms to rescue me. You are my fortress walled about with salvation. You are my shield between me and danger.  You bring peace to my life. Peace that flows like a gentle stream. My every breath whispers your praise and rises to storehouses of white clouds. My every sigh soars through the heavens to your throne and rests in you.

Father, I am confused living in a place with no church family. It is hard. Sometimes I feel as though I am the only one in the world who believes in you and worships you. My confusion grows to discouragement then on to bitterness. Forgive me and make me strong in your strength.

Thank you, my Lord, for loving me and being willing to fling my sins off me and trample them under foot. And the legacy of my family. Thank you for my uncle becoming a Christian so long ago before I was born, then converting my grandparents, then my parents and aunts and uncles, and now me. May I leave such a legacy behind for generations after me. The lives of my ancestors were not perfect, but their affection for you was. Ah, how mighty you are and how grateful I am for them. Your Family will never die because it can never die. You are life and the light of my soul. 

Ah, my God, I cannot top praising you for your everlasting love. It never fades away. It never ceases no matter how bad I may become. You run after me and say, “Come back!  Come back to me.” No matter how many times I wander, you never tire of running after me. Your love is beyond comprehension.  I do not deserve you. But you love me still. How amazing, and how lofty the thought. I adore you.

Lord, I realize forgiveness doesn’t mean I approve of what someone did. It means I wish the best for the offender and hand them over to you. I know that. But sometimes my ego gets in the way and I relive the offense over and over. Help me remember you forgive me of the same things over and over. I hurt you over and over but you keep forgiving over and over. Dare I do less?

Thank you for the gentle summer rain for the flower gardens and summer crops. The cool breeze on a hot day. Thank you most of all for coming to my world to save me from Satan’s realm.  How can I stop thanking you? Your home someday will be my home. Even now, your heart and mind become my heart as much as I can comprehend. You draw me near to yourself, you teach me through your Bible what to do and not do, you invite me to become one with you. Me? Lowly me? Thank you.

You are my God and the only God. You give life, you radiate love, you judge rightly, you bestow mercy.  I lift up my spirit, my heart, my soul to you.  I will sing my praises to you through each day of my life no matter how difficult Satan may try to make it and no matter how short or long I live.  I will sing your praises on and on. I will still be singing when I close my eyes here and walk through the gate into your realm. There I will lift my voice in highest praise, then bow at your feet in delirious exultation and sacred peace.

Lord, there are people resenting me. I do not know why and I want to reverse it so we can be friends. They do not want to reverse it, no matter what I try. Lord, open their hearts and help me keep my heart open. Help me not grow bitter but to bless them and somehow break through their barrier.

Thank you, God, for the friends who came to see me moments ago. You hear my weakest plea. You hear me when I am down and when I am flying high in jubilation. You hear me in my sunset moments, on cloudy days, in darkness and the shadows of a late dawn.  Though there are millions of souls asking for your attention at the same time, you hear us all and come to us all as though each was the only one.  How do you do that? You are God; that is how. And you love me. With my mind, my heart, and my soul I thank you.

The beauty of the earth and the glory of the skies declare praises to you. Each hour holds a special wonder of you, each day a throng of delights to carry me through the night. You are my courage amid fear, my expectations amid disappointment, my audacity amid timidity, my hope among doubt. You are my light through the darkness, my path through the wilderness, my life through danger. May your name be proclaimed by children, declared to be true by atheists, lauded by the world. Arise, oh universe! Praise the God of all things and of your very existence!

Lord, I put myself in danger by walking in the dark too long. My friends became worried about me and sent search parties out for me. I was okay but only because you protected me. Because of my thoughtless behavior, I inconvenienced all those people who had to leave the comfort of their homes and walk through that same darkness to find me.  I am so sorry. I was thoughtless.

Thank you for your church, your family. You set it up so perfectly. Congregations of your family here and others there all around the world.  Each congregation survives because you teach us to love one another, overlook intentional and unintentional offences, and leave behind things that do not really matter in saving souls. Brothers and sisters hand in hand, praying for each other, eating glad meals with each other, worshipping you together.  Always there with a smile and a sigh, always there with laughter and tears, always together. Always your children, always a part of your family.  Even when we travel and meet people in other parts of the world, we instantly have an immediate bond, whether it be to Asia or South America, Europe, or New Zealand, the Middle East or North America, Africa or one of earth’s poles. Wherever we find each other, we are still family and you are our Father.

God, you are the same always. No matter how low I feel, you remain stable. No matter how tempted I am to sin by attitude or actions, you do not budge. You reserve judgment for yourself of both my friends and my enemies so I don’t have to judge.  Your judgment is true ~ always true ~ and tempered with mercy. Great is your wisdom, great is your name in all the world and in my heart. I rise up and bless you in the morning and at the end of day.

There is someone who is trying to take everything from me and I feel so betrayed. Sometimes I want to get even, but how could I without destroying myself? Make this situation go away. And in the meantime, help me take my mind off of it, turn my thoughts to others and remember that I always have you.

Ah, my Lord, I am depressed this morning.  It is hard to find things to thank you for. Thank you for your patience when I get down. When I cry, your tender embrace helps. I turn to your Bible and read the Psalms of rejoicing and that lifts me up. You help me let go of the earthly and dream of heaven. Peace. The thoughts of peace are so warm. I shall take a walk today and thank you for all the delights you have given my little part of the world ~ the trees, flowers, butterflies, blue skies, sunshine, gentle breezes. Thank you for this beautiful world. And love. Thank you for it all.

You, God, are the only God. There was none before you and can never be another. None higher or lower. You are self-existent. The child was born ~a Son ~ and he was called everlasting Father, mighty God. What a thought. What a concept. What a resounding declaration. You are the First Cause of all things that exist. You are the fountainhead of every movement. You are the Great Will that the world submits to save itself from being void. Without you there is no order, no cause, no truth, no good, no life. I will praise you alone. I will praise you to my friends. I will praise you to strangers around the world, great and small. To you belongs all honor, glory and majesty.

Father, I am facing bitterness again. I want to think well of everyone, but cannot always do it. When someone insults me, help me bless.  When someone takes advantage of me, help me bless. When someone lies to me or betrays me, help me bless.

God, I have been materially blessed with a decent home to live in and reliable transportation. I have been spiritually blessed with your Bible that pours out your thoughts and exposes your heart. The church here is loving. I have good neighbors. I have a vegetable garden. Flowers too. The sun is shining. It is summer. Thank you.

It was on Sunday, the morning nearly 2000 years ago that you rose up out of your grave to live again forever and pave the way for mankind to follow you into your eternal home ~ heaven. Oh, glorious day! Oh, mighty day! Day unforgettable! How amazing. Your work was done. The hardest part was at the end. But you did it.   Upon your death, Satan thought he had won, but he had not.  You paid that terrible ransom, thus forcing Satan to give us up.   It was Satan who lost, not you, because you freed us from him. It was Death who lost, not you, because you came back to life. It was Sin who lost, not you, because you lived and died without ever sinning.  It is impossible to kill Life.  So, in the face of defeat, why doesn’t Satan give up and quit trying to get us back? He knows he has lost but will not admit it.  So, I march on with you, fighting selfishness so that pure love will be all that is left. With you is all might, all glory, all majesty. I worship you.

Forgive me when I want to demand what is mine that someone borrowed from me or took from me. Help me leave it in your hands. It is not for me to punish or demand, I know. But it is so hard to do. Help me keep my thoughts and words to myself and move on.

Ah, my Lord, thank you for your balanced sense of justice and mercy. You do not punish because you like doing it. You punish to help me realize the seriousness of my thoughts and deeds. You punish to avenge the hurt I caused good people trying to do right. You punish to make me stronger. But you do not punish forever. You punish, then wait for me to return to you. You punish to stop me in my tracks, take a hard look at myself, and make changes. Your punishment is like walking on sand; as soon as I take another step, the previous step has already begun refilling. Punishment is just momentary until I stop, turn, and move over onto the solid rock of faith in you.  There, I see myself as I am and hurry to walk in your footsteps that are embedded deep so I can always find you. I never thought I’d say this, but thank you for punishing me when I need it. How you love. How you love.