I praise you, Jehovah God of the universe and God of my heart. You are above all things, below all things and in all things. Yet you live in my heart and speak to me in your Word ~ Jesus, your brainchild. You have poured out your heart to mankind in your Word. You have exposed your greatest desires, greatest disappointments, and greatest glory in your Bible.  You reign over the world, crowned with honor, truth, and love.

Someone told a joke about someone with a depraved mind killing off people and I laughed.  I was queasy listening to it and I could have walked away, but I didn’t. I laughed. It seared my conscience. Forgive me, Lord.

How can I thank you enough for your Bible? I read and learn, read and learn, and there is no end to it So amazing it all is ~ each sentence you breathed into it. It contains examples of every type of behavior and how to keep doing it or change.  It contains the answers to life’s questions. It is all I need or could ever hope for. It tells how much you love me and your patience when I walk away from you. It sings your praises and draws me back to you. I bow to you in gratitude.

The more I look to you, my God, the dimmer this world becomes. The more I strain to be with you, the foggier this world and all its busyness seems. As I travel toward you, earth fades and heaven grows more in focus.  Life here becomes less important and all that heaven holds grows in magnitude. Each step I take draws me closer to you. Each path I take is smoother. Each breath is sweeter. And my view of home becomes clearer day by day.

Lord, I slandered someone the other day. I told something about that person that did not need repeating. I wanted to look as though I had the inside scoop on someone important and wanted the others to envy me. How egotistical. Forgive me please and help me keep things to myself.

I love you, God. And I fear you.  You have the power to save and to turn away.  After all, heaven is your home. You are not obligated to share it with anyone who wants in because they consider themselves “not so bad”. And, well, they pray, but only when they wanted something.  And are bored worshipping you so would be bored in heaven. Such “not so bad” people would turn heaven into another earth.  Thank you for keeping heaven a place of peace, excitement and wonder and never ever to  be bored.

Lord God, you are great beyond understanding. No matter how hard I try, I cannot comprehend you. But it is this that convinces me you are God. You keep my imagination intrigued, and I delight in the adventure of discovering more of you. Compared to you, I am small and insignificant. Compared to you, I am just a speck in a great sea of stars. Compared to you, I am but a small drop of water in a wide and deep ocean. But you love me still.

Lord, I waste my time in senseless activities. I watch too much television, I send out too many emails, I sleep too long, I eat too much. Help me find an activity that involves helping others and is so interesting to me that I lose interest in all these other frivolous things because my time becomes your time.

Thank you, Jesus, for materializing and letting us actually see and hear you.  You showed me how to live and how to die. You are my example and more. What I could not possibly handle, you handled for me. What I could not comprehend, you understood for me. You overcame Satan, hell, and death for me. How can I thank you? I owe you my eternal life.

I praise and adore you, Jehovah God. I fear your power and justice, yet I am so grateful for it. With your justice, to take people out of my way who want me to believe Satan’s lies by calling good bad and bad good. Sometimes I believe them because they look so successful, so happy, so perfect. Eventually, I come to my senses and crawl back to you.  I cling to your mercy and compassion. You love me without reservation. It is your heaven you are inviting me to. It is your home you wish to share with me.  You made me, set me free, then invited me back home. I’m coming, Lord. I’m coming.

Forgive my selfishness, especially with my time.  I keep so much of it for myself.  I don’t want to interrupt my routine to reach out to someone else. Open my heart to others.

Ah, my Lord, t is you who opened the gate for me to heaven and you did it from the cross.  I could never open the gate myself.  It is impossible. Oh, mighty Plan. Amazing strategy to defeat Satan as you did in a realm I cannot see. Fighting over us. Satan wanting to give us a living hell, you wanting to give us a glorious life beyond our imagination.  He tries to get people to blame you for all the bad he does. He tries to get people to think you don’t want them to have any fun. He tries to get people to think you hate them. Then he teases people and tells them they can go to heaven without reminding them that, if they didn’t like worshiping you on earth, they won’t like it in heaven. Thank you for making Satan back down.

Your love, God, is so far beyond my understanding, it knows no limits. Even after you become angry over some sin of mine, you become warm again, waiting for me to love you in return.  Such one-sided love because you are Love.  Still, I offer you my paltry love and hope you will receive it as from a little one, for your child I am. Oh, and some day, Lord, may I sit on your lap?

Father, forgive me when I have trouble loving people who, not only do not love me back, but who do things to tear me down. Help me not take notice of what they do and see only the good in them. Help me bless those who curse me.

Thank you, my Lord, for all you have done and continue to do to save me from Satan and his lies. You so want me and everyone else in your heaven of safety. You never stop thinking about me. You keep trying to stay close even after I give up trying and return to Satan’s temptations. I am not worthy of such love. You love me anyway. I am weak and you are strong.  Stay strong for me, my Lord. Stay strong.

I hear it! The anthem of angels praising God on high. My heart strains to join them. My soul leaps for joy at the thought of seeing you face to face as you are, and bowing before you. How long, Lord? How much longer will it be until my longing becomes a reality? As I wait, I sing my puny songs. Take them, Lord, and make them swell with radiance into refrains that grace your throne. May my songs soar through the universe and come back to me enriched by your laughter.

Father, sometimes I want my congregation to do a certain good work, then I become frustrated because they are not interested. Help me see that which is afire in my heart may not be in theirs. Help me do what I need to do alone. I do not need a committee. Help me be willing to do my good works alone with you.

Ah, Lord God, thank you for being my friend. We share everything together ~ our joys and sorrows, our adventures, our quiet times. Sometimes we walk together and plan tomorrow or bask in today. Though I am one of millions, you notice me and will go with me through tomorrow.  Thank you, Lord God.

I praise you, God of glory, God of my soul. When you are near, I reach up and touch rainbows. When you are near, my heart glows.  When you are near, I feel the breath of your comfort. Your hand touched the world and made it beautiful. Your hand touched the dust and made a man. Your hand touched my heart and made me your child. No gold or silver, no rubies or opals can buy your love. You made it free. Oh, God, you made it free.

Lord, help me let go of offenses. Sometimes my feelings are on my shoulder where they should not be. Take my feelings away and let others be there to feel love from me.

Thank you, God of my parents, my grandparents, my ancestors of long ago. How lucky I am to have been born where people have Bibles. You were a bulwark to them, keeping them safe when they ran from the enemies of the cross. You were their shield when surrounded by egotistical religious leaders. You gave my ancestors fortitude to stand up and refuse to deny you. How courageous they were. How mighty you were to hold them up. Thank you, my mighty God.

I walk in your shadow, Lord, grateful to be as close as that to you. When I see you go in another direction, I try to stay with you. When I do not notice, you turn back, look for me, and return to yourself. I walk in the shadow of your wings and you lift me up and let me soar with you.  Oh, glorious moments when my soul flies with yours. Someday…yes, someday…you will fling open the gates of heaven and we will be together forever. Great God, you are my soul.

Sometimes, Lord, I attack sin ruthlessly and, in the process, attack the sinner. Help me know where the fine line is so I do not run off someone who is thinking of changing. Help them understand it is not them I hate.

The cross.  Oh, the cross you suffered on and died on. The cross made of wood. From it your soul cried out to the world, “Come to me. I look weak, but I am attacking Satan for you and I will win!”  And so, I crawl to your cross, dare to look up, then touch your bloody feet. The feet that once walked the earth, the feet that once walked on water, the feet that walked out of a death cave. How can I thank you? It is so far above my ability. I will spend eternity trying to find new ways to exalt you.

My heart rushes to your heart, Oh God. I cannot bear the thought of being without you. I sigh at the thought of you. Sometimes I weep tears of loneliness. I have many friends and brothers and sisters in the family of God. But they are not the same. How I long to live in your heavenly realm and bask in your glory, the glory of my Maker. Though your light dawns on me every morning, I yearn for the true light of your presence. I worship you once again for, when you are near, it is always dawn.

Ah, my Lord, I started to quote an author the other day who said something I knew deep down was true. But I left it out because I didn’t like it. I robbed my listeners of the truth by my omission. Help me do what is right and leave my ego out of things. Forgive me, please.

Every day that I read your Word, I think of your promises, your assurances to always love me. They are ever with me. They make me confident through the day that you will protect and guide my every step. It would be so wonderful to walk with you as Adam and Eve did in the garden. I cling to your words that it will indeed happen someday. There you will give me a crown though I do not know why.  Are there a million other worlds out there for each of us to rule under you?  You declared idleness a sin. Or will you assign artists to paint rainbows and jewelers to form emeralds and musicians to composed great and wondrous songs for the stars to your glory?  Whatever it is, I will always praise you. The gratitude in my heart bursts like sunrise.

I praise you God, enthroned in my heart. You are truth. Truth never changes. It is not a different truth for each person. That is opinion. Satan does not want anyone to see truth in anything, for he is the greatest liar in existence, having been that way from the very beginning. Satan favors chaos when no one understands what anyone else is doing or saying or intending. Truth is the pillar of all things good and right.  You never change. You are the same no matter how much I change. You are always good, always right, always there for me. In you I have my foundation and sure path through life. You are my destination. You are my destiny.

Lord, I saw something in the store I wanted. I did not have the money for it, but I bought it anyway. I did not need it, but I bought it anyway. I needed that money to pay a bill, but I bought it anyway. I must return to the store and hope they will take it back. Forgive me for being so rash.

Thank you for saving me from Satan’s eternal tortures. Thank you for the hope of heaven. What you offer me goes beyond what and who I have on earth. Though I may become destitute of possessions and friends, I will always have heaven. Though I lose my health, you will always be by my bedside. Even if one day my mind fades, you will still be in my heart.  Ah, my Lord Jesus, no matter what happens, I still will always have you.