Written a number of years ago in my worship journal
Lord, I praise you this morning for the great and high privilege of knowing you, of being your child, of knowing how I fit into your creation. It is wonderful to have, in you, acceptance, worth and value, position, power and privilege, holiness, help and happiness. These are your gracious gifts to your children; I can find them in no other source.
You, Lord Jesus, are my Savior, my Shepherd, my Sovereign. I praise you for your great Love, for your Faithful follow-through, for your pure Perfection, for your high Holiness, and for your full Forgiveness. You are always there, always loving, always good, always effective–especially when I cannot see or sense any of this. “The angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear him and delivers them” (Psa. 34:7).
I praise you that you help me as I need it—which is all the time. I thank you for the difficult times you lead me through, I thank you for the problems, the disappointments, the anguish that are important for my growth and deepening (James 1:2-4), and provide opportunities to give you honor (Psa. 50:23). I praise you for your care, your protection and your provision in the midst of it all.
You, Lord God, are Mighty, Majestic and Magnificent; you are Great, Gracious and Good; you are High, Holy and Humble. You are worthy of worship, of obedience, of glory, of exaltation, of magnification, of honor, of praise. And I want to give all of these to you today.
Lord, at this time of such difficulty in my life, one of the most comforting, encouraging things about you is that you have a plan and a purpose in what you do: “The plans of the Lord stand firm forever and the purposes of his heart through all generations” (Psalm 33:11).
You know exactly what you are doing and you are going to bring about your great goals no matter what the enemy, Satan, wants, no matter what your enemies (unbelievers) do, or how your children rebel: “The Lord foils the plans of the nations and thwarts the purposes of the peoples” (Psalm 33:10).
Help me today, Lord, to rest in your plans, rejoice in your purposes, to resist in your power all the schemes of the evil one. Help me to honor you in all. May praise be the keynote of my life; may prayer be the foundation of all I attempt; may persistence be the mark of all I do for you.
