Some Prayers and Psalms volume 2 - all units

Some Prayers and Psalms  

Volume 2 --- 7 units

 by John S. Oliver  © 2020

Go to the Facebook group Let’s Pray Better
to find more prayer guides

Table of Contents

The page numbers here are offered to help you navigate this document and to print out selected pages.

Selected pages in this document could be printed out by bringing up the PDF. Then hitting Control + P. Then going to Custom instead of all pages. There put the page number(s) listed here in the Table of Contents.

Title Page  . . . . .  . . . . . .  . . . . . . .  . . . . . . . .  . . . . . . . . .  . . . . . . 1

Table of Contents  . . . . . . .  . . . . . . . .  . . . . . . . . .  . . . . . . . . . .  . . . 2                                                                    

Blessed to Bless Others  . . . . . . . . .  . . . . . . . . . .  . . . . . . . . . . .  . . . . 3

Preface .  . . . . .  . . . . . .  . . . . . . .  . . . . . . . .  . . . . . . . . .  . . . . . . . 4

(The following are the 7 core units.)

Mysteries of Prayer  . . . . . . . .  . . . . . . . . .  . . . . . . . . . .  . . . . . 11

Short Prayers  . . . . . .  . . . . . . .  . . . . . . . .  . . . . . . . . .  . . . . . 13

A Midday Prayer  . . . . . . .  . . . . . . . .  . . . . . . . . .  . . . . . . . . . 16

An Evening Prayer  . . . . . . .  . . . . . . . .  . . . . . . . . .  . . . . . . . . 17

What Can I Know for Sure?  . . . . . . . . . .  . . . . . . . . . . .  . . . . . . 18

Seeking Spiritual Contentment  . . . . . . . . . . .  . . . . . . . . . . . .  . . . 19

What God Has Done  . . . . . . .  . . . . . . . .  . . . . . . . . .  . . . . . . . . 21

Appendix .  . . . . .  . . . . . .  . . . . . . .  . . . . . . . .  . . . . . . . . .  . . . . . . 29 

Wants are Not Needs  . . . . . . . .  . . . . . . . . .  . . . . . . . . . .  . . . . . 33

Is Jesus Christ My Good Shepherd?  . . . . . . . . . . . . .  . . . . . . . . . . 34

God Loves You  . . . . . .  . . . . . . .  . . . . . . . .  . . . . . . . . .  . . . . . 35

Coronavirus Prayer Guide  . . . . . . . . . .  . . . . . . . . . . .  . . . . . . . . 40

Third and Seventh Step Prayers of AA .  . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  . . . . . . . 47  

PESTLE in the Context of Coronavirus  . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  . . . . . . . . 48

Disciples Prayer Life (book review)  . . . . . . . . . . . . .  . . . . . . . . . . . 49

Highlighted Bible Verses  . . . . . . . . . .  . . . . . . . . . . .  . . . . . . . . . 50

Daily Spiritual Warfare - KJV  . . . . . . . . . . .  . . . . . . . . . . . .   53  

Daily Spiritual Warfare - NIV  . . . . . . . . . . .  . . . . . . . . . . . .  . 54 

Psalm 91 - KJV  . . . . . .  . . . . . . .  . . . . . . . .  . . . . . . . . .  . . 55

Psalm 91 - NIV  . . . . . .  . . . . . . .  . . . . . . . .  . . . . . . . . .  . . 56

Blessed to Bless Others  . . . . . . . . .  . . . . . . . . . .  . . . . . . . . . . .  . 57

Blessed to Bless Others

You are invited to use any and all of this document in your personal prayer life as well as during prayer times with your family and others. 

I hope and expect that parts or all of this will bless you. If you have found this to be helpful then I exhort you to bless others by sharing it with them. 

You are invited to forward this to others if it came to you as an email. 

You can print out the PDF for your personal use and share copies with others. Selected pages in this document could be printed out by bringing up the PDF. Then hitting Control + P. Then going to Custom instead of all pages. There put the page number(s) listed in the Table of Contents.

You're welcomed to adapt it and change it as you please. That includes translating it into another language. You can put a PDF into Cloud Convert https://cloudconvert.com/ or a similar program to convert it into an RTF. You can use Google Translate https://translate.google.com/ to translate a document. Then you might come behind that computer translation to tidy up the wording and grammar. 

God blessed me with these writings and I desire to bless you with them. Plus I release you to pass them along.

Here are a variety of ways to pay this forward.

The Facebook public group named Let’s Pray Better   bit.ly/FB-LPB

A new blog for Some Prayers and Psalms volume 2  bit.ly/SPP-blog  I invite you to share your comments, suggestions, and questions there.

Here are the Dropbox links along with your comments that you can share as part of an email, text message, tweet, or other social media ways.

Coronavirus Prayer Guide bit.ly/CV-Prayer-Guide

Praying for Essential Workers  bit.ly/Praying-for-Essential-Workers

SPP core units  bit.ly/SPP-core-units

Highlighted Bible Verses  bit.ly/Highlighted-Bible-Verses

SPP all units bit.ly/SPP-all-units   

If this was shared with you as an email then you can open the attachments and save them. Then you can attach one or more to your emails. Or You can print out pages and make photocopies to share. 

Let us all pray better. 

Shalom

John S. Oliver

PS If there are any technical troubles with sharing these materials then please inform me at fellowpilgrim at Gmail dot com.

PREFACE

OPTIONAL

This is a long document. You have the option of using a text to speech application that will read the text to you. Then you can hear what is written here. You can hear this where and when you have been listening to music or podcasts. 

The app that I use daily is Natural Reader https://naturalreaders.com/chrome_ext.html It reads emails, webpages, and PDF files. 

GREETINGS

My name is John S. Oliver. I am a single retired man that is 66 years old (in March of 2020). I live alone in a one-bedroom apartment that is part of an apartment complex for senior citizens. This is in the small town of Ennis that is south of Dallas, Texas.

I came to faith in Jesus Christ on January 16, 1977, at 23 years old. 

Before that God had graciously delivered me from alcohol and drug abuse as well as promiscuity. 

I was on a path of self-destruction. Thankfully God answered the prayers of my mother and others to turn my life around. 

I have attended hundreds of secular 12 step recovery meetings and 2 years of Christian Celebrate Recovery www.celebraterecovery.com meetings. There I witnessed transformed lives due to God answering earnest prayers. 

I have personally known missionaries that testify of amazing answers to prayers.

I have often requested prayers and I have prayed privately. So over these 4 decades, I have witnessed many hundreds of answered prayers.  

I have lived a difficult and complicated life. There have been many ups and downs. I learned the hard way that it is always best to request prayers when dealing with difficulties. And it is always best to maintain a habit of daily prayers that are open, honest, and humble.

I have learned from my own experiences and the observations of those in recovery that God honors prayers that are earnest. It is the quality of the faith in one prayer that moves God more than the abundance of mundane prayers.

I have moved around much. I have attended churches of various denominations and sizes in the Houston and Dallas areas. I have found that in each congregation there are a few that are deeply dedicated to daily prayer. Let us be honest. Over the decades I have only met a few men that make praying their top priority. So my main audience is women. 

It has been an ongoing struggle for me to pray well or much. Hundreds of times I have asked the Lord to teach me to pray as the disciples did in Luke 11:1.  Much of what you will find in the following pages relate to different ways I have asked God to help me pray better.

Part of my complex journey included attending Bible college and serving on staff at a seminary. Sadly, neither place taught prayer for those preparing for full-time Christian ministry. 

I researched on the Internet and I bought books while seeking to learn to pray better. But mostly I was very disappointed. The great exception was a Lifeway workbook titled Disciples Prayer Life: Walking in Fellowship with God by T. W. Hunt and Catherine Walker. This presents a grand overview of prayer with suitable Bible lessons and exercises. 

I recommend this workbook for any person that wants to pray better. Also, those who are already praying often, there are lots of useful insights. I especially recommend this for any pastor, missionary, or any chaplin as well as those preparing for any kind of Christian ministry. This workbook would be useful for parents to both pray better and to teach each child to pray. The workbook is designed as a guide for a small group like a Sunday school class. So if you lead such a group or could gather others to go through it together online that would be grand. 

I have marked up my copy. Every few years I go over my copy of this workbook again with a different colored pen or marker to see what I noticed that time contrasted to previous times. 

I have felt led by God to pioneer innovative educational enterprises for decades. I have an abundance of plans and preparations. But none of those have become available to the public yet. At one point I lined up all the lessons I wanted to offer in a sequence that would take 6 years. My plan was to wait until the second year to teach the very basics of prayer. I wanted to gain a strong prayer support base before I tackled such a challenging subject. That shows how much I feel intimidated about teaching prayer. 

That sequence of online lessons has not started yet. And what you have here are not those lessons either. 

INTRODUCTION

What you have here might be compared to a look into my private prayer journal. These are prayers and praises that I have made to God. Some of these are prayer requests I made to others. 

These are my thoughts and feelings expressed in words that I can share with you. These began as sloppy rough drafts that I have poured over for hours to edit and polish. 

Mostly what you will find here are collections of paragraphs made up of one sentence per line. I have found that this format helps me to focus and keep it simple. Before I used this method decades ago my sentences and paragraphs would ramble on and on.

It is my hope and expectation that what you find here will inspire you to pray better. 

Just reading these pages one time might spark you to pray in new and different ways. 

Embedded in these pages are expressions of my personal theology and worldview. Those may expand your perspectives on God, the Bible, Jesus, the Holy Spirit, and the power of prayer. 

Various teachers online and offline have advocated the importance of gratitude and thanking God often. Much of what follows is my expression of that exhortation. 

You are invited to pray these prayers silently or out loud. 

You can use these as springboards to craft your own creative prayers. 

You might find it valuable to return to these pages repeatedly. You just might notice something different each time. 

You might find it useful to print out some or all the pages. Then you can use a pen or pencil to make notes. You can use a highlighter. In the margin and on the back you could note the Bible verses and inspirations that come to you.

You are invited to share this with others. You can forward this as part of an email. You can put it on your social media platforms. You can share printed copies. 

You are welcomed to adapt any parts of this so that they fit better into your ways of thinking and praying. 

I see myself as a quartermaster that supplies you with ammunition. It is up to you to make time to pray, aim and fire. 

You will get better at praying (like any skill) with much practice. Consistent practice is essential. Just consider those who have been doing the following time and learned along the way cooking, gardening, painting, tennis, golf, basketball, singing, etc.  So commit to yourself and to God that you will practice praying consistently. 

Note that with any printed prayers, the issue is not just to read them mentally or out loud. While every word has power, it is essential to appreciate that prayer is not a temporal process that happens just in the mind of the person who is praying. Prayer is a spiritual process that is ultimately communication with God.   

Silently reading these pages or saying them out loud is not a kind of magic. 

These articles are not offered as formulas to automatically get God to reply. 

These are possible routes on a map to help the person who prays to better connect with God. And then after having prayed, to better engage with God both during the prayer times and during the ordinary times away from prayer. 

The ongoing challenge with such prayers is to at first get familiar with them. Then sooner and later move them from an impersonal and shallow place in the mind to a personal and deep place in the heart. 

PRINT OUT PAGES

Selected pages in this document could be printed out by bringing up the PDF. Then hitting Control + P. Then going to Custom instead of all pages. There put the page number(s) listed in the Table of Contents.

Then the printed out pages can be put into a folder or notebook to be used during prayer times offline.

Also, selected pages can be photocopied to share with others.  Those others could be family members or friends.

Note that most senior citizens are prayerful but few of the older seniors use the Internet. So I mail printed copies to my stepmother. 

ALONE, FAMILY, PARTNER, GROUP

These materials can be used alone in your private prayer life. 

These can be used to help start, prompt, or guide times of family prayers.

These can be used with a prayer partner on the phone or video conference. Over the decades I have observed that some of the most effective intercessors had a steady prayer partner. The partners prayed for each other and they shared their prayers for others. 

These can be used to help start, prompt, or guide times of prayer with an online prayer group. This season it could be mutually beneficial to gather prayerful people online weekly. That could be done on a Facebook group, audio or video call using Skype, Zoom, Hangout, Free Conference Call, or another service. Also, Ning is an option.  

SMALL GROUP

The offline gatherings for Sunday church services, Sunday school classes, and home groups have been suspended. That leaves a huge gap. Those who have gone there still need spiritual teachings, Christian fellowship, and accountability. Those can be offered online. That could be done on a Facebook group, audio or video call using Skype, Zoom, Hangout, Free Conference Call, or another service. Also, Ning is an option.

The greatest need is always much prayer. Maybe your church has online small groups that you can participate with and bring to those groups an emphasis on prayer. 

Maybe you do not know of any online small groups. Then you are invited to pray about starting such a group. It could be only about prayer. Plus there are various books and online guidelines for starting and leading a small group. You can research the workbooks by Lifeway, Life Guide, Ministry Grid, and more.

You could start with the  Lifeway workbook titled Disciples Prayer Life: Walking in Fellowship with God by T. W. Hunt and Catherine Walker that is reviewed in the Appendix.

Years before this shut down season I had heard from various sources that lasting spiritual transformation happens most effectively in small groups. God might be calling you to get the ball rolling for launching such an online small group. Do not start it alone. First, find others to work with you who are prayerful. Together as you pray then trust that the Holy Spirit will guide and provide.  

Some people are seeking ways to stay busy. You can serve them by guiding them into broader horizons of prayer. And you can serve them by having a weekly online gathering around the Bible studies they did between gatherings and were based on the shared workbook. 

Besides dealing with prayer and Bible study, such a small group could get into lively discussions about God, Jesus, the problem of evil, coping with feelings, strategies to stay well, dealing with sick family members, etc.

Besides prayer and Bible study you can craft ways to maintain social contacts with your small group online.

Years ago I was a member of a small group that kept a private Facebook group where our members posted updates all week and prayed for each other. As we prayed in agreement with each other then we witnessed amazing answers to prayer about relationships, health, employment, grief, finances, and more.

It is easy to notice a personal problem and research possible solutions. It is then easy to set goals to solve the problem. But then comes the hard part to implement the action steps needed. Some of the steps will be effortless. But a few steps will be challenging. That is where personal prayer is needed. And when personal prayer does not work it is useful to ask others to pray too. This is the context where prayer partners and prayer groups can make life smoother and more graceful.

There is the concept of accountability that can be researched and woven into such prayer partners and prayer groups. 

If you do begin to lead an online prayer group or small group then please contact me at John S. Oliver, fellowpilgrim at Gmail. I will send you other resources and I will connect you with other groups. 

SUNDAYS

During my retirement, I am busy with various projects during the week. However, I set aside Sundays to work on this and related projects.

You will notice on the cover and on the footer of each page that this is Some Prayers and Psalms Volume 2. There are 7 units here. Also, there were 7 units in Volume 1. And there will be 7 units in Volume 3.

You can find Volume 1 on the Facebook page named Let’s Pray Better. I also have published Volume 2 there too. 

Currently (early March of 2020) Volume 3 is more than 50 percent complete.

After these 3 Volumes are done then my plan is to review and revise them. I will use the feedback from readers to make improvements. These will be offered as a single ebook. Then later it will be offered as a printed book.

Your comments, suggestions, and questions will help me make those improvements.

I am in no rush to get this done. I care more about the quality of the material than how soon it is available.

I request your best prayers for me as I write and revise this material on Sundays. 

Currently, I cannot even guess when all this will be complete.

I share this with you now as a way to request your best prayers. I have only made it this far because many people prayed many prayers for me years ago. 

I can use your faith-filled prayers for this project that will take me a long time to complete. 

WEEKDAYS

What will occupy me during the weekdays is to research, write and share articles to help others during these difficult times. I have begun to put my notes and save links to mind maps. I have begun to make rough drafts. 

The titles of those articles are as follows. 

Possible Practical Preparations - These are optional uses of the stimulus money and other ways to prepare.

Possible Practical Actions -  These are creative and useful ways to use time at home as an individual and a family.

Ways to Serve Seniors - These are recommendations from my perspective as a senior and from my experiences of serving my senior neighbors. 

Lifelong Learning Options - This season offers a golden opportunity to add new skills and develop talents. There is an abundance of lessons online for children that go beyond the typical classroom studies. There are lessons for adults. Besides learning the needed computer skills to study and work from home, there are skills that can lead to future income streams, creative expressions, personal development, spiritual practices, relationship skills, gardening, history, foreign language, drawing, and much more. 

After that, I will share lists of links related to schooling from home and working from home. The tentative names of those are Possible Homeschooling Resources and Possible Working from Home Resources.

Saturdays are for extra rest and fun. 

( I find that when I use my time and talents to research, write, and share resources to serve others, then those activities keep me from depression, fear, and overwhelm.  I recommend that you prayerfully consider ways that you can use your time and talents to serve others besides praying.)

 Mysteries of Prayer

Lord God of heaven and earth, I call on Your name.

One of the great mysteries is that Your Word calls believers to pray.

You who are full of grace and mercy, teach us to pray to You.

You who are full of lovingkindness, involve us in Your plans.

How can I align my mind and heart with You, in the mysteries of prayer?

How can I best pray for myself and best intercede for others?

How can I take what You revealed in Your Word to pray effectively?

How can I flow with You by the Holy Spirit to pray according to Your will?

How can I express my faith in You and Your faithfulness to answer prayers?

I accept that You KNOW everything all the time.

SO I cannot inform You of any news.

I accept that You understand me TOTALLY.

SO I do not need to explain myself to You.

I acknowledge that You are fully aware of all the factors of all people everywhere.

SO I do not need to provide You with my news reporting about them.

I appreciate that You care about all people all the time.

You know perfectly what each person needs and wants.

You are intimately aware of each of their hurts and pains.

You know how You can best reach and teach each soul.

You can effectively interact with every kind of personality.

You call on me to pray for others.

My intercessions are somehow used in Your great purposes.

I do not need to convince You to be good, kind, or loving.

These are always part of the nature of who You are.

You are never in a hurry.

You are always patient.

You are longsuffering.

You are completely understanding.

You have attributes that are real, unchanging, documented, and proven.

Your attributes include:

You are love.

You are spirit.

You are holy.

You are wise.

You are eternal.

You are unchanging.

You are tenderhearted.

You are faithful.

You are caring.

You are righteous.

You are infinite.

You are intimate. 

You are sovereign.

You are above reproach.

You know everything.

You are everywhere.

You have all power.

God, I again choose to fully surrender my will to Your will.

May Your will be done in my life.

May You continue to work DEEP in my heart so that I consistently trust You FULLY.

May I feed on Your Word daily.

May I quickly follow the promptings of Your Holy Spirit.

May I drink deeply of Your presence while in prayer and worship.

Good Shepherd, guide my thoughts, words, and deeds today as well as each day in the future.

God Almighty bless me in wonderful ways.

May Your blessings allow me to be a greater blessing to others.

Draw me to Yourself.

Comfort my heart.

Renew my mind.

Direct my steps.

Grant me the strength to do Your will.

May I give You thanks often.

May Your name be praised in all the earth.

Amen, so be it!

Short Prayers

CONTEXT

Some of these are prayer requests that I made to prayer groups for myself.

Others are prayers I made to God directly. 

Some of these I also used in the context of other articles.

The format of these prayers varies based on how I felt when I wrote them.

This shows that there are many ways to pray and ask for prayers. 

Feel free to adapt these to the format that suits you best. 

You can try these on like taking clothes into a dressing room at a store.

You can keep what fits for you and leave the rest. 

You are invited to:

pray these for me

pray these for others

pray these for yourself.

PRAYERS

God, cause my whole heart and mind to be oriented to serve others in the name of Jesus.

Lord, train me to more consistently set my heart and mind on You and Your Word the rest of my days.

God, may I become more grateful in my thoughts, words, and prayers.

God, help me to gracefully

release the past

embrace the present

prepare for the future.

May the Holy Spirit make me clearly aware of how the Lord Jesus Christ is guiding me in each area of my life. 

God, grant me discernment and insights about the difference between lifeless religion and genuine spirituality in my life. 

God, lead me to embrace my divine assignment and become fully committed to accomplishing Your calling on my life. 

May I fully and completely trust and obey You, Lord Jesus Christ, with every fiber of my being. 

May I daily obey Your New Commandment, to love one another. 

May my love of others be the overriding factor in my aspirations, choices, and commitments.

May I surrender my will to Yours. May I seek, find and do Your will diligently. May I earnestly pursue Your will. And especially prompt me to seek Your will during those times when my faith in You is tested.

God, grant me wisdom and guidance, as well as better self-discipline, to make optimal progress on the important projects that You would have me focus on. 

Lord, make me ready to receive all the knowledge, tools, and resources to excel during this current season of my life. 

Lord God, grant me your wisdom and guidance on how to best set suitable goals for each area of my life and then grant me the grace and strength to make gradual progress in achieving each goal.

God, grant me Your wisdom to consistently improve the skill of budgeting my money.

Help me to rest in You. May I relax deep inside knowing that Your loving-kindness never fails.   

Guide me Lord to become increasingly aligned to serve Your biblical purposes. 

In this world of chaos, confusion, and uncertainty, God, guide me to know what is right, best, and true.

God help me to navigate the many options in my uses of time, money, energy, attention, and affection.

May I look to You in faith to take care of me and to take care of those I love. 

May my thoughts, words, and deeds be shaped by the promptings of the Holy Spirit and applications of the Word of God.

Today and each day, may I trust and obey You, Lord Jesus Christ.

Please fill me with the Holy Spirit as I pray. May my prayers be made in faith and with hope-filled expectations.

May I become ever more sensitive and responsive to all the ways that You communicate with me.

May I humbly and earnestly embrace Your will for ALL the areas of my life. 

May I yield my will to cooperate with You, my Potter, as You gracefully mold my character to become more like Christ.

May I do good deeds daily from a heart of kindness and compassion.

May I speak words of truth that are flavored with Your loving kindness today. 

May I come to more fully accept Your guidance in my life, my Good Shepherd.

God, guide me to be informed of current events and the news without getting into sinful thoughts and negative attitudes.

God, graciously guide me into better understanding and applying faith, hope, and love for the rest of my days.

God, train me to meditate in Your Word more and better for today and each day by Your grace and for Your glory.

God, fill me with the Holy Spirit for the sake of Christ. 

Jesus, please work with me to effectively work with both my reason and intuition.

God, help me Lord to balance and respect both my feelings and thoughts. 

God, please lead me into wider and deeper times of earnest prayer. 

God, help me to accept and respect the choices of individuals and groups so that I do not judge and condemn them. 

God, grant me Your wisdom in how to set and use priorities and goals for each month, week and day. 

(My ongoing prayer requests until my last day.)

I ask You, God, to grant me these 3 ongoing prayer requests. 

Think clearly (mind)

Choose wisely (will)

Be grateful (emotions)

God, what is the question I need to closely consider today?

God, show me where You are at work in my life and the life of others.

Lord, keep my eyes open to Your handiwork in me, in my community, and in the world.

God, guide me to graciously weave the ever-improving healthy habits of prayer and meditation into my daily life.

Lord, help me to totally let go of my fears and instead courageously take bold action steps today.

Lord, help me to discount my doubts and instead more fully trust in You with childlike faith. 

I ask You, Lord Jesus Christ, to teach me how to pray with greater earnestness, humility, fervency, persistence, expectation, and confidence. 

God, may Your holy Word feed my soul. Then by faith may I come to know You better. 

Lord Jesus Christ, may You be glorified in ALL that I say and do TODAY.

A Midday Prayer

Lord God Almighty, I come to You by faith.

I choose to pause in the middle of my day.

I seek You earnestly in my prayers.

Thank You for the privilege of prayer.

Thank You for being accessible at any time.

Thank You for answering prayers in Your time and in Your ways.

You provided me with the greatest miracle when I was born again.

My salvation has brought me into a direct relationship with You.

The sacrifice of Your Son on the cross made this possible.

Jesus Christ said that I am the light of the world and the salt of the earth.

I believe that is a fact, even though it does not feel like it much of the time.

You are at work in me to conform me into the image of Your dear Son.

You have been gradually transforming me from the inside to the outside.

Your Holy Spirit that dwells in me prompts me to desire Your righteousness.

Little by little I find that I dislike my sinful habits and want to do right.

You are patiently at work using Your Word to renew my mind.

As I read the Bible, hear sermons, and listen to Bible lessons, then my thinking improves.

Your Word reminds me of how difficult it can be to bridle my tongue.

Only by Your grace and the indwelling Holy Spirit, do I want to control what I say.

God, much of this day is past and much still remains.

I request Your wisdom in how to best use my time both today and in the future days.

God, may I be quick to hear others and slow to speak.

Work through me as an instrument of Your kindness.

Your Word says that my body is the temple of the Holy Spirit.

Guide me in how to best take care of my body.

You have made me with a unique combination of personality, talents, and spiritual gifts.

I ask for You to guide my choices and commitments so that I am a good steward of these.

Your lovingkindness is wonderful and Your blessings are many.

May I notice You in my daily life and give You thanks from a heart of genuine gratitude.

An Evening Prayer

God, today is nearly complete. I prepare to get needed sleep to prepare for tomorrow. Before I retire, let me make time to thank You for Your many blessings.

You have made a way for me to get to this moment safely. You provided me with health and strength to cope with the challenges today. Your grace and mercies were abundant; even though I did not notice them always.

Thank You that today I had enough food. I am not going to bed hungry; unlike millions of others worldwide.

Thank You that I had enough clothes for today and I will have enough for tomorrow. The poorest people would call me rich if they saw the options I have in my closet and drawers.

Thank You that today I had easy access to plenty of water for drinking, washing, and cooking. Meanwhile many millions in Africa and India did not have access to clean water today.

Today there were little things like a flush toilet, heating, and air conditioning that made my life better. Yet millions in remote villages did not have such conveniences and comforts.

Thank You for my employment and income. There are many that are unemployed.

Thank You for my family and friends. My relationships with them are not perfect. But thank You that I have those connections, unlike isolated orphans, widows, prisoners, and those without any friends.

You went to great lengths to reveal Yourself in the Bible. You guided the writing and translating of Your Word. You provided wonderful preachers and teachers to open up Your Word. Thank You for this rich source of spiritual food for me and others.

The advertising industry worked hard day and night. They wanted me to notice what I do not have. They tried to get me to want to buy more stuff to fuel an endless search for happiness. But I choose to pause. I notice what You have provided. Thank You for these provisions.

I request that You open my eyes to see the many other provisions You make.

I ask You to work into my heart and mind genuine gratitude for who You are and what You have done. May I often and easily thank You for your many blessings in the coming days.

Amen. 

What Can I Know for Sure?

God, You are good all the time.

God, You know all about me and every one of my problems.

God, You are totally aware of my weaknesses, faults and character defects.

God, You continue to love me unconditionally.

God, You have an unlimited supply of grace.

God, no matter how bad it gets, Your grace is always sufficient.

God, as I ponder the following I notice Your lovingkindness. 

God, I notice your faithfulness, goodness, and wisdom.

God, You have interacted in my spiritual life in intimate ways. 

The blood of the Lamb of God has redeemed my soul.

I was born again by Your grace.

I have been adopted into Your forever family.

My name is written in the Lamb’s book of Life.

Jesus Christ is my Lord.

The Lord Jesus is my Good Shepherd.

He leads me in paths of righteousness for His name’s sake.

The Son of God calls me His friend.

I have the assurance that nothing can separate me from the love of God in Christ.

My salvation is anchored in the completed work of Christ on the Cross.

When Jesus Christ said “It is finished” from the cross that is exactly what He meant.

I cannot add to or take away from His completed work.

My salvation is based on what You have done and not on what I can do. 

From a human perspective, it was unfair that I was already condemned when I was born.

I inherited the curse of Adam and was headed to Hell for eternity.

It was also unfair that a perfectly innocent Man took all the punishment for all my sins.

Jesus paid for my sin-debt that I could never pay.

You used people and circumstances to let me know that I could be freed from that sin-debt.

While I was lost and did not know I needed a Savior.

You sought me and wooed me to Jesus by the Holy Spirit.

My life in the mortal body is temporary.

I could die or be raptured any day.

Also, I am willing to live to a ripe old age that I may serve You, my Savior.

I am destined to live forever in Heaven with You and fellow believers.

 Seeking Spiritual Contentment 

Lord, help me to become more content with my current circumstances and may I better accept my present relationships.

There is a desire deep inside of me to improve my life. So, God, guide my innermost orientation in order that my internal world will become ever more aligned to serve Your purposes. 

Please cause my whole heart and mind to be oriented to selflessly serve my small part in Your Great Commission.

May I fully trust and obey You, my Good Shepherd, with every fiber of my being.

May my obedience to Your New Commandment to love one another be the overriding factor in my aspirations, choices, conversations, purchases, uses of time, and commitments.

May I gladly surrender my will to You, that I may know and do Your will. Work that in me during my daily devotions and especially during those times when my faith in You is tested.

May I look to You to take care of me and of those I love. For Your Word reveals that You are a good God, who is gracious, kind, merciful, forgiving, and tenderhearted.

Sometimes I find myself pressed into thinking I am involved in a kind of rat race to get ahead in some imaginary competition. But while I tend to yield to this pressure to keep moving forward, may my progress always be guided by Your standards and directed at Your pace. May I pause as needed to notice how far You have brought me. 

Internally, I have motivations to achieve, improve, and excel. God, please do a deep work in my soul, so that I use these motivations for Your purposes. May my unseen drives not be abused to fuel my pride, please others, or to hide my insecurities.

I have an abundance of goals, projects, and tasks. I do my best to get them done. But there are always many things that are left undone. God, help me to optimize the uses of my time, energy, and money each day. And at the end of the day, may I emotionally and mentally let go of what remains to be done. After doing all I could with what You gave me, may I then leave the final results up to You. For I declare that You have all power and You work all things together for the good.

From my birth, I have grown up in a society that is saturated with materialism. O Lord, open my spiritual eyes to see there is much more to this life than just adding more stuff to my collection of things.

Everywhere I go there are advertisements. Thousands of signals try to convince me that happiness will infallibly result if I simply buy their product or service. The overriding message is that the glass is always half empty. So I should strive to acquire more and better stuff in hopes that maybe someday the glass will be completely full. That is an appealing lie that has deceived others and me. But, Lord, may You whisper to me that the glass is half full as well as half empty. Lead me to notice what I have and be grateful. May I not get fixated on what I do not have. May I honor You with my faithful stewardship of what You have entrusted to me.

I confess a subtle longing to acquire more and better possessions. But instead, grant me to daily simply relax and better appreciate what You have already provided. May I develop the healthy habit of thanking You for each blessing. Work greater measures of genuine gratitude into my soul.

May I express my gratitude to You in silent prayer often day and night.

God, You created me with five senses. I realize there are some foods that I especially enjoy eating. Thank You for the pleasure that comes when I eat those. Since some of those foods are costly, I cannot afford to eat them as often as I would like. Grant me to be genuinely grateful when You provide them and grant me to savor each of the foods You provide.

Lord, I admit that deep down inside I tend to compare myself to others. That has sometimes led to envy, jealousy, and resentment. Lord, help me to stop entertaining these poisonous attitudes. Grant me to immediately cut off those thoughts and feelings that are not of Your love. Grant that I may admire and respect others just the way they are. Grant me to remember that they, too, have both internal issues and external challenges. They, too, are simply doing the best that they can. May their accomplishments, status, looks, possessions, and more, inspire me to aim higher and to focus better for Your glory.

Lord, help me make wise choices when there are several attractive options. In choosing one option, I am unable to enjoy the other options. Because such decisions are not always easy, I ask you to enter my decision-making process and guide me in the paths that are right for me. Grant me to find a suitable balance between taking time out for my own recreation and entertainment as well as going to be of service to others.

God, You have revealed Yourself in the Bible as the Prince of Peace. You have often blessed me with peace of mind, even the middle of the storms of my life. Grant me to anchor my hopes and expectations in Who You are. May the biblical testimonies of what You did throughout the centuries give me comfort and faith.

Even if I live to a very old age, that is not the end of the story. May You help me to keep in mind that I am just a pilgrim that is briefly passing through this earthly walk. My ultimate citizenship is in heaven.

Lord God, have mercy on me and grant me, Your grace. Amen.

What God Has Done

INTRODUCTION

God answers prayers.

But God does not answer all prayers.

The prayers that God answers are those that are based on faith in Him.

Yet while experiencing difficulties it can be challenging to have faith in God.

Often prayers lack faith but instead, they are seasoned with doubt and unbelief.

During times of prayer and intercession, it is essential to look by faith to Jesus Christ.

Jesus Christ is always full of love, kindness, grace, and mercy.

Fortunately, there are ways to increase and rekindle faith.

Faith can arise by knowing that Jesus is the same yesterday, today and forever.

God cannot and will not change.

God is eternal.

God is faithful.

God always keeps His biblical promises.

Answers come to those who have faith in God and expect results.

Fortunately, faith can arise by knowing what He has done.

Then trust He will express His loving-kindness in real ways again.

NOTICE

Notice when the children of Israel were in crisis.

God used His spokespersons to remind them of what He had done.

He had parted the Red Sea.

He had fed them manna in the wilderness.

He led them with a pillar of fire and smoke.

He had given them victory over armies that were much larger.

King David faced all kinds of difficulties.

In some of the psalms, it is recorded that David rekindled his faith.

First, he poured out his heart and lamented his woes.

Then he recalled the great things God had done.

That process of getting open and honest with God followed by remembering, restored his faith.

At the end of the psalm, he was back to trusting God and resting in Him.

Notice that the feasts of Israel were based on remembering.

It is easy to forget the testimonies of what God has done.

It takes deliberate effort to remember His deeds.

They were commanded to set aside a certain time to recall what God did.

There are seven Jewish feasts each year.

Consider this pattern of remembering in the context of our Holy Communion services.

When we partake of the Bread and Wine then we are to recall what Christ did for us.

One time Jesus Christ shed His blood on the Cross and His body was broken.

Yet we are to look back to that event to refuel our faith and trust him going forward.

When a new believer is immersed during water baptism, then that is a reminder.

That is a reminder that God raised Jesus Christ from the dead.

The new believer is remembering, identifying with, and acting out that historic resurrection.

In the psalms and many parts of the Bible God is praised for what He did and who He is.

There are hymns that have survived for centuries that focus on what God has done.

The deeds of God are perfect reflections of His divine character.

Unlike humans, God cannot fake it.

His actions that can be observed came from the depths of his integrity that is invisible.

When Jesus ministered to the people it was the heart of God made manifest.

The visible words and works of Christ were an expression of the invisible God the Father.

HIS TRACK RECORD

This article is a simple summary of just some of the things God has done.

The format is addressed to God as a prayer or a psalm.

This is like a brief review of the amazing track record of God through the ages.

Consider that an employer examines a resume and does an interview.

The employer is seeking a person to fulfill a role.

One of the considerations in the interview is previous accomplishments.

If the candidate did something before then they can do it again.

Obviously God is not going to become an employee.

But the central consideration is, can God be trusted?

Does God love me and will God take care of those I pray for?

Can I be confident that God will be there for me after I leave this mortal life?

Can I let go to God of my fears, worries, and upsets?

If I let go of my internal junk, then can I let God take care of me and those I love?

---

PSALM

God, You created the heavens and the earth.

According to Your Word, You were intimately involved in the entire process.

It is no surprise that humans often are awestruck when observing the majesty of nature.

God, you can show off in the beauty of sunrises, sunsets, mountain tops, wild animals, etc.

Baby animals and infant humans inspire awe as innocent expressions of Your creation.

God when we mortals seek inspiration online we often view scenes from Your creation.

You reveal the genius of Your orderliness and creativity in the natural world.

You granted us the use of five wonderful senses to experience this world and each other.

You sovereignly bestowed on each of us the privilege of free will.

We have the right to make choices.

Then we have the responsibility to live with the consequences of each choice.

All of us make poor choices at times.

We all get into jams.

But You have more than enough grace and mercy for any condition.

We all experience storms of life.

There are troubles in relationships, health, finances, employment, and more.

You are there all the time and just a prayer away.

You provided Your people with the Bible that is the reliable Word of God.

From those 66 books in the Scriptures, we can know You and make You known.

In the pages of that sacred text, we can witness how You spoke to Your people.

You used the patriarchs, prophets, and other writers to present Your grand story.

Your grand story includes bedtime Bible stories for children.

In most of those bedtime stories, You moved in mighty ways to help Your people.

You came to their aid when no human could do what You did.

You closed the mouths of the lions in the den with Daniel.

You kept your servants from being burned alive in the furnace.

You delivered Joseph from the prison and placed him in the palace to serve Your people.

Billions of people have read, studied, memorized, and meditated on Your Word

Your holy Word brings spiritual light and life to the soul.

Your Word is alive with meaning, truth, comfort, challenge, and inspiration.

You made a way for Your holy Word to become translated into many languages.

There was fierce opposition at key points along this path of translation.

Many martyrs were persecuted, assaulted, and even killed so Your Word would be translated.

You made it possible for Your Word to become uncloaked.

The grace and truth of Your Word were no longer hidden in Latin, Greek, and Hebrew.

You led brave people to translate, publish, and distribute it in German and English.

Then over the centuries, You made a way for translations into other languages

Today there are hundreds of translations and more added each year.

Large ministries have lots of dedicated workers to continue the translation work.

There are still a few thousand languages remaining.

And You will be faithful to oversee and bless that work unto the very end.

For deeply want all people to personally know Jesus Christ.

You deeply want people to know Your Word so that the truth will set them free. 

You made a way for the Bible to be preserved throughout the centuries.

You protected the Word of God from attacks by tyrants and deceivers.

There were countless attempts to destroy or distort Your Word.

But You used nameless and faceless scribes, monks, and others to preserve Your Word.

You used brave people to smuggle Your Word into countries that had banned it.

You called out and raised up spiritually gifted teachers and preachers.

You used specialized experts and lots of ordinary helpers to keep your message alive.

You motivated intercessors, donors, and volunteers to keep advancing the kingdom of God.

You guided and provided for the creation and distribution of books, sermons, and videos.

The works of others we could never meet in person have come to us.

Some messages come to us over the Internet from hundreds of miles away.

Some messages come from writers of books that died long ago.

You have blessed us with Bible atlases so we can understand the geography centuries ago.

You have guided the production of Bible dictionaries so we understand the tough words.

You have helped archaeologists to uncover artifacts and places to help verify the biblical record.

Over the course of centuries, You gave clues about the coming of the Messiah.

These clues were recorded in the Scriptures.

There are hundreds of prophecies that have been fulfilled in exact detail to prove You are the divine author of the Bible.

Dozens of those fulfilled prophecies predicted the birth, life, and crucifixion of the coming Messiah.

Then in the fullness of time, You sent the Messiah.

Jesus Christ fulfilled all messianic prophecies in exact detail.

Centuries before it happened You predicted details about His birth, ministry, death, and resurrection.

Your precious Son was born of a virgin just like you had predicted.

His genealogy from His mother and father fulfilled all key Bible verses exactly as You predicted.

He lived a sinless life while in this sinful world.

He never sinned while under much persecution from religious leaders.

You made a way for the four gospel writers to record His deeds and words.

You had them to accurately record His many healings and miracles.

These incidents were signs that Your Son was more than a human but actually divine.

You made it possible for Jesus Christ to somehow be both totally human and fully divine.

You recorded in Your Word that Jesus Christ is called Immanuel, meaning God with us.

You made a promise to never leave nor forsake Your children.

You made it a reality that when two or more are gathered in Your name then You are there.

Your dear Son was the master Teacher.

Jesus masterfully used parables and other devices.

The red-letter editions of the Bible have His words in red print.

Those relatively few words have been used to inspire, instruct, and guide for centuries.

There is a divine economy in the brevity, simplicity, and profound nature of His words.

Jesus Christ brought Your light and insight into the Old Testament verses.

Those that were familiar with the ancient Scriptures were amazed at His interpretations.

He was the Word made flesh who dwelt among us and was full of grace and truth.

Jesus Christ was and is far more than just a teacher, healer, and miracle worker.

Your Son lived a life of complete trust and obedience.

He did as You had commanded Him to the very end.

He willingly laid down His life.

He said, “Not my will but Your will be done.”

Your only Son, Jesus Christ, was the Lamb of God.

The Son of God bore the sins of the world in His body on the Cross.

You ordained that His shed blood was the only righteous atonement for sins.

There He died as the substitutionary sacrifice.

It is to Your glory that Your Son was obedient unto death on the Cross.

Then on the third day, He rose from the grave just as He said that He would.

Then You made a way that there were many witnesses to His resurrection body.

In Your infinite wisdom, You used His death and resurrection to conquer death, hell, and Satan.

You made a way for Jesus Christ to fulfill all the qualifications and become the Savior.

You raised Him from the dead and He is seated at Your right hand.

Jesus Christ is Lord.

You wonderfully blended Your grace and mercy in the simple gospel message.

You crafted the plan of salvation that expresses your great love and liberating truth.

Your gospel message is so simple that a child can enter the kingdom of God.

You gave us the book of Acts where we witness the power of the gospel.

The study of the book of Acts woven with the epistles reveals Your mighty hand at work.

According to the Bible, during the lifetime of Paul, many came to faith in Christ.

New churches were planted in various locations.

Your love and truth transformed the lives of many individuals and lots of communities.

Your Word gives us all the information we will need to become born again.

Your Word provides guidance on how to live a Christ-like life to please You.  

The gifts of Your Word and Your Son are more than enough for any human.

Then You went the extra measure by sending Your Holy Spirit to indwell believers.

What a privilege to have one member of the Holy Trinity dwelling in us as Christians.

Your Holy Spirit makes alive the Word of God and points us to Your Son.

Your Holy Spirit prompts us unto righteous thoughts, words, and deeds.

Your Holy Spirit living in us calls You our heavenly Father also known as Abba.

Jesus gave us the most popular prayer that starts with Our Father.

Jesus declared that You are His Father and Our Father.

You have bountifully and abundantly blessed us that we can call you Our Father.

Jesus said in Your Word that His disciples could call Him Friend.

You made it possible to call Your Son our Friend.

To call Jesus Christ my friend is staggeringly marvelous.

Your precious Word reveals that Jesus Christ is the Good Shepherd.

We can confidently trust and obey Him just as a sheep relates to a shepherd.

That discloses Your genuine concern, protection, and provision for us.

As we relate with Jesus Christ we are relating with You.

You are in complete and total union and unity as the Trinity all the time.

You draw people to Yourself.

People come to You due to Your irresistible grace.

You use all kinds of circumstances, relationships, and events.

You use divine appointments, sermons, books, videos, crises, and more.

You demonstrate Your loving-kindness when you woo a person to faith in Christ.

You demonstrate Your longsuffering when a person is rebellious and stubborn.

You are good all the time.

You do not force humans to obey or worship You.

You allow us Your adopted children to learn from our mistakes.

We can never begin to understand all of You.

Yet you condescended to reveal snapshots of Yourself in Your Word and in Your Son.

---

CONCLUSION

That was a small sampling of the billions of great deeds God has done.

The point of these is to persuade you, the reader, that God is alive and well.

God is not dead, asleep, deaf, forgetful, senile, negligent, cruel, etc.

Here are the facts:

God knows everything, so He is called omniscient.

God is everywhere, so He is called omnipresent.

God has all power, so He is called omnipotent.

In order to have accomplished all the deeds mentioned before He used all three.

God is concerned and actively involved in the affairs of humans.

His primary agenda is a spiritual one that relates to eternity.

That means that becoming born again and growing in Christ are His top priorities.

God knows about the temporal concerns of everyday life.

He knows about relationships, health, employment, money, and all other matters.

The emphasis of this psalm is on what God has done related to salvation.

Plus all God did in order to preserve His Word and His gospel message.

Each of those deeds was amazing and together they are truly amazing.

That same God is the one you pray to for ordinary needs and wants.

That same God has that kind of love, power, and grace.

Lift up your heart and know God is great and good when you pray to Him.

Let His long and sparkling track record remind you that He can deal with your requests.

God is ready, willing, and able to assist you through answering prayers.

The Bible commands and teaches us to pray.

God could conceivably accomplish anything apart from prayer.

But for His own reasons, He wants us to pray.

We are to ask, seek, and knock.

Prayer is foundationally based on a relationship with God.

Like in any relationship, the quality of the fellowship will vary.

It takes time and energy to cultivate a relationship with a family member and a friend.

In any relationship, it is vital to notice what the other person wants and needs. 

It is essential to enter into a kind of mental and emotional dance using words.

There are many things we will never know about God.

But a basic study of the Bible reveals that He highly values it when His people thank and praise Him.

The thanksgiving is to be genuine and frequent.

The praise is to be based on who He is and what He has done.  

Look at the book of Psalms to see how often the writer emphasized who God was and what He has done.

Note that many hymns and spiritual songs revolve around who God was and what He has done.

Note the testimonies of those that were passing through deep and dark valleys. 

It was the Bible verses and songs about who God was and what He has done that rekindled their faith. 

CHALLENGE

Most of the articles in this collection came about after I had poured out my soul to God. 

I admit that I complained, whined, and blamed God for my troubles. 

But I kept praying as much and as well as I could.

I requested for others to pray for me. 

Slowly the Holy Spirit did a graceful job deep inside my soul. 

The fruit of those labors in the prayer closet was that I could easily write these documents.

It helps that I love to study theology, so that got mixed into my writings. 

There were times I was not experiencing the pains of life to motivate my prayers.

To get out of those spiritually dull slumps, I recalled thanksgiving.

I understood that the Bible tells me to give thanks in all things.
I knew from many personal experiences that when I gave thanks my faith in God was rekindled. 

I would start my prayers of thanks for personal blessings. 

Then as I continued my thanks became based on who God was and what He had done.

This article and many others began as a prayer of thanks.

Note that when I pray silently or out loud I can easily get distracted or sleepy.

So I have learned to sometimes write my prayers to help me stay alert and focus. 

I would write at the top of the page “God, Thank You for …”.

Then I listed the current, recent, and previous blessings from God. 

That included the answered prayers, friendships, teachers, adventures, and gifts received.

Then as I continued my thanksgiving went to more spiritual matters.
I recalled what I mentioned in this and other articles. 

I suggest that you get a blank piece of paper or a blank word processing document.

Write at the top “God, Thank You for …”.

In that document, you can include personal items.

These are unique to your relationship with God.

Begin by listing 12 items and genuinely thank God for each one.

Then increase that list to 50 items and genuinely thank God for each one.

Then increase that list to 100 items and genuinely thank God for each one.

You get the idea.

Keep finding more items to thank God for in the coming days, weeks, and months. 

Keep these lists handy to review later as they will inspire more items.

The goal is not to make the longest possible lists.

The goal is to harness thanksgiving as a pathway to knowing and loving God better. 

Along this journey of thanksgiving, you are welcomed to use any parts of my articles. 

You can pray to God as they are written.

You can use the ones that resonate with you as a model to create your own wording.

As you do this then you just might have a deeper appreciation for the book of Psalms. 

You can carefully study the book of Psalms as a gold mine to fuel your healthy habits of thanksgiving.

In the Psalms, you could start to notice key verses that inspire your praise to go with your thanks. 

You could come to notice many familiar passages in the New Testament as fuel for thanks and praise. 

And you are invited to often thank and praise God for personal and universal things.

SHALOM

May your understanding, appreciation, and respect for God and His Word continue to improve.

APPENDIX

On the following pages, I offer you a quick overview of what follows.     

I believe that these will supplement and complement Some Prayers and Psalms - Volume 2.

This appendix would have been much shorter and simpler. However, as I was about to wrap up the 7 units in Some Prayers and Psalms - Volume 2 that is when the news about the coronavirus went from an odd event overseas to a worldwide pandemic. (early March 2020) So I both gathered some of my previous writings and wrote some new ones to add here. 

I believe that both praying about the topical matters related to current events and diving deeply into heartfelt devotion plus genuine praise of God can go together well. 

VOLUME 1

I have published Some Prayers and Psalms - Volume 1 online at the Facebook page named Let’s Pray Better https://www.facebook.com/groups/344100079340999/ 

You can download a PDF version of  Some Prayers and Psalms - Volume 1 on Gumroad for free or any amount of money you input here https://gumroad.com/l/SPP-Vol-1  

You are invited to go there to find Volume 1 as well as Volume 2. And later I will publish Volume 3 there too.

You are invited to share those with others on social media platforms where you are active. 

MORNING PRAYER

This collection of units includes A Midday Prayer as 3 of 7 and An Evening Prayer as 4 of 7. About the same time I wrote those 2 units I also wrote A Morning Prayer that I published as 1 of 7 in Some Prayers and Psalms - Volume 1. 

It seems right to offer you A Morning Prayer here also as part of the Appendix.

WANTS ARE NOT NEEDS

Before the shut down I had begun to study the 23rd Psalm with a Bible study group. We were using a study guide by Juanita Ryan named The 23rd Psalm The Lord, Our Shepherd www.amazon.com/23rd-Psalm-Shepherd-Lifeguide-Studies/dp/083083043X/

This study obviously starts off with verse 1 that says, The Lord is my Shepherd I shall not want.

The word ‘want’ comes with lots of baggage these days. The child ‘wants’ Santa Clause to give them lots of goodies at Christmas. The adults ‘want’ the latest electronic gadget, fashionable clothes, new car, exotic vacation, expensive restaurant meal, romantic partner, to lose lots of weight, to look younger, to get a major promotion at work, etc. 

Juanita Ryan wisely states the following on page 54 of the study guide. It relates to a much simpler time of the Old Testament and the life of a shepherd like David tending his flock. The imagery of Psalm 23 is that we believers are like the sheep and the Lord is our shepherd. The word ‘want’ is more like real needs. 

She writes, This psalm describes several basic needs that God, our good Shepherd, provides for us. God provides food, water, rest, safety, guidance, his presence, and comfort. God also provides protection, blessing and the gift of life with God here and in this life and forever. 

I wrote an article years ago titled Wants are not Needs and I have included a copy of that here. In our materialistic society and consumer-driven economy, this message has some strong medicine. And as we adjust to lifestyle changes due to the coronavirus pandemic these words may seem timely. 

IS JESUS CHRIST MY GOOD SHEPHERD?

During my long season of drug rehabilitation, I was coming out of the fog of self-destruction and into the Light of Christ.

During that critical time, it was hard for me to think clearly, carry on conversations with others, or understand complicated Bible teachings. That is when God used the imagery of Jesus being my Good Shepherd. This was a very personal and private matter. In the secret place inside my soul, I came to know that Jesus Christ was more than a historic figure and the subject of songs at church. He was my very own Good Shepherd.  That became the primary orientation of how I understood God

That image and understanding that Jesus Christ is my Good Shepherd have been central and critical to my faith for more than 40 years. In this one-page article, I offer the reader a tiny slice of the profound yet simple ways that not only I view God but anyone can be based on what the Bible clearly teaches. 

This image of Jesus is often taught to children. Then adults foolishly think that they have outgrown this or any teaching in the Bible. The Bible did not change. Jesus did not change. The world, the flesh, and the devil contaminated the ability of the adult to see God as He is. It requires childlike humility to spiritually grasp the core truths of the Bible. It is never too late to repent and humble yourself like a child. Then you too might fall in love with Jesus Christ as your Good Shepherd. 

This season of shut down gives plenty of time to ponder such matters.  There are lots of ways that engaging with Jesus as your Good Shepherd in your prayers will bring peace and comfort during these difficult times. 

GOD LOVES YOU

During this shutdown season, it is like being imprisoned in a cave. Personal freedoms, mobility, social contacts, and more were suddenly removed from all of us at once. This requires many adjustments on many levels all at the same time. That is true of each family member too. 

The Christian knows that this is the prime time to pray. But how can one pray in these pressurized conditions? How can one move beyond the worries of meeting temporal needs for self and others? 

This is like a final exam in all you have learned about prayer over the years.

All 7 of the units in this Volume 2 are offered to inspire and guide you to pray better.

Yet there is a super simple truth that will help you during your prayers and all your waking hours. That super simple truth is that God Loves You. In this article, I used 4 pages to present the many facets and features of the simple saying God Loves You. As you read this you are invited to pause and ponder the parts. This message is thick and dense with illustrations, Bible doctrines, and biblical theology. So you might want to read it several times. You might want to print it out to make notes in the margin and on the back. 

I can promise you that as you fully embrace the fact that God Loves You then you will have hope and stability in the worst storms of life. Each of the sentences in this article was birthed in my soul years ago when I passed through very trying times. As you get the truth that God Loves You in the marrow of your bones then you will pray better. This will improve your relationships as a spouse, parent, and friend. 

GUIDE 

While I was completing Volume 2 it was early March of 2020. The news was cluttered with all kinds of stories about the coronavirus. Mostly this was about the incidents of it gradually spreading worldwide. There was much confusion and speculation. The business model of the news outlets makes them tilt toward the sensational to get people to pay attention to their latest report. They are oriented to immediate and short term impacts to get people coming back for more. So they all tend to ignore the long term and big picture possibilities. Obviously, the secular outlets are not going to advocate prayer and the Christian outlets rarely mention the importance of prevailing prayer in such a situation. 

I wrote 2 versions of the same document related to this matter that I have shared with many of my contacts. That was sent out on March 3, 2020. And it was 2 pages long. I have gone back to revise it in light of recent developments. I call this version two point zero (2.0). It is 7 pages long and is sent out on April 4, 2020. Much has changed and some remain the same from March 3 that you can find a copy of on the Facebook page Let’s Pray Better. This leads me to wonder what will change and what will remain the same in version three point zero (3.0) that I might share in a few weeks.

At some level, I feel like a journalist and a historian as I chronicle these particular updates. 

The coronavirus is shaping us as individuals, families, communities, nations, and as a global collective. These particular documents will serve as my record of events as the many transformations happen.

The version that follows is titled Coronavirus Prayer Guide. 

THIRD AND SEVENTH STEP PRAYERS

I have been involved in 12 step recovery for decades. During recent years I have been a part of a daily conference call for brief check-ins. Normally we start the meeting with the Third Step prayer that is in the Big Book of AA. And we end the call with the Seventh Step prayer from the Big Book of AA. These are very short devotional statements. 

A person could use these in the mornings and/or the evenings as part of their spiritual practices. 

Also, these could be helpful during times of mental or emotional chaos to restart your prayers. 

Perhaps out of all the pages here this page might prove to be the page that is reused the most to prompt prayers. 

I keep a printed copy by my reading chair.  (See the Introduction to learn how to print out selected pages.)

Plus it might be wise to memorize these prayers because they are so brief. 

And for older children, if they memorized these prayers then that could serve them for the rest of their lives.

Such profoundly deep devotional statements could be used to greatly strengthen the bonds between any person and God. 

PESTLE 

The title of this article is PESTLE in the Context of the Coronavirus.  Here PESTLE stands for Political, Economic, Social, Technical, Environmental, and Legal. The contents of this article have helped me have perspective and insights into this pandemic. And I had been better understanding many parts of life using this tool for years. 

LITURGY

During a recent online church service, my pastor shared a simple yet timely liturgy. The title is Prayers for Sunday March 29th, 2020.  This states in a few simple sentences the thoughts and feelings that many of us can identify with during these trying times. 

REVIEW

In the Introduction to this Volume, I told how the only book I found about prayer that impressed me was the  Lifeway workbook titled Disciples Prayer Life: Walking in Fellowship with God by T. W. Hunt and Catherine Walker. This presents a grand overview of prayer with suitable Bible lessons and exercises. 

What follows in this Appendix is the favorable review I gave it on Amazon. Also, there is the link to where you might buy it on Amazon or Christian Book. It was written in 1999. So it is not currently promoted and maybe not popular. Maybe as this message spreads it may sell out at some outlets. You might need to search for other outlets that sell this workbook or ask an offline bookstore to find it for you. 

Wants are not Needs

WANTS

Your flesh will always want more and better pleasures.

Your tongue will not tire of enjoyable taste sensations.

Your stomach will seek better and more food -- regardless of the budget limitations.

Your eyes will not stop longing to satisfy some illusive internal desires.

Your feet will sometimes want to wander from His paths of righteousness.

You will never afford ALL the latest and greatest things in the marketplace.

You can never have enough money or things to ensure a problem-free life.

You cannot please all the people all the time.

You will never keep up with all the Joneses and their latest status symbols.

You will never have perfect relationships with imperfect humans.

You will never win all the competitions in the Rat Race.

PERSPECTIVE

You are mortal and thus your life will end someday.

You cannot take your possessions with you to Heaven.

Your flesh will always seek to avoid pain, discomfort, and inconvenience.

Your price for following Jesus can include pain, discomfort, and inconvenience.

You either choose your values, priorities, and goals or you just react to life.

You receive millions of signals each year from the fallen world system.

NEEDS

You need to habitually renew your mind by the washing with the water of the Word.

You need to pray often and ask others to pray for you as needed.

You were not designed by God to live isolated from people.

You have what others need and others have what you need.

You need to humble yourself and to reveal your needs to the right persons.

You need to gently and graciously offer what you have to others.

You must never let pride keep you from relating with God and people.

You need to learn how to accept others just as they are.

You need to extend acceptance and unconditional love to all.

You need to love the sinner while hating the sin.

You need to love others as God in Christ has loved you.

You need to trust that God will convict, convert, and cleanse those you love.

You need to become available to be used by God anytime and anywhere.

You need to communicate the truth in love with humility and compassion.

You need to regularly give and receive agape love; so that your joy may be full.

You need to pray as if the outcome depends on God, while also being fully responsible.

You need to grow up and accept some more responsibility in the Body of Christ.

You need to be conformed to the image of Christ in all things.

You need to walk by faith and not by sight.

You need to fear God more and fear people less.

You need to choose to daily follow Jesus in trusting obedience.

Is Jesus Christ My Good Shepherd?

If Jesus Christ is my Good Shepherd then …

He is always completely committed to guide me in ways that are best for me.

He knows the kinds of challenges and opportunities that will lead to maturity.

He is able to meet me right where I am in my pain, needs, loneliness, etc.

He cares about me personally and is committed to my long term best interests.

He will not leave me, forsake me, or abandon me ever – not even one time.

If Jesus Christ is my Good Shepherd then …

I can continually trust His heart when I cannot see His hand.

I may rest in His ability to provide according to my needs and not my wants.

I know that His perfect character is always above reproach – He is pure & holy.

I can recognize that the great Creator of nature is also my own Shepherd.

I recall that He paid the ultimate price to save me, so He will not neglect me.

If Jesus Christ is my Good Shepherd then …

I know His still small voice contrasted to the voice of strangers.

I follow Him as a sheep follows a shepherd.

I have simple marching orders, “Follow Me.” one day at a time.

I can completely trust Him because He laid down His life for me.

I have been put into the hand of Jesus by the Father and cannot be removed.

If Jesus Christ is my Good Shepherd then …

He makes me lie down in green pastures.

He leads me beside still waters.

He restores my soul.

He guides me in paths of righteousness for His name’s sake.

His rod and staff comfort me in the valley of the shadow of death.

He prepares a table before me in the presence of my enemies.

He anoints my head with oil.

He has prepared a place for me to dwell in heaven with Him forever.

If Jesus Christ is my Good Shepherd then …

all the Bible says about how He relates with His sheep is available for me.

all the principles in the tenth chapter of the gospel of John are about Him and me.

all the verses of the beloved Psalm 23 are part of my spiritual heritage.

all these precepts are offered to me by His grace and can be activated by my faith.

all of this is available to me 24/7 regardless of my feelings or circumstances.

God Loves You

No matter where you are in life, God loves you, just as you are … right now … there are no exceptions!

No matter what your past memories and pains accuse you about … God loves you today … all day!

He knows about each of your feelings and all of your reasoning amidst His unconditional love for you.

No matter how bleak the future may seem, God loves you, His unconditional love will shine on you.

According to the Bible, it is an absolute fact that God loves you personally and all the time.

This Bible-based truth can be a source of comfort, strength, and faith no matter the circumstances.

External challenges and internal struggles can cast long shadows on simple liberating truths.

Yet knowing the truth will set you free and reaching out by faith for biblical truth, pleases God.

When you feel tossed around by the storms of life, just let your theology inform your faith.

Bring the lessons of the past into the present so that you will face the future with hope in God.

Every single truth you once knew about God or Jesus before is just as true today and tomorrow.

Jesus Christ is the same, yesterday, today and forever … He is the eternal unchanging Rock.

It is the very nature of God to love people and He can never violate His divine nature.

Your thoughts, words, deeds, feelings, and circumstances can never change the essence of God.

The Bible says it rains on the just and the unjust – anyone can see that the rain falls all over the place.

Likewise, the love of God extends universally to all humans – the good, the bad, and the ugly.

The greatest challenge for those who follow Jesus is to love everyone gracefully as God does.

SUN

Consider what you know about the sun at the center of our solar system.

There is never one moment when the sun is not shining, period.

It is not possible for the sun to stop giving light generously in all directions.

It may seem that the sun rises and sets, but that is just due to our limited perspective.

On a cloudy day or when a storm is raging, the sun did not stop shining for one second.

You can draw the parallel with the love of God, He loves you 24/7 due to His nature.

Your condition spiritually, mentally, emotionally and any other way cannot stop His love.

The largest and friendliest navigation buoy in the ocean of life is labeled - God Loves You.

The love of God motivates Him to unselfishly extend the Good News to all who have ears to hear.

The love of God motivates Him to unselfishly extend His grace and mercy to His children daily.

The grandest motivation in the universe is the love of God pouring continually from His great heart.

The Bible says that God the Father loves much better than any parent ever did … just ponder that.

Recall paintings of Jesus as the Good Shepherd; inside those warm and fuzzy images see God loving you.

A small child, a new believer, and a wounded soul can draw close to God when perceived in that way.

You too can come to the Good Shepherd today as His sheep and experience His gracious love.

HOLY SPIRIT

The Son of God was on the earth for a brief lifetime before He returned to Heaven.

But before Jesus departed He gave the promise of the Holy Spirit to abide in the believers.

It was a loving deed to send the one He called another Comforter.

Calling Him ‘another’ would imply Jesus is a comforter too.

Consider the very best comfort that has been given by a mother, grandmother, or nurse.

No matter how good any human can comfort, God can comfort much better.

The comfort that God gives freely is a further demonstration that God loves you personally.

The comfort that God provides gets closer to the heart than the closest friend, spouse, or parent.

FRIEND

Jesus Christ told his disciples that they could call him “Friend”, and that is an amazing statement.

The Son of God, who is the second person of the Trinity, said here is a very close way to relate with Me.

Note that a true friend will listen to all your thoughts and feelings without turning against you.

A real friend will express love by using an abundance of acceptance, appreciation, and respect.

An authentic friend will know how and when to communicate the truth in love for your improvement.

A genuine friend is faithful and loyal to the end – never leaving nor forsaking you.

The best of friends stay by your side during thick and thin – especially when no one else does.

ENGAGED

When a man falls in love with a woman and they get engaged, he gives her gifts as a token of his love.

Each gift is a tangible expression of his affection, appreciation, and attachment.

The man seeks to demonstrate his feelings in small and large ways.

The invisible emotions become visible things and deeds of service.

A gift by its nature has no strings attached so that the woman does not owe money or an equal gift.

This dance of love is intended to bond the couple together in mutual love and respect.

There is a hope and expectation that she will love him too.

This delightful season that fills poems, novels, and movies has a long-term purpose.

After the lovey-dovey season, there will surely come storms of life and long periods of dullness.

The many years of pressure, stress, and hardships will test the strength of the love bond.

As marriage is a picture of the believer’s relationship with Christ so there are lessons to be gained.

The main way to see the lessons is to pray for eyes to see and ears to hear how God expresses His love.

EXPRESSIONS

This essay is just a tiny sketch of the vast mural of how God is offering expressions of His love daily.

Consider the various times that people spontaneously acknowledge God as being present.

People are often moved to acknowledge God when a baby is born.

This can occur with an unusually lovely sunrise or sunset.

This can occur when a majestic vista as seen from the top of a mountain.

Consider the nature backgrounds used for inspirational cards, posters, slide shows, music videos, etc.

Think about the photos from the Grand Canyon, Hubble satellite of the galaxies, and earth from the moon.

Sometimes on Christian TV programs, there are Bible verses with instrumental music and nature scenes.

So may I suggest that the beauty of nature is just one of the many gifts from God to you.

Each time God sends someone into your life to speak words of encouragement, then that is His gift to you.

NOTHING

It might be a fact that you did or did not do something that is a violation of His high standards. 

It could be true that you are not experiencing close fellowship with God the Father and His Son. 

Maybe the Holy Spirit has been convicting your conscience of unrighteous actions or attitudes. 

Just because your side of the bridge is cluttered and blocked that does not mean His side is too. 

The apostle Paul said that nothing separated you from the love of God in Christ. (Romans 8:35-39)

And just in case there was confusion about the term nothing, he gave a long list to eliminate exceptions.

CREATOR

The Holy Spirit points to nature to inspire readers in the book of Psalms and the book of Job.

All that can be seen, heard, and felt about nature is the handiwork of the Creator according to the Bible.

Remember the best photos, paintings and personal encounters with nature in your lifetime.

All that you have made contact within your limited experience and much more is His creation.

Also at the same time without any contradiction or confusion that grand Creator is intimately personal.

You cannot see into the spiritual realm where angels dwell, yet God is in the here and now with you.

Jesus is everywhere all the time, so He is closer than your breath and more intimate than your thoughts.

You can never escape from God no matter where you run or how hard you try.

The One who said I am the Way, the Truth and the Life is always present, He is only a thought away.

LOCATION

You do not need to wait until Sunday morning to get dressed and go into a certain church building.

You can communicate with the living God who loves you right where you are and just as you are.

The love of God can reach you in your bedroom, car, office, bathroom, kitchen, garage, backyard, etc.

SHEPHERD

Consider that God already gave His best when He sent His only Son to save your soul.

Jesus willingly laid down His life when He, the Good Shepherd, died for you, His lost sheep.

The faithful shepherd left the 99 to seek and find you.

Jesus did not leave you comfortless but sent the Comforter to abide in you.

The Holy Spirit lives in you today to quicken the Word of God and point you to Jesus.

CHANGELESS 

God cannot love you more and He will not love you less.

God can never change and His commitment to love you, it is eternal.

You are His adopted child, so He will never disown you.

Your acceptance before God is based only on Jesus’ finished work.

You can never add to or take from the Word of God that is forever settled in Heaven.

SAVIOR

For the joy set before Him, your Savior endured the Cross despising the shame.

In the garden of Gethsemane, your substitutionary sacrifice willingly chose to drink the cup for you.

Jesus as the Son of Man allowed Himself to be arrested.

Christ endured false accusations and phony trials.

The Son of God could have called 10,000 angels to prevent the scourging and crucifixion.

The Word made flesh walked in obedience to Isaiah 53 and dozens of other prophecies.

The Lamb of God took away the sins of the world just as John the Baptist said He would.

GRACE

The Holy Communion is a reminder of God’s great love.

The Body of Christ was broken for you one time.

The Blood of Christ was shed for you as the only way to ransom your soul.

You could not know you were lost apart from the conviction of the Holy Spirit.

You could never do enough or forsake enough to become qualified to be redeemed.

God loved you when you were completely unrighteous and spiritually ugly.

God knew every detail about your past and the darkness of the intents of your heart.

God gradually and gracefully drew you to Himself by the Holy Spirit.

God’s acceptance of you today, tomorrow, and forever is totally due to the merits of Christ.

You did not and cannot deserve the love of God for it is a gift of marvelous grace.

LOVE

We can love God because He first loved us.

Our Christian service is to be motivated by our gratitude for God’s love.

A lack of love for God or people can be cured by fervently embracing God’s love.

It is a lie when feelings, circumstances, or analyses imply that God does not love you.

REMEMBER

When in doubt, just seek and find any point of trust in God or His Word and then

remember the testimonies of answered prayer

recall personal revelations of His goodness, love, grace, mercy, etc.

review the points above

gradually rebuild your faith and confidence in God’s love for you

find creative and constructive ways to love God and people

Remember, what God wants is our respect, worship, and love for Him.

We demonstrate our love for God by loving people in the name of Jesus.

Coronavirus Prayer Guide

Let us pray about the short-term and long-term impacts of the coronavirus (the technical name is covid-19). Let us pray earnestly for family members, friends, and many others worldwide. Let us pray for others like we would want them to pray for us.  

As a retired person, I have had more time to research and ponder this matter than those who must juggle family responsibilities, careers, and other demands on their time. 

The following is a simple summary of important matters related to the coronavirus. This goes far beyond personal health concerns. There are many other considerations. Each of these considerations can serve as fuel for your faith-filled prayers. This takes the long term and big picture perspective that the media ignores. 

It is my conviction that it is better to know the full truth as soon as possible. Then thoughts, feelings, prayers, plans, and actions can be adjusted to conform to reality. This is better than knowing part of the truth and a mixture of pleasant lies. That comfortable but toxic mix can lead to faulty thinking, false hope, poor planning, missed opportunities, and wasted efforts.    

My intention here is to offer you my best thinking about these complicated matters. Then I hope you will convert this raw material into earnest prayers. As you pray in faith God will answer your prayers and the prayers of others. Together we will make this world a better place and we will glorify God. That is my agenda. 

I do not seek to sell you anything. I am not requesting donations. I do not seek to use sensationalism or fear to get you overly excited. I do not have a bias to make the president seem like an angel or a devil.  

I just want you to have access to my simple summary of the facts and my analysis. I hope that the Holy Spirit will use this to guide you into praying better.

We have been blessed as Christians to have a personal relationship with the living God. We have the Bible and the Holy Spirit to train us in how to pray. The Word of God instructs us to put on the whole armor of God and pray for others. (Ephesians 6: 10-17) So we are not powerless spectators to an unfolding worldwide pandemic. Instead, we are colaborers with God in the protection, healing, and blessings of fellow humans. Prayer is a mighty force for good. Let us come to God humbly. Let us be bold in our faith in Jesus Christ. Let us be fervent, persistent, and consistent in our prayers.  

Please let the following information serve as seeds in your mind and heart. May the following prompt you to pray better. Feel free to do your own research online or elsewhere to learn more and keep up to date. 

Do not let the waves of news about this virus fuel your fears or destroy your hope. Allow this season to become one when you practiced prayer more and better than ever. Let the love of God flow through your prayers. 

CURRENT CONDITIONS

The coronavirus has come to the USA. Currently, the communities of Seattle and New York City have been hardest hit. Recently most of the nation went on shut down. All major gatherings have been suspended. This includes schools, places of employment, sporting events, bars, restaurants, and more.  People are required to shelter in place. Only essential workers go to their offline jobs.

Transportation has been disrupted as borders have been closed in nations and cities. There are very few airline flights. This has deeply impacted worldwide industries like tourism, hotels, cruises, and all the small businesses that support such enterprises worldwide.

Families have been coming together as never before due to the shutdown. Family members are forced to relate because children are not going to school and most parents are not going to jobs. They cannot just go out for social gatherings as they did due to the 6-foot social distancing rule. 

Most school students are beginning to learn how to continue their education remotely from home. 

Many (but not all) employees have been able to transition so they can work remotely from home. 

People have been going to the stores to stockpile what they might need. The toilet paper was the first product to sell out. And there are empty shelves on many other aisles too. 

INTERNATIONAL

The coronavirus continues to spread rapidly all around the world. Currently, the countries that have been hardest hit have been China, Italy, and Iran. There has been a chronic shortage of facemasks here in the USA as well as everywhere. 

The news says that the health care systems in Italy have been totally overwhelmed. There was far more demand for hospital beds as well as health care workers and services than there have been resources to supply the needs.  Millions of people worldwide are on shutdown in order to prevent such an overwhelm elsewhere.

If you search for ‘flatten the curve’ and then click on the ‘Images tab’ under the search field you will find many graphs and infographics to illustrate why these measures are so important. This shutdown has been stressful and inconvenient. But this is saving lives as shown in the ‘flatten the curve’ graphs and articles. 

You can do a related search for ‘social distancing’ and then click on the ‘Images tab’ to bring up graphs and infographics. These visual aids can help you and children better understand and appreciate what such terms mean. Also, search on Pinterest for these and other terms in the news. 

There are millions of people in all countries that have been making major adjustments to work from home and to do schooling from home. That involves getting the hardware, software, and internet connections to operate in harmony. There is a need to make space for that in the household. There is a need to find privacy and quiet while other family members do other things. Plus there might be all kinds of new computer skills to learn. There are teachers and school administrators that are reinventing their jobs as they go. Fortunately, there are online tutorials and FAQs. But this is a huge amount of learning for anyone during the best of times. 

There are those who have been thrust into this remote world that do not have English as their first language. Yet most of the online help is in English.

There are those who were about to graduate from high school or college. So now they need to reconsider all their future career plans in the light of this collective uncertainty. 

There has always been a natural affection between grandparents and grandchildren. In most cases, they love to be together. Yet suddenly that is not safe. So there is grief on both sides. 

There are mothers that had been juggling dozens of balls daily last year. To help with their mental and emotional health the children were away at daycare or school. They could go shopping and go see friends as needed. But for many, they need to also supervise homeschooling which is a big bundle of complications. 

Let us be honest. Men get their sense of value and self-worth from their work. Some can continue to work remotely and others are essential workers that continue to have offline jobs. But millions have become unemployed in all kinds of industries due to no fault of their own. There are more men seeking jobs than there are job openings. 

Let us be realistic. During these times people will act out on old addictions or start new ones. There will be an increase in alcohol abuse, drug abuse, and overeating. Those are ways that people use to cope with very painful feelings and thoughts. 

Let us know that in these pressure-cooker circumstances there will be more domestic violence and sexual assault on children. There will be more divorces than normal. That is just a logical conclusion based on the many crazy factors. 

My deepest concern is for the huge increase in pregnancies. Logically as couples are under the same roof day and night, then they will pass the time together in intimate ways.  Before this pandemic, there were enough people and resources in place to help the average number of pregnancies each year. So in 9 months after the shutdown began and for as long as this shutdown lasts, the number of births will go up dramatically. Plus the pregnant woman has special needs for prenatal and postnatal assistance. I hope wise people are getting things ready for this massive increase in births.

During the best of times, life as a homeless person is super difficult. (I lived in a homeless shelter for 3 years.) There is rarely enough good food. There is exposure to the weather no matter how hot, cold, or rainy. The number of personal possessions is very few. Just imagine living out of a backpack for years. There is no sense of safety, security, or stability. Having hope that things will get better is absent or fragile. Washing the body and clothes is challenging. Personal hygiene can be a luxury. They have zero health insurance. Normally they have very few friends or none. Family relationships are strained or nonexistent in most cases Challenges with self-esteem and self-worth are hard to imagine. Very few employers would hire a homeless person. About half the residents at the homeless shelter where I lived were women. And about a fourth of those women had children from infants to teens. Studies show that only 20 percent of homeless people live in shelters. The rest live out in the rough. Some that lived at the shelter attended church because they could shower and clean their clothes. But few that live in the rough attended. Those who live in the rough are vulnerable to being assaulted or robbed. Logically there will be a huge increase in homelessness due to the lack of employment that leads to a lack of income.  

There are 3 major complications related to understanding this pandemic. First is that there has been a shortage of testing kits in every country. And second is that there is data that proves those who do not have symptoms (asymptomatic) could be spreading the virus. The third is that there have been a great many that died at home but those were not confirmed cases (because they were not tested before they died), so those numbers were not added to the reported statistics. 

The concern about the disruptions of the supply chains and travel restrictions has led the prices in the stock markets to fall. That has an impact on the financial well being of many millions of people already. It is unknown when this downward trend will turn around. 

The quarantines and travel restrictions have rippling impacts on the economy. People cannot go to work. When they do not go to work then they do not produce products and services. That disrupts local, national, and international supply chains. When products are not made and shipped then others cannot sell and buy. This includes food. That ripples out to us in the USA and everyone else. Amazon, Walmart, and many other stores sold products that were made in China a few months ago. So this shutdown impacts what will be on the shelves.

We are blessed to live in a developed country here in the USA. But there are billions of fellow humans that are not so blessed. Millions of the poorest ones do not have easy access to plenty of food, clean water, and health care services. Consider those who live packed together in urban slums, they are very vulnerable. Our love and concern for them can be expressed in earnest prayers. 

I recently heard from a missionary in a Latin American country. The entire country is on quarantine with military patrols. People are arrested for breaking the quarantine. This mission agency was given special permission to deliver much-needed beans and rice to those who cannot come out. Pray earnestly for this and other missionaries that are on the front lines. Note that there will be many who do not die of the virus but starve to death. 

There are those that are living in very close quarters that are extra vulnerable. These include those in nursing homes, prisons, homeless shelters, refugee camps, slums, and hospital wards.

There are those who need to get close to people as a part of their job. These include police officers, paramedics, nurses, doctors, prison guards, hospital chaplains, prison chaplains, funeral home workers, midwives, cashiers in retail stores, dentists (limited to emergency procedures), and more.

Where I go for my updates about the coronavirus is the Youtube channel named Peak Prosperity. These give an international perspective that is data-based and logical. Plus there is much more on the Peak Prosperity website.

GENERALLY 

Nothing like this has happened in modern days. (But there were plagues that happened centuries ago.)

The scientists are doing their best to quickly learn and inform others.

The political leaders everywhere are needing to make adjustments as events unfold quickly. They must make tough choices to balance saving lives and saving the economy.

There are health care workers on the front lines of this pandemic. Their lives are at risk as they seek to help others.

The elderly are the most vulnerable but those of all ages have caught the virus. Many of those that did recover had lung damage. 

This virus has infected all people of all kinds that includes the rich and the poor, the liberals and the conservatives, all races, all nationalities, all religions, etc. 

Only the worst cases are admitted at many doctor offices, clinics, and hospitals. So people are stuck at home with personal pains or those of their children. There is a need to find alternative remedies and pain relief. That includes troubles that had gone to the dentist. 

There has been a massive migration of business and schooling that has shifted to online platforms. So there are workers, students, and teachers that have been put on a steep learning curve to get up to speed. 

People have been suddenly thrust into a new kind of lifestyle for an unknown length of time. This radical change plus the various news reports have led to feelings of anxiety, fear, uncertainty, worry, panic, depression, overwhelm, and more.

Ultimately we are all in this together. We are entwined in a dance that keeps changing.

PEOPLE

Those who are the most vulnerable are the senior citizens as well as those with preexisting health conditions like diabetes or problems with the lungs or heart.

Notice that seniors are vulnerable to any disease. Typically they watch TV all day and all night. Most of those over 70 do not know how to use the Internet. Most of my neighbors are in their 70s and 80s and they take 6 to 9 or more prescription pills daily. Most seniors I know of are living alone or in nursing homes, while only a few live with family members. In their isolation from family and friends, their thoughts and feelings can spin around and around. 

Consider the context of your family members, friends, church members, neighbors, and others. Almost all of them are at home all the time. All of them are facing the same uncertainties about the future. All of them must cope with the news. All of them are passing through major lifestyle changes. Some of them live alone. Some of them live just with a spouse. Some live with small children. Some live with teens and/or college-age students. None of them have an abundance of social interactions.

Those alone are most vulnerable to feelings of great loneliness. Those with just spouses need to expand their range of relationships because no one person can meet all the social needs of another person. Those with young and older children have many complications to juggle all the tasks. They need targeted prayers and adult fellowship. 

ESSENTIAL WORKERS

The restrictions to ‘shelter in place’ are for those that are not essential workers. Let us consider who might be the essential workers for our best prayers. Most of these are unsung heroes that have always been diligently working behind the scenes to keep our society running all along. 

Obviously, that includes doctors and nurses. But a hospital needs lots of other staff as well to keep things going. There are those who need to work in the laundry, supply rooms, food services, janitorial, bookkeeping, maintenance, security, etc. 

There are those that work at pharmacies and their helpers. 

Recently I heard a train whistle in the distance at night. Then I remembered those that have been working that late shift so that we have products on the shelves to buy and so companies have raw materials to make the products. 

The truckers keep the cargo moving so that the products can be sold and bought. 

There are those that work at ports that move the cargo to the trucks and trains.

There are those that work at the grocery stores where we buy our food. 

There are computer geeks that keep the internet and phone lines operating. 

There are those that work to keep each utility working including the water department, electricity, garbage pickup, etc. 

There are those that work at morgues, funeral homes, crematoriums, and cemeteries.

There are those that work at gasoline stations so that all the others have fuel to move around. 

There are the farmers and ranchers as well as all those involved in processing the food until it reaches the consumer.

There are experienced workers in the trades like plumbers, electricians, roofers, and AC & Heater workers.

There are those that deliver goods like drivers for UPS, FedEx, and Amazon.

There are those that work in cybersecurity so that all of us that are online are not hacked.

There are all those in the military and national guard that enforce these new laws to keep us safe.

There are all the pastors, church staff, elders, and church volunteers that have been learning new ways to serve others.

Here is a link to 10 ways to pray for pastors during this difficult season. The headings are perspective, patience, peace, paycheck, partner, posterity, pastoral skills, physical wellness, parishioners, and preaching. There are more useful articles on this site https://factsandtrends.net/2020/03/26/10-ways-to-pray-for-your-pastor-during-the-covid-19-outbreak/ 

Therefore let us pray that God will guide us all in taking prudent measures to prevent the spread of this virus. And especially pray for the protection of these key players. 

FEELINGS

Note that for each person who dies of the coronavirus (or any other cause) there are many around them that will be plunged into grief. Consider how many would have attended any funeral or memorial service. Each person there in their own way must deal with grief. I have never met or heard of a person that dealt with major grief easily. This is more complicated because of the ban on gathering at funerals. 

There are elements of worry, uncertainty, and fear experienced by those who consume the news about the coronavirus. 

Fears related to news about coronavirus (or any topic) can paralyze the mind and limit clear thinking about practical options. Let us monitor our own thoughts and feelings. Let us help others to gain a balanced perspective on this and other matters. Let us seek, find, and focus on what is positive and hope-filled.

I came upon a person that has started to call this enforced homebound season as ‘nesting’. That is a clever way to reframe reality. 

PRAYERS

In this final section, I have written specific prayer guides. Plus all the other sections have implied targets for your love-led and faith-filled prayers. I feel that I would clutter this article if I included a prayer request for each section or paragraph. 

May God shield the hearts and minds of those we pray for and ourselves. 

May God grant those we pray for as well as ourselves peace and hope. 

Let’s pray that God will guide us on how to take suitable measures to be ready for possible future conditions. Besides getting ready, pray that we respond to situations wisely as they arise in the coming months. 

Let’s pray for God to grant wisdom and guidance to all the political leaders and scientific experts. May they set aside their differences and come together for the common good. 

Let’s pray that objective and truthful information be shared. May God make a way that the media decreases sensationalism and fear-mongering. May they minimize making everything about politics and the president. 

Some say to prepare for the worst while hoping for the best. Such a response might be wise in this case and other kinds of potential threats like hurricanes, forest fires, and earthquakes. 

May we fully trust in the Lord with all our hearts while not leaning to our own understanding. May we acknowledge Him in all your ways about this and related issues. Then God will guide our paths. Proverbs 3:5,6.

(You are invited to use any and all of this in your personal prayer life and during prayer times with your families and others. You are invited to forward this to others if it came to you as an email. You can print out the PDF for your personal use and share copies with others. You're welcomed to adapt it and change it as you please. That includes translating it into another language.) 

Shalom 

John S. Oliver 

(This is version 2.0 was first published on April 5, 2020)
(Go to the Facebook page named Let’s Pray Better for more prayer guides.)

Third and Seventh Steps and Prayers of AA 

(and used in other 12 step recovery programs)

Step 3. Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understood God.

God, I offer myself to Thee - 

To build with me and to do with me as Thou wilt. 

Relieve me of the bondage of self, that I may better do Thy will. 

Take away my difficulties, 

that victory over them may bear witness 

to those I would help 

of Thy Power, Thy Love, and Thy Way of life. 

May I do Thy will always!

from the Alcoholics Anonymous’ Big Book page 63

---

Step 7. Humbly asked God to remove our shortcomings.

My Creator, 

I am now willing that You should have all of me, good and bad. 

I pray that You now remove from me every single defect of character 

which stands in the way of my usefulness to You and my fellows. 

Grant me strength, as I go out from here, to do Your bidding. 

Amen

from the Alcoholics Anonymous’ Big Book page 76

PESTLE in the Context of the Coronavirus

There is a simple acronym that can help to make sense of all these complex and ever-changing developments. The business leaders have been using the acronym PESTLE. That stands for Political, Economic, Social, Technical, Environmental, and Legal. Each of these topics interacts with all the others. Together they form the past, present, and future conditions. These considerations are useful in making strategic plans for a company. 

Those 6 factors are interacting for all of us locally, nationally, and internationally as we move through this challenging valley. Typically a news report or blog post is focused on just one or maybe two of these 6. Yet the others are also relevant in the background.

Let me offer my current thinking about these matters as they related to us impacted by the coronavirus. Later I may develop an entire long article as I make more observations and reflect on them.

Recently congress passed a stimulus package (March 26, 2020) that will help businesses and send money to citizens. Note that before that law was passed the politicians debated about what to include and exclude in the bill. The passing of that bill will have rippling impacts on the economy and the social fabric of our nation. (Similar measures have been taken in other countries.) So that is an example of where the politicians were the Political factor, that needed to pass laws that were the Legal factor, this leads to changes in taxes, small business loans, and ‘helicopter money’ sent to adults and children that were the Economic factor, then those funds will allow businesses to continue to employ people plus the windfall of money will lead to a surge in purchases so that is the Economic factor.

What motivated these drastic measures was the rapid spreading of the coronavirus. This tiny organism operates according to the processes of biology. The Technology factor comes into play as the scientists worldwide study how this virus works. From that they recommend procedures like social distancing to minimize the spread. The technologies are used for testing and treatment. What is needed in severe cases is isolation rooms and in the worst cases ICU Intensive Care Units. Technology is also active as many are working toward a cure and vaccine. 

Environmental could be considered in various ways in this context including the following. What are the dominant thoughts, feelings, attitudes, outlooks, expectations, fears, hopes, etc. in each family, small group, church members, local community, city, state, nation, etc.  It would be useful to monitor these with objective and subjective measurements. This shutdown has only just begun. It will not end anytime soon. So monitoring might help to know how best to pray. 

At the end of the day, laws do not pass themselves. There are lawyers and politicians involved in the formation, passing, and enforcing laws. Many laws impact the economics and social life of individuals and families as well as groups. By reviewing history that goes back decades and centuries it can be noticed that social fabric, economic opportunities, and overall environment have shifted for women, African Americans, Native Americans, minorities, etc. The same is happening currently but mostly at such a slow pace that it is difficult to detect.    

PESTLE is not something that people made up or created. It was discovered as an underlying truth. This is just like math, physics, chemistry, and geometry are always present no matter if we notice them or not. 

You can search for the acronym PESTLE and click on the “Images tab’ to find infographics that will give simple summaries of how this tool has been used in business for years. 

Prayers for Sunday March 29th, 2020

by Nadia Bolz-Weber

For the layers of comfort and convenience that surrounded our lives and that we never considered a blessing but always just took for granted, forgive us.

For we who must grieve in isolation and not in community, comfort us.

For we who care for the sick, protect us.

For the ability to turn off the fear-mongering and unhelpful commentary and worst-case scenario click bait, strengthen us.

For the times when we are all out of creative ideas for how to get through this with cooped up kids, inspire us. 

For we who are now cutting our own bangs at home, guide us.

For the grace to allow ourselves and others to just be less productive, shower us.

For the generosity needed from those of us who have more resources, empower us.

From our own selfish inclinations, deliver us.

For just being your children, none of whom have done a global pandemic before, love us.

For the days ahead, accompany us.

God unbound by time, help us to know that you are already present in the future we are fearing.

AMEN. 

Nadia Bolz-Weber

Source https://nadiabolzweber.substack.com/p/sunday-prayers/

Disciples Prayer Life: Walking in Fellowship with God 

by T. W. Hunt and Catherine Walker

(Here is my review on Amazon with a 5-star rating.)

I had read books to teach prayer and most of them disappointed me. At the end of the day, they were just basic Bible lessons with some inspiring stories.

I knew that prayer is not just about knowledge and inspiration. Ultimately prayer is gaining the skill of communicating with God in the ways that are presented in the Bible. That seemed simple but I could not find anyone to guide me along that path.

Then God led me to this amazing workbook. It is not just yet more lessons to read and forget. It is presented in an interactive method. That makes all the difference.

This is a typical Lifeway workbook that is published to serve Sunday school classes. There are 13 chapters to cover a typical 13-week term. Each chapter has 5 sections so that there is some work to do 5 days a week.

I had gone through other Lifeway workbooks with Sunday school classes before. So I know this is an effective way to learn as the group meets weekly to discuss the previous week’s lessons.

I did not find a group that was going through this workbook. But I wanted to learn to pray. So I bought it and went through it on my own. I have gone back to it several times and highlighted in different colors what resonated with me.

What makes this extra special is that the writers are clearly very experienced in prayer. They bring a tone that makes this a very spiritual workbook.

I would highly recommend this book for

Prayer warriors - those committed to earnest intercession

Missionaries

Small group leaders

Sunday school teachers

Concerned parents and grandparents

Bible college and seminary students

Pastors and especially youth pastors

Chaplins of all kinds

https://www.amazon.com/Disciples-Prayer-Life-Walking-Fellowship/dp/0767334949/ 

https://www.christianbook.com/disciples-prayer-life-walking-fellowship-with/t-w-hunt/9780767334945/

Highlighted Bible Verses

(The following units look best on a white background, so they are also shared as a separate attachment.)

DAILY SPIRITUAL WARFARE

Years ago I had a female neighbor that was a disabled American veteran with many health challenges. She was seriously injured in the first Persian Gulf war. She was helping carry a stretcher with a medic to load a wounded soldier into a helicopter when she stepped on a landmine. All 3 of them went high in the sky. She seriously damaged her back and other parts of her body. She was in chronic pain for many years before I met her. She had been visiting many specialist doctors and taking many prescription medications. 

God used me to enroll much prayer for her. I witnessed many answers to those prayer requests. 

She coped with her pains and sleepless nights by praying yet more. She prayed earnestly for herself and many others. 

She knew that I studied the Bible and asked me for Bible verses to help in her prayers. 

I gave her the one-page unit titled Daily Spiritual Warfare. She used it often. I have given out dozens of copies to others.

During these shutdown times here are just a few Bible verses for you to focus your best attention. It would be useful to memorize the ones that stand out to you the most. You could meditate on them by rolling them over and over again in your mind. You could look them up in context to get a richer understanding. 

Most of these Bible verses are found online and in books under the heading biblical promises. If this kind of perspective on the Bible interests you, then research the Bible promises online and maybe buy a book related to this subject. But be warned that sometimes verses that are listed as promises do not mean what they seem to say when considered in their biblical context. I believe these verses are suitable. 

The local Christian radio station is offering a free ebook with 30 Bible verses with the title Scripture during Times of Uncertainty. And they offer other resources here https://www.kcbi.org/coronavirus-updates/ Check your local Christian radio station for such bits of help.   

It would be smart to meditate on those few verses that stand out to you the most. I have often put 1 or 2 verses on an index card and taped it near my computer screen so that I would remember to meditate on it. 

Note carefully the color code at the bottom of that page. Before she asked me for key Bible verses I had been using that color code in my Bible for many years. This was based on my application of John 14:15, 1 John 2:2,3, and 1 John 5:3 that says in different ways to love God is to keep His commandments. So I highlighted in my print Bible green for what I am to do and red for what I am not to do. I found that there was far more green than red highlights. Then I noticed that as I obeyed the green light and red light verses there were vital words related to what God did very near so I highlighted them in yellow. So in many ways trusting and obeying the Lord Jesus Christ is like participating in a spiritual dance. 

I have offered these in both the King James Version and in the New International Version. There are some small but striking differences. You might want to look up other translations in a print Bible you own or online. The online reference source for Bible study that I like best is Bible Hub www.biblehub.com 

PSALM 91

The Bible has more than 30 thousand verses. The most popular verses give us the Lord’s Prayer and Psalm 23. 

Within the covers of the Bible, there is poetry, stories, history, teachings, prophecies, genealogies, and much more. 

Over the centuries God made a way for thousands of missionaries to go to every part of the world. Most of them over the centuries went by faith in obedience to the calling of God in their life. They were in a strange land and did not have any safety net for their protection. So, of course, they prayed earnestly and often. They looked to the Bible to inform and to guide their fervent prayers. 

There are tales of how in the most difficult times the small part of the whole Bible that they leaned on the most was Psalm 91. (By contrast, thinking about genealogies, the details of ancient battles, or decorations in the temple would not tend to inspire strong faith in God.) 

This half-page of the Bible is written to the person that is pinned down in a foxhole during spiritual troubles. 

This is a ripe season to memorize these verses. 

You could meditate on them by rolling them over and over again in your mind. 

It would be smart to meditate on those few verses that stand out to you the most.

I have offered these in both the King James Version and in the New International Version. There are some small but striking differences. You might want to look up other translations in a print Bible you own or online. The online reference source for Bible study that I like best is Bible Hub www.biblehub.com

Daily Spiritual Warfare

Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths. (Proverbs 3:5, 6)

If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. (1 John 1:9)

But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. (Matthew 6:33)

Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, dwell on these things. (Philippians 4:6-8)

Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you at the proper time, casting all your anxiety on Him, because He cares for you. Be of sober spirit, be on the alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. But resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same experiences of suffering are being accomplished by your brethren who are in the world. After you have suffered for a little while, the God of all grace, who called you to His eternal glory in Christ, will Himself perfect, confirm, strengthen and establish you. To Him be dominion forever and ever. Amen. (1 Peter 5:6-11)

But He gives a greater grace. Therefore it says, "GOD IS OPPOSED TO THE PROUD, BUT GIVES GRACE TO THE HUMBLE." Submit therefore to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Be miserable and mourn and weep; let your laughter be turned into mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves in the presence of the Lord, and He will exalt you. (James 4:6-10)

Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect. (Romans 12:1, 2)

Therefore if you have been raised up with Christ, keep seeking the things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your mind on the things above, not on the things that are on earth. For you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God. (Colossians 3:1-3)

For God has not given us a spirit of timidity, but of power and love and discipline. (2 Timothy 1:7)

Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of His might. Put on the full armor of God, so that you will be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places. Therefore, take up the full armor of God, so that you will be able to resist in the evil day, and having done everything, to stand firm. Stand firm therefore, HAVING GIRDED YOUR LOINS WITH TRUTH, and HAVING PUT ON THE BREASTPLATE OF RIGHTEOUSNESS, and having shod YOUR FEET WITH THE PREPARATION OF THE GOSPEL OF PEACE; in addition to all, taking up the shield of faith with which you will be able to extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. And take THE HELMET OF SALVATION, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. 18. With all prayer and petition pray at all times in the Spirit, and with this in view, be on the alert with all perseverance and petition for all the saints, (Ephesians 6:10-18)

The purpose of the markings is to encourage better understanding and application.

Here is the legend of the following markings.

Green is for the verbs that the reader does.

The phrase or sentence that the reader does is bold.

Red is for what the reader does not do.

Yellow is for who God is and what He does.

Passages are quoted from the KJV Bible.

 Daily Spiritual Warfare

Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight. ( Proverbs 3:5,6)

If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. (1 John 1:9)

But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. (Matthew 6:33)

Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. (Philippians 4:6-8)

Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time. Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you. Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that the family of believers throughout the world is undergoing the same kind of sufferings. And the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast. To him be the power forever and ever. Amen. (1 Peter 5: 6-11)

But he gives us more grace. That is why Scripture says: “God opposes the proud but shows favor to the humble.” Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Grieve, mourn and wail. Change your laughter to mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up. (1 Peter 5:6-11)

Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will. (Romans 12:1,2)

Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. (Colossians 3:1-3)

For the Spirit God gave us does not make us timid, but gives us power, love, and self-discipline. (2 Timothy 1:7)

Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.

And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people. (Ephesians 6:10-18)

Here is the legend of the following markings.

Green is for the verbs that the reader does.

The phrase or sentence that the reader does is bold.

Red is for what the reader does not do.

Yellow is for who God is and what He does.

Psalm 91

He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.

I will say of the LORD, He is my refuge and my fortress: my God; in him will I trust.

Surely he shall deliver thee from the snare of the fowler, and from the noisome pestilence.

He shall cover thee with his feathers, and under his wings shalt thou trust: his truth shall be thy shield and buckler.

Thou shalt not be afraid for the terror by night; nor for the arrow that flieth by day;

Nor for the pestilence that walketh in darkness; nor for the destruction that wasteth at noonday.

A thousand shall fall at thy side, and ten thousand at thy right hand; but it shall not come nigh thee.

Only with thine eyes shalt thou behold and see the reward of the wicked.

Because thou hast made the LORD, which is my refuge, even the most High, thy habitation;

There shall no evil befall thee, neither shall any plague come nigh thy dwelling.

For he shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways.

They shall bear thee up in their hands, lest thou dash thy foot against a stone.

Thou shalt tread upon the lion and adder: the young lion and the dragon shalt thou trample under feet.

Because he hath set his love upon me, therefore will I deliver him: I will set him on high, because he hath known my name.

He shall call upon me, and I will answer him: I will be with him in trouble; I will deliver him, and honour him.

With long life will I satisfy him, and shew him my salvation.

The purpose of the markings is to encourage better understanding and application.

Here is the legend of the following markings.

Green is for the verbs that the reader does.

The phrase or sentence that the reader does is bold.

Red is for what the reader does not do.

Yellow is for who God is and what He does.

Passages are quoted from the KJV Bible.

Psalm 91

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 fowler’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.

A thousand may fall at your side,

ten thousand at your right hand,

but it will not come near you.

You will only observe with your eyes

and see the punishment of the wicked.

If you say, “The Lord is my refuge,”

and you make the Most High your dwelling,

no harm will overtake you,

no disaster will come near your tent.

For he will command his angels concerning you

to guard you in all your ways;

they will lift you up in their hands,

so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.

You will tread on the lion and the cobra;

you will trample the great lion and the serpent.

“Because he loves me,” says the Lord, “I will rescue him;

I will protect him, for he acknowledges my name.

He will call on me, and I will answer him;

I will be with him in trouble,

I will deliver him and honor him.

With long life I will satisfy him

and show him my salvation.”

The purpose of the markings is to encourage better understanding and application.

Here is the legend of the following markings.

Green is for the verbs that the reader does.

The phrase or sentence that the reader does is bold.

Red is for what the reader does not do.

Yellow is for who God is and what He does.

Passages are quoted from the NIV Bible.

Blessed to Bless Others

You are invited to use any and all of this document in your personal prayer life as well as during prayer times with your family and others. 

I hope and expect that parts or all of this will bless you. If you have found this to be helpful then I exhort you to bless others by sharing it with them. 

You are invited to forward this to others if it came to you as an email. 

You can print out the PDF for your personal use and share copies with others. Selected pages in this document could be printed out by bringing up the PDF. Then hitting Control + P. Then going to Custom instead of all pages. There put the page number(s) listed in the Table of Contents.

You're welcomed to adapt it and change it as you please. That includes translating it into another language. You can put a PDF into Cloud Convert https://cloudconvert.com/ or a similar program to convert it into an RTF. You can use Google Translate https://translate.google.com/ to translate a document. Then you might come behind that computer translation to tidy up the wording and grammar. 

God blessed me with these writings and I desire to bless you with them. Plus I release you to pass them along.

Here are a variety of ways to pay this forward.

The Facebook public group named Let’s Pray Better   bit.ly/FB-LPB

A new blog for Some Prayers and Psalms volume 2  bit.ly/SPP-blog  I invite you to share your comments, suggestions, and questions there.

Here are the Dropbox links along with your comments that you can share as part of an email, text message, tweet, or other social media ways.

Coronavirus Prayer Guide bit.ly/CV-Prayer-Guide

Praying for Essential Workers  bit.ly/Praying-for-Essential-Workers

SPP core units  bit.ly/SPP-core-units

Highlighted Bible Verses  bit.ly/Highlighted-Bible-Verses

SPP all units bit.ly/SPP-all-units   

If this was shared with you as an email then you can open the attachments and save them. Then you can attach one or more to your emails. Or You can print out pages and make photocopies to share. 

Let us all pray better. 

Shalom

John S. Oliver

PS If there are any technical troubles with sharing these materials then please inform me at fellowpilgrim at Gmail dot com.