Isaiah 41:10
9 I took you from the ends of the earth, from its farthest corners I called you. I said, ‘You are my servant’; I have chosen you and have not rejected you.10 So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.

If you played games or sports at recess, you got picked to play. It could be a brutal experience to be picked last. I guess we all just have had to learn to get over it.

There is one team where we are always picked first. The team is followers of Jesus and the game is service. Game on!

Pray for youth sports leagues.

Isaiah 7:14
Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel.

If God exists the way Christians claim, he has to be able to operate outside of our space and time dimensions. This explains his eternal existence. Outside of our time, God doesn’t need to be created because “beginning” co notates our time dimension. It is scientifically logical as well as spiritually that God can be eternal without a creation.

Now, for Christians that have a hard time with thinking there was a Virgin Birth, carefully read the above paragraph again. Can God move outside our dimensions and within them? Do you get it? Ponder.

Pray for expectant mothers.

Psalm 91:16
With long life will I satisfy him and show him my salvation.

People worry so much about aging and spend billions trying to slow it down. Good health is a good idea; so don’t knock it. But, the obsession of staying young is a bit different. It can take on a quality of living as if this life is all there is. I realize some people think this, so do I have a solution for you!

When our lives are fully lived in God’s kingdom, there will be the fulfillment of the new creation, where Jesus rescues us for good. So, the time period of our human life now is nothing compared to our eternal life as part of the new creation. Long life is what every lover of Jesus has to look forward to. Forget cryogenics. Try the new genesis!

Pray for those with arthritis today.

Psalm 33:15
…he who forms the hearts of all, who considers everything they do.

How does God care so much for us that he considers everything we do? No parent with a video camera stuck in front of his/her face for the whole childhood of their special child competes with God who follows all his creation every second of every day. God is way more proud papa than angry judge when it comes to watching over us.

Pray for God to see you doing right today.

Psalm 23:3
…he restores my soul.

The most popular psalm certainly, if not the most beloved words of the Bible. This is a quiet peaceful song/poem until you realize every verse is about God in action. He is doing everything necessary to bring life to us as fallen human beings.

Nothing is more important than to heal our “sin-sick” soul; that which is so beautiful about us as his image bearers that we stain chasing after our own desires, not his. We aren’t a lost cause. Restoration is one of his specialties.

Pray for God to work hard on your soul.

Psalm 16:8 I have set the LORD always before me.
Because he is at my right hand,
I will not be shaken.

Where is God in your life? If he is front and center then the confidence available in his name is amazing. Nothing can get in the way of God accomplishing what he wants through you if you remain focused on him always ahead of you preparing what you will discover.

Pray for more attention to God’s signs before you.

Nehemiah 2:8 And may I have a letter to Asaph, keeper of the king’s forest, so he will give me timber to make beams for the gates of the citadel by the temple and for the city wall and for the residence I will occupy?” And because the gracious hand of my God was upon me, the king granted my requests.

It is not improbable that God works in our lives. Chances are you have seen this happen. What is fascinating to me is considering God working through mundane matters like lumber for your house. Here is the situation. Either God is big enough to actually be interested in our everyday life or he is not. If God is big enough, then we don’t get to tell him what should interest him.

Pray to God about some little thing today.

2 Chronicles 32:7 “Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or discouraged because of the king of Assyria and the vast army with him, for there is a greater power with us than with him.”

God’s power does not come from brut force. God is always in charge even if it seems that he is far away. It isn’t military power, financial power, diplomatic solutions, nothing that comes out of humanity that will bring ultimate goodness to the world. We work for justice in all those arenas but that is all. Only by turning to Jesus and putting our lives in his hands will the world be changed for good. And this is exactly what will happen. In the meantime we wait and we serve.

Pray for those who wait.