Dear Friends and Members of Shepherd of the Hills,
I know…I feel it too. On a day like today, dealing with wind and fire, the anxiety levels continue to rise. After last summer’s fires and floods, the memories are all to real and all to recent. What do we do? Take it to the Lord in prayer. This is not the end all and be all of dealing with our different levels of PTSD following disaster and rightly being concerned about another event. However, for followers of Jesus our Lord, this is our first move, our first pivot. This is our first response to those things in this life that vex us. We know that in all things we have a savior who has secured our eternity and provides for us daily. Our afflictions prepare us for glory given to us in Christ Jesus. “For this slight momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal (2 Corinthians 4:17-18).”
Rather than leave you empty handed about what to pray for, here are a few prayers and a song that are good on days like today.
For Our Weather:
Lord God, gracious and merciful Father, because You have promised that You will hear us when we bring You our cares, we implore You not to deal with us according to our sins but according to Your mercy. Send calm winds and light rains so that in due time the earth may yield her increase and we might be given relief. Remind us ever to receive with thanks our daily bread, trusting You as our gracious God; through Jesus Christ, our Lord.
For Our Anxiousness:
Lord Jesus Christ, You commanded the wind and the waves, and they obeyed You. Speak peace to us who are worried and troubled during these winds and storms, especial those of us who are troubled by fear. By the power of Your Word, calm our anxious heart and the raging storms of our spirit; for You live and reign with the Father and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.
For Our First Responders and Their Families:
Merciful Father, we commend to Your keeping all who work to bring rescue and relief, especially those serving in and around Lincoln County this week during the wind storms. Give them courage in danger, skill in difficulty, and compassion in service. Sustain them with bodily strength and calmness of mind that they may perform their work to the well-being of those in need so that lives may be saved and communities restored; through Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.
As you pray I also leave you with this song: YouTube—How Firm a Foundation
728 How Firm a Foundation
How firm a foundation, O saints of the Lord,
Is laid for your faith in His excellent Word!
What more can He say than to you He has said
Who unto the Savior for refuge have fled?
“Fear not! I am with you, O be not dismayed,
For I am your God and will still give you aid;
I’ll strengthen you, help you, and cause you to stand,
Upheld by My righteous, omnipotent hand.
“The soul that on Jesus has leaned for repose
I will not, I will not, desert to his foes;
That soul, though all hell should endeavor to shake,
I’ll never, no never, no never, forsake!
“When through fiery trials your pathway will lie,
My grace, all-sufficient, will be your supply.
The flames will not hurt you; I only design
Your dross to consume and your gold to refine.
“Throughout all their lifetime My people will prove
My sov’reign, eternal, unchangeable love;
And then, when gray hairs will their temples adorn,
Like lambs they will still in My bosom be borne.”
In His Love and Service,
Pastor Rust