Weekly Prayer Devotional

Praise

I’m going to keep with the theme of birds for the four prayer/bible reading sections.

Let’s start with praising God for everything in His creation.  It was all created perfectly, even God saw that it was good. 

Gen 1:20-22

And God said, “Let the water teem with living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the vault of the sky.” So God created the great creatures of the sea and every living thing with which the water teems and that moves about in it, according to their kinds, and every winged bird according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. God blessed them and said, “Be fruitful and increase in number and fill the water in the seas, and let the birds increase on the earth.”

Lament

Whatever we are lamenting, we lay at Your feet right now.  Forgive us Lord, when we let the worries of our lives replace our trust in You.  We are more precious to You than the little robins and house sparrows.

 Mt. 6:26

Look at the birds in the sky. They do not store food for winter. They don’t plant gardens. They do not sow or reap—and yet, they are always fed because your heavenly Father feeds them. And you are even more precious to Him than a beautiful bird. If He looks after them, of course He will look after you.

Prayers for Our World

For this one, I grabbed a handful of verses from Ps. 104.  It’s a beautiful Psalm, I encourage you to read the whole thing this week.  As we think of the birds who work and toil to build their nests, sing and worship the best they know how; we lay our city, nation and world at Your feet, the Creator and King of it all. As we work, toil and worship the best we know how, we ask that You breathe your breath of life into us and make everything renewed and beautiful.

Psalm 104 (selected verses)

12 Birds build their nests by the streams, singing among the branches.

15 Every good thing we need, Your earth provides; our faces grow flush with Your life in them.

24 There is so much here, O Eternal One, so much You have made.  By the wise way in which You create, riches and creatures fill the earth.

30 When You send out Your breath, life is created,  and the face of the earth is made beautiful and is renewed.

Hope

I love the imagery in this passage.  I have used it before in our prayer time during the service.  Spend a minute trying to picture what this looks like.

Ps 91:4

Like a bird protecting its young, God will cover you with His feathers, He will protect you under His great wings;

His faithfulness will form a shield around you, a rock-solid wall to protect you.