Friday Devotion and Prayer – July 14, 2023

                                    Friday Devotion and Prayer. July 14, 2023
                                                           “Stack Stones”

“I will remember the works of the Lord: surely I will remember thy wonders of old.” – Psalm 77:11

Psalm 77 is a psalm we can turn to when we desperately wonder if God hears our cries for help. The psalmist expresses his heart with vulnerability and helps us give words to our emotions too. There are times when we have no words except groans because of our broken hearts. We can follow the psalmist’s example. He led himself to search his memory for God’s favor and delight in his life. And in the remembering, he found hope and peace. We can do the same.

It’s important to stack stones of remembrance of what God has done in our lives. It’s amazing how we can forget how God answered a desperate prayer for help or gave us supernatural strength to face a health risk. Sometimes though, our minds get so muddled with daily struggles and anxieties that we can’t see God’s hand in our lives. That’s when we turn to the Bible and search for evidence of his faithfulness.

Abraham’s life demonstrates God’s faithfulness. He was faithful in Abraham’s life to lead him, to be his God, to fulfill the promise of a son in his old age, and then to provide a ram in place of his son on the stone altar on Mt. Moriah. Peter’s life shows the power of God’s faithfulness. Many times, Peter said the wrong thing and led with emotions instead of the truth of Jesus’ words. Much later, Peter preached to a huge crowd on the day of Pentecost and thousands turned their lives over to Jesus’ lordship. God is faithful.

Deuteronomy 6 tells us to love the Lord our God with all our hearts and to tell of his words and to write them on the doorposts of our homes. This practice sets us up to remember and to see his unending faithfulness woven like a golden thread through our lives. To remember means we pay attention to when God gave us peace when we didn’t have any. It’s recalling the times when hope flooded our hearts and when we felt despair. We can remember how God helped us over the last mountain we faced when we encounter another. These memories can encourage our hearts with evidence of God’s faithfulness.

There are twelve rocks stacked on a table at the front of my church’s sanctuary. Written on the rocks are words like a protector, answers prayers, good, and strength. On my rock, I wrote faithfulness. Looking at my life, I can see God’s hand. He’s never left me, never forsake me, but he’s always been present. He’s the whisper in the storm, the rock of my refuge, and the shadow where I hide.

Collect those rocks of remembrance of God’s faithfulness to you. Write them down so you can call them to mind when you wonder if God hears your cries. Stack stones and remember.

Heavenly Father,
You are faithful and true. Forgive me when I doubt your goodness in my life. Forgive me when all I can see is the hard. Help me see you in the beauty of the sunrise and in the laughter of a child. Help me stack stones of remembrance so I can recall your faithfulness to me. In Your son Jesus’ name, I pray, Amen.