Category: Doubt

Jesus’ faith

Ruth Kirk

I have written about Jesus’ faith before, but this week grasped its depth and significance even more clearly. Today I’ve tried to express this again, in the form of a prayer.

At about three o’clock, Jesus called out with a loud voice, “Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?” which means “My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?” (Matthew 27:46; NLT).

Lord Jesus,

Despite all the terrible pain and humiliation you suffered, you never lost your faith in God.

When you were dying on the cross, you felt abandoned by God, but even this didn’t make you reject God, or doubt Yahweh’s existence.

I know this because, with your final words, you still entrusted your soul into God’s hands.

There can be no deeper faith than yours.

Whatever happens to me, please help me to cling to my faith in God, just as you did, even if I, too, feel completely abandoned.

Please help me always to remember God’s great and faithful promise:

I will never fail you. I will never abandon you (Hebrews 13:5; NLT).

I ask this through your own dear name.

Amen.

References

Jesus shouted, “Father, I entrust my spirit into your hands!” And with those words he breathed his last (Luke 23:46; NLT).

Do not be afraid or discouraged, for the LORD will personally go ahead of you. He will be with you; he will neither fail you nor abandon you (Deuteronomy 31:8; NLT).

Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and staff they comfort me (Psalm 23:4; KJV).

Be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age (Matthew 28:20; NLT).

Longing

Ruth Kirk

The Lord longs to be gracious to you (Isaiah 30:18; NIV).

You long to heal us
And forgive,
To make us new
So we may live.

You ache to help us,
And to guide,
So we can shelter
At your side.

You thirst for oneness
With us all,
So you can save us
When we fall.

You wait for us
To turn to you,
And ask your help
With all we do.

He helps me, and my heart is filled with joy (Psalm 28:7; NLT). 

References

I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full (John 10:10; NIV).

Even when I walk through the darkest valley, I will not be afraid, for you are close beside me. Your rod and your staff protect and comfort me (Psalm 23:4; NLT).

The LORD must wait for you to come to him so he can show you his love and compassion (Isaiah 30:18; NLT).

I pray that they will all be one, just as you and I are one – as you are in me, Father, and I am in you. And may they be in us so that the world will believe you sent me (John 17:21; NLT).

 

Say, “Yes”, to God

Ruth Kirk

Once again, today’s prayer was given this morning, very soon after I started to pray. I’m wondering if this is becoming a new way forward for my blog? All I can do is to say, “Yes”, to God each time it happens.

Then Jesus left them a second time and prayed, “My Father! If this cup cannot be taken away unless I drink it, your will be done” (Matthew 26:42; NLT).

Say, “Yes”, to God
As Jesus did,
For God, alone,
Will help you through.

Say, “Yes”, to God
As Jesus did,
For God, alone,
Will comfort you.

Say, “Yes”, to God
As Jesus did,
For God, alone,
Will save your soul.

Say, “Yes”, to God
As Jesus did,
For God, alone,
Will make you whole.

He bruises, but He binds up; He wounds, but His hands make whole (Job 5:18; NKJV).

References

Does not the Most High send both calamity and good? (Lamentations 3:38; NLT).

Should we accept only good things from the hand of God and never anything bad? (Job 2:10; NLT).

Even when I walk through the darkest valley, I will not be afraid, for you are close beside me. Your rod and your staff protect and comfort me (Psalm 23:4; NLT).

He restores my soul (Psalm 23:3; NKJV).

When you fall

Ruth Kirk

Even youths will become weak and tired, and young men will fall in exhaustion (Isaiah 40:30; NLT).

The LORD upholds all who fall (Psalm 145:14; NKJV).

Let me catch you
When you fall.
Let me catch you,
One and all:
For my heart
Is full of love,
Streaming down
From heaven above.

Let me bear you
When you rise,
Far beyond
The eastern skies:
There you’ll live
In paradise,
Where all are one
With me, the Christ.

God never meant us to experience the Retribution, but to win salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us so that, alive or dead, we should still live united to him (1 Thessalonians 5:9-10; JB).

References

After I have gone and prepared you a place, I shall return to take you with me (John 14:1-6; JB).

In all their distress, He too was afflicted, and the Angel of His Presence saved them. In His love and compassion He redeemed them; He lifted them up and carried them all the days of old (Isaiah 63:9; BSB).

We who are still alive and remain on the earth will be caught up in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. Then we will be with the Lord forever (1 Thessalonians 4:17; NLT).

I bear you on eagles’ wings, and bring you in unto Myself (Exodus 19:4; YLT).

Those who wait on the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles (Isaiah 40:31; NKJV).

Go your way until the end. You will rest, and then at the end of the days, you will rise again to receive the inheritance set aside for you (Daniel 12:13; NLT).

Because you are my helper, I sing for joy in the shadow of your wings. I cling to you; your strong right hand holds me securely (Psalm 63:7-8; NLT).

As the lightning flashes in the east and shines to the west, so it will be when the Son of Man comes (Matthew 24:27; NLT).

 

Clinging

Ruth Kirk

I cling to you …

Please let me cling
To you, my Lord,
Till I can cling
No more;

Then, when I can cling
No more,
May you cling on
To me.

… your strong right hand holds me securely (Psalm 63:8; NLT).

References

Cling to your faith in Christ (1 Timothy 1:19; NLT).

Cling tightly to the LORD your God (Joshua 23:8; NLT).

Your right hand supports me (Psalm 18:35; NLT).

The life of every living thing is in his hand, and the breath of every human being (Job 12:10; NLT).

 

What’s in store?

Ruth Kirk

No one really knows what is going to happen; no one can predict the future (Ecclesiastes 10:14; NLT).

What does our God
Have in store for us all?
Will it be happy,
Or sad?

Life is striving and gain;
Life is sickness and pain –
God sends all! God is great!
God is good!

What does our God
Have in store for us all?
Will it be blissful,
Or bad?

Life is triumph and loss;
Life is bearing our cross –
God sends all! God is kind!
God is love!

Enjoy prosperity while you can, but when hard times strike, realise that both come from God. Remember that nothing is certain in this life (Ecclesiastes 7:14; NLT).

My Father, if it is not possible for this cup to be taken away unless I drink it, may your will be done (Matthew 26:42; NIV). 

God is love (1 John 4:8; NLT).

References

Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows (John 16:33; NLT).

Should we accept only good things from the hand of God, and never anything bad? (Job 2:10; NLT).

The Lord gives and the Lord takes away. Blessed be the name of the Lord (Job 1:21; CSB).

God is great! (Psalm 70:4; NLT).

Only God is truly good (Luke 18:19; NLT).

How kind the LORD is! How good he is! So merciful, this God of ours! (Psalm 116:5; NLT).

Then he said to the crowd, “If any of you wants to be my follower, you must turn from your selfish ways, take up your cross daily, and follow me” (Luke 9:23; NLT).

Though the Lord gave you adversity for food and suffering for drink, he will still be with you to teach you (Isaiah 30:20; NLT).

Every person has been given a great deal of work to do. A heavy burden lies on all of us from the day of our birth until the day we go back to the earth, the mother of us all (Ben Sira 40:1; GNTA).

You have allowed me to suffer much hardship, but you will restore me to life again (Psalm 71:20; NLT).

Whoever does not bear his cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple (Luke 14:27; NLJV).

 

Feeling abandoned

Ruth Kirk

At about three o’clock, Jesus called out with a loud voice, “Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?” which means “My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?” (Matthew 27:46; NLT).

Lord Jesus,
Even when you felt
Completely abandoned by God,
We know you still had perfect faith
In Yahweh’s existence and love.

We know this because
At the moment of your death,
You cried out:
“Father, into your hands
I commit my spirit.”

Lord Jesus,
May our faith, and hope, and love
Be just like yours:
For love is as strong as death –
Beyond all time!

Jesus called out with a loud voice, “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit.” When he had said this, he breathed his last (Luke 23:46; NIV).

References

Place me like a seal over your heart, like a seal on your arm; for love is as strong as death, its jealousy unyielding as the grave. It burns like blazing fire, like a mighty flame. Many waters cannot quench love; rivers cannot sweep it away (Song of Songs 8:6-7; NIV).

Jesus said to the disciples, “Have faith in God” (Mark 11:22; NLT).

Don’t let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God, and trust also in me (John 14:1; NLT).

Three things will last forever – faith, hope, and love – and the greatest of these is love (1 Corinthians 13:13; NLT).

Even when I walk through the darkest valley, I will not be afraid, for you are close beside me. Your rod and your staff protect and comfort me (Psalm 23:4; NLT).

No one is abandoned by the Lord forever (Lamentations 3:31; NLT).

Jesus replied, “I assure you, today you will be with me in paradise” (Luke 23:43; NLT).

Behold, I am with you every day, even unto the end of time (Matthew 28:20; ABPE).

 

Short and simple

Ruth Kirk

God hears (Genesis 16:11; NLT).

Let your prayers
Be short and simple:
Honest, heartfelt,
Full of love.

God will hear,
Whatever happens:
And will answer
From above.

Let your prayers
Be long and complex:
Anguished, full of
Doubt, or sin.

God will hear,
Whatever happens:
And will answer
From within.

There is … one God and Father, who is over all and in all and living through all (Ephesians 4:4,6; NLT).

References

When you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words (Matthew 6:7; NIV).

Jesus went up on a mountain to pray, and he prayed to God all night (Luke 6:12; NLT).

Pray continually (1 Thessalonians 5:17; NIV).

 

Wordless sharing

Ruth Kirk

Be silent before the LORD, all humanity (Zechariah 2:13; NLT).

In silence,
Lift your hands to God,
And let the Spirit pray
On your behalf.

In stillness,
Lift your mind to God,
And let the Spirit pray
On your behalf.

In gladness,
Lift your heart to God,
And let the Spirit pray
On your behalf.

In darkness,
Lift your soul to God,
And let the Spirit pray
On your behalf.

The Spirit [comes to us and] helps us in our weakness. We do not know what prayer to offer or how to offer it as we should, but the Spirit Himself [knows our need and at the right time] intercedes on our behalf with sighs and groanings too deep for words. And He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because the Spirit intercedes [before God] on behalf of God’s people in accordance with God’s will (Romans 8:27-8; AMP).

References

Lift up holy hands in prayer, and praise the LORD (Psalm 134:2; NLT).

Listen to my prayer for mercy as I cry out to you for help, as I lift my hands toward your holy sanctuary (Psalm 28:2; NLT).

 

My prayers

Ruth Kirk

Since I have begun, let me speak further to my Lord, even though I am but dust and ashes (Genesis 18:27; NLT).

Though my prayers are not high-flown,
The only words I use: my own,
Yet, as I struggle, all alone:
You hear me.

Holy One, you won’t disown
My prayers, despite my heart of stone,
For you sent Jesus, to atone:
You see me.

Though my prayers are not full-blown,
You know each stifled sigh and groan,
And though I’m weak, just flesh and bone:
You love me!

He loves us with unfailing love; the LORD’s faithfulness endures forever. Praise the LORD! (Psalm 117:2; NLT).

References

I am nothing (Job 40:4; NLT).

He hears us (1 John 5:14; NLT). 

If we are faithless, he remains faithful, for he cannot disown himself (2 Timothy 2:13; NIV).

I groan; I sigh [in prayer], and my spirit grows faint (Psalm 77:3; AMP).

The LORD sees every heart and knows every plan and thought (1 Chronicles 28:9; NLT).

I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh (Ezekiel 36:26; NIV).

We have an advocate who pleads our case before the Father. He is Jesus Christ, the one who is truly righteous. He himself is the sacrifice that atones for our sins – and not only our sins but the sins of all the world (1 John 2:1-2; NLT).

You are the God who sees me (Genesis 16:13; NLT).

You know what I am going to say even before I say it, LORD (Psalm 139:4; NLT).

The Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans. And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for God’s people in accordance with the will of God (Romans 8:26-7; NIV).

My intercessor is my friend as my eyes pour out tears to God (Job 16:20; NIV).

He knows how weak we are; he remembers we are only dust (Psalm 103:14; NLT).