Seeking God's face together

Like you

June 29, 2020Ruth Kirk

Put on your new nature, and be renewed
as you learn to know your Creator and become like him
(Colossians 3:10; NLT).

1. Lord,
You put us here, on earth,
So we may grow like you,

2. By learning to correct our thoughts,
And all we say,
And do.

3. Please help us,
As we journey back to heaven
At your side,

4. To grow in love,
Whilst giving up hate, selfishness,
And pride.

References

1. Put on your new nature, and be renewed as you learn to know your Creator and become like him (Colossians 3:10; NLT).

2. We take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ (2 Corinthians 10:5; NIV).

I said to myself, “I will watch what I do and not sin in what I say. I will hold my tongue” (Psalm 39:1; NLT).

Speak the truth in love, growing in every way more and more like Christ (Ephesians
4:15; NLT).

Do everything with love (1 Corinthians 16:14; NLT).

3. The dust will return to the earth, and the spirit will return to God who gave it (Ecclesiastes 12:7; NLT).

When you go through deep waters, I will be with you (Isaiah 43:2; NLT).

The Lord is a shelter right by your side (Psalm 121:5; CSB).

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

4. Don’t just pretend to love others. Really love them (Romans 12:9; NLT).

You have heard the law that says, ‘Love your neighbour’ and hate your enemy. But I say, love your enemies! (Matthew 5:43-4; NLT).

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).

Surrender your pride (Jeremiah 4:4; NLT).

Prayer

June 28, 2020Ruth Kirk

Pour out your heart to him (Psalm 62:8; NLT).

1. Prayer is worship,
Thanks, rejoicing;
Prayer is sorrow,
Fear, and pain.

2. Prayer is spending time
With Jesus,
As he loosens
Every chain.

3. Prayer is mercy,
Love, and healing;
Prayer is sharing
Every sin.

4. Prayer is being one
With Jesus,
So that we can grow
Like him.

References

1. Worship the Lord in all his holy splendour (1 Chronicles 16:29; NLT).

Give thanks in all circumstances (1 Thessalonians 5:18; RSV).

Rejoice always (1 Thessalonians 5:16; RSV).

I weep with sorrow (Psalm 119:28; NLT).

He will calm all your fears (Zephaniah 3:17; NLT).

Feel my pain (Psalm 25:18; NLT).

2. Pray constantly (1 Thessalonians 5:17; RSV).

He wanted to spend more time with his disciples and teach them (Mark 9:31; NLT).

You have loosed my bonds (Psalm 116:16; NKJV).

He snapped their chains (Psalm 107:14; NLT).

3. His mercy endures forever (Psalm 136:25; NKJV).

He loves us with unfailing love (Psalm 117:2; NLT).

I am the Lord, who heals you (Exodus 15:27; NIV).

You desire honesty from the womb (Psalm 51:6; NLT).

4. Whoever is united with the Lord is one with him in spirit (1 Corinthians 6:17; NIV).

Put on your new nature, and be renewed as you learn to know your Creator and become like him (Colossians 3:10; NLT).

God is love

June 27, 2020Ruth Kirk

You are a God of forgiveness, gracious and merciful,
slow to become angry, and rich in unfailing love
(Nehemiah 9:17; NLT).

1. God is shelter, and space;
Mercy, and grace;

2. Forgiveness, and care;
Wrathful, yet fair;

3. Salvation, and might;
Darkness, and light;

4. Tumult, and peace;
God is love, without cease.

References

1. All humanity finds shelter in the shadow of your wings (Psalm 36:7; NLT).

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth (Genesis 1:1; NLT).

There is […] one God and Father, who is over all, and in all, and living through all (Ephesians 4:5-6; NLT).

2. He forgives all my sins and heals all my diseases. He redeems me from death and crowns me with love and tender mercies (Psalm 103:2-4; NLT).

God is a raging fire (Deuteronomy 4:24; ESV).

Everything he does is just and fair (Deuteronomy 32:4; NLT).

3. The Lord is my light and my salvation (Psalm 27:1; NLT).

He shrouded himself in darkness (Psalm 18:11; NLT).

4. I hear the tumult of the raging seas as your waves and surging tides sweep over me (Psalm 42:7; NLT).

The Lord is peace (Judges 6:24; NLT).

God is love (1 John 4:16; NLT).

In silence

June 26, 2020Ruth Kirk

Keep on seeking, and you will find (Matthew 7:7; NLT).

1. In silence, Lord,
I start afresh,
Seeking you
With every breath.

2. In stillness, Lord,
I try again,
Whispering
Your holy name.

3. In solitude,
I aim, once more,
To find you, Lord,
And to adore.

4. In darkness, Lord,
I hope anew,
And, reaching out,
I wait for you.

References

1. Be silent before the Sovereign Lord (Zephaniah 1:7; NIV).

Search for the Lord (Psalm 105:4; NLT).

2. Be still and know that I am God (Psalm 46:10; NIV).

Yahweh is his name (Exodus 15:3; NLT).

3. When you pray, go away by yourself, shut the door behind you, and pray to your Father in private (Matthew 6:6; NLT).

If you look for me wholeheartedly, you will find me (Jeremiah 29:13; NLT).

We adore you (1 Chronicles 29:11; NLT).

4. Sit now in darkness (Isaiah 47:5; NLT).

I will put my hope in God (Psalm 42:5; NLT).

Reach out for him (Acts 17:27; NIV).

Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him (Psalm 37:7; NIV).

I’d rather wait (for A.)

June 25, 2020Ruth Kirk

Wait patiently for him (Psalm 37:7; NIV).

1. I’d rather wait for you, Lord,
Than have power.

2. I’d rather wait for you,
Than have great wealth.

3. I’d rather wait for you, Lord,
Than have knowledge.

4. I’d rather wait for you,
Than have good health.

References

1. Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth (Matthew 5:5; NIV).

2. Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven (Matthew 5:3; NIV).

3. Anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it (Mark 10:15; NIV).

4. When I am weak, then I am strong (2 Corinthians 12:10; NLT).

Trek

June 24, 2020Ruth Kirk

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

1. Life is a trek
Back to heaven.

2. Faith is a journey
To God.

3. Hope is a walk
With his Spirit.

4. Love is the path
That Christ trod.

References

1. The dust will return to the earth, and the spirit will return to God who gave it (Ecclesiastes 12:7; NLT).

2. We walk by faith, not by sight (2 Corinthians 5:7; NKJV).

The Good News tells us how God makes us right in his sight. This is accomplished from start to finish by faith (Romans 1:17; NLT).

3. You will overflow with confident hope through the power of the Holy Spirit (Romans 15:13; NLT).

4. Follow God’s example, therefore, as dearly loved children, and walk in the way of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God (Ephesians 5:2; NIV).

God is love (1 John 4:16; NLT).

We know what real love is because Jesus gave up his life for us (1 John 3:16; NLT).

Foundation

June 23, 2020June 23, 2020Ruth Kirk

No one can lay any foundation
other than the one we already have – Jesus Christ
(1 Corinthians 3:11; NLT).

1. We have to lose our faith
For it to grow.

2. Time after time,
All that we think we know

3. Will fail,
And we will have to build again,

4. Learning from Christ’s example,
Death, and reign,

5. Until our grasp
Of all he taught matures –

6. Then, grounded in love for all,
Our faith endures.

References

1. Anyone who hears and doesn’t obey is like a person who builds a house without a foundation. When the floods sweep down against that house, it will collapse into a heap of ruins (Luke 6:49; NLT).

When your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow (James 1:3; NLT).

2. To those who listen to my teaching, more understanding will be given. But for those who are not listening, even what they think they understand will be taken away from them (Luke 8:18; NLT).

3. I have prayed for you, that your faith should not fail; and when you have returned to me, strengthen your brethren (Luke 22:32; NKJV).

From the ruins I will rebuild it (Amos 9:11; NLT).

4. Learn from me (Matthew 11:29; NIV).

Live a life filled with love, following the example of Christ. He loved us and offered himself as a sacrifice for us (Ephesians 5:2; NLT).

The Lord God will give him the throne of his ancestor David, and he will reign over Israel forever; his Kingdom will never end (Luke 1:32-3; NLT).

5. [I pray] that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith [and] that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may […] know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge (Ephesians 3:17-19; RSV).

This will continue until we all come to such unity in our faith and knowledge of God’s Son that we will be mature in the Lord, measuring up to the full and complete standard of Christ (Ephesians 4:13; NLT).

6. Supplement your faith […] with love for everyone (2 Peter 1:5,7; NLT).

Let your roots grow down into him, and let your lives be built on him. Then your faith will grow strong in the truth you were taught (Colossians 2:7; NLT).

Seek him in darkness

June 22, 2020Ruth Kirk

1. Seek him in darkness,
And find him in stillness.
Listen in silence,
And pray, on your own.

2. See him in paradox,
Active, unchanging:
Christ is in paradise,
Waiting, alone.

3. Meet him in darkness,
And bow down in stillness.
Christ speaks in silence:
His words fall like dew.

4. See him in paradox,
Active, unchanging:
Christ is in paradise,
Waiting for you.

References

1. Search for the Lord and for his strength; continually seek him (Psalm 105:4; NLT).

Though I sit in darkness, the Lord will be my light (Micah 7:8; NLT).

If you look for me wholeheartedly, you will find me (Jeremiah 29:13; NLT).

Be still and know that I am God (Psalm 46:10; NIV).

This is my Son, my Chosen One. Listen to him (Luke 9:35; NLT).

Be silent before the Sovereign Lord (Zephaniah 1:7; NIV).

When you pray, go away by yourself, shut the door behind you, and pray to your Father in private (Matthew 6:6; NLT).

2. You cannot understand the activity of God, who does all things (Ecclesiastes 11:5 NLT).

I the Lord do not change (Malachi 3:6; NIV).

Today you will be with me in paradise (Luke 23:43; NIV).

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

3. Moses approached the total darkness where God was (Exodus 20:21; CSB).

Bow down to him (2 Kings 17:36; NLT).

Be still and know that I am God (Psalm 46:10; NIV).

God speaks again and again, though people do not recognise it (Job 33:14; NLT).

Let my teaching fall like rain and my words descend like dew (Deuteronomy 32:2; NIV)

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

Waiting (#2 of 2 linked prayers) Blog

June 21, 2020Ruth Kirk

Wait for the Lord (Psalm 37:34; NIV).

1. I wait in silence,
Ready to share your joy.

2. I wait in stillness,
Ready to share your life.

3. I wait, alone, Lord,
Ready to share your dread.

4. I wait in darkness,
Ready to share your light.

References

1. Be silent before the Sovereign Lord (Zephaniah 1:7; NIV).

Jesus was filled with the joy of the Holy Spirit (Luke 10:21; NLT).

I have told you these things so that you will be filled with my joy. Yes, your joy will overflow! (John 15:11; NLT).

2. Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him (Psalm 37:7; NIV).

When Christ, who is your life, is revealed to the whole world, you will share in all his glory (Colossians 3:4; NLT).

3. When you pray, go away by yourself, shut the door behind you, and pray to your Father in private (Matthew 6:6; NLT).

Being in anguish, he prayed more earnestly, and his sweat was like drops of blood falling to the ground (Luke 22:44; NIV).

If we are to share his glory, we must also share his suffering (Romans 8:17; NLT).

4. You have taken away my companions and my loved ones. Darkness is my closest friend (Psalm 88:18; NLT).

I am the light of the world. If you follow me, you won’t have to walk in darkness, because you will have the light that leads to life (John 8:12; NLT).

Though I sit in darkness, the Lord will be my light (Micah 7:8; NLT).

Waiting (#1of 2 linked prayers)

June 20, 2020Ruth Kirk

Wait for the Lord (Psalm 37:34; NIV).

I long for the Lord more than sentries long for the dawn
(Psalm 130:6; NLT).

1. I wait in silence,
Longing to hear your voice.

2. I wait in stillness,
Longing to share your life.

3. I wait, alone, Lord,
Longing to take your hand.

4. I wait in darkness,
Longing to see your light.

References

1. Be silent before the Sovereign Lord (Zephaniah 1:7; NIV).

After the fire [came] a still small voice (1 Kings 19:12; NKJV).

2. Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him (Psalm 37:7; NIV).

Through suffering, our bodies continue to share in the death of Jesus so that the life of Jesus may also be seen in our bodies (2 Corinthians 4:10; NLT).

3. When you pray, go away by yourself, shut the door behind you, and pray to your Father in private (Matthew 6:6; NLT).

I will take you by the hand (Isaiah 42:6; NLT).

4. Though I sit in darkness, the Lord will be my light (Micah 7:8; NLT).