All the days ordained for me were written in Your book before one of them came to be [Psalm 139:16).
Sovereign Lord, all of life is Yours. All creatures look to You…when You take away their breath, they die and return to the dust. When you send Your Spirit, they are created… (Psalm 104:27, 29-30).
Thank You Lord, for the gift of life. Thank You for the days You ordained for us in Your divine wisdom, Your flawless purpose, Your sovereign determination. We do not understand Your divine calculation—how You assign life, how You ordain our days. You alone are God.
But thank You that in the midst of all the things we do not understand—all the knowledge too lofty for [us] to attain (Psalm 139:6)—we are sure of Your love, sure of Your goodness, sure of Your grace. Thank You for Your vast, numberless, precious thoughts to us (Psalm 139:17-18).
Thank You for Your omnipotent, guiding hand (Psalm 139:10). You did not create us and abandon us to the mercy of chance and happenstance. In the reality of our freedom, in the reality of the sin and brokenness in this fallen world, in the reality of life and death, You were, You are, and always will be God.
Give us the wisdom and the humility to entrust our lives to the author of life. Help us to affirm Your sovereignty like the prophet Jeremiah: "Lord, I know that people’s lives are not their own; it is not for them to direct their steps" (Jeremiah 10:23).
Teach us to trust You in the middle of life or death. Comfort us when we "walk through the valley of the shadow." Strengthen us with the reminder that You are with us (Psalm 23:4 NKJV), and that You give strong consolation [to those] who have fled for refuge to lay hold of the hope set before us (Hebrews 6:18).
We pray for those in need of consolation. We lift the grieving and the brokenhearted to the One who was Himself "a Man of Sorrows and acquainted with grief" (Isaiah 53:3).
Teach us to trust Your plan and Your purpose. Give us the faith, like Job, to bless You in our pain (Job 1:21); serve You in our sorrow. Thank You that "the Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit" (Psalm 34:18).
Father, thank You for the years You have given us on earth. Thank You that they are not the end. Help us to "lay hold on eternal life (1 Timothy 6:12) by accepting the gift of forgiveness You offer:
For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life (John 3:16).
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