Prayer To Enjoy God's Unchanging Faithfulness In Our Everyday Lives

As we near the end of February one of the things that does my heart good is that the time of daylight has increased.  I have a weather app on my phone that gives me the day to day changes in that and from the end of December when, on the gray and rainy days, it feels like it hardly gets properly light all day to these days the changes are lovely.  There’s nothing better than those long sunny evenings in the summer when the sun is up until after 9pm.  Here on the West Coast of Canada, at the moment, we are back to about 11 hours of daylight – sun rises around 7 in the morning and sets just after 6. In less than a month that will shift with daylight savings time so we get more of the light in the evening rather than the early morning. March 14 – mark your calendars!!

It’s interesting that one of the ways God’s faithfulness is described in the Bible is in light that doesn’t change.

Whatever is good and perfect is a gift coming down to us from God our Father, who created all the lights in the heavens. He never changes or casts a shifting shadow.  James 1:17

The great old hymn “Great Is Thy Faithfulness” mentions this in the lyrics:

Great is Thy faithfulness, O God my Father

There is no shadow of turning with Thee

Thou changest not, Thy compassions, they fail not

As Thou hast been Thou forever wilt be

Great is Thy faithfulness, great is Thy faithfulness

Morning by morning new mercies I see

All I have needed Thy hand hath provided

Great is Thy faithfulness, Lord, unto me

A contemporary worship song from a few years back put it simply this way:

Father of lights, You delight in Your children

Every good and perfect gift comes from You

Some folks have captured this well in the following prayer:

Father of light, in You is found no shadow of change but only the fullness of life and limitless truth. Open our hearts to the voice of Your Word and free us from the original darkness that shadows our vision. Restore our sight that we may look upon Your Son who calls us to repentance and a change of heart, for he lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.

International Committee on English in the Liturgy (ICEL)

But it’s hard to beat the words of the Bible itself I think when the writeR of Psalm 36 prays:

Your love, Lord, reaches to the heavens, your faithfulness to the skies.  Your righteousness is like the highest mountains, your justice like the great deep. You, Lord, preserve both people and animals. How priceless is your unfailing love, O God! People take refuge in the shadow of your wings. They feast on the abundance of your house; you give them drink from your river of delights. For with you is the fountain of life; in your light we see light.  Psalm 36:5-9

Lord today we simply agree and give thanks that You are the light of life and that in Your light we see light.  With You as our light and our salvation, we have nothing to fear.  There’s nothing in this world, certainly not in this pandemic with mutant variants of the disease and who knows what else yet to be faced – there’s nothing that we need fear as You shine the light of Your love and protection into our daily lives.  We are safe.  We are given a sure way forward in Your care.  We have nothing to fear.

The Lord is my light and my salvation— whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life— of whom shall I be afraid?  Psalm 27:1

During uncertain times where we don’t see all the pieces coming together for a solid future we’re grateful that You see what we can’t and You will carefully guide us and steady us on our journey as we journey with You.  As we are reminded in Psalm 139:

If I say, “Surely the darkness will hide me and the light become night around me,” even the darkness will not be dark to you; the night will shine like the day, for darkness is as light to you.  Psalm 139:11-12

Send me your light and your faithful care, let them lead me; let them bring me to your holy mountain, to the place where you dwell.  Psalm 43:3

And so once again today our simple prayer God is that You would send us Your light and Your faithful care, let them lead us.  Let them bring us to Your holy mountain, to the place where You dwell.  Amen

Well I hope that where you are you have some rays of sunshine to soak up today but even if it’s a cloudy rainy day where You are, let’s rejoice in God’s faithful unchanging light available to us all day today.