PRAYING TO KEEP JOY ALIVE

Keeping Joy Alive

God wants us to find a way to keep joy alive no matter what we face in our families or our communities. God has a plan for this.

Dear brothers and sisters, when troubles of any kind come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy. For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow. So let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be perfect and complete, needing nothing. James 1:2-4

How can troubles be an opportunity for great joy?  When we allow our trust in the goodness of God to rise up larger than the troubles we face.  So many people in so many spots in life have proven the principle of keeping the good in focus to get through the challenging.

•    No parent of a young baby likes getting up in the middle of the night but the love of the little one is much stronger than the inconvenient interruption to their sleep.

•    Athletes - I'm thinking now of marathon runners - have hard times mid-race when their body would like to quit but they keep the finish line in focus and take the next step.

Keeping the goodness of God in focus in our hearts and minds will help us get through a tough moment.  Consider these true statements.

God is light; in him there is no darkness at all. 1 John 1:5

The Lord’s instruction is right; it makes our hearts glad. His commands shine brightly, and they give us light. Psalm 19:8

Heavenly Father,  I’m so glad we don't have to understand all of Your ways in order to settle into the experience of Your goodness.  Guide us by Your truth today so we can experience Your promise of being glad as a result of following Your ways.   

When you obey my commandments, you remain in my love, just as I obey my Father’s commandments and remain in his love. I have told you these things so that you will be filled with my joy. Yes, your joy will overflow! John 15:10-11

Help us today  to be mindful of our thoughts and our desires as well as our words and actions.  We want Your truth to reshape how we think about things and what emotions we attach to events.  We welcome Your work in our hearts, Holy Spirit to teach us what we need to know and do in order to rest secure in God's goodness and to be able to relax and enjoy the day God is giving us.

And so we bring our thoughts and prayers to focus on You God and along with the writer of this Psalm we affirm:

The Lord is my strength and shield. I trust him with all my heart. He helps me, and my heart is filled with joy. I burst out in songs of thanksgiving.  Psalm 28:7