Christian Commentary Encouraging Devotions

That anchor man

says the fight began

somewhere in the Middle East.

The world prays for peace.

There's a single mom

just got laid off when she lost a job

to some foreign hands

in some faraway land.

Last night in Oklahoma

some twister took thirteen

and they're praying that they find

the missing three.

God must be busy.

That highway sign

went from slow ahead

to traffic's dead.

Thought it couldn't get worse

than that Amber Alert.

They say she's 4,

Colorado plates, headed out-of-state

in a Chevy van.

It's hard to understand.

You can see it in the faces

of all those highway strangers,

they're praying that God

keeps that girl from danger.

God must be busy.

And I know in the big picture

I'm just a speck of sand

and God's got better things to do

than look out for one man.

I know He's heard my prayers

cause He hears everything,

He just ain't answered back

or He'd bring you back to me.

God must be busy.

That evening news,

Ain't much changed

pretty much the same

since I left home.

Yeah that war's still on.

They found that little girl.

She was soaking wet,

half scared to death

on the side of some road.

Them prayers work, you know.

And the Bloods and Cripps are at it,

and there's a killer drought down south,

and old folks can't afford the drugs

they can't live with out.

God must be busy.

And I know in the big picture

I'm just a speck of sand

and God's got better things to do

than look out for one man.

I know He's heard my prayers

cause He hears everything,

He just ain't answered back

or He'd bring you back to me.

God must be busy.

That anchorman,

says the fighting's worse,

cities burn in the Middle East.

[The] world prays for peace.

-Brooks and Dunn

Where do you go then you're blue?

Psalm 77

I cried out to God for help;

I cried out to God to hear me.

When I was in distress, I sought the Lord;

at night I stretched out untiring hands

and my soul refused to be comforted.

My life was an open wound that wouldn't heal.

I remembered you, O God, and I groaned;

I mused, and my spirit grew faint.

You kept my eyes from closing;

I was too troubled to speak.

I can't even say what's bothering me.

I thought about the former days,

the years of long ago;

I remembered my songs in the night.

My heart mused and my spirit inquired:

"Will the Lord reject forever?

Will he never show his favor again?

Has his unfailing love vanished forever?

Has his promise failed for all time?

Has God forgotten to be merciful?

Has he in anger withheld his compassion?"

"Just my luck," I said. "God goes out of business

just the moment I need him."

Then I thought, "To this I will appeal:

the years of the right hand of the Most High."

I will remember the deeds of the Lord;

yes, I will remember your miracles of long ago.

I will meditate on all your works

and consider all your mighty deeds.

Your ways, O God, are holy.

What god is so great as our God?

You are the God who performs miracles;

you display your power among the peoples.

You're the God who makes things happen.

With your mighty arm you redeemed your people,

the descendants of Jacob and Joseph.

The waters saw you, O God,

the waters saw you and writhed;

the very depths were convulsed.

The clouds poured down water,

the skies resounded with thunder;

your arrows flashed back and forth.

Your thunder was heard in the whirlwind,

your lightning lit up the world;

the earth trembled and quaked.

Your path led through the sea,

your way through the mighty waters,

though your footprints were not seen.

You led your people like a flock

by the hand of Moses and Aaron.

Maybe the most important thing about prayer is simply to show up.

Prayer is more about the development of a relationship with God than about my answers.

Prayer prays through the foul weather and not just in fair weather.

The great saints of yesterday and today seem to be those whose prayer life leads them to God, rather than to a response which meets their needs.