Thanking God for the Comfort He Gives!

In light of the sorrow that our church family is undergoing this week in light of a high school student's sudden death, here is a portion of a prayer by one of my favorite "pray-ers", Scotty Smith. 

"Thank you for comforting us when we’re downcast, discouraged or even despairing. You don’t deride us, chide us, or hide from us—you comfort us; for you’re “the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort” (2 Cor. 1:3). Thank you for commanding us to cast our cares on you (1 Pet. 5:7), not to swallow them or pretend like we don’t have any. Thank you for never telling us “buck up” or “get over it.”

And thank you for the comforters you send us. Though you regularly comfort us through your Word, or even in our sleep, quite often you send a Titus or a Phoebe (Rom. 16:1) to a Paul. You love to tell your story through your people. Thank you for well timed emails, visits, hugs, calls, texts—for the friends, family, even angels, you send us. But Father, above all, thank you for the ultimate comfort you’ve given to us by giving Jesus for us. One burden I don’t bear today, or forever, is the weight of my guilt and sin. Hallelujah, the gospel is true!

This very day, help me be honest about my limitations and vulnerable enough to allow others to care for me. And make me sensitive to the needs of others around me today—those up close to me, and those afar. In my weakness I may be more good to them than when I feel “on top of my game.” Who needs a word of comfort from another weary traveler? Show me, Father. So very Amen I pray, in Jesus’ compassionate name."

Thanks for stopping by . . . 

pj