Speaking and Praying Scripture – MARCH

Here we are again! Another month has gone by. Are you speaking and praying scripture? I hope you are, because I’ve been finding (and I had been hoping) that even as we have taken the pressure off of ourselves to memorize these scriptures that they are in fact being hidden in our hearts as we speak them every day. If you haven’t joined us yet, take a screen shot or print off the PDF and join us today! You won’t regret it.

March

Psalm 42:1
As a deer pants for flowing streams, so pants my soul for you, O God.

Psalm 16:11
You make known to me the path of life;
in your presence is fullness of joy;
at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.

Isaiah 26:3-4
You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you,
Because he trusts in you.
Trust in the Lord forever, for the Lord God is an everlasting rock.

PRAYER:
God, You are a good, good Father who loves us so much.
Thank you for providing flowing streams of nourishment and rest for our weary, broken souls. No matter if we are experiencing joy or sorrow, we know that our souls will always need the life-giving water that you provide because you are the Way, the Truth, and the Life, and nothing else in life will satisfy us like you do. Come and fill up our lives, Lord, and give us a desire for you.

Thank you, God, that you provide the path to true and everlasting life through a relationship with you. Where you are is where we find joy that extends beyond our circumstances and where true life begins.

God, help me to keep my mind stayed on you, not wavering in my anxiety or pain or temptations, but trusting that You provide my greatest need through the gift of your son, Jesus. Help me to trust in you and build my life on you, our everlasting rock. In you alone we have Resurrection Hope and discover that we are truly Not Alone. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

A little more about the verses….

As these verses were on my mind for this month, I wanted to dig a little deeper to try and understand the meaning behind the verse. Just a reminder that I’m not a Bible scholar so this is my amateur version of trying to study God’s Word… if nothing else, I hope this points you to Jesus or inspires you to dig a little deeper for yourself to find out who God truly is.

About Psalm 42:1

As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, O God.

Why would a deer pant for water? Why is that important to me and in understanding this verse? What I read was that a deer only pants for water when they have experienced hostility of some sort or a high level of exertion to which they are desperate for water to cool them down, so they won’t die. So in this verse the Psalmist is expressing a deep, intense, desperate, and life-saving need for God’s presence, not just a cool refreshment. This is how we need God. Desperately, intensely, every. single. day. Not just a cool refreshment from time to time.

About Psalm 16:11

You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures evermore.

I read this verse and for the first time realized that the path of life is not just “the right path for my journey in life” but THE path of LIFE!!!! I think it was a story on the radio that talked about not being upset by your story being your story because this is the path God is using to bring you to Him. There are so many times I’ve said I don’t like parts of my story, and I get angry about different paths I’ve had to wade through in life. But would I be here and desiring Jesus like I am if the ugly or hard parts of my story didn’t exist? I kind of don’t think so. I think I’d be at risk for thinking I needed Jesus like a cool refreshment instead of realizing my desperate need… my panting… for a Savior. It is because of the stories that make up my life that I am here and able to understand better the lifesaving and grace-giving message of Jesus Christ. And it makes me want to share it with you! So, back to this verse… LIFE. The path of LIFE is where we find joy and Resurrection Hope that will never ever disappoint us or leave us. Not the hope of circumstantial change, but true hope that lasts for eternity.

About Isaiah 26:3-4

You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you. Trust in the Lord forever, for the Lord God is an everlasting rock.

What does perfect peace mean? Perfect peace is keeping our mind steadfast on the Lord, not wavering back and forth as we experience waves of life. This requires action from us. It means taking every anxious and disbelieving thought and giving it back to the Lord to transform our thinking to what is truth. This intentionality transforms our hearts and minds and keeps us in perfect peace as we trust that He is who He says He is. It is a lot easier said than done and also doesn’t mean the pain of your situation goes away. But it does mean that you can know that you are Not Alone while you experience the storms of life. He IS our everlasting rock!

Enjoy speaking and praying scripture this month!
Jenny Leigh

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