A prayer FOR this time; a prayer IN this time

Periodically my special someone and I send emails to each other (like, when we're not each so utterly busy), which include Bible verses and accompanying prayers. As I was writing this out for her tonight, I felt like this also may need to be shared elsewhere. I'm taking a break from Facebook again due to school, and while I'm a little less busy tonight than, say, last week, I don't have the time to go through who to send this to to encourage them, to remind them to stay in the faith. So on the blog it goes. For now.

(Hey, sometimes it really IS handy having a writing space where I can just dump stuff! Just so long as it's quality and I'm not just turning it into a personal public open self-therapy session!)

So, to the Book of Micah, a book I'm not super familiar with, except for the verse I'm about to share below. Toward the end of my time at the Vineyard, I started seeing the pastor and other church members either post this verse, say this verse, or display this verse in a video they shared.

Micah 6:8 ; New International Version

He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.

Father God, we thank You for Your word and what You require of us. We ask You to show us how to act justly, what loving mercy looks like, and what walking humbly with You, in all our ways, looks like. Deepen our desires to know Your heart and then to walk according to Your will, which comes from Your heart for us and for all creation. We thank You that You give us second chances, third chances, fourth chances, and so on. We thank You that You never let go, that You don't give up on us. Amen!

The second passage is really what stood out to me more. While the previous verse popped up on Biblegateway.com's verse of the day, that led me to read through all of chapters 6 and 7 from the Book of Micah, and I couldn't help but see parallels between Israel at the time this text was being written, and the US today. We might very well be rapidly approaching the End Times, or... or maybe there's still time yet but we are about to undergo a massive worldwide shift of some sort. In either light, the next passage really speaks to me.

Micah 7:14-15,18-20 ; New International Version

Prayer and Praise

Shepherd your people with your staff, the flock of your inheritance, which lives by itself in a forest, in fertile pasturelands. Let them feed in Bashan and Gilead as in days long ago. “As in the days when you came out of Egypt, I will show them my wonders.”

Who is a God like you, who pardons sin and forgives the transgression of the remnant of his inheritance? You do not stay angry forever but delight to show mercy. You will again have compassion on us; you will tread our sins underfoot and hurl all our iniquities into the depths of the sea. You will be faithful to Jacob, and show love to Abraham, as you pledged on oath to our ancestors in days long ago.

Father God, we know You know all the things going on in our nation and in our world. We do not presume to think that You're not paying attention to it. If there have been any times in our pasts where we ever thought that, please forgive us. We choose to trust You, and wherever we lack trust, we seek to grow in our trusting of You. We choose to believe that You pardon sin and forgive the transgression of the remnant of Your inheritance. We delight that You delight to show mercy. We are grateful that you will again have compassion on us and will tread our sins underfoot and hurl all our iniquities into the depths of the sea. We pray that in this time You will remember those of us who are choosing to remain faithful to You, especially in a world where so many have turned away from You. We thank You that You never give up on us when we fail. We ask that You continue to be with us when things get hard. We need You. We thank You for Your love, Father. Amen.