Yoder: Dear God
By Kathy Yoder
Dear God,
When I wake up in the morning you are here. I’m thankful for another day of life. Another day to serve you. May I serve you well, Lord. Thank you for the freshness of a new day. For new beginnings I can’t imagine and for routines that stay the same. No matter what the day holds, dear Lord, I know that you are with me.
Not all days are happy. Some are filled with pain. Lord, I’m thankful that when life changes in a moment, you are here. When everything seems upside down and inside out, you are here. When I’m afraid, you are right here with me. Like the Psalmist, I lift up my eyes to the hills and know that my help comes from you, O Lord, the maker of heaven and earth. Thank you, Lord, that you are our ever-present help in times of trouble.
Lord, I can’t imagine my life without prayer. If I couldn’t talk to you, I’d be completely lost. I wouldn’t know right from left or up from down, just like during my vertigo years. Thankfully, during those 15 years I didn’t have vertigo all the time. It would come on suddenly, without warning. Then I couldn’t get my bearings because everything around me was spinning. I once said it was like being inside a spinning top that was inside a blender. No one could help me during those years, but you were there with me. We had some of our best talks then. Thank you, Lord, for never leaving me. I’d be lost without you.
That’s why I see so many people with empty eyes, isn’t it? They’re going through the motions of life but not really living. Lord, they’re lost without you. It’s like they’re searching for their car in a parking lot that goes on for miles. Not only can they not find their car, they’re lost in the lot. Surrounded by people, no one helps them because they’re lost, too. They wander alone as the day becomes night. Even if they find their car, they drive around aimlessly, never going anywhere except in circles.
Sadly, there are many people lost in the big parking lot of life because they don’t know you. Perhaps they grew up in a home that never invited you to be part of their family. Maybe they do know about you, Lord, but they’ve decided to go their own way. Doing what they want, when they want, without any interference.
They’re okay for a while, but eventually they know something’s missing. It’s a nagging feeling that starts out small, but grows exponentially. Realizing there has to be more, they don’t know what the more is. Dear Lord, they substitute so many things for you, but every substitution gets swallowed up in the black hole of their souls. They feel emptier than when they began. Life without you, Lord, is empty.
Send the Holy Spirit to draw them to you, Lord. I know that you love them. I know from reading the Bible that you don’t want even one person to die without the assurance of your salvation. But no one automatically gets into heaven. None of us is worthy. Jesus, you are the one who makes us worthy through your sacrifice. Thank you, Father, for sending your Son to earth to be our Savior. His blood covers our sins, but we have to accept His free gift of salvation and ask Him to be the Lord of our lives.
Send people to the lost to show them the way to you. Help them to see beyond themselves and this one little life here on earth. Help them to know the wonderful promise of eternity with you. Bring revival to lost souls, dear Lord. Bring revival to our families. Loving Father, bring the prodigals back home to us and especially to you. Bring revival to our neighbors. Lord, may we be neighbors who know you, love you, and share your love with others.
Dear Lord, bring revival to our churches. Your churches. May they be more than pretty buildings where people come on Sundays. May they be hospitals for the sick, the hurting, the lonely, the forgotten. May your Holy Spirit be welcome in our churches and may He show up in big ways. Bring revival to our country, Lord. May we once again be one nation under your authority, your love, your guidance, your will.
Bring revival to our world, Lord. No matter what country we live in, we all have one thing in common. We need you, dear Lord. We need a fresh outpouring of your Holy Spirit. We need to speak the mighty name of Jesus over everything we say, we think, we do. Over everyone we know and over those we don’t know. Over those who are in positions of great power. Over those who are forgotten and all alone. Over this world, which you created for us.
Bring revival to me, O Lord. Don’t allow me to become complacent in my life because I know that I’m saved. Even though I’m retired, Lord, don’t allow me to retire from what you call me to do, whatever that may be.
During this Lenten season and always, thank you, Lord Jesus, for dying on the cross so that you could be our personal sacrificial lamb come to take away our sins. May we live thankful lives for you, dear Lord. And may we share the Good News of salvation with others. Amen.
Kathy Yoder is a devotional writer and Christian author. She may be reached at Kathyyoder4@gmail.com and Kathyyoder.com.
