abiding gifts of grace

 ♪Who Am I that♪

Wednesday, September 16, 2026 (5:19 a.m.)

Mm. Who am I indeed.

Thank You that You didn’t let this song go by unchecked.

♪... the Lord of all the earth would care to know my name?

Would care to feel my pain hurt?♪

Most Dear and Awesome God, You did it again! Presented me with another gift of Your grace.

Just when I was ready to give up all hope of any more sleep, You provided me two whole more hours. Complete with a restorative dream.

This at the end of 2 1/2 hours spent rehearsing past mistakes. Reimagining the woulda, coulda, shoulda opportunities I’ve missed along the way.

Father, thank You for forgiving me. Times and occurrences too many to count. Thank You for the abiding gifts of grace we have in, with, by, through and for You.

(5:51 a.m.)

Thank You for the turning these scrambled thoughts have taken. First came the ruminating. Followed by regret. Remorse. Guilt. Shame. And then? Your Truth!

Yes! Father thank You for reminding me. “I love You, LORD; You are my strength” (Psalm 18:1).

Lord God, You know the excess of circumstances where I have fallen so far short of Your mark. Common, everyday choices that led to burdens others have had to carry throughout their lives. Forgive me Father. So very many times I truly ‘knew not what I was doing’ (Luke 23:34).

Except for those times when I was fully aware. And chose against You. And Your way. Oh Lord God, 

(6:11 a.m.)

Would You just take a look at this! The same three words of the first song. Rearranged for this very occasion.

♪Who I Am in the eyes of the Father

Who I am His love set free

Who I was I left at the altar

I am Yours Lord, I believe♪

It is absolutely Your love that lives in each of us.

♪In every trial, lift[ing] me higher

Through the fire, hold[ing] me tighter

Remind[ing] me again I was made for more♪

(7:43 a.m.)

Mm, yes Lord. Made for more... love. Joy. Peace. Patience. Kindness. Goodness. Faithfulness. Gentleness. And self-control (Galatians 5:22). More of the fruit of Your Spirit.

Father, I love, need, trust and want more of You. Your will. Your way. 

♪In the water, take me under

Fill my lungs to, to speak Your wonder

You brought me out of the darkness, I was made for more…

It’s who I am

(I’m a child of the most-high God and the most-high God’s for me)♪

Continue reminding me 

♪Who I was I left at the altar

I am Yours Lord, I believe♪

I fully “Acknowledge that the LORD is God! He made us and we are His. We are His people, the sheep of His pasture” (Psalm 100:3).

Use me as only You know is best. Thank You. Praise You. Amen.

(490 words ~ 7:59 a.m.)

deliberately designed

 Tuesday, September 15, 2026 (4:12 a.m.)

Good morning Dear Lord,

Today I approach You with awe and wonder. 

(4:18 a.m.)

Yes! With curiosity. A degree of satisfaction. Joy. Delight. Hope. And again, awe and wonder.

Father, You provide for our every need. What freedom, hope and joy there is in believing You have every aspect of our lives in Your control.

Blessed God, how I thank You for Your Word. Your Truth. Your promises. Your plans. The ones for good and not for evil. That give us a future and a hope (Jeremiah 29:11).

Thank You for the openness with which You are having me approach each new day. A willingness to be on the look out for Your best for each of us.

The phrase, “do no harm” presents itself to me quite often these days. Looking at its origin just now, I’m choosing the apostle Paul’s message to the church at Rome as the most appropriate example.

Father, thank You for all You have done in the past. Are doing currently. And will be doing in the future for our good and Your glory (Romans 8:28).

Thank You that we are not called to have all the answers concerning Your deliberate design of each of us. No. We are to trust and believe that You know what is best.

I am here searching Your Word. Wanting to learn it so I will follow You more readily. And ably. Through Your power and wisdom. Never my own.

Father, thank You for all the work You continue pouring into making us the people You created us to be (Psalm 139:14). Each of us “wonderfully complex!” Products of Your marvelous workmanship.

Continue perfecting us Dear Lord. Empower and enable us in following Paul’s directions in Romans 12 to a t. Changing the way we live every day.

Simplified by AI, we are to:

Live sacrificially for You (v.1)

Renew our minds (2)

Stay humble (3)

Be one body (4-5)

Serve well (6-8)

Love truly (9-10)

Be kind and patient (11-13)

Not retaliate (14-21)

Oh, yes Dearest Dad! I want desperately to live and love as You so deliberately designed me. I love, need, trust and want You as absolute Lord of my life. 

Keep my hands open for all You want to give for me to share. Thank You. Praise You. Amen.

(398 words ~ 5:05 a.m.)

abounding, abundant blessings

 Monday, September 14, 2026 (4:46 a.m.)

Blessed God,

Thank You for the blessings You continue providing. Mm, yes Lord. Abounding, abundant blessings.

Through the years we have made mistakes after mistakes. And yet, You still love us. Thank You that You do.

(5:04 a.m.)

Mm, yes Father. Thank You for the ways You change our thinking. To where You would have us put our focus.

Right at the moment it’s on singing about ♪want[ing] to walk like Moses, right through the waves♪ (That's Who I Praise). Thank You for making us aware of all You have for us.

You are teaching me

(5:36 a.m.)

Oh, Your goodness, yes! You are teaching more than I could ever even begin to learn. Talk about being agog! Excited. And eager to tell.

Dearest Lord God, thank You for Who and ALL You are. Loving. Kind. Nurturing. Faithful. Strong. Never-ending. Always.

♪Forever God is faithful

Forever God is strong

Forever Gos is with us

Forever♪

(5:49 a.m.)

Faithful Father God, there is no way for me to ever thank You enough for the blessings You continue providing. You ARE teaching me to hold them all in open hands.

Yes! Hands wide open. Palms up. Waiting for the next delight to flow in and out. Thank You that You do not disappoint. Thank You for continuing to pour out Your loving forgiveness for us to freely share with one another.

Father I want desperately to live and love as You would have me. Continue teaching me how. I love, need, trust and want You Dearest Lord. Thank You. Praise You. Amen.

(269 words ~ 5:58 a.m.)

"a dramatically new perspective"

 Sunday, September 13, 2026 (4:05 a.m.)

(4:24 a.m.)

Holy God,

Thank You for time to sit with You. In wonderment. Mm, yes Dearest Dad.

♪Here I Am to Worship 

Here I am to bow down

Here I am to say that You’re my God

You’re altogether lovely

Altogether worthy

Altogether wonderful to me♪

Wow! I didn’t see this coming at all!

One minute I was remembering details from events taking place seventeen years ago. And the next? Just singing my heart out to You.

Thank You that You truly are “altogether lovely, worthy and wonderful.” Thank You for the opportunity of rereading past prayers. As well as the Bible verses and commentaries attached to them.

Mm. Seventeen years. Quite a lot has changed. Yet, reading again of my thoughts and feelings from that time I still see all You were putting into motion. Trust in You being the most prevalent. Thank You Father.

Yes. Thank You for the foundation on which You are building our lives. The Spirit’s Power (Romans 8:1-17) the apostle Paul wrote of to the church at Rome.

(5:21 a.m.)

Mm, yes. The Spirit’s mighty power. Working in, with, by, through and for each of us.

Father, how deeply and truly I thank You for the love You had Jesus bring into this world (John 3:16). That love that changes us from the inside out. Forgiving and guiding us to the power we have because of Jesus’ life, death, resurrection and Spirit.

Illustrated Bible Handbook reminds us that we are free from condemnation. We have new [resurrected!] life because of the Holy Spirit. And “… a dramatically new perspective…”

Thank You Lord! Thank You 

(6:02 a.m.)

Yes. Thank You that Jesus came and willingly did all that You asked of Him. Providing us the opportunity and power to live and love as You would have us.

Do all You must Blessed God that I will love You with all my heart, soul, mind and strength (Mark 12:30). And my neighbor as myself (v. 31).

I love, need, trust and want You Lord. Use me as only You know is best. With Your dramatically new perspective. Thank You. Praise You. Amen.

(370 words ~ 6:15 a.m.)

appreciation and applause

 Saturday, September 12, 2026 (3:331 a.m.)

Holy God,

Thank You.

I’ve been saying it for hours. With every new idea. And remembered success.

Blessed, holy God how truly I do thank and praise You. Mm, yes. Verily I appreciate and applaud You.

This extreme interest You have instilled in me regarding words and their meanings continues to surprise and amaze me. Father, thank You for the ways words just seem to pop into my head.

Thank You for the ready availability I have for dictionaries. Thesauruses. Tools for helping me choose and learn the words that best describe circumstances.

Thank You too for the willingness to look less than perfect. To readily admit the things I do not know. And to ask for assistance.

You’ve done this Lord. In, with, by, through and for me. Time and time again.

Often in the past I have been resistant to “looking the fool.” Not wanting others to know my lack of self-confidence.

Thank You that we are not called to have faith and trust in ourselves. But in You.

“But blessed are those who trust in the LORD and have made the LORD their hope and confidence” (Jeremiah 17:7).

Thank You that You just keep singing away to my soul. The majority of the night. And much earlier this morning as well.

♪It’s like a fire the brightest sunrise

 Waiting on the other side

Of the darkest night

Don’t ever lose hope, hold on and believe

Maybe you just haven’t seen it

Just Haven’t Seen It Yet♪

Oh, yes, Blessed God. Thank You so very much for hope. According to the apostle Paul, it’s one of the three things that will remain (1 Corinthians 13:13). Along with faith and love. The greatest of these being love.

Holy God, how I ask (Matthew 7:7) You to continue Your work in teaching me what Your love really is (1 Corinthians 13:4-7). And how to manifest it in my everyday life.

I love, need, trust and want You Dearest Lord. Do all You must in making me Yours. With all my heart, soul, mind and strength. So I will truly love You, others and myself as You would have me (Mark 12:30-31).

For You have not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind (2 Timothy 1:7). Let me use it exactly as only You know is best. Thank You. Praise You. Amen.

(416 words ~ 4:51 a.m.)

carefully wanting to want

 Friday, September 11, 2026 (4:05 a.m.)

Holy God,

(4:24 a.m.)

Thank You! Mm, yes. Definite thank You!

That certainly took longer than I thought/hoped it would. Oh, but here I am. Honestly ready to give Your the thanks and praise You so rightly deserve.

Father God, how truly I thank You for the opportunity of waiting. Considering. Exploring. Wanting.

Mm, yes. Thank You God that You can take my heart and change it to Your liking (Ezekiel 36:26).

I confess to You Dearest Dad, “Thank You” comes quite readily on occasion. Thank You for the times, like just now, that You have me pause long enough to consider what exactly I’m thanking You for.

Thank You for the intensity I experienced earlier. Knowing that I was not to come before You perfunctorily. Not out of duty. Nor obligation. But out of desire. Because I truly want to be here with You.

Thank You for the opportunity of seeing, recognizing, identifying and verifying Mars in the eastern predawn sky. Father, You provide us with so many memorable moments. Thank You that You call us to be aware.

(5:15 a.m.)

Mm, yes. Aware of You. Our surroundings. Our own intentions.

Father God, I want to be careful in my choices. My thoughts. My words. My actions.

You alone are Lord (Isaiah 46:9). I want to honor and obey You. Do all You must in making me right with You (Romans 3:21-26).

I love, need, trust and want You Dear Lord. Thank You for knowing the plans You have for each of us. Plans for good and not for evil. Plans to give us a future and a hope (Jeremiah 29:11).

Continue Your work in, with, by, through and for me that I will grow in wanting to want what You already know is best. Use me as You wish. Thank You. Praise You. Amen.

(324 words ~ 5:31 a.m.)