“I will lift up my eyes to the hills- From whence comes my help? My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth”- ( Psalm 121:1)
Except for those living in plains, it is common to see hills rising over a landscape. Hills can be a beautiful sight especially where there are covered with a rich a vegetation. In some cities though hills have been invaded with settlements and are no longer lighted with the old vegetation, except for concrete structure.
Unless if erased to make way for some purpose, when a hill is ahead of you one can hardly see beyond. A hill by its nature obstructs a view. There are places where tunnels have been constructed to pass through hills, but mostly people decide to just go around them to get ahead. In brief, hills can be an obstacle in our journeys.
As Believers we can also come up and face hills. A hill can feature in our very lives when we are faced with a challenge that we can’t see beyond. The challenge seems to be so huge that the hill in our mind actually becomes a mountain. Perhaps we might even be too terrified that instead of figuring a way around the hill, we drop down, exhausted with fear and worry.
When David was faced with a hill, instead of only focusing on the hill, he looked beyond to something higher and more hopeful. The Almighty God who made the heaven and earth, and controls all situations. Instead of focusing on the hill of problems, he asked, “From whence my help comes?”
Once there was a situation when Moses sent out scouts to spy a new land. Of the 12 spies everyone saw hills- except two warriors who looked beyond hills, and believed there was a God greater than the giants they had seen ( Numbers 13). Joshua and Caleb believe that that God would deliver them in spite of all they had seen.
Today, any of us could be seeing a hill ahead of the way, and moreover looms like an insurmountable mountain. But like Joshua and Caleb look beyond the hill. Like David, know our help comes from the Lord, a very present help in trouble.
Prayer today: Lord Father God of Abraham, maker of heaven and earth, where I am faced with a hill I look beyond, because you are our present help, and will carry me through and beyond the hill, this I pray in Jesus’ name!
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17/05/2024 - 18/05/2024 All day“And I in righteousness I shall see your face; when I awake, I shall be satisfied with seeing your likeness” (Psalm 17:15)
One of the defining aspects we see in the life of the Lord Jesus Christ is that He began the day with prayer. “Very early in the morning while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed” (Mark 1:35). As he was always surrounded by crowds and after such a busy day before of preaching and engaging the Pharisees in debates this must have been a therapeutic moment for Christ when he would have some good time to himself.
But there was also more. For Jesus being away in a secluded place would also mean a chance to pour out His heart to God, meditate in quietness, plan for the day ahead and listen to the Father. Jesus must have looked up to this moment every day knowing its benefits. Conversations with His Father must have been real and intimate, bringing a certain soothing and uplifting of His spirit. You do not wake up and stick to something on a daily basis that is a drag – this must have been his best time of the day!
Martin Luther the leader of the protestant reformation is reputed to once have said, “I have so much to do that I shall spend the first three hours in prayer.” Here is the point. In the olden days before the arrival of locomotive transport those who were setting out for a long journey on foot had to start early with the first cock crow before the punishing sun came out. One of the things they had to start with also was a good meal, which was fuel needed to give them energy through the long walk to their destiny.
There are no rules about waking up to pray as first thing- or even saying prayer at a defined hour of the day. God is everywhere and ever with us. He is accessible at any time of the day. But there is something special about prioritizing our lives that the first thing we do is to talk to God. Just like the early traveller we need fuel, for the long day ahead!
Prayer for today: Lord Father God of Abraham, maker of heaven and earth, what a joy and privilege to make time at the start of any day, talk and hear from you, for the power I need through the day, this I pray in Jesus’ name!
