Daybreak Devotion

We know beneath spring’s barren tress its wing is flower-lined...

When the LORD smelled the pleasing aroma, He said in His heart, 

“Never again will I curse the ground because of man, 

even though every inclination of his heart is evil from his youth. 

And never again will I destroy all living creatures as I have done. 

22As long as the earth endures, seedtime and harvest,

cold and heat, summer and winter,

day and night shall never cease.”

Gen.8:21-22

Jeremiah 31:34-36

No longer will each man teach his neighbor or his brother, saying, ‘Know the LORD,’

because they will all know Me, from the least of them to the greatest, declares the LORD.

For I will forgive their iniquities and will remember their sins no more.”

35Thus says the LORD, who gives the sun for light by day,

who sets in order the moon and stars for light by night,

who stirs up the sea so that its waves roar—

the LORD of Hosts is His name:

36“Only if this fixed order departed from My presence, declares the LORD,

would Israel’s descendants ever cease to be a nation before Me.”…

*On this National Day of Prayer

it seemed fitting to kneel at the window this morning as the sun came up, to pray.

And as I thought of Daniel of old this poem started to find its wings...

(We pray to the same God that Daniel did; the God who stoppered the mouths of lions!)

The break of day, like golden surf dissolves nebulous hues

A flare above the olden earth lights ancient avenues

Mercy unfurls before our gaze God’s ancient covenant

Of seedtime, harvest, night and day’s manifest sacrament

Then praise the One who does not fail, who demonstrates His love

In heights and depths no thought can scale or dredge the deeps thereof

God keeps his promises, He does not lie or change His mind

We know beneath spring’s barren tress its wing is flower-lined

And though we cannot see Him yet, His evidence confounds

God, forgive us when we forget and fret where grace abounds

Convict us of the sin that mars our fellowship with You

Impress upon our hearts the scars faith runs prayer's whispers through

© Janet Martin

Daniel 6:10

Now when Daniel learned that the decree had been published, 

he went home to his upstairs room where the windows opened toward Jerusalem. 

Three times a day he got down on his knees and prayed, 

giving thanks to his God, just as he had done before.

*From Franklin Graham this morning...(and needful for Canada too!)

Taking a stand for our country begins by going to our knees in prayer before Almighty God.

Today is the #NationalDayofPrayer, and for the past 71 years,

Christians across our country have gathered on this day to ask God for His help.

Our country is in trouble—we’re in a free fall, morally and spiritually.

We need to pray for our families, schools, churches, law enforcement,

military, judges, and our political leadership in Washington.(/Ottawa)

I hope you’ll join me in asking God to intervene and turn the heart of this nation back to Him.

We also need to pray for world leaders, and for an end to the deadly conflict in Ukraine.

The Word of God promises

“the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous and his ears are attentive to their prayer”

(1 Peter 3:12).

My father Billy Graham once said, “A prayerless Christian is a powerless Christian.”

He also called prayer “the Christian’s greatest weapon.” I couldn’t agree more.

The most important thing we can do is come to God and ask Him for help and direction.

He’s the only hope for this world, and that’s why I pray

in the mighty Name of Jesus Christ on this National Day of Prayer.

“Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace,

that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need”

(Hebrews 4:16).