Shirlee Abbott

Teach Your Children … the Way to Go

Posted on September 3, 2024 by Shirlee Abbott

Proverbs 22:6 (NLT)
Direct your children onto the right path,
and when they are older, they will not leave it.

This is a proverb, not a promise or guarantee. It’s logical. It makes sense.

Walk the straight and narrow path with your children when they’re young. Don’t assume they’ll find it for themselves. Don’t hope they’ll stumble across it later in life. Show them the way, give them a good head start.

Good morning, Lord. You command us to teach the next generation to walk in paths of righteousness. I want to be a person who teaches not just with words, but also by example.

Teach me to watch my own steps before I tell other folks where to walk. Remind me to admit my mistakes before I criticize someone else. May I stop, look to Your Word, and listen to Your Spirit before I change direction. Guide me, O God, keep my feet on the straight and narrow.

Posted in Constructive Thought, Morning Prayer | Tagged paths of righteousness, Proverbs 22:6, straight and narrow, teach your children | Comments Off

Teach Your Children … It’s Your Job

Posted on September 2, 2024 by Shirlee Abbott

Here in the US, it’s Labor Day, a day to honor American workers. Teaching our children is job #1.

Deuteronomy 11:18-19 (TLB)
So keep these commandments carefully in mind. Tie them to your hand to remind you to obey them, and tie them to your forehead between your eyes! Teach them to your children. Talk about them when you are sitting at home, when you are out walking, at bedtime, and before breakfast!

So, how’s your job performance? Are you meeting expectations?

Good morning, Lord. It’s my job, I know, to teach the next generation about You — to teach my children, my grandchildren, any children within my circle of influence. Forgive me for passing the responsibility on to others, thinking an hour of Sunday School a week is enough. If You are the center of my life, if all I do revolves around You, teaching the next generation is a 24/7 thing.

Give me wisdom, give me strength, give me perseverance. Grant me the right words and the right opportunities.

Posted in Constructive Thought, Morning Prayer | Tagged Deuteronomy 1:18-19, job performance, Labor Day | Comments Off

Prayer Is Like Water

Posted on August 30, 2024 by Shirlee Abbott

Amos 5:8 (ESV)
… who calls for the waters of the sea and pours them out on the surface of the earth, the Lord is his name.

Still water, shallow enough to play in. Rushing water, powerful enough to polish rocks and rearrange landscapes. Gentle streams and raging floods, poured out by God.

Prayer, full of joy. Prayer, reshaping hearts and moving mountains. Poured out to God, poured out by God.

Good morning, Lord. My praise and problems, my gratitude and requests — I pour them like water before Your throne every day. In so doing, my heart becomes kinder, my soul less-self-centered, my mind more focused on goodness and mercy. Folks say, “prayer changes things,” and that is true. But prayer changes people … it changes me. For that, I am eternally grateful.

Posted in Constructive Thought, Morning Prayer | Tagged Amos 5:8, prayer, water | Comments Off

Prayer Is Like the Wind

Posted on August 29, 2024 by Shirlee Abbott

John 3:8 (ESV)
The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes so you can’t explain how people are born of the Spirit.

This Bible verse is about the Spirit-filled life. The basic idea also applies prayer.

I can’t explain prayer. I don’t know how it works. And I can’t live without it.

Good morning, Lord. Some of my prayers are like a gentle breeze — delightful, refreshing, full of hope. Some prayers are like a mighty wind — twisting, breaking, rattling the windows of my soul. Some prayers come from my own mouth, others from a deep place I can’t control.

Prayer is that unseen connection between me and You. It is the power that lights my way, changes my direction, moves me forward. I know it, but I don’t understand it. I am in awe of it. Thank You for this lifeline to You.

Posted in Constructive Thought, Morning Prayer | Tagged John 3:8, prayer, wind | Comments Off

Prayer Is Like My Hair

Posted on August 28, 2024 by Shirlee Abbott

Matthew 10:30 (TLB)
And the very hairs of your head
are all numbered.

I can’t begin to guess how many prayers I’ve sent heavenward in my lifetime. I have no idea how many people have prayed for me, and how often. But just like the hairs on my head, God keeps count. He’s never missed even one.

Good morning, Lord. You hear every prayer from me, every prayer for me. You listen to each one like it is the only one — You never think, “Not her again” or “I’ve heard enough already.” You don’t tune me out, You don’t ignore me. Thank You.

When You don’t instantly do what I want, I think, “God’s not listening” or “God doesn’t care.” Forgive me for jumping to that conclusion. Grant me patience. Teach me to accept “No” or “Not now” as an answer. Teach me to pray, “Your will be done.”

Posted in Constructive Thought, Morning Prayer | Tagged hairs, Matthew 10:30, prayers, Your will be done | Comments Off

Prayer Is Like a Road Crew

Posted on August 27, 2024 by Shirlee Abbott

On my recent road trip, we drove through construction zones where they were adding a lane to the interstate highway. Heavy equipment at work — bulldozers, graders, dump trucks. It reminded me of this familiar Scripture:

Isaiah 40:3-5 (NIV)
“… make straight in the desert
a highway for our God …
the rough ground shall become level,
the rugged places a plain.
And the glory of the Lord will be revealed.

Prayer is a lot like those road crews — paving the way for the glory of the Lord.

Let us pray. Let us make a highway.

Good morning, Lord. I’ve encountered bumps, dips, hills and valleys on my life journey. Sometimes I work my way over, around and through them in my own power. When I turn to You, I’m looking to make my life easier, to make my path smoother. I make it all about me.

Lord God, give me eyes to see the bigger picture, to see You moving forward for the good of others, for the good of the whole world. Teach me to pray, “Your kingdom come,” thus paving the way for Your coming glory.

Posted in Constructive Thought, Morning Prayer | Tagged construction zones, Isaia 40:3-5, prayer, Your kingdom come | Comments Off

God’s Mercy Rains

Posted on August 23, 2024 by Shirlee Abbott

Here’s a bit of wisdom from Gilbert of Hoyland (died 1172), Abbot of Swineshead Abbey, Lincolnshire:

“When we see dark grey clouds forming in the sky,
we fear a mighty storm.
In the same way,
when we see the darkness of our sin,
we fear the storm of your wrath.
But just as in truth
rain brings new life to the Earth,
so you rain down mercy on our sinful souls,
forgiveness and peace.
Be to us always like a mighty storm,
raining down upon us the abundant waters
of your mercy. Amen.”

Raining mercy, a flood of peace!

Good morning, Lord. You rain down mercy. You flood my soul with grace. I float in an unending sea of peace and love.

Forgive me for thinking I need anything else. It is enough, more than enough!

Posted in Morning Prayer, Timeless Wisdom | Tagged Gilbert of Hoyland, sin, storms mercy | Comments Off

God’s Got It Under Control

Posted on August 22, 2024 by Shirlee Abbott

Psalm 148:7-8 (NIV)
Praise the Lord from the earth,
you great sea creatures and all ocean depths,
lightning and hail, snow and clouds,
stormy winds that do his bidding.

Weather does God’s bidding. Storm tracking, barometric pressure, weather patterns — all under His control. All part of His plan from the beginning.

Good morning, Lord. When You started the earth spinning, You set up sunny and stormy weather. Forgive us for thinking we deserve only balmy days and gentle rains. Forgive us for taking good weather for granted and declaring severe weather “an act of God.” Forgive us for thinking we can plan, predict and even control natural systems with nary a thought of You.

What would we be, Lord, without the storms of life? We’d give ourselves credit for our prosperity. We’d crumble at the first hint of adversity. We might ignore You altogether. Thank You, O God, for sun and clouds, for wind and lightning, for floods and blizzards. Thank You for having it all under control.

Posted in Constructive Thought, Morning Prayer | Tagged floods and blizzards, Psalm 148:7-8, sun and storms, weather | Comments Off

God Keeps Time

Posted on August 21, 2024 by Shirlee Abbott

Genesis 8:22 (NIV)
“As long as the earth endures,
seedtime and harvest,
cold and heat,
summer and winter,
day and night
will never cease.”

This is what God said after Noah left the ark. And thus far, He’s kept his word … and the time, all the time.

Good morning, Lord. Thank You for sunrise and sunset, day after day. Thank You for seedtime and harvest, year after year. Thank You for spring, summer, fall and winter — in that order, every year since creation. Reliable time is a gift from You to us. Forgive me for begrudging it, for treating it like an adversary, for working against time and not with it.

Teach me to use Your gift of time wisely now and to look forward to the end of time as we know it, when we will be with You through eternity.

Posted in Constructive Thought, Morning Prayer | Tagged Genesis 8:22, Time | Comments Off

God Is Inclusive

Posted on August 20, 2024 by Shirlee Abbott

Revelation 7:9-10 (NLT)
… I saw a vast crowd, too great to count, from every nation and tribe and people and language, standing in front of the throne and before the Lamb. They were clothed in white robes and held palm branches in their hands.

Every nation, every tribe, every people, every language — all in one place at the same time, getting along. He who brings us together is greater than what sets us apart.

Good morning, Lord. When I’m inclined to make snap judgments about others, remind me that I may find myself standing beside them before Your throne in heaven. Our differences won’t matter then — don’t let them matter to me now.

Forgive my sense of superiority, create in me a humble heart. Forgive my arrogance, fill me with modesty and compassion. Teach me to see everyone with eyes of love, finding Your image stamped on their souls.

Posted in Constructive Thought, Morning Prayer | Tagged eyes of love, inclusion, Revelation 7:9-10, unity | Comments Off