Each month I am so honored that the Solon Township officials invite me back to offer a simple invocation at the beginning of their trustee meetings. I really enjoy doing this!
I pray a short, simple prayer. It is always based on a passage of Scripture, and it is typically a prayer asking God to give our township officials wisdom in all of their deliberations. But something interesting happens each month. After I conclude my prayer, they say, “Thank you.” In other words, they feel I have done something kind for them.
And I have: I have asked God to guide them, to help them, and to bless our township through their efforts. Prayer is one of the most powerfully kind things we can do for someone else.
“Prayer molds us into the image of God, and at the same time tends to mold others into the same image just in proportion as we pray for others.” —E.M. Bounds
When a coworker tells you about a situation in their life, offer to pray for them. Right on the spot.
When a friend share about their illness, say, “Can we pray right now?”
When your pastor tells you about a tough situation, offer to pray right then for God’s discernment.
When a friend is grieving, pray for God’s peace in their life.
Praying for them is powerful, and kind, and God-honoring.
Those are just excuses for why God isn’t moving right here right now. Surely we’re not saying God is somehow limited by a time or place! Charles Spurgeon said it this way,
“God’s power is independent of place. Think ye that there was any sanctity in the upper room at Jerusalem? Behold this room is quite as sacred as that filled by the Spirit in years gone by. Dream not that the city of Jerusalem of old, in the days of the Savior was a more proper theater for divine working than this is; He can make [your city] rejoice even as He did Jerusalem of old. Equally is the divine power independent of time. Do not dream that the ages have changed, so that in this day God cannot do His mighty works.”
I believe God wants to move in Cedar Springs today just as He moved in Jerusalem on the Day of Pentecost. No!! Even more… I believe God wants to do MORE in Cedar Springs!!
Now all glory to God, Who is able, through His mighty power at work within us, to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think.
I’m living in this expectation: God’s power right here, right now!
These pictures from NASA (and video compliments of Chris Abbas) show the majesty of our Creator…
The heavens proclaim the glory of God. The skies display His craftsmanship. Day after day they continue to speak; night after night they make Him known. They speak without a sound or word; their voice is never heard. Yet their message has gone throughout the earth, and their words to all the world. (Psalm 19:1-4)
But what does that mean? How can we grasp that concept? The prophet Isaiah tried to capture the essence of this when he asked who else but God “has measured the waters in the hollow of His hand, or with the breadth of His hand marked off the heavens?” (Isaiah 40:12).
Hold your hand palm up, fingers tight together to make a “dish” in the palm of your hand. How much water can you hold in that hollow of your hand? I just tried it and I couldn’t even hold ¼-cup of water. Yet Isaiah says that the hollow of God’s hand holds all the water of the earth.
How much is that? According to the US Geological Survey, the total water supply of the world is 326 million cubic miles. A cubic mile is an imaginary cube measuring one mile on each side. A cubic mile of water equals more than one trillion gallons (that‘s a 1 with 12 zeros following it!)—
One cubic mile of water (1 trillion gallons) x 326 million cubic miles = 326 quintillion gallons of water (326 followed by 18 zeros)!!
God holds ALL of this in the hollow of His hand!
Now stretch out your fingers as wide apart as you can. What is the distance from the tip of your thumb to the tip of your pinky finger? The breadth of my hand is about nine inches. Isaiah says that all of the stars in the universe fit into the breadth of God‘s hand.
How many is that? According to the European Space Agency, there are something like 10 trillion stars (a 10 followed by 12 zeros) just in our galaxy, and they estimate there are something like 10 trillion galaxies—
10 trillion stars in our galaxy x 10 trillion galaxies = 10 septillion stars (10 followed by 24 zeros)!!
God holds ALL of these stars in the breadth of His hand!
To say God’s hands are big and powerful is an understatement of astronomical proportions!
You might be thinking, “With hands that big, I’m so insignificant. I’m lost to God’s sight because His hands are so big.” But there is another aspect to God’s hands—they are not only big, but they are loving.
“Behold, I have indelibly imprinted—tattooed a picture of you—on the palm of each of My hands…” (Isaiah 49:16 AMP). God knows you by name—you are tattooed on His loving hands. His hands which are big enough to hold all the water and all the stars are loving enough to hold you!
Wow, what an incredible God! Powerful enough to protect and provide for us, tender enough to love each of us as though we were the only person in the universe to love!
Each month I am so honored that the Solon Township officials invite me back to offer a simple invocation at the beginning of their trustee meetings. I really enjoy doing this!
Craig T. Owens 