I had a long-time college friend expience a horrible tragedy yesterday and thus my devotional this morning held extra meaning and brought comfort to my heart.  God’s Word tells us that we will have trouble in this world.  (John 16:33)  But His goodness and His unfailing love are who He is, and He is always there in those times of trouble.

Here are some quotes from my quiet time this morning.  I’m in the midst of Catherine Martin’s Pilgrimage of the Heart study.  (Amazing, btw.) 

…the foundation of your prayers is the character of God.  In fact, the greatest result of prayer is a deeper knowledge of His character and a more intimate fellowship with Him.  The most important aspect of His Character in relation to prayer is His goodness and love (see Psalm 107:1,43).  If He is not good and does not love, then our prayers may fall on deaf or uninterested ears.  Because He is good and all-loving, then we can cry out to Him in our trouble and know that His answer will be the very best and in accordance with His will.  Because of His goodness, He can be trusted in full surrender.

Psalm 147:11 tells us that He delights in those who put their hope in His unfailing love.  When our world is crashing around our ears, our hope is in His unfailing love.  When those we love do fail us, our hope is to remain in His unfailing love.  He will never fail us, He will never leave us nor forsake us.  (Hebrews 13:5)

Today, I urge you to focus on His unfailing love and His goodness.  I cannot answer the “why” questions that we all have in our troubled lives, but I can tell you about His unfailing love for each of us and His goodness.   Pour your heart out to Him in prayer.

Just talk, He’s listening.

Devotional, Encouragement