Daily Devotionals for Difficult Days [133] Open My Eyes

Today's post is written by Roy Summers, pastor, Manor Park Church, Worcester

Are you Keeping Up?!

For a short while we are making our way through some great memory verses in the Bible, starting with short ones to "prime the pump." May I gently encourage you, dear reader, to learn off by heart these short verses, if you wish to and can.

"I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you."

(Psalm 119:11)

"You intended to harm me but God meant it for good."

(Genesis 50:20)

Have you had one of those just-can't-get-to-sleep nights? Sometimes there are obvious reasons for sleeplessness, at other times no reason can be found. And then into that sleeplessness fear or temptation can so easily invade.

It's at times like those that retrieving God's Word from our minds will prove to be immensely helpful. Instead of fear or temptation we can fill our minds with truth and power. This is not our memory verse for the day, but look what the Pslamist does, "On my bed I remember you; I think of you through the watches of the night." (Psalm 63:6). We too, if we have hidden God's word in our hearts, can bring it back to mind and meditate on it, and so be strengthened rather than weakened, in the dark watches of the night.

Dry as Dust

Our memory verse today is for every believer who has ever said, Bible on lap, "I'm not getting anything out of it:"

"Open my eyes that I may see wonderful things in your law." (Psalm 119:18)

Most Christians go through "dry patches" in their walk with the Lord. Days or even weeks when the heavens "seem as brass" and the Scriptures a dry letter. That, reader, is not unique to you for  most Christians have walked through that valley.

There are many reasons for it. Yes, some of them are our own fault. Perhaps we are grieving the Holy Spirit with unrepentant sin. But sometimes the Lord may deliberately withdraw his gracious sensible presence to test our faith. "Do you love me only when you sense my presence, or will you love me though I distance myself?"

A Prayer for Dry Times

Our memory verse for today is a prayer for dry times. A Christian preacher once revealed that he prayed Psalm 119:18  before every single Bible reading.

"Open my eyes that I may see wonderful things in your law." (Psalm 119:18)

The word "law" we translate in New Testament days as referring to the whole Bible. The psalmist had only the first five books of the Bible, but we have the whole of the Bible in our hands.

So this verse is an earnest request that God would perform a miracle by his Holy Spirit and open our eyes to see wonderful things in his Word. We're asking to be instructed, we're asking to be fed, we're asking to be built up in our holy faith. We're asking the Holy Spirit who inspired the word in the first place to make it come alive in our minds, hearts and lives.

We're asking for the Spirit of Christ to reveal and apply the grace and mercy of God's Son to us all over again.

What a wonderful prayer to pray before we open our Bibles. Oh Lord, open my eyes that I may see wonderful things in your Word!

A SONG FOR THE DAY
I have chosen this new song about the work of God's Spirit, because our memory verse is nothing other than a request that the blessed and divine Holy Spirit be at work in our minds and hearts.

Holy Spirit, living breath of God,
Breathe new life into my willing soul.
Let the presence of the risen Lord,
Come renew my heart and make me whole.
Cause Your Word to come alive in me;
Give me faith for what I cannot see,
Give me passion for Your purity;
Holy Spirit, breathe new life in me.

Holy Spirit, come abide within,
May Your joy be seen in all I do.
Love enough to cover every sin,
In each thought and deed and attitude.
Kindness to the greatest and the least,
Gentleness that sows the path of peace.
Turn my strivings into works of grace;
Breath of God show Christ in all I do.

Holy Spirit, from creation’s birth,
Giving life to all that God has made,
Show Your power once again on earth,
Cause Your church to hunger for your ways.
Let the fragrance of our prayers arise;
Lead us on the road of sacrifice,
That in unity the face of Christ
May be clear for all the world to see.

Getty & Townend

You can sing along  HERE.

A PRAYER FOR THE DAY

Our ever-loving Father in heaven,

We thank you for the Holy Spirit whom both you and your blessed Son sent upon the church. We thank you for the miracle of his ever abiding presence. May we not grieve him with unrepentant sin or bitterness or unforgiveness, but may we be continually filled with the Spirit, by humble and daily repentance and forgiveness.

And help us to seek your help every time we open your Word. May we never imagine that we can fathom its mysteries with our small minds. May we humbly seek your help and please open our dull eyes so that we can see the wonderful things of your love and grace and salvation.

We ask these things in the name of Jesus

Amen

Photo by Kat J on Unsplash