by Charles R. Swindoll
See how I love your precepts;
preserve my life, O LORD, according to your love.
All your words are true;
all your righteous laws are eternal.
—Psalm 119:159-160 NIV
Thank You, Father, for breathing out Your Word through men so many centuries ago. Thank You for preserving the message that You revealed through the miracle of inspiration, Father. Thank You for Your Word—the inerrant, authoritative, infallible Word of God. We live in a day in which others' words have replaced your eternal Word, at least in the public's mind. In this difficult era, it is hard to hear again Your Word. We pray that the scales will be lifted from our eyes and that which has blocked our hearing will be removed so we might see and hear and be comforted and encouraged by Your revealed Word. May the truth that appears in Your Word make its journey through our minds and probe deep within our hearts, so that our minds are transformed and as a result, our actions.
Father, we pray that You will cause us to glean from Your Word truth to live by, knowing that it represents truth to die for. Ours is a troubled era. The battle for men's and women's souls and for our youth's minds is raging. And rather than simply throwing a fit and screaming at the top of our voices, we bring our requests to You. We ask that Your truth may equip us with sufficient ammunition to do battle in a world that's lost its way and is guided by an enemy who is deceptive and effective, who knows exactly where he's going. We pray that we will grasp the value of doctrine as it establishes us for whatever comes our way—those surprises, those unexpected events, those things we will call tragedies, and those joys and delights that are before us.
Anchor us, our Father, to the bedrock of truth and remind us that Your Son, Jesus Christ, is the same yesterday and today and forever. It's all His story. Our Father, our eyes are upon Jesus. It is in His merciful, matchless name we pray. Amen.
Reprinted by permission. Day by Day, Charles Swindoll, July 2005, Thomas Nelson, inc., Nashville, Tennessee. All rights reserved. Purchase "Day by Day" here.
