Nothing is more important than your concept of God – the picture you have of Him in your mind. That (and that alone) will determine how you approach Him, not only in times of need, but every time. As long as you see God as an auditor before whom your books never balance, or a teacher whose class you dread and whose tests you can never pass, or a parent who punishes you but never affirms you, you won’t ‘come boldly’. You probably won’t come at all! 

If you need a new concept of God, listen: ‘…we have a great High Priest Who has gone to heaven, Jesus the Son of God. Let us cling to Him and never stop trusting Him. This High Priest of ours understands our weaknesses, for He faced all of the same temptations we do, yet He did not sin. So let us come boldly to the throne of our gracious God. There we will receive His mercy, and we will find grace to help us when we need it’ (Hebrews 4:14-16 NLT). 

In A Gentle Thunder, Max Lucado writes, ‘If God had a refrigerator, your picture would be on it. If He’d a wallet, your photo would be in it. He sends you flowers every spring and a sunrise every morning. Whenever you want to talk, He’ll listen. He can live anywhere in the universe, but He chose your heart. And what about the Christmas gift He sent you at Bethlehem? Not to mention that Friday at Calvary. Face it, He’s crazy about you!’

"Shout for joy to the LORD, all the earth. Worship the LORD with gladness; come before him with joyful songs. Know that the LORD is God. It is he who made us, and we are his; we are his people, the sheep of his pasture. Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise his name. For the LORD is good and his love endures forever; his faithfulness continues through all generations. "

(Many of the reflections on each page are used with the kind permission of United Christian Broadcastors (UCB) from their FREE daily devotional - The Word for Today. They allow the publication of 52 of their passages per year and I find their messages apt and though-provoking for the times we live in.)

A Circle of Prayer around the world praying for and with each other, for peace and for a world in crisis. Please read more about it and perhaps join us, prayer was never more needed than it is in these times!

Praying all year round for the souls of our deceased relatives and friends, for the souls of those most in need of prayer and for those souls in purgatory who have nobody to pray for them.