Today is Prayer Tuesday and I invite you to pray through the resonating points of this post as we all seek to find our strong. This post is a continuation of yesterday’s post. We are searching out the truths in Psalm 46.

There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God,
The holy dwelling places of the Most High.
⁵ God is in the midst of her, she will not be moved;
God will help her when morning dawns.

What is your most high?

God has been reminding me that  joy and well-being cannot be tethered to the responses and approval of others. Security is elusive when it is based on circumstance or relationships. It cannot be tied to success and it can’t be rooted in the worlds’ systems or definitions. No person and no situation can be a stable source of joy and strength. We are not made for that.

When we put our faith in the world’s mountains and false places of security, we are at the mercy of the roaring waters when they burst through the strongholds of our false gods.

What we depend on, whether for joy or for strength, becomes our most high. This is true for all of us, regardless of the role we play in military life.

Whatever we are trying to draw life and stability from (apart from God) blocks the flow of God’s Spirit with in us. We will not know His very present help when we look to other solutions or try to fix our problems with our own resources. This doesn’t mean God won’t help, but what we learn and experience will be entirely different.

God will help.

Sometimes, morning seems a long way off, but the sun always rises and morning always comes. Light is dawning and God is helping as we learn to trust Him.

He is our Lord of hosts and our strong place.

The nations made an uproar, the kingdoms tottered;
He raised His voice, the earth melted.
⁷ The Lord of hosts is with us;
The God of Jacob is our stronghold.

When the waters roar and foam, the rushing sound of anxiety stirs us up within. It is the inner striving that drowns out the gladness of God in our hearts, isn’t it? Take strength in the knowledge that God is with us.

There is very little God asks of us. He is the One who wins the wars, breaks the spears, burns the chariots. He is the One who overcomes everything that can come against us. Notice there is not one word about fighting our own battles here. Again, the focus is all on Him.

He makes wars to cease to the end of the earth;
He breaks the bow and cuts the spear in two;
He burns the chariots with fire.

What does the Psalmist ask of us? What is our job?

Are you looking at the problem, or are your eyes on the work God is doing? Come–be present with God. Come–behold His works, perceive and see what He is doing. God invites us to a front row seat to His action in our very own lives.

And when you can’t see what He is doing in the moment, stand in faith and remember what He has done in the past. Remind yourself again and again. Remind yourself as many times as it takes. Notice how many times the psalmist makes a bold statement of God’s strength and presence.

The psalmist  doesn’t just tell us what to do, he shows us as he writes out his heart as enemies gather against him. Though he cannot help but recognize the danger, the power of his words exalt God as his strength and help.

When the nations rage and the kingdoms totter, when troubles roar, it is our great temptation to give into the rising tides of trouble. Striving within, we give way to fear and any other fix we can find to win the battle at hand.

Cease striving.

Cease striving is often translated, be still. This is a two-hold command. Stop the striving and the battling. The Hebrew word for be still is raphah, meaning to sink, relax, sink down, let drop, be disheartened. To let down your hand and to desist from any person or thing.

Oh friend, sink into this quiet place of inner stillness that has laid down every self-effort, every resentment, every false source of strength. This is the two-fold command:

Be still

and

Know…

I am God.

When the battle rages and my emotions strive within my soul, I cannot hear. I can’t see, and I can’t know by experience that God is my very present source of strength.

The knowing comes after the striving has stopped.

It is in that place of inner stillness that the streams of God’s presence calm my heart and I can know the He really is God Most High, God Right Now.

This knowing isn’t an intellectual or a casual knowing. It isn’t a far off in the distance as in I know about…

This knowing is a deep, inner knowing that comes through experience. It points to a process of learning to know, to become aware of, to discover, and to become acquainted with. This knowing is deeply personal and present, right in the center of our need, our hurts, and our fears.

Settle your soul and sink into Him.

Take your hands off the handle that cranks and twists your fears like churning butter. Pry your fingers off the problems and lift your eyes to your Most High.

I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.”

Ask God to show you His ways and teach you His paths. (Psalm 25:4).

Pray with the Psalmist who writes,

Let me hear Your lovingkindness in the morning;
For I trust in You;
Teach me the way in which I should walk;
For to You I lift up my soul. Psalm 143:8

From beginning to end with all the problems in between, God is our refuge and strength.

The Lord of hosts is with us;
The God of Jacob is our stronghold. v. 11

He is with us, right in the very midst of us. Let this truth be your strong hold of faith as you let God fight the battle. The only thing He asks of us…do not fear, behold his works, and be still and experience that He is your God.

For thus says the Lord, “do not fear or be dismayed because of this great multitude, for the battle is not yours, but Gods.” 2 Chronicles 20:15

The burden of proof is on Him.

Blessings,

Ginger

How can we pray for you today? You can leave a comment on this blog or on our Facebook page. You can send us a private message or use our contact page for private requests. The prayer team at Planting Roots is here to pray for you. If God is calling you to be a prayer warrior for Planting Roots, please let us know.