Lord,
I have few spoons today.
Limited energy. Limited abilities.
Physically, emotionally, and cognitively spoon-less.
Stewarding spoons
Please help me to steward the spoons wisely today.
What is Your will for today’s spoons…
“so as to live for the rest of the time in the flesh no longer for human passions but for the will of God” (1 Pet. 4:2 ESV)?
Guide me, O thou great Jehovah,
pilgrim through this barren land;
I am weak, but thou art mighty;
hold me with thy pow'rful hand;
Bread of heaven, Bread of heaven,
feed me till I want no more.1
Spoons to gather Your Word’s manna?
“Give us this day our daily bread” (Mt. 6:11 KJV).
“My soul melts away for sorrow;
strengthen me according to your word!” (Ps. 119:28 ESV)
“For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven
and do not return there but water the earth,
making it bring forth and sprout,
giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater,
so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth;
it shall not return to me empty,
but it shall accomplish that which I purpose,
and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it” (Is. 55:10-11 ESV).
Prioritize the spoons You’ve given me, to pursue Your will for today.
“Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven” (Mt. 6:10 KJV).
Spending spoons as You desire for today
“Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread,
and your labor for that which does not satisfy?
Listen diligently to me, and eat what is good,
and delight yourselves in rich food” (Is. 55:2 ESV).
Oh Father, it’s so easy to hoard spoons out of fear.
Just in case I might run out entirely.
Jesus leads me further in seeking Your will for this spoon-less day.
“Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal” (Mt. 6:19 ESV).
Lead me, Lord, lead me in thy righteousness,
make thy way plain before my face.
For it is thou, Lord, thou, Lord only,
that makest me dwell in safety.2
“but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal” (Mt. 6:20 ESV).
I hear the Savior say,
"Thy strength indeed is small,
Child of weakness, watch and pray,
Find in Me thine all in all."
Jesus paid it all,
All to Him I owe;
Sin had left a crimson stain,
He washed it white as snow!3
“For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also” (Mt. 6:21 ESV).
Am I coveting more spoons?
“So flee youthful passions and pursue righteousness, faith, love, and peace, along with those who call on the Lord from a pure heart” (2 Tim. 2:22 ESV).
Lead me in Your righteousness. Give me pure thoughts about the spoons You’ve appointed for me today, in Your love for me.
And shall we then forever live
at this poor dying rate?
Our love, so faint, so cold to you,
and yours to us so great!4
Am I wanting something I don’t have?
Comparing my spoons with others today?
“Spoon-depletion bragging” to others?
Help me, Lord! Guide me, Lord!
“but the cares of the world and the deceitfulness of riches and the desires for other things enter in and choke the word, and it proves unfruitful” (Mk. 4:19 ESV).
Tempted to self-pity? Envy?
Come, Holy Spirit, heav'nly Dove,
with all Thy quick'ning pow'rs;
kindle a flame of sacred love
in these cold hearts of ours.
Spring up Your built-up spoons of faith, within my spoon-less days, weeks, months, years
Help me to love You and others today, as Your spoon-fulls of faith!
“So then let us pursue what makes for peace and for mutual upbuilding” (Rom. 14:19 ESV).
“If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal” (1 Cor. 13:1 ESV).
“And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires” (Gal. 5:24 ESV).
Are today’s spoons Your gift to bring a new spoon-full of peace?
“Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat, nor about your body, what you will put on” (Lk. 12:22 ESV).
“For you shall go out in joy
and be led forth in peace.
The mountains and the hills before you
shall break forth into singing,
and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands” (Is. 55:12 ESV).
Come, Holy Spirit, heav'nly Dove,
with all your quick'ning pow'rs;
come, shed abroad a Savior’s love
and that shall kindle ours.
“For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
neither are your ways my ways, declares the LORD.
For as the heavens are higher than the earth,
so are my ways higher than your ways
and my thoughts than your thoughts” (Is. 55:8-9 ESV).
In the compassionate name of my Lord and Savior, Christ Jesus, amen.
Is today a spoon-less day today? I’ve had a huge setback in brain surgery recovery and this “spoonie prayer” is hourly these days.
So, this month’s music therapy-inspired podcast is created with these hymns and Scriptures to help our bodies literally energize, using the inherent dimensions of music itself! As you rest quietly with our Lord and breathe in time to the music, hearing God’s Word and renewing your mind, I pray it helps to fill up your empty spoons (as it is mine) on the hardest days, so we might then love Him and others with more spoon-full moments.
With love and prayer, from this suffering sister in Christ who can only share from her own spoon-less days, glory to God alone.
(“Guide Me, O Thou Great Jehovah,” Wiliams, W., 1745)
(“Lead Me, Lord,” anon., public domain)
(“Jesus Paid It All,” Hall, E. M., 1865)
(“Come, Holy Spirit, Heav'nly Dove,” Watts, I., 1707)
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