Life sustainers, life containers, life treasures.

Mixed Sunday biscuits, taste makers.

Microwaved oatmeal breakfasts, color pleasers.

Salads with a story, smile makers.
In the late 1970s, Keith and I bought a teak salad bowl set in the Philippines.

Pictures of the past, imagination prompters.
Passed from father to daughter, this was Daddy’s cereal bowl when he was a child.

Crystal and china, costly and treasured, family pleasers.
My Momo treasured these celebrations of life.

When He had taken the book, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb, each one holding a harp and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints. Revelation 5:8

Our heavenly Father treasures the prayers of His children so much that He keeps our prayers in golden bowls and thinks of them as incense, a sweet fragrance.

I don’t have a golden bowl, and yet, our Father has many. Prayers are the stuff of life, life eternal. They express praise, worship, requests, promises, questions, cries of agony, and groans too deep for words. The Creator of the universe keeps these prayers, for they are like a sweet fragrance to Him.

How precious also are Your thoughts to me, O God!
How vast is the sum of them. 
If I should count them, they would outnumber the sand. Psalm 139:17-18

He even keeps our tears in a bottle.

You have taken account of my wanderings;
Put my tears in Your bottle.
Are they not in Your book? Psalm 56:8

What if we treasured His Word as much as He cherishes our prayers and tears?

What might our lives be like if we made a small effort to increase our thoughts of our dear Father? Take the challenge.

1. Meditate on God before you get out of bed each morning.
2. Once an hour every hour until noon, think about the nature of God.
3. Start your lunch by reading the Scripture for 15 minutes.
4. Read the same Scripture again in the evening
5. End your day with a prayer of remembrance of all that you thought of during the day. You might get so excited that you write it down in a journal.

Share how your life would be different in the Comment Section.

Are you willing to take the challenge?

My prayer

Father in heaven, Thank You that Your thoughts are as the sand towards Your children. Such thoughts are higher and deeper and wider than I can understand. Yet, I am grateful. Create in Your children an unquenchable desire to know Your Word, to meditate upon it and to consume it. Thank You, that our prayers are dear to You. Teach us to pray, Lord. Guide us in our thoughts of You. Shape our lives, our words, our prayers, and our tears, so that they honor You. We love You, Lord. Amen