1
00:00:02,720 --> 00:00:15,160
Speaker 1: Life Audio. Thank you for listening to your daily prayer,

2
00:00:15,440 --> 00:00:17,959
Speaker 1: where we help you find the words you need to

3
00:00:18,000 --> 00:00:21,040
Speaker 1: connect to your Father in Heaven. No matter what's happening

4
00:00:21,040 --> 00:00:23,600
Speaker 1: in your life today, you can trust that God wants

5
00:00:23,640 --> 00:00:26,440
Speaker 1: to hear from you. Right after this short word from

6
00:00:26,480 --> 00:00:29,840
Speaker 1: our sponsors, we'll pray through today's prayer for if you're

7
00:00:29,880 --> 00:00:52,000
Speaker 1: feeling hopeless this Resurrection season. A prayer if you're feeling

8
00:00:52,080 --> 00:00:57,520
Speaker 1: hopeless this Resurrection Season, written by Peyton Garland, read by

9
00:00:57,560 --> 00:01:02,600
Speaker 1: Leah Gerard. We can rejoice too when we run into

10
00:01:02,640 --> 00:01:05,840
Speaker 1: problems and trials, for we know that they help us

11
00:01:05,880 --> 00:01:11,560
Speaker 1: develop endurance, and endurance develops strength of character, and character

12
00:01:12,200 --> 00:01:17,759
Speaker 1: strengthens our confident hope of salvation Romans five three through four.

13
00:01:19,800 --> 00:01:24,200
Speaker 1: My childhood flawlessly fits the middle class suburban narrative. In fact,

14
00:01:24,240 --> 00:01:27,960
Speaker 1: you might say my family created its mold. My elementary

15
00:01:28,000 --> 00:01:31,000
Speaker 1: days were filled with bicycle rides round and round the

16
00:01:31,040 --> 00:01:35,360
Speaker 1: cul de sac. Popsicle juice dripped from my fingers. Neighbors

17
00:01:35,360 --> 00:01:38,880
Speaker 1: refilled their mailbox planners each spring, and girl Scouts and

18
00:01:38,959 --> 00:01:42,000
Speaker 1: insurance salesmen always felt safe enough to knock on the

19
00:01:42,000 --> 00:01:46,280
Speaker 1: front door. It was the slow, simple things that gave

20
00:01:46,360 --> 00:01:51,120
Speaker 1: my youth meaning, even when my unhealthy mind couldn't quite

21
00:01:51,200 --> 00:01:54,880
Speaker 1: understand why its thoughts moved much faster than the world

22
00:01:54,960 --> 00:02:01,960
Speaker 1: outside my window on maryl Drive. Nonetheless, Providence sustained my small,

23
00:02:02,440 --> 00:02:06,520
Speaker 1: dirt caked hands as they dug for roly pollys, picked daisies,

24
00:02:06,640 --> 00:02:09,120
Speaker 1: and yelled at my baby's sister not to play too

25
00:02:09,160 --> 00:02:15,000
Speaker 1: close to the bite bite bush. Providence still sustains me today,

26
00:02:15,280 --> 00:02:19,600
Speaker 1: but certainly not in a simpler, suburban way. I now

27
00:02:19,680 --> 00:02:24,320
Speaker 1: know why my brain never slows down, why reckless thoughts

28
00:02:24,400 --> 00:02:28,880
Speaker 1: riddle my soul, and why I'll never ever be normal.

29
00:02:30,160 --> 00:02:33,320
Speaker 1: There's a diagnosed name to the beasts that left my

30
00:02:33,480 --> 00:02:39,600
Speaker 1: therapists saying there's medication, there's treatment, but there's no cure.

31
00:02:41,000 --> 00:02:45,760
Speaker 1: In other words, there's hope. But in this fallen world,

32
00:02:46,320 --> 00:02:50,120
Speaker 1: such hope will ride bitter waves of bitter sweet highs

33
00:02:50,160 --> 00:02:54,000
Speaker 1: and desperate lows, and somehow in it all life will

34
00:02:54,000 --> 00:02:56,920
Speaker 1: go on. It's not always because I want it to,

35
00:02:57,040 --> 00:03:03,600
Speaker 1: but because God says resurrection wins. Providence pieces together my ending,

36
00:03:04,040 --> 00:03:07,320
Speaker 1: and when I die to what I want life to be,

37
00:03:07,720 --> 00:03:11,000
Speaker 1: I find the courage to breathe in what surrounds me.

38
00:03:12,240 --> 00:03:15,840
Speaker 1: I know to appreciate the little bits of truth filled

39
00:03:15,880 --> 00:03:20,800
Speaker 1: with hope that God sprinkles into my ordinary days. I

40
00:03:20,840 --> 00:03:24,320
Speaker 1: know to notice the daffodils that pop up each February

41
00:03:24,520 --> 00:03:27,600
Speaker 1: and litter my pasture, willing to bloom despite the last

42
00:03:27,680 --> 00:03:31,400
Speaker 1: bite of winter that always threatens to weigh down their stems.

43
00:03:32,040 --> 00:03:34,760
Speaker 1: I know to pause my routine to take in their color,

44
00:03:35,320 --> 00:03:40,560
Speaker 1: their posture, and their maker. I know to notice the

45
00:03:40,640 --> 00:03:43,800
Speaker 1: young man who, before loading my groceries in my trunk,

46
00:03:44,160 --> 00:03:46,960
Speaker 1: knocks on my car window to say, I notice a

47
00:03:47,000 --> 00:03:48,880
Speaker 1: stick caught in your tire and I got it out.

48
00:03:50,360 --> 00:03:54,880
Speaker 1: I know to remember his long hair, funky tennis shoes,

49
00:03:55,440 --> 00:03:58,200
Speaker 1: an accent that says I'm probably not from here, but

50
00:03:58,320 --> 00:04:01,320
Speaker 1: I'll treat you a total stranger as if you're home.

51
00:04:03,000 --> 00:04:05,400
Speaker 1: I know to notice when someone wants to stop me

52
00:04:05,480 --> 00:04:08,160
Speaker 1: in the craft store and remind me just how quickly

53
00:04:08,200 --> 00:04:11,680
Speaker 1: this season of motherhood will fly by, how much I'll

54
00:04:11,720 --> 00:04:14,280
Speaker 1: miss it, Even while my son tries to topple over

55
00:04:14,320 --> 00:04:19,240
Speaker 1: a glass display. I know to pause my angst and

56
00:04:19,320 --> 00:04:24,839
Speaker 1: anxiousness to say, you're so right, thank you. We often

57
00:04:24,880 --> 00:04:27,560
Speaker 1: struggle to feel and believe in things we can't see,

58
00:04:28,040 --> 00:04:31,760
Speaker 1: in what our limited bodies can't fully know. But I

59
00:04:31,880 --> 00:04:36,159
Speaker 1: wonder if much of our blindness is self induced. Of course,

60
00:04:36,640 --> 00:04:40,560
Speaker 1: we don't wilfully proactively live in the dark, especially as

61
00:04:40,600 --> 00:04:43,560
Speaker 1: believers in the light of all life, But the Resurrection

62
00:04:43,720 --> 00:04:48,239
Speaker 1: season will require that we surrender our senses to hope.

63
00:04:49,720 --> 00:04:52,960
Speaker 1: In this we can appreciate the truth even when it

64
00:04:53,080 --> 00:04:58,159
Speaker 1: locks our legs, swells our eyes, and leaves us wishing things.

65
00:04:58,200 --> 00:05:03,480
Speaker 1: We're so much easier. Just as our hearts first trusted

66
00:05:03,560 --> 00:05:07,560
Speaker 1: in Christ's resurrection for our salvation, our eyes and ears,

67
00:05:07,880 --> 00:05:13,360
Speaker 1: even our mouths, nose, fingertips, must give trust mobility. We

68
00:05:13,440 --> 00:05:16,960
Speaker 1: must give trust the ability to live and breathe in

69
00:05:17,320 --> 00:05:21,880
Speaker 1: all things, even the hard ones that aren't simple, joyful,

70
00:05:22,279 --> 00:05:28,240
Speaker 1: or curable. As Easter approaches, don't force Hope down a

71
00:05:28,279 --> 00:05:34,960
Speaker 1: one way street. Meet him, run to him, embrace him,

72
00:05:35,279 --> 00:05:38,640
Speaker 1: and tell him that he's welcome in your world. Come

73
00:05:38,680 --> 00:05:45,159
Speaker 1: what may, Let's pray. Father. In a world filled with uncertainty, sin,

74
00:05:45,279 --> 00:05:48,039
Speaker 1: and hopelessness, it's easy to miss the beauty of the

75
00:05:48,040 --> 00:05:52,159
Speaker 1: Resurrection season. I mean, we live as though Your resurrection

76
00:05:52,279 --> 00:05:56,080
Speaker 1: has filled every scene we enter, every space, we occupy,

77
00:05:56,200 --> 00:06:01,680
Speaker 1: in every soul that's yours, Because it does give us

78
00:06:01,720 --> 00:06:04,840
Speaker 1: an undeniable sense of your grace that longs for us

79
00:06:04,839 --> 00:06:09,000
Speaker 1: to fight for laughter, community, and the defense of the downtrodden.

80
00:06:09,960 --> 00:06:13,640
Speaker 1: We can never thank you enough for your death, burial

81
00:06:13,680 --> 00:06:16,960
Speaker 1: and resurrection, but as we praise you with what little

82
00:06:17,000 --> 00:06:19,800
Speaker 1: we can offer, may we bring the hope of your

83
00:06:19,920 --> 00:06:25,719
Speaker 1: salvation into every season of life. We love you, Father,

84
00:06:26,200 --> 00:06:41,960
Speaker 1: forever Amen. Your Daily Prayer is a production of Life

85
00:06:42,040 --> 00:06:45,680
Speaker 1: Audio and Salem Media. If you liked what you heard today,

86
00:06:46,080 --> 00:06:49,240
Speaker 1: be sure to follow our sister show your nightly prayer.

87
00:06:49,920 --> 00:06:53,560
Speaker 1: You can find your nightly prayer at lifeaudio dot com

88
00:06:53,640 --> 00:06:57,560
Speaker 1: or in your favorite podcast app. By following your daily

89
00:06:57,600 --> 00:07:01,279
Speaker 1: prayer and your nightly prayer, you can be sure that

90
00:07:01,360 --> 00:07:05,359
Speaker 1: your day begins and ends centered on the Word of

91
00:07:05,400 --> 00:07:07,000
Speaker 1: God and prayer