Pastor Fredo Ramos: For whatever reason, I have always struggled to pray. And so as this new year begins and as many of you think about new routines that you wanna give yourself to, especially for those of you who follow Jesus, I wanna invite you to learn to pray the Psalms with us. It's a practice I picked up years ago that really saved, my ability to learn to pray, to speak to God honestly about how I was feeling and what I was thinking. And so every single day on sandalschurch.tv on YouTube, we're gonna be releasing, praying the Psalms, a Psalm a day. We started in January 1, and every day you're gonna get a new Psalm with the opportunity to read the Psalm with us, to reflect on a phrase, and then to respond to God in prayer, how to pray through the Psalms.
This has been a gift to me in my own journey with Jesus. I pray that it's a gift to you, and so would you join us. Grace and peace. Psalm 46 verse one. God is our refuge and strength, always ready to help in times of trouble.
So we will not fear when earthquakes come and the mountains crumble into the sea. Let the oceans roar and foam. Let the mountains tremble as the water surge. A river brings joy to the city of our God, the sacred home of the most high. God dwells in that city.
It cannot be destroyed. From the very break of day, God will protect it. The nations are in chaos and their kingdoms crumble. God's voice thunders and the earth melts. The Lord of heaven's armies is here among us.
The God of Israel is our fortress. Come, see the glorious works of the Lord. See how he brings destruction upon the world. He causes wars to end throughout the earth. He breaks the bow and snaps the spear.
He burns the shields with fire. Verse 10. Be still and know that I am God. I will be honored by every nation. I will be honored throughout the world.
The Lord of heaven's armies is here among us. The God of Israel is our fortress. By way of reflection, Psalm 46 clearly gives to us a picture of the kind of prayer that centers on both God's strength for the individual, but also his strength that oversees the nations. We're told here that even if the earth gives way, if there's, earthquakes, if the the seas are devouring our structures, right, if there's just chaos naturally, that still God in his strength oversees it all. Then we get into this picture that there is this lord of the heavens armies who's present, and he's present in the midst of national chaos.
Right? So it's not just that there's physical calamities, but also if the nations are at war, still this this heaven's armies is present and God is present. And so this very individual personal prayer to find refuge and strength is centered on and is looking at this God who oversees everything. And then, of course, you get the the beautiful statement of verse 10 that is on Hallmark cards and on plaques in our homes. Be still and know that I am God.
It's interesting that such a simple command to, simplicity, stillness, and silence is found in a Psalm where there is so much noise and chaos and even destruction that we're told to look at. And so we hear the voice of Jesus inviting us in the midst of our day, in the midst of maybe the chaos that we see, to practice stillness, to practice inactivity. Right? Because it's natural in the face of all of what might be going wrong to get active, to try to do something about it. And yet Jesus invites us to inactivity, to stillness, to silence that is rooted in the fact that God is our refuge, and he is over all these things.
Jesus, we hear you inviting us now to respond with this kind of prayer. Would your Holy Spirit help us to be still and to be quiet. Even in the face of chaos. In the face of things that are falling apart. We center ourselves, and we ask that the eyes of our heart would be open to see you as fully in control, as good, and as beautiful.
Teach us today to be still. We pray these things in Christ's name. Amen.