Praying To Know Joy and Laughter In Our Day Regardless of The Circumstances

 Praying To Know Joy and Laughter In Our Day Regardless of The Circumstances

Many of you know that I am in Ontario these days with my family as we celebrate the life of my dear Mom who went to be with her Lord very early Friday morning.  While there are many tears, as you can imagine, there’s also tons of laughter.

In one of her last phone conversations with one of her grandsons they were joking about where he got the humor he uses in his work and she let him know that it came down the line from her.  There are many things Mom was known and appreciated for and one of them was her fun and laughter. 

Look at that cheeky expression in her eyes!

Laughter and light heartedness is important to God.  The Bible reminds us:

A cheerful heart is good medicine, but a broken spirit saps a person’s strength.  Proverbs 17:22

For the despondent, every day brings trouble;  for the happy heart, life is a continual feast.  Proverbs 15:15

Nothing would please my Mom more than to have all of us hang onto this hope in the Lord and His goodness that is big enough to sustain a happy heart through all sorts of circumstances. 

Lord Jesus, you have come to earth to fill our hearts with joy.  You want us to be completely happy.  So many things seem to rob the joy from our daily lives.  But You are the one who gives us today.  Today is a day that you have made for us to rejoice and be glad in.  We choose to follow Your plan for this day.  We choose for joy.  (Psalm 118:24)

You’ve told us that when we fill our lives with joy, we will be strong.  But You knew we couldn’t produce that joy on our own so thank goodness, you’ve offered us Your Holy Spirit to live in us and express joy to us and through us.  We welcome You, Lord.  Come and fill our hearts today with Your joy.  We let go of all the things we can’t control and we say, Come Lord Jesus.  You take care of the things we can’t.  We want to live the way you intended for us to live and that’s in your joy.

I have told you these things so that you can have the true happiness that I have. I want you to be completely happy. – John 15:11

Well, We don’t quite know how you are going to do it but Lord you’ve promised that you can turn our mourning into joy and as you comfort us we can find gladness even in our sorrow – even to the point of us being completely happy.  You promise us in Your Word:

I will turn their mourning into joy, I will comfort them and give them gladness for sorrow.” — Jeremiah 31:13

And so again today we put our trust in you.  We commit ourselves to You and invite you to do just that.  Take our lives in the middle of all that is going on and give us joy.  Fill us with laughter and gladness, even today.  Amen