May 15 Prayer

Are you looking for a May 15 prayer to read and reflect on? We provide a guiding Bible verse, prayer questions, and example prayer for the day below.

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Bible verse for May 15

 Afterward the Israelites will return and seek the Lord their God and David their king. They will come trembling to the Lord and to his blessings in the last days. (Hosea 3:5 NIV)

Prayer Reflections for May 15

In Desperation: Seek God

For whatever reason, we almost always turn to God only when we are at the end of our rope and about to drop off into a bottomless pit. We rarely go to him when everything is good and rosy. Our corrupt human nature rarely sees the need for God until we are in trouble, or in desperate need.

At least, that was my case. I turned away from God. I ran away from him, but not because things were great and I had everything I needed. No, it was because my sense of fairness and his provision and protection disappeared. Or, at least I thought so. One day everything was great and the next day our daughter was sick. But, the doctors we saw couldn’t figure out what was the matter. They contradicted each other. Gave us bizarre instructions. The situation spiraled, and I lost hope. I lost faith. So, I shut God out. I pushed him away.

Of course, it didn’t make things better. Our daughter was still sick and getting worse. She was put on so many medications that we had a spreadsheet to keep track of what to give her when and at what dose. This was needed 24 hours a day. We had several alarms going off at different times of day and night. It was a nightmarish situation.

The End of My Rope

After two years, I was at the end of my rope, and so was our daughter. So much so that at age 16, she tried to take her own life. In the emergency room at the hospital, as I sat by her bed, I prayed. I prayed for God to save her. She recovered and after several days’ stay in the hospital; she came home.

Shortly after that, when everyone had left for school and work, I sat on our couch, my Bible in my lap. I knew what I had to do, but was afraid to. I expected a wrathful God to berate me. I expected to be chastised. But, what I got instead was love. He embraced me and comforted me. His words wrapped themselves around my hardened heart and softened it. Then He healed it.

I was the one who pushed God away, so I had to be the one to take the first step back. I had to be the one to call out to Him, to seek Him.

Hosea 3:5
Afterward the Israelites will return and seek the LORD their God and David their king. They will come trembling to the LORD and to his blessings in the last days. (NIV)

But, God.

God always had a plan. He’s had one from the very beginning. His plan was that Israel would be the beacon of light to a fallen world, a world in darkness. Spiritual darkness. Despite all he’d done for his children, the Israelites often rejected him. They pushed Him away. They chose the world. 

Yet God continued to pursue them. Why? Because he is a God who is good, who loves his creation, his children. He is a covenant keeping God. What He promises, He delivers. Sure, there were times of punishment and deprivation, all meant to urge his wayward children to come home to Him. To return into His loving arms, into a covenant relationship with Him.

Here, in Hosea, he tells the prophet that Israel’s life and that of Hosea’s wife, Gomer, were similar. Both would return to their rightful place after a period of separation and deprivation. Gomer would return to her husband and he would accept her. Israel would return to God, and in the same way, He would accept them.

Israel needed to seek God first, and then they would find Him. Just as God told Jeremiah, “You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart” (Jer. 29:13), He is telling Hosea that Israel would one day be restored to their rightful place. 

When we drift away from God, when we create a separation from Him, it is not He who moves away from us, but we move away from Him. The chasm we create is of our own making, so the onus is upon us to forge it. We need to seek God first. Once we do, it is as if a powerful force closes the chasm, and all that is needed is one small step. That step then brings us back to God, to his presence, his loving embrace, and undeserved kindness.

Forging a Chasm

How do we forge that chasm? We go to God, and with an earnest heart, we seek Him. We talk to him. We open up our Bible and read. No particular place. Just open the Book and read. Trust and have faith that God will speak to you. He will show you the way. He will close the gap. You just need to take that one, small, solitary step. He will run the rest of the way.

As for our daughter, shortly after that last stay in the hospital, we were referred to a new neurologist. One who diagnosed our daughter, took her off all those horrible medications and gave her one tried-and-true medicine. She is now seizure-free, and living a healthy life.

Because God is good and loves us, He is gentle with us. God was always there in those dark days. I had just chosen to push him away, to reject him. But, when I returned to him, He was still there. Waiting. Open arms. Welcoming me home. When I sought him with all my heart, he was there. 

God is good. Trust God, He never disappoints.

Blessings,

Jana

Dear Lord, Today I go to you with an earnest heart. I will seek you, and talk to you, and open my Bible and trust that your word for me will be there. Amen.