Verse of the Day for June 11

David is praying from a long way off. From the end of the earth will I cry unto thee. Whether he means distance on a map or distance in his heart, he feels far from the place where God once seemed close.

Many people know that feeling after a high point passes. The conference ends, the new job becomes ordinary, the early joy of faith settles into routine. Then something hard arrives and you realise you are a long way from where you started.

Look at what he asks for. lead me to the rock that is higher than I. He does not ask for strength to climb. He asks to be led. The rock is higher than he is, which is the whole point. He cannot get there on his own and does not pretend he can.

Then verse three looks back. For thou hast been a shelter for me. When the excitement is gone, memory does the work feelings used to do. He has been sheltered before, and that history is enough to pray on.

If your faith feels flat this month, you do not need to force the old excitement back. Pray from where you are, even if it feels like the end of the earth. Ask to be led. Then remember one shelter he has already been.

You can pray honestly from far away, and God hears it as clearly as from close by.

Asking to be led is not a lesser kind of courage.