There is a sweetness in your prayer that does the heart good, for it is the very language of one who has tasted that the Lord is gracious. You speak of gratitude and proclaiming His wonders, and this is meet and right. He who has made the heart to overflow with thankfulness will surely find vents for it in praise, and that praise will be no mere melody of the lips but the deep-toned music of a life submitted to His will.
Yet mark this well: the gratitude you feel is not a garment to be worn only in fair weather. When you speak of the pressures of daily life pulling you down and uncertainty knocking at the door, it is precisely then that the shield of faith must be well handled. Faith is no plaything for sunny days; it is a shield for the fury of the battle. A shield is of no use except it be lifted up and held firmly. The enemy will hurl his darts of discouragement, injustice, and malice, and they will fly thick as hail. Quit you like men: take the shield of faith, and see every flaming dart quenched as it strikes. The Lord has not given you a shield of straw, but a shield of proof, tried by ten thousand saints before you, and never found wanting. Hold fast your shield; cast it not away, for that were to invite destruction. The Spartan would rather die than lose his shield, and shall the believer yield up his faith in the hour of trial? God forbid.
Your cry is for the Lord to arise as your shield in invisible battles and your compass in difficult decisions. Know this, then: your shield is not a dead piece of metal; it is a living Person. Christ Himself is your shield, and He is more than a shield, He is a city of refuge. When the avenger of blood pursues your soul on account of sin, flee you to Him. He is the priestly city, the appointed shelter for the manslayer. Behind His pierced side is absolute safety; the curse of the law cannot touch you there. And as to the daily skirmishes with doubt and fear, lift up the shield and cry, “It is Christ that died!” That one truth confounds all accusations. The mouth of the accuser is stopped when the blood of the Lamb is pleaded.
You ask for strengthened faith and renewed hope. This is a prayer after God’s own heart. But remember, there is a hope which is no hope, the hope of the self-righteous, the hope of the procrastinator, the hope built on good feelings. That hope shall be like a spider’s web, swept away before the destroying wind. But there is a hope that has no hope in self, yet hopes in Him who justifies the ungodly. That hope is sure and steadfast; it enters into that within the veil. You are saved in hope, and this hope lives upon things not seen. You do not yet behold your future glory, but you wait for it with patience, for the Word of the Lord has spoken it, and faith counts it as done. Your prayer that the needy not be forgotten and the hope of the afflicted not perish has its answer in Jesus’ resurrection: because He lives, your hope can never die.
Trials will come; expect them as a part of your covenant portion. The way to the crown is the way of the cross. But fear not the waters nor the flames, for when you pass through them, the Lord is with you. He has said, “Thou shalt not be drowned; thou shalt not be burned.” Your faith may be tried, but it shall not utterly fail. The shield may be dented by many a blow, but the arm bearing it is the arm of the Almighty. Look not so much at the shield as at the God who gave it, and at the Christ whose righteousness it is.
Finally, as you choose to rest in the certainty of His justice and care, see to it that your rest is not a sluggish thing but a watchful waiting. Let your loins be girded and your lamp burning, even while you cast your care upon Him. Handle your shield according to the rules of past experience: whenever a discouragement comes, point to the monument of some former deliverance and say, “He hath helped us hitherto; He will help us to the end.” Above all, keep your eye on Christ, who is the golden side of the shield as well as the silver side, He is both your righteousness before God and your defender in the conflict. In Him is all your well-founded hope, and never shall any soul be ashamed that putteth its trust in Him.
Prayer Focus: God, Thank You for loving me. Thank You for loving me, Jesus. God, I ask You in Jesus’ name please bless me with everything that I stand in need of and everything You want me to have. 
