Ohana Prayer 227 – Ecclesiastes 9
1 So I reflected on all this and concluded that the righteous and the wise and what they do are in God’s hands, but no one knows whether love or hate awaits them.
10 Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might, for in the realm of the dead, where you are going, there is neither working nor planning nor knowledge nor wisdom.
11 I have seen something else under the sun: The race is not to the swift or the battle to the strong, nor does food come to the wise or wealth to the brilliant or favor to the learned; but time and chance happen to them all.
12 Moreover, no one knows when their hour will come: As fish are caught in a cruel net, or birds are taken in a snare, so people are trapped by evil times that fall unexpectedly upon them.
17 The quiet words of the wise are more to be heeded than the shouts of a ruler of fools.
18 Wisdom is better than weapons of war, but one sinner destroys much good.
Praise the sovereign Lord Jehovah, our Heavenly Father. You uphold the universe by the word of Your power. We cannot predict everything that will happen nor can we control the outcome of everything. Only You, God, are in control of all things. Thank you that in Your grace, You have given each one of us unique abilities, talents, circumstances and opportunities. With positive and reverent attitude, we are willing to do our best to complete every mission you give us. In the day of calamity, such as the current times hardship brought on by the pandemic, we remember the thoughts that God thinks toward us are thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give us a future and a hope. Please watch over us and keep us from turning away from You, despising You, and betraying the promise we have made with You because we have abundant food, and we are warmly clothed and obese from days of milk and honey.
Our Messiah, Savior, Lord Jesus, You are the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of His nature. Thank you for washing away our sins and now You are sitting at the right side of the majesty on high and interceding for us. Christ, our Lord, while we are experiencing a time of success, a time of failure, a time of gain, and a time of loss, help us to realize that there is a time for peace after struggles, and a time for waiting in quietness. Let us see that it is not whether we can seize the opportunity at hand but the hand of Lord Jesus. Regardless if we are climbing a steep mountain or walking through a dark valley, having Your presence is the essence of heaven.
Holy Spirt, silent us from our shouts and quiet us in enthusiastic applause knowing that the Lord said “"In repentance and rest is your salvation, in quietness and trust is your strength.” With renewed strength from You, we will be soaring high like an eagle. We feed ourselves the spiritual food of biblical truth and transform our worldly desire into spiritual contentment. We now have the ability to get up and run without fatigue to finish the race so that when we meet the Lord face to face, we can say we have fought the good fight and kept the faith, now come to receive the crown of righteousness.
Holy Spirit, help us to be still so we can hear the cry of the underprivileged groups toiling away and offer them a glass of cold water. Let us brush off the clouds and mist so that they can touch the Lord’s loving hand, appreciate God’s love, and experience God’s embrace from heaven. Lord, You give Your sunlight to both the evil and the good, and You send rain on the just and the unjust alike because You love everyone in the world. Thank you, Lord.
In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.