Joy

Arise, cry out in the night, at the beginning of the night watches!

Pour out your heart like water before the presence of the Lord!

Lift your hands to him for the lives of your children,

who faint for hunger at the head of every street.

Lamentations 2:19 (ESV)

You keep track of all my sorrows. You have collected all my tears in your bottle.

You have recorded each one in your book.

Psalm 56:8 (NLT)

Not verses that speak of joy?

But wait. Read Psalm 56:8 again.

Did you spot it? We cry out to the Lord AND He keeps track of our cries. That means He hears. And He acts. David's Psalm 18 is his joyful testimony to that fact. Can't we, too, echo similar testimonies of joy from our own lives?

For 30 years, members of Moms in Prayer International (formerly Moms In Touch International) have been joining their voices together to cry out to the Lord for their children. I have been a member now for almost 22 of those years, crying out not only for my children but also for the children of the other moms who pray alongside me. I've kept track of those cries. But have I at the same time been as good about keeping track of how His answers have turned my cries to joy?

This week, our Moms in Prayer area had a brunch to celebrate and thank the Lord for what He has done in answer to our prayers. Before we began our time of thanksgiving, though, we opened the Word of God and praised our God, the One who hears our cries and is our Joy.

…the joy of the Lord is your strength.

Nehemiah 8:10b (NKJ)

These things I have spoken to you, that My joy may remain in you,

and that your joy may be full.

John 15:11 (NKJ)

You will show me the path of life; in Your presence is fullness of joy;

at Your right hand are pleasures forevermore.

Psalm 16:11 (NKJ)

Then I will go to the altar of God, to God my exceeding joy;

and on the harp I will praise You, O God, my God.

Psalm 43:4 (NKJ)

Your words were found, and I ate them,

and Your word was to me the joy and rejoicing of my heart;

or I am called by Your name, O Lord God of hosts.

Jeremiah 15:16 (NKJ)

The Hebrew/Chaldee/Greek words used in these verses vary. The Nehemiah verse uses the word chedvah, which means joy or gladness. The Greek word in the Gospel of John is chara. It also means joy or gladness. But the Hebrew word simchah used in the two Psalm passages means joy, mirth, gladness, gaiety, or pleasure. And the word used in Jeremiah is sasown, which means gladness, joy, exultation, or rejoicing.

Are you getting a picture of our God who is our Joy?

Joy is something larger than a smile or a feeling of happiness. Joy is an Eternal Presence dwelling inside a person. That's how we have joy—God Himself. His joy remaining in us, as Jesus prayed for us. And that doesn't just happen because we see answers to prayer—that happens when we don't see answers to prayer. We are able to offer praise and thanks to the Lord even then because we have Him and He is our joy!

Jennifer Kennedy Dean wrote, "Joy is eternal. A deeper knowledge of God, a more complete obedience, a greater understanding of His ways will produce JOY." That's what Jeremiah experienced when he "ate" God's Word. And when we use God's own words to give Him praise and use them to pray for our children, we experience that same joy because we know our God has heard our prayers and we can anticipate the joy to come when we see the answers.

And we have seen answers! What joy we owe to our God Most High!

So, we Moms in Prayer moms added our "joys" to the Joy Jar. And more "joys" will be added this summer as I take the Joy Jar and travel the state.

You turned my loud crying into dancing.

You removed my black clothes and dressed me with joy.

Psalm 30:11 (NIRV)

Want more joy? Attend the Festival of Joy in Dallas this October. I'm going! Click here for more information.