Shout for joy to the LORD, all the earth, burst into jubilant song with music.     (Psalm 98:4)
 
One of my favorite Easter memories from childhood is of trumpet fanfares accompanying the great Easter hymns. The exuberant brass expressed bursting-at-the-seams joy to me.
 
But the sound of trumpets dies away quickly. Easter was yesterday. Now it’s Monday morning – back to work, back to routine and normal life.
 
I want to experience the joy of Easter, the joy of my salvation, every day. Don’t you? I want joy that’s like the hum of my refrigerator or the sound of the surf for those who live on the beach – not loud and obvious, but always there, constant, sustained. Start today and every day with this prayer:  LORD, fill me with Easter joy today. 
 
Here are more suggested ingredients for prayer this week:
 
1.  Pray for someone you don’t even know in whom a seed was planted during the Easter season. Pray that the seed will sprout, take root, and produce the fruit of salvation.
 
2.  April is Missions Month. The first scheduled event is a Community Service Fair next Sunday. People from our body who are already engaged in serving others beyond our church walls will be on hand to talk about what they do. Ask the Lord to draw many to the Fair and to use it to inspire us to engage with others in His name.
 
3.  A Red Cross blood drive on April 6 is also part of Missions Month. Ask the Lord to raise up 25 donors to make the drive worthwhile for the Red Cross staff. Ask Him to use the donated pints of life to bless lives and point them to Himself in a time of crisis. If you would like to schedule an appointment to donate, click here and enter the sponsor code “CalvaryCC.”

4.  Each successive terrorist attack seems to impact us less. Shock gives way to “here we go again.” Front-page news coverage shrinks from weeks to a few days. May we never become inured to evil!  Pray against the evil of ISIS and other terrorist groups.
 
5.  Lord, show me how and when I am compartmentalizing my faith. Help me today and this week to incorporate my allegiance to You into every part of my life. I pray this for all my sisters and brothers at Calvary, too.

In Christ,
Carol Gilbert, Prayer Chair
Calvary Community Church of Brea