Tag: prayer

4th Sunday of Lent, A Time of Prayer and Praise

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40 days is a long time and it is enough time to establish a habit, overcome an adversary or endure a trial.  Do you feel like you are enduring a trying time in your life this Lent?  Then, look to Daniel today and see God from His perspective. Daniel was a Jew who was taken from Jerusalem and deported to Babylon.  He and his friends were smart and resourceful and were a part of the king’s wise men.   The king had a dream and no one seemed to be able to tell him the meaning of it.  He got frustrated and ordered all the ‘wise’ men killed.  Daniel heard about this and ran to tell his friends, Hananiah, Mishael, Azariah.  He asked them to pray and ask God for mercy concerning this mystery.  During the night God revealed to Daniel the meaning of King Nebuchadnezzar’s dream.  Here is Daniel’s praise to God from Daniel 2:20-23.

“Praise be to the name of God for ever and ever;
    wisdom and power are his.
5067135-Charles-F-Stanley-Quote-As-children-of-a-sovereign-God-we-are21 He changes times and seasons;
    he deposes kings and raises up others.
He gives wisdom to the wise
    and knowledge to the discerning.
22 He reveals deep and hidden things;
    he knows what lies in darkness,
    and light dwells with him.
23 I thank and praise you, God of my ancestors:
    You have given me wisdom and power,
you have made known to me what we asked of you,
    you have made known to us the dream of the king.”

Do you share Daniel’s high view of God? Daniel knew from first hand experience that God was sovereign, all powerful, eternal,  wise, light, and worthy of praise.  Where do you need strength or knowledge today?  Ask Him like Daniel did then praise Him even if-the-god-you-believe-in-is-not-a-sovereign-god-then-you-really-dont-believe-in-godbefore He answers.

Linda

Suggestion:  As you journey through this day, keep Daniel’s prayer of praise in your mind.  When you encounter difficulties, pray immediately and leave it to God.  Then wait expectantly for His answers.

Are you tapping into God’s wisdom? If not, why not?

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Because Jesus died on the cross and rose from the dead, I have access to God’s wisdom.  In James 1:5 we learn that though Christ we have the ability to ask God for james 1 5wisdom. 5 If any of you lacks wisdom [to guide him through a decision or circumstance], he is to ask of [our benevolent] God, who gives to everyone generously and without rebuke or blame, and it will be given to him.”   James makes it known that God gives wisdom to help us in our daily decisions and won’t put us down in any way for asking.  James also assures us that God generously wants to give us wisdom for living.  We can trust that all God’s advice is good.  Nahum 1:7 assures us of God’s goodness and Jeremiah  29:11 reminds us that all God’s plans and purposes for us are good. Therefore, we can be assured that good advice always comes from Him.   Nahum 1:7 “The LORD is good a refuge in times of trouble, He cares for those who trust in Him.”  Jeremiah 29:11 “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”  God is good; it is an integral part of His character.  We can trust Him and know that He will not give us bad advice or lead us in the wrong way.  I don’t know about you, but it comforts me to know that God is willing to share His wisdom with me and guide me.

How do I get godly wisdom?  Proverbs 1:7 tells us “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge;  fools despise wisdom and instruction.”   Having the right heart attitude that shows reverence for God and His great wisdom is the place to start.  Then look into God’s Word, spend time in prayer fellowshiping with Him allowing God the opportunity to lead you in His way.  If we are diligent and patient, God will reveal His perfect will to us. God tells us “We do not have because we do not ask.  We do not receive because we ask with wrong motives.” James 4:2b-3  Prayer that is honest, sincere and heartfelt is required.  One other thought, the Lord promises to give us wisdom generously.  We won’t get just a little bit of wisdom but enough to do what God has for us to do!

Lindaneed wisdom

Suggestion:  Think of a problem that is coming up this week, a relationship that needs work, or a task that needs to be accomplished.   Pray and seek God’s wisdom in how to specifically proceed.  Then wait and be amazed at the results.

 

 

 

Adoption, A thing of beauty for my grateful heart.

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Because Christ died on the cross and rose from the dead, I have been adopted as God’s child and belong to His family.   This is a precious truth from scripture that gives me great comfort.  Through my faith in Jesus,  I now have a forever family and God is my heavenly Father.  Romans 8:15-17 lays out our family heritage and what it means to us ABBAeternally.  “ For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!” 16 The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, 17 and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him.”   We are adopted through our faith in Jesus into God’s family.  We can call God our Father.  His Holy Spirit indwells us and reminds us that we are God’s children.  By suffering with Christ, we are considered joint heirs with Him and will share in heavenly glory.  Through adoption we have access to our heavenly Father and can go to Him each day seeking knowledge, wisdom, comfort, mercy, compassion, hope…. “The Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.” Psalm 103:8

How will you use this truth in your life today?  You are God’s child and belong to His family thorough your faith in Jesus.  This blessed privilege brings hope, contentment, comfort, assurance and belonging into your life.

Linda

Read the scripture again in the Message and let it sink into your soul and cause you to praise and thank God.  “15-17 This resurrection life you received from God is not a timid, grave-tending life. It’s adventurously expectant, greeting God with a childlike “What’s next, Papa?” God’s Spirit touches our spirits and confirms who we really are. We know who he is, and we know who we are: Father and children. And we know we are going to get what’s coming to us—an unbelievable inheritance! We go through exactly what Christ goes through. If we go through the hard times with him, then we’re certainly going to go through the good times with him!

Suggestion:  Call on your Father, God, today in prayer and thank Him for the privileges you have as His child.  He is accessible in prayer, has saved you for eternity, has a home waiting for you in heaven, will be with you each day- will never leave you nor forsake you, His Holy Spirit indwells and bears witness to your spirit that you are His, He gives you power for living and a purpose for your life…..Thank you Jesus for making this possible for me. Amen.

Do you call Jesus your friend? Count me in!

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friend-template-960x250Because Jesus died on the cross and rose from the dead, I have a friend in Jesus.  I love the old hymn, “What a friend I have in Jesus”.  The lyrics speak of our friend Jesus bearing all our sins and griefs and our privileged of taking our problems to Him in prayer.   Jesus called us His friends in John 15:14-15 “ You are my friends if you do what I command you. 15 No longer do I call you servants, for the servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you.”   Being called a friend of Jesus means we follow His Word and walk beside Him in our daily life.  He is right there to help us when we stumble, give a word of comfort or be our companion.  By following His pathway we are no longer just like a hired servant or one who receives orders but a friend to be confided in, helped and taught.   He also promises to reveal what He knows about God the Father to us.  A few verses later in John 15:18 Jesus warns us that being called His friend will put us in a position to be hated by others.  “If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you.”   He also speaks of this in Matthew 10:22 “and you will be hated by all for my name’s sake. But the one who endures to the end will be saved.”   I love the promise Jesus gives at the end of the Matthew verse.  Standing with Jesus and enduring the derision and persecution that the unbelieving world places upon us because we proclaim Him, will bring a great reward. 

friend JesusWhere do you need Jesus to be your friend today?  Reach out to Him in prayer and let Him know of your thoughts, hopes and struggles.  Read His Word with confidence and hope as if expecting a word from a friend, the Bible is God’s love letter to us.

Linda

Suggestion:  Spend some time with your friend Jesus today.  Go for a prayer praise walk with Jesus.  Talk with Him as you walk along and praise Him for His provision and the glory you see along the way.  Can’t get out?  Just gaze out a window and spend time journeying with Jesus in prayer.

Here is a country version of the old hymn- What a friend we have in Jesus.

Blessing #2- His Refuge

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Today’s blessings passage is from Psalm 34.  David wrote this psalm after experiencing God’s rescue from his situation with the Philistine king seen in 1 Samuel 21.  David praises God for his deliverance and protection. David praised God for his blessing -protection and divine favor in preventing his great misfortune.  Psalm 34:4-10

I sought the Lord, and he answered me                David knew God answers prayer
and delivered me from all my fears.                          and that God delivers.
5 Those who look to him are radiant,                     David knew seeking God leaves 
and their faces shall never be ashamed.               one glowing with hope.
6 This poor man cried, and the Lord heard him    David knew God hears him.
and saved him out of all his troubles.                      David knew God could save him
7 The angel of the Lord encamps                                 David knew God protects.
    around those who fear him, and delivers them.

8 Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good!
Blessed is the man who takes refuge in him!        David knew God blesses.
9 Oh, fear the Lord, you his saints,                        David knew God supplies without fear.
    for those who fear him have no lack!
10 The young lions suffer want and hunger;        David knew by placing his trust in 
but those who seek the Lord lack no good thing.     God he would never be lacking.

Do you know, like David, that God answers prayer, delivers, gives hope, hears, can save, will bless, has resources beyond measure, can be trusted and will never leave you lacking for anything?  That is an amazing list that gives me hope and assurance that God in His Sovereignty will take care of me.  I am blessed if I can learn to take refuge in Him!

gratefulAs you journey through this day, praise and thank God that He alone is your refuge and receive His blessings as you trust in Him.

Linda

Anguished Prayer Brings Hope

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The Messiah continues today with prophecies from the Psalms about the coming Messiah’s fate.  Psalm 22:7-8 “All who see me mock me; they make mouths at me; they wag their heads;  8 “He trusts in the Lord; let him deliver him; let him rescue him, for he delights in him.”   This psalm by David spoke his anguished prayer to God as he was pursued and persecuted by Saul for years on end.  It is frequently quoted in the New Testament as it readily applies to Jesus.  Verse 7 tells of mocking and ridicule the psalmist is receiving from his enemies.  This found fulfillment in Matthew 27:39 “Those who passed by hurled insults at him, shaking their heads.” Verse 8 speaks of the psalmist’s trust in God, deliverance and rescue that is assured because he knows that God loves and cares for him.  Jesus knew this to be true and it was partially quoted in Matthew 27:43 “He trusts in God. Let God rescue him now if he wants him, for he said, ‘I am the Son of God.’”  

god-ideas_guide-delightWhat encouragement do we receive from these prophecies today?  I am encouraged that God knows what I am going through just as He knew David’s and Jesus’ situations.  God is accessible and will hear our anguished prayers.  He is filled with compassion and love as He listens to us.  I am also encouraged that my trusting in God delights Him and He promises deliverance.  Each deliverance looks different as we are all are in various situations but God keeps His promises and will bring us through.

Be encouraged today as you walk with Him and thank Him for sending Jesus to bring the ultimate deliverance which is from sin and death.  These thoughts make Christmas even more special and give us HOPE.

Linda

Friends of the faith- Oh, so precious!

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Psalm 119:57-64 is a testimony from the psalmist that God is His true place of fulfillment and contentment.  He can rely upon God to sustain, fill and be his all in all just as He promises in His Word..  “The Lord is my portion;   I promise to keep your words.”  Later, in verses 63-64, he concludes that God is his friend and he will be a friend to anyone who trusts in God and lives by His Word.  He realizes that His love can be found everywhere on earth. He asks the Lord to teach him as he knows that God’s Word will sustain and strengthen him.   “I am a friend to all who fear you,  to all who follow your precepts.  64 The earth is filled with your love, Lord;  teach me your decrees.”  

How do you chose your close friends?  Do you choose people that align with your beliefs in God?  The psalmist proclaimed that he is a friend to all who know and follow God’s Word.  Paul spoke of this in Romans when he urged all believers to be united in Christ. He prayed for them in Romans 15:5-6.  “May the God who gives endurance and romans 15 5 6encouragement give you the same attitude of mind toward each other that Christ Jesus had, 6 so that with one mind and one voice you may glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.”   Is this a prayer you could pray for your fellow friends in Christ?  To really show the world our Savior, we need to be of one mind and voice as we glorify God.   The psalmist says that his true friends in the faith follow God’s Word and are teachable.  Does that describe you?  Are you open to learning from God’s Word?  

friend pushTake this prayer of Paul’s and claim it for your life.  Pray for your friends of the faith, to come alongside you and join together as one mind and one voice to witness to the dying world around us.

Proclaiming the gospel in love,

Linda

I am united with Jesus in Spirit.

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united in SpiritBecause I believe Jesus died on the cross and rose from the dead, I am united with Jesus in Spirit.  1 Corinthians 6:17 “But he who is joined to the Lord becomes one spirit with him.”   Jesus spoke of His Spirit that was to come in John 15 and told us that His Spirit  would comfort, guide and reveal the truth of the Father to us.   John 7:38-39  “Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.’” Now this he said about the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were to receive, for as yet the Spirit had not been given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.”  His spirit bears witness to our spirit and is living within us. Romans 8:11 clarifies and defines this spirit we received from Jesus by faith. “If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you.”  His Spirit is life giving and eternal.  It is faith in Jesus that brings His Spirit to live within us and unites us to Him.  Romans 8:9 in the New Living Translation states it plainly,  if you know Christ, His Spirit lives in you, if you don’t  He doesn’t.  “But you are not controlled by your sinful nature. You are controlled by the Spirit if you have the Spirit of God living in you. (And remember that those who do not have the Spirit of Christ living in them do not belong to him at all.)  This uniting with the Holy Spirit gives us the power to live for Christ and reject our sinful nature, reject temptations and focus on living for Christ.

So what about you?  Are you living a Spirit controlled life with serving and glorifying God your main goals?  Are you serving and worshiping God but want things your own way and want to tell God what is best?  Are you unaware of the Spirit in askyour life?  Lent is a time of self-reflection and prayer.  Take a close look at your goals and motives and see where you place God.  If He is not at the center, ask Him to reveal to you what you need to do.  Pray as we are directed in  Matthew 7:7-8  “Keep on asking, and you will receive what you ask for. Keep on seeking, and you will find. Keep on knocking, and the door will be opened to you.  For everyone who asks, receives. Everyone who seeks, finds. And to everyone who knocks, the door will be opened.”

Being united to Jesus is a joy,

Linda