Sunday 5/26 ~ It’s prayer time

The scripture for today, May 26 (5/26), is 1st Thessalonians 5:26 as found in the New Testament of the Bible:

Silver Cover-KINDLE-thumbnail“Brothers, pray for us.”

Do you have a prayer list? Often prayers get bogged down and short because the only person we “remember” in prayer is ourselves. Well, and maybe a relative or two

There are many people who need your prayers: Your family is obvious. How about your neighbors? If you don’t know their names, pray for them by house or apartment number. What about the newspaper? Every one of those bad-news stories is crying out for prayer. The school near you needs your prayers ~ students, teachers, administrators, janitors. It doesn’t matter whether you have a child in that school; pray for them anyway.

Who are your local government officials? Not liking them doesn’t make any difference, for Jesus said we are to pray for our enemies too. And that leads to the list of your enemies; do you have any at your work place? Include them too. It’s pretty hard to resent someone you pray for.

One other thing you might try doing in addition to having a prayer list: Have an answered-prayer list. Write down when you pray for someone, then when it is answered. Keep it as a reminder when you are down and don’t think He’s ever going to answer your requests. God does care after all.

And speaking of requests, by the time you’re done praying for all the other people on your prayer list, you won’t have a lot of time to pray for yourself. And that is okay too, for others are praying for you!

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Saturday 5/11 ~ So ask. Again.

The scripture for today, May 11 (5/11), is 1st Peter 5:11 as found in the New Testament of the Bible:

03-Abraham-ThumbnailCover“To him be the power for ever and ever. Amen.”

God has the power to do more for you than you ever dreamed. He can take you in new directions in your life; arrange for you to meet wonderful people; provide the ability to overcome not-so-good things in your life.

All you have to do is ask. Perhaps more than once. Perhaps many times. But he wants you to ask. Why?

Parents sometimes tell their children “no” the first time they ask for something. Maybe it’s because children need to find out for themselves how badly they want something. It’s in the asking they find out. So, God waits for the request. Sometimes the request never comes. And so, the blessing never comes.

Remember, God has the power. He probably has something (in his eyes) special in mind for you. So, ask. Again.

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Monday 4/29 ~ Shhh. Hear the silence? It’s your turn.

The scripture for today, April 29 (4/29), is Deuteronomy 4:29 as found in the Old Testament of the Bible:

0-HS-592 VersesExamined-COVER-Thumbnail“But if from there you seek the Lord your God, you will find him if you look for him with all your heart and with all your soul.”

Ah, to find God.  Who are you, God?  What do you do all through my day?  What do you have to say to me?  Or do you not say anything?  Do you even see me, God?  Where are you?  I cannot find you.

Open your eyes, friend. God is always nearby.  There is an old expression, “To know him is to love him.” So true.  To find God, get to know him.  He is talking to you right now in his Bible, explaining what he is like and how he reacts to every possible situation in life. Open your Bible.  Look through the mini-books within.  God not only gives you examples of right and wrong ways to seek Him, but he gives you beautiful psalms and proverbs for your everyday life.  And, wonder of wonders, He tells how He came down to us and walked among us as Jesus.  Seek him there. He is talking to you.

Then take the next step.  When he asks questions to people in his Bible, take them as your questions and answer them. When he tells someone to stop doing wrong, take them as yours and admit to him the things you do or say that are wrong. When he blesses people in the Bible, take them as your blessings and thank him for them.    

Yes, seek and you will find. This mutual conversation with God is the with-all-your-heart-and-soul kind. You can do it. He’s waiting for you.  Shhhh.  Do you hear the silence? It’s your turn. Talk to God.

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Friday 4/12 ~ You will be astounded

(Sorry for some of my messages being delayed. I must be doing something wrong. I’ll double check from now on.)

 

The scripture for today, April 12 (4/12), is Colossians 4:12 as found in the New Testament of the Bible:

Silver Cover-KINDLE-thumbnail“He is always wrestling in prayer for you.”

Do you have fast-food prayers? Drive in, ask for something for yourself, and drive out two minutes later?

How about trying gourmet prayers ~ where you gather many ingredients, not just one? They take longer but are very special and rewarding.

Your menu is your prayer list. People on your list don’t even have to be people you know personally. They can be from the newspaper, teachers at a local school, government officials, your neighbors, your congregation. List people by name. Pray for them by name.

Then tell these people you are praying for them. You may think you’ll get some strange looks, but mostly, even from the unreligious, you will get a smile and a whispered thank you. Some will actually reply, “No one has ever told me they were praying for me.” After a while, you will begin receiving word from people you are paying for, “Guess what? Your prayer worked.”

Prayer is powerful and wonderful. God loves to answer prayer. It is most wonderful when it centers, not on what you want for yourself, but on struggling in prayer for other people.

One by one you will begin seeing amazing answers in the lives of those you pray for. Don’t believe it? Give it a try. You will be astounded.

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Friday 3/1 ~ A tender love, a strong love, a powerful love

The scripture for today, March 1 (3/1), is 1st Thessalonians 3:1,5 as found in the New Testament of the Bible:

Silver Cover-KINDLE-thumbnail“So, when we could stand it no longer, we thought it best to be left by ourselves in Athens….For this reason, when I could stand it no longer, I sent to find out about your faith. I was afraid that in some way the tempter might have tempted you and our efforts might have been useless.”

In Thessalonica, there had been a riot, and the man who had given Paul and his helpers a place to live was hauled into court. Paul just couldn’t put his host through that so “when we could stand it no longer” he left the city and went off by himself so he wouldn’t jeopardize anyone else.

Still the great Apostle Paul ~ who went everywhere preaching non-stop for decades; who stood up under beatings, stonings, hunger, and shipwrecks; who explained to church leaders how to lead their congregation; whose letters were prophecy and became scripture ~ the powerful Apostle Paul still felt very tenderly toward his fellow Christians.

He worried about how they were getting along spiritually. And when he “could stand it no longer,” he wrote back to Thessalonica to find out how they were doing.

Do you feel this way about the spiritual well-being of other people? Is there someone you need to call or write to today because you want to find out how they are?  Do you have any words of encouragement for them? Any at all?

Tender love is a powerful love. A strong love. A love that will never, ever let go.

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My prayer for Thursday

cropped-header-dont-be-afraid-of-tomorrow.jpg

You, Oh, Lord, are my heart, my soul, my spirit, my being. You are my sun in dark places, my courage in scary places, my gentleness in rough places. When I need you to defend me, you roar. When I need you to give me strength, you give me work to do. When I cry, you wipe away my tears. You know my heart.

Thank you for the beautiful earth you prepared for us. Oh, how I delight to hear the birds in the summertime as they warble and sing their songs to me. How I wonder when I see the ocean and imagine its depths with life great and small, dreary and colorful happily existing together there.  How I gasp when I feel the wind always turning and swirling like a top, rushing like a lion, then purring like a kitten. Such a delightful Father you are to me.

My prayer for Wednesday

cropped-header-dont-be-afraid-of-tomorrow.jpg

I praise you Almighty God. You are most powerful, yet most gentle. You are most gigantic, yet most minute. You are the roar and the silence. You are the silk and the sackcloth. You are the laughter and the tears. You are light but never dark. You are life but never death. You are love but never hatred. You are all that is good and right. You are my all and I worship you.

Thank you for being the Warrior King that you are. You are the winner over Satan because you are stronger than Satan.  Thank you for attacking Satan in that hidden realm where I cannot go and scaring him away from me. For fighting so many of my battles for me. For standing over me protectively and being strong for me when I am weak. I cannot imagine life without you. Thank you for my loving spouse, the church, the Bible, and your amazing grace.

Monday 1/28 ~ Keep Hope Alive

The scripture for today, January 28 (1/28), is 1st Chronicles 1:28  s found in the Old Testament of the Bible:

04-Isaac&Jacob-KindleThumbnail“The sons of Abraham: Isaac and Ishmael.”

Are you a parent with a grown or nearly-grown child who is going in the wrong direction? Have you tried everything you can think of, and nothing is working? Do you know in your heart that you have been a good example and things shouldn’t have turned out like they have?

Abraham has been called the Father of the Faithful. Yet he had one son who followed Jehovah ~ Isaac ~ and one son who followed idols ~ Ishmael. Certainly, Abraham tried everything he could to “talk some sense” into Ishmael. Certainly, he prayed earnestly for Ishmael. So, what went wrong?

Just as God has given each of us free will, our children also have free will. Just as God will never force us to follow him, we cannot force our children to follow God. You did not refrain from having your children because they may have difficulties in their life, and neither did God. And when our children rebel and break our hearts, imagine what God goes through when we rebel and break his heart.

Who knows? Perhaps your child will return to God someday in your old age, or even after you have died. If your child deep down has a good heart, that is enough for God to work with.

Keep hope alive.

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Saturday 1/26 ~ Notice them. Claim them.

The scripture for today, January 26 (1/26), is 1st Samuel 1:26f as found in the Old Testament of the Bible:

02-samuel-thumbnailcover“And she said to him, ‘As surely as you live, my lord, I am the woman who stood here beside you praying to the Lord. I prayed for this child and the Lord has granted me what I asked of him.’ “

Wow!  Hannah prayed for a baby and God gave her a son!  Then she told everyone. How often do you tell someone God has answered your prayer, big or little?

Or do you wander aimlessly from prayer request to prayer request, and let the answers drift away from you unnoticed? Or worse, do you ask others to pray for something, but after once or twice you stop praying for that thing yourself? A year later, someone tells you they are still praying for your something and you have completely forgotten it.

Begin today to keep a list of your prayer requests. Write down the date you first began to pray for each. If your requests are all about yourself, expand. Begin including your neighbors, your co-workers, people you attend church with, your relatives, schools, people in the newspaper.

Then begin a second list of your answers and the dates. You will be amazed how fast your Prayers Answered list grows. Do not let the answers drift away from you unnoticed.

Notice them.

          Claim them.

                    Tell others.

And spend the rest of your life telling others and thanking God over and over and…

 

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Friday 1/4 ~ Rediscover your joy

The scripture for today, January 4 (1/4), is Philippians 1:4 as found in the New Testament of the Bible:

00-Cover-Thumbnail“In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy.”

Are you sad about something? Do your prayers consist mostly of give me this, help me with that? Begin today to keep an on-going list of your prayer requests for the year, and another one of thanksgiving for when those prayers are answered. Begin today to tell God “Thank you.”

Also, begin today to look around at your circumstances ~ whatever they may be ~ with joy. There can be some kind of joy in every situation if you look at it through eyes of joy.

The above quotation is from a letter to Philippi in northern Greece bordering today’s Bulgaria.  Here, a majority of the citizens were barbarian-looking warrior Thracians. But these rough semi-professional warriors also brought the world joy with their beautiful sculptures.

Philippians is a book about peace and joy. This is the book that says, “And the peace of God which transcends all understanding will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus” (4:7)

This is also the book that says, “I can do everything through him who gives me strength” (4:13).

From now on, tell God, “Thank you,” and in the process rediscover your joy.

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