Speaking God’s Word to Yourself

When our granddaughter moved away to begin life on her own, I gave he a flip-over calendar with a Scripture prayer or blessing on each page. I bought myself the same calendar, and told her that every day I would pray whatever prayer or blessing was on that date.

Today’s prayer of blessing is beautifully simple—May God’s peace cover you, His hope inspire you, His joy uplift you, His love surround you.

I sent her a note that I had prayed for her, and sent her this affirmation to speak and think about, especially on those days when things haven’t gone right—

I’m not discouraged, disappointed or frustrated, because God’s peace covers me, His hope inspires me, His joy uplifts me, and His love surrounds me, and I am precious in His sight!

I share it with you because this time of year it is easy for me to feel discouraged, disappointed, and frustrated. Rather than give in to those emotions, there is much peace to be found in speaking affirmations to ourselves based on God’s Word. Makes me think of something one of our favorite authors, Dallas Willard, said: We spend too much time listening to ourselves and not enough time speaking to ourselves.

So, dear ones, speak these words of peace and affirmation and let God’s peace, hope, joy, and love encourage you. And in addition, may His Presence guide you, His faithfulness encourage you, His strength enable you, His hand uphold you, His face shine upon you, and His favor rest upon you.

Our Shield From Holiday Stress

This morning I turned to Psalm 115, and my eyes lighted on verses 9, 10, and 11, where I had circled the same phrase in each: “…he is their help and shield.” In Hebrew words are repeated for emphasis, and to repeat this phrase three times makes it superlative, most important for us to pay attention to.

It struck me that in this Advent season of the year leading up to our Savior’s birth, we very much need God to be our help and shield. We need His help to keep in step with the Spirit to avoid the materialism the world constantly promotes. We need His help to keep our eyes on Christ, to avoid being swept away by torrents of busyness—much of which is good, but will keep us from God’s best if we let it. 

We must call out to God, our shield, to protect our minds from information overload, our hearts from being distracted by traditions that can take over our time and energy if we let them. Often, the more we try to simplify, the more complicated this season of the year becomes.

Father, be our help and shield…surround us with Your presence so that everywhere we go, in everything we do, we have the sense of being close to You.  Help us to recognize distractions for what they are, so that we can avoid or dismiss them.

Keep our hearts focused on Jesus, our Savior and Redeemer, so that all that we do will be done in His name and for Your glory. 

In Jesus’ name, amen.

Are we true worshipers?

It's the start of a new year--and a good time to gut check your prayer life.

Are you a true worshiper in your prayer life?

The first thing Jesus taught us about prayer was that we must worship in spirit and in truth, if we’re to be true worshipers. He told the Samaritan woman at the well, "True worshipers will worship in spirit and in truth." [John 4:21]

Jesus was not talking about emotion or feeling, but an act of the will; we choose to worship, or not. He went on to say, "God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth." [John 4:24]

Because God is spirit, our understanding of Him and our response to Him, must be in harmony with Him as a spiritual being. There must be something in us that can recognize and value Who God is, something that allows us to know and to experience Him. As our eyes are equipped to receive light, and our ears are designed to take in sound, we were created with body, soul and spirit, that we might commune with Him with our spiritual nature.

We were created for worship, equipped for prayer.

God is Spirit, and as we worship Him, true worship must be with our spirit in  harmony with His will and His purpose. True worshipers live in a continuing spirit of worship, rather than simply setting aside a special time for worship.

We’re created with the capacity to be those true worshipers, and we can live in a spirit of worship and truth, if we only will.

Prayer for today -- Lord, help us to be true worshipers, who live in a continuing
spirit of worship, for we ask in Jesus’ name, amen.

Click here for the prayerpower home page.

Faith that Doesn't Doubt

Do we pray with a faith that doesn't doubt?

Jesus taught that faith is a requirement for receiving whatever we ask for in prayer. It was a teaching for His disciples in Matthew: "I tell you the truth, if you have faith and do not doubt...you can say to this mountain, ‘Go, throw yourself into the sea,’ and it will be done. If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer." [Matthew 21:21-22]

"If you have faith and do not doubt." Not doubting is as much a condition for this remarkable promise as believing. James underscores the same principle, saying "he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. That man should not think he will receive anything from the Lord...." [James 1:6-7] Jesus’ teaching was for His disciples, then and today-- not casual followers, but those willing to lay down their nets [Matthew 4:20]. When we live as His committed  disciples, we can have whatever we ask in prayer--if we meet the conditions of the prayer promises and the overall truths of Scripture. The condition here is to believe, without doubt--no second-guessing, no "plan B," no doubting that God is Who He says He is, willing and able to fulfill His promises. 

And no doubting that we can live the disciple’s life that meets the conditions--not in our strength, but in His. 

A prayer for today — Lord, help us believe without doubting so that we can be all You desire us to be in our life with You, for we ask in Your precious name, amen. 

Praying Out Loud

Is it necessary to pray out loud?

Of course it isn’t necessary; the Lord knows our thoughts [Psalm 139:2]. But until we are comfortable praying with others, we will miss an incredible blessing in our lives -- and those we love will miss the joy of hearing our prayers for them. 

Praying aloud can be intimidating for people who were not raised to do it from childhood. I still remember the first time I was put on the spot. It was at the beginning of a study course on prayer, and the leader asked us to break into small groups to pray. It came my turn, and I couldn't do it. Silence. 

Deafening silence from me. 

Fortunately, someone understood and jumped in with his prayer. I was left embarrassed and uncomfortable, feeling totally out of place. I wouldn't have come back, if I hadn't wanted to learn to pray so badly. I just hadn't planned to learn to pray out loud. But I finally did. 

We were six weeks into the course before I said even a brief prayer that someone else could hear.

Toward the end of the course, I heard someone pray for me by name for the first time in my life, and I was deeply touched. I began to realize how important it can be for others to hear our prayers -- not because we’re praying for their benefit or understanding, not because they’re impressed by the words we use, but because our prayers reveal how deeply we care. 

Pray with me now — Lord, help us lose our self-consciousness, that we may learn what a joy it can be to pray with others. We ask in Jesus’ name. Amen. 

10 Minutes

If you are not now having a consistent daily quiet time, begin with just ten minutes, and use your time for a prayer of surrender:

• Tell the Lord how much you love Him, and how you desire to know and love Him even more. [Matt. 22:37]
• Surrender your life to Him. [Romans 12:1]
• Ask Him to bring any unconfessed sin to mind, and agree with Him that it is sin, tell Him you’re sorry, and ask for His strength not to repeat it. [Matt. 6:9]
• Thank Him for His forgiveness and for loving you.
• Ask Him to hear your prayers throughout the day.

This could be the most important ten minutes you’ll ever spend. God will honor it in ways you cannot imagine.

Beginning a Life of Prayer

It doesn’t matter whether you are a new Christian or have spent years waiting to get serious about your prayer life -- when you are ready, God is there to help. Ask Him to guide and strengthen you, to give you the discipline you need. 

The important thing is to begin, and to be consistent. We’re not talking about the kind of praying we do "on the run" -- for most of us that comes relatively easily as we send up prayers for help throughout the day. But a life of prayer is the essence of the personal love relationship with the Lord -- and that comes from giving Him undivided time and attention every day through prayer and reading His Word. There aren’t any short cuts.

Daily Quiet Time 

The encouraging thing is that we can all begin with just a few minutes a day. Decide on a few personal guidelines for your prayer life: 

• when to have it (same time every day) 

• how long to spend (be realistic; God will honor even a few minutes a day if you are consistent) 

• where to have it (somewhere private, undisturbed) 

Two essentials for quiet time   

There are no rules for a quiet time, but there are two essentials -- a prayer of surrender and time in the Word. These elements will establish your communion with the Lord and set the state for prayer as you 

move through the day. 

1. Prayer of surrender -- Begins with prayer, worshiping the Lord, telling Him how much you love Him and why. It includes confessing your sins and giving Him your life. 

2. Devotional Bible reading – Initially it’s a good idea to follow a plan that will take you through the entire Bible, even if it takes a year or more. Ask the Lord to help you understand and apply what you read. 

Petition and Intercession 

We know that we are to ask the Lord for what we need [Matt. 6:9; James 4:3], and that we are to pray for others [Eph. 6:18, 1 Tim. 2:1]. If you have time for these prayers during your quiet time, that is ideal -- but if not, pray as you can during the day -- in the car, walking cleaning house -- any time your mind is free. 

Growing in prayer 

Our daily quiet time can be a brief as 15-20 minutes, but if we want to grow in our relationship with the Lord and our understanding of prayer it is essential that we find the discipline to be consistent. The best way to do that is to enlist God’s help. He will take us from these beginning steps into depths of prayer we never dreamed possible. It just takes time.