Prayers of My Heart

Do you ever find something to be beyond difficult? If so, I can relate. I’ve often found myself in “over my head.” I wanted to quit. Many of the things we find difficult are not those we can or should give up on. Our marriage, parenting, families, job, health, church, and friendships all require commitment. When we find them to be difficult, we can remember what Jeremiah 32:17 says that, with God, nothing is too difficult.

“Ah LORD GOD! Behold, You have made the heavens and the earth by Your great power and by Your outstretched arm! Nothing is too difficult for You.”

Isn’t that a great verse? I hope it makes you smile. It does me. God wants us to know “He’s got this.” It’s an incredible reminder that instead of cratering when we’re under pressure, we can call on God who “made the heavens and earth by His great power and outstretched arm.” He can help us with whatever we’re facing. He wants to help us. Call on Him now. Then, prayerfully record in Prayers of My Heart prayer journal the things weighing you down. Ask God for wisdom on how to handle them. Then, be sure and record how He guides you in the “Meditations, Notes, and Prayer” section of your journal. Date and record your thanks to Him as He walks you through each day.

LORD, NOTHING IS TOO DIFFICULT FOR YOU! Thank You for Your presence, Your power, and Your provision. We love you!  

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Jesus came to earth as a baby so He might grow into a man, but not just any man. He came from heaven as our Messiah.

Andrew heard John the Baptist announce that Jesus was the Lamb of God who had come to take away the sins of the world. Andrew followed Jesus and after spending time with Him, he told his brother, Simon Peter, “We have found the Messiah,” John 1:41.

Andrew was intentional about his search for the Messiah and after finding Him, he was intentional about telling others. In what ways can we be more intentional about sharing Christ with others? We can begin by praying for the unsaved to turn to Christ. I label the last column in the Week at a Glance section of Prayers of My Heart: “Unsaved.” What can we pray for those who do not know Christ as Messiah? Here are 8 suggestions.

Jesus Christ, MESSIAH, You are love, forgiveness, hope, peace, and joy! Help us be as Andrew – intentional about following You and telling others about You.

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Heavenly Father, thank You for the MERCY You show us every day. Fill us with Your Spirit of mercy toward others.

Would you like an organized way to record you prayers and praises? Grab a copy of the Prayers of My Heart prayer journal.

Do you ever read verses in the Bible and get a holy jolt, your eyes opened to holy words that are to be taken to heart, not skimmed over? In 1 Timothy 6:15, Paul describes the Lord saying, “He who is the blessed and only Sovereign, the KING OF KINGS and Lord of lords, who alone possesses immortality and dwells in unapproachable light, whom no man has seen or can see. To Him be honor and eternal dominion! Amen.”

His glorious description of Jesus as King of Kings who dwells in unapproachable light is in the fuller context of verses 7-19 in which he tells us we have brought nothing into the world, so we cannot take anything out of it; that those who want to get rich fall into temptation; the love of money is a root of all sorts of evil; we are to flee from these things and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, perseverance, and gentleness.” He tells us to “fight the good fight of faith; take hold of the eternal life to which we were called, keep the commandment without stain or reproach until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ; that if you are rich not to be conceited or to fix you hope on the uncertainty of riches, but on God, who richly supplies all things to enjoy. He says to do good, be rich in good works, be generous and ready to share.

Which of his words in relation to the King of Kings who dwells in unapproachable light give you a holy jolt and wake up call?

KING OF KINGS, who dwells in unapproachable light, give us a holy jolt to obey You rather than gloss over how we are to live in this present age. 

Would you like an organized way to record what God is speaking to you? Grab a copy of Prayers of My Heart prayer journal to write down what God places on your heart.

Do you ever feel like things in life aren’t fair?

Have you wondered why some people get away with things with no apparent consequences?

Often, those questions are warranted. As thinking people, we can’t help but wonder about fairness. But when we question why certain people get away with doing wrong, we must quickly remember that in the end, no one gets away with anything. God sees everything.

Yes, God sees everything including what is in our heart. He knows our thoughts and even intentions and motives.

Most importantly, God is just, as Psalm 89:14 states, “Righteousness and justice are the foundation of Your throne…”

If you’ve been upset and concerned because life isn’t fair, because wrong too often prevails over what is right, because our world’s justice system doesn’t always rule fairly, remember that God is just.

Also, remember that there is a day when every person will stand before the judgement seat of God. Hebrews 9:27

God weighs hearts and motives. He forgives repentant sinners. He renders judgment on unrepentant ones.

Set aside any vengeance you have toward another person knowing God will rule justly because that is His nature – just.

Lord, thank You that we can trust You for You are JUST.

TIP:  Write God’s attribute that I highlight in every 365 Days of Praise devotional in Prayers of My Heart. Writing it on paper writes it on your brain. When you’re troubled, flip through the pages of your journal and thank God for who He is as you reflect on His nature. It will build your confidence, decrease your stress, and help you live a more joy-filled life. Click HERE  to order.

Are you careful to read the words of the Bible in the context of the verse and chapter? Why is that important? If we take words out of context, the message can come across completely different than intended.

An example is in 1 Corinthians 11:1 where the apostle Paul tells believers to imitate him. If we stop short of the rest of the verse, Paul might come across as arrogant. However, Paul goes on to say, “Be imitators of me, just as I also am imitating Christ.”

Why should we imitate Christ? Paul answers that question in verse 3, explaining, “I want you to understand that Christ is the head of every man,….”

Speaking metaphorically, Paul says Christ is our “head.” As a body without a head is dead, so we are dead apart from Christ. He is our life.

Another important emphasis of Christ being our head is that just as a head sits at the top of our body, over our body, Christ as our head is over us; supreme, master, Lord.

If we want to be a faithful imitator of Christ, our Head, we must learn and submit to Him and His ways. We must pray and follow His lead.

Can we say as Paul, that we are imitators of Christ, our Head? If not, let’s begin today.

Lord Jesus, HEAD OF EVERY MAN, convict us where we need to submit to Your headship. Fill us with Your Spirit so we bring glory to You.

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True or False:

– God is interested in our lives, relationships, and families.

– God assigns individuals to particular tasks.

– God has set times in history.

– God appointed someone for you.

If you said true to the above, you are correct. Consider the following.

“So Sarah conceived and bore a son to Abraham in his old age, at the APPOINTED time of which God had spoken to him.” Genesis 21:2

“Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you; I have APPOINTED you a prophet to the nations.” Jeremiah 1:5

“He (Jesus) APPOINTED twelve, so that they would be with Him and that He could send them out to preach.” Mark 3:14

“Take heed, keep on the alert; for you do not know when the APPOINTED time will come.” Mark 13:33

“And inasmuch as it is APPOINTED for men to die once and after this comes judgment.” Hebrews 9:27

Of all God’s appointments, the greatest is Jesus. “that He may send Jesus, the Christ appointed for you,” Acts 3:20.

Yes, God appointed Christ to save us and He appoints times, people, events, and more. What has He appointed you to do?

LORD GOD, You APPOINT times, people, events and most importantly, have appointed Jesus to be our Savior. We praise You. Open our eyes and hearts to Your appointments for us.

Peace between people. Is it possible? It appears not to be. Why? Because although we aren’t perfect, we expect others to be perfect. Remember when the Jews were itching to stone a woman caught in adultery? The rocks were in their hands. Their self-righteous arms were wound for the throw. But when Jesus confronted them, when He invited the one who was sin-free to throw the first stone, they slunk away.

What did Jesus then do? If you said, stone her because she was guilty and deserving of punishment, you’re both right and wrong. You’re correct in saying she was deserving of death according to the Law. You are incorrect about Jesus’ response. He told her He didn’t condemn her and for her to go and sin no more. Amazing!

Jesus extends the same grace to us. “My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.” – 1 John 2:1

There it is. Believers are not to sin, but when we do, we can be mindfully grateful that Jesus is our Advocate just as He was for the adulterous woman.

Lord Jesus, we praise You, our ADVOCATE. Quicken our hearts to take seriously Your command to sin no more.

Friends, I’d love to have you join me beginning Wednesday, January 10th at 10 am for our weekly Bible Study of John Part 2 or on Thursday, January 11th at 6:30 pm. Click here for more info.

Live outside of the Texas Hill Country? No problem! My weekly teachings and Listening Guides will be added HERE each week so you can follow along or use it for a group study. 

Happy New Year! As we celebrate a new year, we are celebrating what our Almighty Creator established. Yes, Genesis 1:14 states that at creation, God said,

“Let there be lights in the expanse of the heavens to separate the day from the night, and let them be for signs and for seasons and for days and years.”

“Year” and “years” are mentioned over 800 times in the Bible. The Bible records the number of years people lived, the years people were in captivity, the number of years rulers reigned, and on and on. In God’s eyes, the first day of a new year is not simply another day. It has past, present, and future value. Consider a sampling of how God keeps note of years:

Genesis 7:11 – “In the six hundredth year of Noah’s life, in the second month, on the seventeenth day of the month, on the same day all the fountains of the great deep burst open, and the floodgates of the sky were opened.”

Genesis 18:14 – “Is anything too difficult for the LORD? At the appointed time I will return to you, at this time next year, and Sarah will have a son.”

Leviticus 27:24 – “In the year of jubilee, the field shall return to the one from whom he bought it.”

Numbers 10:11 – “Now in the second year, in the second month, on the twentieth of the month, the cloud was lifted from over the tabernacle of the testimony.”

2 Kings 25:27 – “Now it came about in the thirty-seventh year of the exile of Jehoiachin king of Judah.”

1 Samuel 27:7 – “The number of days that David lived in the country of the Philistines was a year and four months.”

Isaiah 6:1 – “In the year of King Uzziah’s death, I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, …with the train of His robe filling the temple.”

Years have significance to our Heavenly Father. He ordains events for certain years. He marks them. He takes note of them and uses people who are sensitive to His call.

Rather than letting today come and go with passing thoughts of resolutions, let’s pray to our Heavenly Father with anticipation about what He has in store for this year and how we can be a part of what He is accomplishing.

Let us use this year to daily praise how our Lord has chosen to reveal Himself to us.

Let us use Christ as the image of whom we are to be conformed.

Heavenly Father, how exciting that You, Creator God, establish years, months, and days in which to accomplish Your will. We praise You and pray to be increasingly conformed to the image of Christ. Use us for Your kingdom and glory.

Friends, I’d love to have you join me beginning Wednesday, January 10th at 10 am for our weekly Bible Study of John Part 2 or on Thursday, January 11th at 6:30 pm. Click here for more info.

Live outside of the Texas Hill Country? No problem! My weekly teachings and Listening Guides will be added HERE each week so you can follow along or use it for a group study.