Prayers of My Heart

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. 

True or False: God is interested in our lives, relationships, families. True or False: God assigns individuals to particular tasks? True or False: God has set times in history.  If you said true to all three you are absolutely correct. Do you have Scriptures to back up your answers? If not, meditate on the following in terms of your life. Let the reality of God’s hand in individual lives, relationships, times, places encourage you.

“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.

“Son of man, I have appointed you a watchman to the house of Israel; whenever you hear a word from My mouth, warn them from Me.” Ezekiel 3:17

“And the LORD APPOINTED a great fish to swallow Jonah, and Jonah was in the stomach of the fish three days and three nights,” Jonah 1:17.

“So the LORD God APPOINTED a plant and it grew up over Jonah to be a shade over his head to deliver him from his discomfort. And Jonah was extremely happy about the plant,” Jonah 4:6.

“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.

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

LORD GOD, You APPOINT people, places, times, and events. How exciting! I want to be a part!  Appoint me. 

I see it in his eyes. They are kind. His eyes say it all. His eyes tell me what’s in his heart. My husband, Keith, looks at me with kind eyes. My response? I feel the most tender of love for him.

The eyes tell us what fills the heart. And, so we wonder. What fills Jesus’s eyes?  What if you were in His presence and He looked deeply into your eyes. What if you couldn’t take your eyes away from His. What would you see in His eyes for you? You’d see kindness beyond anything you’d experienced. The kindness that causes you to love Him with every fiber of your being.  So, the apostle asks in Romans 2:4, “Or do you think lightly of the riches of His KINDNESS and tolerance and patience, not knowing that the KINDNESS of God leads you to repentance?”  What a question! Do we?  Do we think lightly of God’s KINDNESS and tolerance and patience toward us? In other words, are we going about our day hardly looking Christ’s way? When He convicts us of sin, do we look in Jesus’s eyes and sincerely apologize to Him? Do we pause during the day and look into His eyes and say thank you for the little gifts of life? Look in Jesus’s eyes today. Think deeply of the riches of His kindness.

Dear Savior, You are so kind and loving, and patient. Forgive me for sinning against You and one another.  Help me look deeply into Your eyes and reflect on Your kindness to others. 

Record Christ’s attribute, KIND, in Prayers of My Heart. Click to ORDER. 

Holding my finger to the gate opener, I edged toward the closed gate. Would it open this time, I wondered? It didn’t. Putting my car in reverse, I backed up and approached the gate a second time. Again, it failed to open. Determined, I gave it the ole “third time is the charm” approach. It worked! Have you been attempting to get through a closed door yet failing? Why not try a different approach? Psalm 145:18 tells us God is near to all who call on Him in truth. Have you called on your Heavenly Father and asked Him how to approach a closed door? Call on God. His door is always open. Then, listen to how He directs you. Act on God’s instruction. Journal God’s answers to your prayers and your praises in Prayers of My Heart, a journal designed with you in mind. 

The word “but” is an important word and has significance. In 1 Corinthians 11:1, the apostle Paul encourages believers to imitate him. However he is quick to follow his statement in 1 Corinthians 11:3 saying, “But I want you to understand that Christ is the head of every man,….”  In other words, Paul explains that he only tells us to imitate him because he is imitating Christ, who is the HEAD OF EVERY MAN. Christ is the One we are to follow. Isn’t it wonderful that we have Christ as our HEAD and He shows us and tells us how to live? Now to Paul’s point, to what degree do we imitate Christ in our daily lives?  I’m reminded of Peter’s words that we have the Divine Nature (2 Peter 1:4) once we become Christians. Are we living by Christ’s Divine Nature? Are we known to those closest to us as being like Christ because we imitate Christ and follow His lead? Ephesians 5 begins, “Be imitators of God…” I just reread the chapter and recorded in my journal ways I want to be mindful of imitating Christ and following His headship. Here’s a snapshot. (Sorry about the poor handwriting. I had Prayers of My Heart on my lap.) What about you? Would you want to also open Ephesians 5 and make your own list of ways you might better follow Christ, your Head? 

Lord Jesus, HEAD OF EVERY MAN, convict us of ways we need to better submit to Your headship and imitate You. Fill us with Your Spirit so we live by Your divine nature and bring glory to You. 

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Did you know there are health perks to having a pet? But what if your idea of a pet is a pet rock? Are there other ways to become healthier? Yes! Studies show that people who keep a journal of their prayers experience health benefits such as less anxiety and more positive moods. They also tolerated pain better. And, for those who are married, findings show that when people pray for the well-being of their spouse when they feel a negative emotion, both spouses—the one praying and the one being prayed for—report greater relationship satisfaction. Journaling our prayers increase our awareness of God’s faithfulness and therefore increases our peace. So, sure, take your pet for a walk, but also walk prayerfully with God. Prayers of My Heart journal will get you started.

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Peace between people. Is it a dream? Is it a far-fetched wish? Is it an impossibility? It seems to be. Why? Because although we aren’t perfect, we expect others be perfect. Now, think about something with me. What if that’s how Jesus related to us? What if the Father, Son, and Spirit demanded our perfection 24/7? What if when we didn’t live up to their expectations, we were out the door, banned forever, with no path of reconciliation? I hope and pray that each of us can in at the least the tiniest of ways have a deep appreciation that God treats us differently than some people treat one another. In fact, not only does our Lord not hold our sins over our heads, it’s important to Him that we live free of condemnation. Remember when the Jews were itching to stone a woman caught in adultery? They had the rocks in their hands. Their self-righteous arms were wound for throw. But when Jesus confronted them, when He invited the one who was sin free to use his rock to pellet her, the self-righteous slunk away. What did the Lord of Lords then do? If you said, pellet her with rocks because she was guilty and deserving of punishment, you’re right and you’re wrong. You’re correct in saying she was deserving of death according to the Law. You are incorrect, however about Jesus’s response. He told her He didn’t condemn her and for her to go and sin no more. Jesus wants the same for us. He is our Advocate, as 1 John 2:1 explains,

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.

There it is.  The Bible is our guide on how not to sin and hopefully, we’re asking Jesus to help us walk in His steps. When we have mis-steps, which we will, what a blessing that we have the full assurance Jesus is our Advocate just as He was for the adulterous woman. Only when we arrive in heaven will we fully appreciate the magnitude of Jesus winning our court case by taking our guilt on Himself.  

Lord Jesus, thank You for being our Advocate. Help us be mindful of Your Word. Help us walk according to it.

Your character trait of God to record in Prayers of My Heart and for which to praise Him: Advocate.