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.” This is an incredible reminder. Rather than crater 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. We can be assured that with God, NOTHING IS TOO DIFFICULT. Call on Him. Prayerfully record in Prayers of My Heart the things weighing you down that you feel you can’t do. Ask God how to handle them, then record how He guides you in the “Meditations, Notes, and Prayer” section. 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 and Your power. 

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, went and 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, was intentional about telling others. 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.

Are you a sourpuss? You know, grumpy, negative, never satisfied? If so, take your thoughts CAPTIVE to Christ. Pay attention to what you’re thinking. Why? Your thoughts make us who we are. An example: After God opened a way for the Israelites to cross the Red Sea on dry land to escape the Egyptian army, Moses could have said, “Boy, that was close! I don’t know why God let that happen! He about got us killed.” Yes, he could have complained but He chose to instead sing praises to God. “Your right hand, O LORD, is MAJESTIC in power, Your right hand, O LORD, shatters the enemy,” Exodus 15:6. “Who is like You among the gods, O Lord? Who is like You, MAJESTIC in holiness, Awesome in praises, working wonders?”  Exodus 15:11

If we’re a sourpuss and tend to focus on the negative, we’re not doing ourselves or anyone else a favor, including God. As a matter of fact, we’re being a bad showcase of our Majestic Lord. Isn’t it time we change?  If you’d like to take your thoughts captive to Christ (2 Corinthians 10:5), go right up to the throne room and examine them. Moses isn’t the only one who has a God MAJESTIC in power and holiness. We do, too! Isn’t it time we change our thinking (Philippians 4:8) and talk/act like it?

If you have Prayers of My Heart, turn to the Meditations, Notes, and Prayers section and write words of praise to our Heavenly Father. Do you need prompts? He’s saved you. He forgives your bad behavior. His Word straightens out your wayward thoughts. His Spirit is your downpayment and security of heaven. His grace is new every morning. Do you have a family or friends, a roof over your head, clean water, food, a bed to sleep in at night? Write words of thanks to Him now.

You, O LORD, are MAJESTIC in HOLINESS and POWER! We sing Your praises for all the things You’ve done, are doing, and will do. Help us showcase You by examining our thoughts and praising You for all we have in You. 

Are you tired of life as it is? Do you long for things to be different? God understands. He never intended our life to be filled with angst, anxiety, and the consequences of sin. He created Adam and Eve in His image and placed them in a perfect world. He created mankind to share life in and with Him; to live by His divine nature and experience His MAGNIFICENCE. Although we live in a sin sick world that is experiencing the consequences of shutting Him out, our hope is not lost. Rather, our hope is firm in Christ Jesus. After turning from sin and confessing Jesus as Lord and Savior, we must daily meditate on God’s Word. Why is this so important? To keep us emotionally, mentally, and spiritually grounded in truth.  Second Peter 1:4  reminds us that God “has granted to us His precious and MAGNIFICIENT promises, so that by them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world by lust.” We need look no further than the latest news to see the corruption in the world. But that is not our destiny. It is not to be our experience. We, as believers, escape the world’s corruption through the means of Christ’s divine nature operating in accordance with God’s promises. In other words, believers have the joy and privilege of learning Kingdom ways and promises and experiencing them through Christ’s Spirit. At this time in our nation and world, we have a weapon against despair, anxiety, and hopelessness that unbelievers do not have. Begin the morning welcoming your Heavenly Father and praying, “Heavenly Father, thank You for this day. Please fill my spirit with Your Holy divine nature. Help me discern Your ways and walk through my day sensitive to Your voice. Christ, flow Your joy, peace, and love through me to others.”  Yes, the Father, Son, Holy Spirit, and Bible are MAGNIFICENT. Immerse your mind with your Heavenly Father’s ways. Bath your heart in His promises. Walk by His MAGNIFICENT divine nature and you’ll discover hope in your heart and a smile to share with others.

LORD, You are MAGNIFICENT and Your promises are MAGNIFICENT. Thank You for salvation by which we become partakers of Your divine nature. Thank You for the Bible and Your Spirit by which we walk out Your magnificent, divine promises.

Record your praise to God that He is “Magnificent” in Prayers of My Heart.  Pray for yourself and intercede for your family and others that they live by God’s magnificent promises.

Who do you call on when you’re anxious and scared and it seems there is no one who can help you? Who do you call out to when you’re powerless to change a situation? Those times have a way of humbling us. Whereas we may have been too busy to pray, we suddenly find we’re continually praying. We’re calling on God, crying out to Him. Such was the case with King Hezekiah when Sennacherib, King of Assyria, threatened to overtake Jerusalem. Hezekiah prayed and prayed hard. Listen to his prayer:

“O LORD OF HOSTS, the God of Israel, who is enthroned above the cherubim, You are the God, You alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth. You have made heaven and earth. Incline Your ear, O LORD, and hear; open Your eyes, O LORD, and see; and listen to all the words of Sennacherib, who sent them to reproach the living God. … Now, O LORD our God, deliver us from his hand that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that You alone, LORD, are God.” Isaiah 37:16-17, 20

Needless to say, Hezekiah didn’t want to be defeated. He didn’t want Jerusalem to be taken over by an enemy. But his prayer also points to a noble reason to pray for God’s deliverance – so people will know that the LORD is God of all the kingdoms of the earth. When we pray, do we pray only for ourselves? Or, are we praying so God is glorified in and through our situation?

LORD of Hosts who is enthroned above the cherubim, we worship You and recognize You as God alone over all the kingdoms of the earth. Your will be done in our hearts and lives so You are glorified. 

Do you ever feel like you’re getting a bad rap, that things 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 at the justice system. But then we must quickly remember that in the end, no one gets away with anything before God. He sees our sin and knows our thoughts. Most importantly, God is JUST. As Psalm 89:14 states, “Righteousness and justice are the foundation of Your throne…” God weighs hearts and motives. He forgives repentant sinners. He deals with unrepentant ones. Lay any vengeance you have toward another person at God’s feet. He will rule justly with the person because that is His nature – JUST.

Lord, we praise you. You are JUST!

TIP:  Write God’s attribute that I highlight in each daily 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.

I struggled with today’s devotional because first I went in one direction and then another.  The key verse is 1 Timothy 6:15 and the Lord’s attribute scheduled to be highlighted today is King of Kings. It’s a rich verse. “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.”  The verse is straightforward. It’s a beautiful verse to read. The context, though, goes contrary to our human bent. Would you share your thoughts as to why the glorious description of Jesus as King of Kings who dwells in unapproachable light is in the context of  1 Timothy 6: 7-19? Warning: if you read it closely, you may get a holt jolt. 

“For we have brought nothing into the world, so we cannot take anything out of it either.  If we have food and covering, with these we shall be content. But those who want to get rich fall into temptation and a snare and many foolish and harmful desires which plunge men into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all sorts of evil, and some by longing for it have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.  

But flee from these things, you man of God, and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, perseverance, and gentleness.  Fight the good fight of faith; take hold of the eternal life to which you were called, and you made the good confession in the presence of many witnesses. I charge you in the presence of God, who gives life to all things, and of Christ Jesus, who testified the good confession before Pontius Pilate,  that you keep the commandment without stain or reproach until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ, which He will bring about at the proper time—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.”  Instruct those who are rich in this present world not to be conceited or to fix their hope on the uncertainty of riches, but on God, who richly supplies us with all things to enjoy. Instruct them to do good, to be rich in good works, to be generous and ready to share,  storing up for themselves the treasure of a good foundation for the future, so that they may take hold of that which is life indeed.

KING OF KINGS, give us a holy jolt to the importance of these words.

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 us for sinning against You and one another.  May we look deeply in Your eyes and reflect Your kindness to others. 

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

I wish sin wasn’t a part of my life, but it is. I miss the mark of holiness every day. Jesus doesn’t want us to live under condemnation, though. Remember when the Jews wanted to stone a woman caught in adultery and Jesus told her to go and sin no more? He told her He didn’t condemn her. He wanted her to live free. Free of adultery. Free of guilt and condemnation. He wants the same for us. Jesus 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;” 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 the case for our freedom by taking our guilt on the Himself.  

Lord Jesus, thank You for being our Advocate and winning our eternal freedom. 

#biblegatewaybloggergridmember