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I got this from Today's Christian Woman and thought I'd pass it along:
Ten Ways to Pray
Pray Daily For:
1. A deeper understanding of my value and worth before God.
(Eph 1:3-4; Psalm 139:1-18)
2. Caring Christian friendships and involvement in Christian community.
(Heb 10:25; Prov 27:8-10,17)
3. Opportunities to share Christ through my words and actions.
(Matt 25:34-40; Matt 28:18-20)
4. Strength to stand firm in the face of temptation.
(1 Cor 10:13; Matt 6:13)
5. Greater understanding of what it means to be loved by God and to love others.
(Phil 1:9-11; Rom 8:38-39)
6. Integrity and honesty.
(Prov 12:22, Psalm 101:2b-3)
7. Humility to admit my sins and ask for forgiveness.
(Prov 28:13; Acts 3:19)
8. Wisdom in my daily life and actions.
(James 1:5, Psalm 25:4-5)
9. A sense of God's calling and purpose in my life.
(Eph 4:1-3; Eph 1:11-12)
10. Gratitude in all things.
(Col 3:15-17; I Thes 5:18)
I found this list to be very helpful. Sometimes I want to pray, but don't want to just keep asking God to help with this situation and that situation. God deserves more from my prayers than to just hear my want and needs! I want to be able to tell God how awesome He is, and I do. But I also want to pray for myself, for God to mold me into the person He wants me to be. It's nice to have something specific to pray for. By praying for these specific things, I'm asking God to do just that! By asking for help, in each of these aspects, it will lead to me being more Christlike.
God, get rid of what's ugly and sinful in my life and help me to yearn to be more like You. I love you.
Amen
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God is so faithful!
No details are necessary, but I just feel the need to thank God for His faithfulness. The past few weeks, He's really been showing me that if we are faithful to Him, He will be faithful to us. I've grown up hearing this, but recently I've really been making a conscious effort to be more faithful to Him (my prayer time, tithing, etc). I wasn't even doing it as a 'test,' but because I really want to know God more intimately and follow His Word. It's really just a cause/effect relationship -- I'm trying to live more like Him and be more faithful, and He's honoring me and my family because of it.
God is SO good!
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With my husband leading the worship team at our church, I've been helping him with song selection and with the devotions the group goes through each week. I feel so honored to be included in this time for several reasons:
1. My husband works long hours and we have 2 kids under two -- needless to say, we're both exhausted at night. We don't really get a chance to talk, just the two of us, about 'non-kid' stuff very often. I look forward to our talks, even if we don't always see things eye to eye.
2. I am learning and being convicted in the same way that the worship team is, something that I desperately long for to improve my relationship with my Savior.
This week's devotion was about being an 'undone' worshipper (allowing God to undo all the things in your life that keep you from truly worshipping Him) and the main texts come from Isaiah 6 and Psalm 139.
6:1 In the year that king Uzziah died I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up; and his train filled the temple. 6:2 Above him stood the seraphim: each one had six wings; with twain he covered his face, and with twain he covered his feet, and with twain he did fly. 6:3 And one cried unto another, and said, Holy, holy, holy, is Jehovah of hosts: the whole earth is full of his glory. 6:4 And the foundations of the thresholds shook at the voice of him that cried, and the house was filled with smoke. 6:5 Then said I, Woe is me! for I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips: for mine eyes have seen the King, Jehovah of hosts. 6:6 Then flew one of the seraphim unto me, having a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with the tongs from off the altar: 6:7 and he touched my mouth with it, and said, Lo, this hath touched thy lips; and thine iniquity is taken away, and thy sin forgiven.
139:23 Search me, O God, and know my heart: Try me, and know my thoughts; 139:24 And see if there be any wicked way in me, And lead me in the way everlasting.
I like the way that these texts tie into one another. Isaiah believes that his end is near because he cannot survive in the presence of God the way he is. He believes that God's perfection and his own imperfection would lead to his death. This leads right into Psalm 139 because we are all unclean and we need to be willing to be 'searched' so that our sinfulness can be removed. We'll never be perfect or sinless, but it's a continual process to be more like Christ. It's only when we allow ourselves to be 'ruined' to be made clean, that we can do His work.
It's interesting just how many times I've only gone through the motions of worship. I sing the songs and clap at the right times, but my heart isn't in it. Doesn't God deserve so much more than that from me? He died on the cross for my sins, and I know that if I were the only living person, He still would have chosen to die so that I could be saved. That's how much he loves me! That's how much he loves you too. And yet, I still let things get in the way of my being in His presence. I don't want to do that anymore. I don't want to let anything get in the way of my worshipping God. I'm not perfect, so I know that I won't always succeed, but I pray that I always keep this idea in the back of my mind, so that I'm mindful of my actions and how they affect my relationship with God.
I'm tying this into worship as in singing, only because that's what my husband was focusing on for his Bible study, but how true is this for all aspects of our life? We don't just worship with singing; we worship through prayer and our actions, etc. All I know is that I have to be willing to allow God to search my heart for sin and uncleanliness, and get rid of it in whatever manner He chooses, so that I can truly be an 'undone' worshipper.
Thank goodness for a forgiving God!
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I was reading a devotion by Matt Redman a few weeks ago about Job and how when he lost everything, he questioned God. How did God respond? Did he choose to defend Himself? No. Did he choose to explain Himself? No. Instead, He chose to reveal Himself.
38:12 "Have you commanded the morning since your days began, and caused the dawn to know its place, 38:13 that it might take hold of the skirts of the earth, and the wicked be shaken out of it?
38:36 Who has put wisdom in the clouds, or given understanding to the mists? 38:37 Who can number the clouds by wisdom? Or who can tilt the waterskins of the heavens,
Job learns that instead of asking 'why?' he finds his answers by knowing 'who'. Matt Redman states, "It is not found in questioning God's worth, but in seeing Him for who He is. God answers the problem of Job's suffering with the grand and wonderful mystery of His power and presence."
42:1 Then Job answered the LORD: 42:2 "I know that thou canst do all things, and that no purpose of thine can be thwarted. 42:3 'Who is this that hides counsel without knowledge?' Therefore I have uttered what I did not understand, things too wonderful for me, which I did not know. 42:4 'Hear, and I will speak; I will question you, and you declare to me.' 42:5 I had heard of thee by the hearing of the ear, but now my eye sees thee; 42:6 therefore I despise myself, and repent in dust and ashes."
How many times do we question God about things that have happened in our life? For myself, those times are too numerous to count. What I've learned from this is that I need to praise God all the time, during good times and bad times. I need to submit to His power and presence. I need to submit to His will for my life, even when I don't understand why things are happening because God does understand. God's worth doesn't change in spite of my suffering, so why should my praises to Him change?
1:21 And he said, "Naked I came from my mother's womb, and naked shall I return; the LORD gave, and the LORD has taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD."
This 'submission' has made such a difference in my life. Instead of saying, "why me?" or "it's not fair,"I say, "God, I know that you are awesome and all powerful and You know what's best. Thank you. You are amazing." I'm amazed at the changes when I pray this way. It may be an actual change in the situation or just a change in my attitude after this prayer, I don't know. All I know is that this was something I really needed to learn.
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