|
|
|
|
| DAY 4: Perfection JANUARY 4, 2010 |
|
"This is the confidence we have in approaching God:
that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us.
And if we know that He hears us - whatever we ask -
we know that we have what we asked of Him."
(1 John 5:14-15) |
|
| MORNING DEVOTION - "O God, thou art my God; early will I seek thee..." (Psalm 63:1)
Scripture Reading: Mark 11:22-24
When we first came to Christ, we came praying the prayer of faith. We believed first, and then we received. Our first step into this wondrous relationship was a small, childlike, step of faith; and every time we take another believing step we demonstrate our faith in God. Faith is the very foundation of our spiritual walk."If you do not stand firm in your faith, you will not stand at all" (Isaiah 7:9b).
Our rock solid foundation in the faith is the belief that God exists and that He has nothing but our good and His glory in mind when we come to Him. "And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to Him must believe that He exists and that He rewards those who earnestly seek Him" (Hebrews 11:6). The Hall of Faith, in the Book of Hebrews, is filled with the names of servants who displayed faith in God with their actions and whose prayers of faith moved God's hand to accomplish extraordinary things (reference Hebrews 11:1-40).
The Lord desires to protect our faith; without faith we will lack the confidence we need to pray. When Jesus warned Peter that the enemy wanted to sift him as wheat He expressed His desire to guard His faith by offering these encouraging words, "But I have prayed for you, Simon, that your faith may not fail" (Luke 22:31-32). The enemy's great desire is to rob us of our faith and plant seeds of doubt in our mind of God's ability to answer our prayers. Jesus made it known that we protect our faith when we pray. "Get up and pray so you will not fall into temptation" (Luke 22:46). If the enemy can tempt us away from prayer, he can successfully rob us of our faith. We should be encouraged to know our Savior is interceding on our behalf and praying for our faith to remain strong, and He has given us His Holy Spirit to build us up in the faith through His Word. When our Lord returns He wants to find faith on the earth (reference Luke 18:8). This should encourage us to not lose heart, but to keep praying!
Heavenly Father,
I want to please you with my faith
and I know now that I do so when I pray.
Our greatest sin is our unbelief,
a seed we've allowed the enemy to sow
while we've been asleep.
Wake us from our slumber to recognize
how vital it is to pray.
May we not fail you again in this most
urgent hour of need.
In Jesus' Name. Amen.
[As we meditate on today's Scripture we might ask ourself if our faith has grown stronger over the years since we first accepted the Lord as Savior. Are we stronger now than when we first began this journey? Will we be able to stand firm in the faith when the love of many begins to grow cold (reference Matthew 24:10-13)? We need to pray, more than ever, as Jesus is, that the faith of His children will remain strong as wickedness increases and the enemy continues to tempt many away from the faith. May we lift up our brothers and sisters in the faith, and pray fervently for them each day].
_______________________________________________________________________ |
AFTERNOON DEVOTION - "Evening, and morning, and at noon, will I pray, and cry aloud: and He shall hear my voice" (Psalm 55:17 KJV).
Scripture Reading: Matthew 17:17-21
Our heavenly Father desires for His children to come to Him believing and not doubting (reference Matthew 21:21). "But when he asks, he must believe and not doubt, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind" (James 1:6). We can believe and have confidence when we pray because our faith has an object. Jesus said to have faith "in God". The object of our faith, as we've discussed these past couple of days, is a benevolent heavenly Father who desires to give us all good things. We simple need to believe and then ask.
Our ability to believe God has nothing to do with the size of our faith, instead it has everything to do with the size of our God. Jesus said that all we need is faith "as small as a mustard seed" to accomplish extraordinary and impossible things in His kingdom. E.M Bounds has said, "Only God can move mountains, but faith and prayer move God." The more time we spend with God in His Word and in prayer the more aware we become of His greatness, His goodness, and His holiness. The greater He becomes, the less we have to fear, and the more confidence we have to ask - and to ask boldly for greater things; believing our Father will hold nothing back from us that His kingdom purposes would be accomplished in this earth.
Heavenly Father,
I pray that when You look at my heart
You would be able to say of me (as You did the centurion),
"I have not found such great faith as this."
My faith rests in You - with You is all power;
I pray You will unleash Your power
through my prayers that many would
come to believe in You.
In Jesus' Name. Amen
[What obstacles are standing in your way and blocking your view of the greatness of your God? Submit your fears and pray with confidence believing God is the God of the impossible and He wants to do extraordinary things in and through your life - if you will simply have faith and not doubt. Pray for others to not doubt God's great love for them and be willing to believe that He wants to do the impossible in their life, too].
_______________________________________________________________________ |
|
|
EVENING MEDITATION - "...and on His law he meditates day and night" (Ps. 1:2)
Scripture Reading: Romans 4:20-21
When we pray we should do so believing that God will fulfill what He has promised. To know God's will and His promises we must become diligent students of His Word, allowing the Holy Spirit to activate His truth in our life through our prayers. Abraham provides an example of one who exhibited true faith, with complete confidence in God's ability to do what He had promised. "...being fully persuaded that God had power to do what He had promised" (Romans 4:21). God, alone, is our confidence when we pray. We bring Him great pleasure when we exercise faith believing that He will do what He has promised and give whatever we ask.
Heavenly Father,
I don't want to put limits on what you can do.
Increase my faith through constant prayer
and help me to trust in You.
Help me to take each step with confidence
as I obey your call to take up my cross and follow you.
In Jesus' Name. Amen.
[We bring glory to God when we place our faith and trust in HIm. "Perfect faith says it's as good as done." May we not waiver in faith as we submit our prayers to the object of our faith, being confident that He will answer and fulfill His promises for our good and His glory. We have a new year before us and "all things" are possible - to him who believes. May we pray for the confidence to go and do as Abraham did; walking without any doubt on the foundation of faith that has been laid for us - praying that the halls of faith will be filled with countless testimonies of others who have obediently walked the path of true faith].
________________________________________________________________________ |
| "Without faith there can be no prayer,
no matter how great our helplessness may be.
Helplessness united with faith produces prayer.
Without faith our helplessness would only be a vain cry
of distress in the night."
| |
|
|
|
