"I pray that out of His glorious riches He may strengthen you
with power through His Spirit in your inner being..."
(Ephesians 3:16)
MORNING DEVOTION- "O God, thou art my God; early will I seek thee..." (Psalm 63:1)
Scripture Reading: Luke 11:11-13
We meditated on the great promise of prayer yesterday - the promise that our prayers will be heard and answered. We were also exhorted to persist in prayer until the answer comes, because prayer is meant to have an answer. God has given us the ability to accomplish the difficult and holy task or persevering and prevailing prayer by giving us His best gift - the gift of His Holy Spirit (reference John 14:16-17). "The Promise of the Father" (Acts 1:4). A gift provided to us by our great intercessor Christ Jesus, who "asked" His Father to fill us with His power. Jesus knew that without His Spirit living inside us we would not have the power, nor the patience, to labor in prayer.
Jesus explained to His disciples that when we ask of our heavenly Father we will receive, because our Father in heaven desires to give His children good gifts (reference Matthew 7:11). His first and best gift being His own Spirit - "the greatest of God's gifts" - to dwell within us; Who leads us into all truth and guides us to the throne to receive what He has planned and purposed for our lives, so that we will be equipped to accomplish the work of building and advancing His Kingdom (reference 1 Corinthians 12:4-11; Ephesians 4:11-13).
John Wesley articulated well the importance of the indwelling Holy Spirit in accomplishing God's work in, and through, our lives: "In using all means, seek God alone, look only to the power of His Spirit, and the merits of His Son. Beware you do not get stuck in the work itself; if you do, it is all lost labor. Nothing short of God can satisfy your soul. Therefore, fix on Him in all, through all, and above all. For all the power, and all the merit is of Him alone." We would do well to seek this gift of the Father above all others, and yield ourselves to the Holy Spirit's work in our lives, so our labor will not be in vain, nor our toil too burdensome and heavy.
Heavenly Father,
I praise You for Your most wondrous treasure
that You have placed inside this earthen vessel.
I desire to be fully yielded to the Holy Spirit's leading
so that Christ will manifest His life within me.
In Jesus' Name. Amen.
The Holy Spirit is the Father's most wondrous gift to His children. He has given us His own Spirit to live inside His children, so that His character and life can be reproduced and lived through us. Our ability to live the spiritual life is dependent upon the life of the Spirit within the believer. The Holy Spirit is responsible for teaching, guiding, training, comforting, and bestowing additional gifts of the Father upon His beloved children. As we come to the Lord in prayer this morning, let us be willing to yield ourselves more fully to the Holy Spirit, who has been given by the Father as His greatest and most necessary gift to manifest the life of Christ within us and to fill us to the full with His abundant life (reference John 10:10). Take time to thank the Father for giving Himself so fully to you, and ask for His help in surrendering every part of your life so that He can fill your whole being to the overflow with His divine presence and power. Pray also for the hearts of all God's children to be opened and willing to be filled to the fullness with the Holy Spirit's power and presence in their lives, so that the church of God will be full of the Father-love of God, and be fully equipped to do His kingdom work in this world!
AFTERNOON DEVOTION -"Three times a day he got down on his knees and prayed..." (Daniel 6:10)
Scripture Reading: Romans 8:26-27
God and His Spirit are interconnected - in giving us His Spirit, the Father has given us His very life to live inside us. The Spirit speaks for us when we cannot find the words to pray, because He already knows our needs, and the Father knows His thoughts. It is an amazing relationship that we have been privileged to take part in as His sons and daughters. The prayers He places in our hearts are given from the Father who desires that we exercise our divine appointment to pray so He can accomplish His Kingdom work in the lives of others. The Spirit will lead us to pray in accordance with the Father's will, ultimately fulfilling God's purposes, when we, in our weakness, surrender to His power.
There is no greater gift than God's Spirit. He is the greatest need to help believers live out the Christian life - because He is God's very life being lived out within us. Seeking God's presence should be our first priority when we pray, so we will be enabled to live the abundant life God has purposed for us as we learn daily to yield to the direction of the Holy Spirit (reference Romans 8:4-9). When we surrender to the leading of the Holy Spirit we experience the greatest blessings as sons and daughters of God - receiving all the rights and privileges of this divine relationship, and all the blessings of His Kingdom. Our life, and our prayers, will yield much fruit when we allow this relationship to claim the highest position in our lives.
Heavenly Father,
I desire a relationship of deepening intimacy with You,
which You have made available to me
through the life of Your indwelling Spirit.
Help me to not take for granted Your wondrous
and extraordinary gift - but be willing to surrender myself
fully so that I can become more like you.
I want all of You!
In Jesus' Name. Amen
There are times that we are so deeply burdened that we don't even know where to begin except to know we must go to God. It's in this place of absolute weakness, when we've come to the end of ourselves, that the Lord can begin His work in our lives through the power and presence of His indwelling Spirit. Allow the Holy Spirit to be you guide into God's Word and lead you into all truth so that you will have the proper, and most powerful, words you need to pray to help those people and solve those problems that are weighing heavy on your heart today. Look up specific Scriptures to pray for each person on your prayer list today.
EVENING MEDITATION -"...and on His law he meditates day and night" (Ps. 1:2)
Scripture Reading: Galatians 4:1-7
The moment we receive Christ as our Savior we are given the gift of the Holy Spirit. God, who called us to be His sons and daughters, uniquely interconnects our lives with His forever by giving us His very life as a deposit of the eternal life we will have with Him in heaven. We have been given a taste of our life in heaven while we walk this earth. Our lives are so intimately connected with our heavenly Father that we can cry out to Him, "Abba", as Jesus did, and have the confidence that He hears us, even if we are too weak to speak. This is an extraordinary and powerful relationship. We are able to experience a deep and intimate relationship with the Father because of His indwelling Spirit, becoming one with Him as Christ is one with Him, and we are given all the rights and privileges of sonship. It is no wonder our heavenly Father calls us to abide in Him- it is here that we can achieve His greatest goal for our life - power with Him in prayer. Our Father desires that we would live in His love and and be filled to the full measure of that love so that we can share His love with the world. There is no greater expression of our love for the Father, or our love for others, than in the place of persistent and prevailing prayer.
Heavenly Father,
Only one word is needed, "Abba,"
and You hear my every cry.
We are deeply, intimately, and eternally connected
and nothing can separate me from Your love.
I want to abide in You daily
so I can experience the fullness of the spiritual life
You have purposed for me through Your Holy Spirit.
I want to delve into the depths of Your heart
and learn how to steward Your Kingdom
so that Your great love can be shed abroad
into the hearts of those You have placed in my sphere of influence.
In Jesus' Name. Amen.
We are intimately connected to God through His Holy Spirit. As His children we can confidently pray "Abba, Father!" and know that we will be heard. This evening exercise with power the rights and privileges you have been given as a child of God, whose very Spirit indwells you, and pray down the blessings of heaven upon your family and the family of God, so that all may walk in the fullness of the Father's love. What power we have in prayer when we realize the infinitude of the Father's love and the enabling of His Holy Spirit in our lives!
