Proverbs 17:22
A joyful heart is good medicine,
But a broken spirit dries up the bones.

John 15:11
These things I have spoken to you so that My joy may be in you, and that your joy may be made full.

The holidays are winding down. As I reflected on this season, there has much to be thankful for. I also know that there are many that find this time of the year a time of melancholy. This time that should be full of joy, instead brings sadness. It seems this can be so as we grow older and have experienced loss in our lives.

God designed us so that we would be filled with His joy. It was so in the beginning. The joy was so complete that death did not even exist. It wasn’t until the serpent caused the first couple to question if their joy was truly complete that death entered the picture.

Jesus came to make our joy complete again. And nothing in this world can compare to it. We can’t yet imagine the joy that we will experience in heaven, but we can have a glimpse of it while we live on this earth. That joy is so powerful that it can even impact our health.

Many people seek joy in the things of this world, but they are temporary at best. Only Jesus can bring us the kind of joy that will last for eternity. If you are a child of God, praise Him for the joy that you can experience. True joy comes as we let Jesus increase and the things of this world to decrease.

Heavenly Father, I pray that Your joy would be made full in me. I pray that any thoughts of this world would be snuffed out as Your light fills my life. Your joy is good medicine. Amen.

Always praying for the glory of God,

“Remember you will thus be saved from the power of sin, and from the practice of sin by being saved from the love of sin.”
Charles Spurgeon

What is sanctification? Sanctification is the work of God’s free grace, whereby we are renewed in the whole man after the image of God, and are enabled more and more to die unto sin, and live unto righteousness.
Question 35 from the Westminster Shorter Catechism

2 Thessalonians 2:13
But we should always give thanks to God for you, brethren beloved by the Lord, because God has chosen you from the beginning for salvation through sanctification by the Spirit and faith in the truth.

The renewing of our hearts by the Holy Spirit is just the beginning of our journey as children of God. That journey can be full of twists and turns, beautiful experiences, difficult times, highs and lows, but the prize at the conclusion is worth it all.

The journey is punctuated by the changes that we make in our lives as we give up the love of sin and our love for Jesus grows. That love for Jesus grows as we yield to the Holy Spirit each day in prayer. God is glorified as we die to sin, and live for Christ.

Heavenly Father, expose to me the sin in my life. Give me ability to hate that sin and turn from it. Sanctify my heart each day as I travel towards that day when I can stand before You in Glory. Amen.

Always praying for the glory of God,

Psalm 21:2
You have given him his heart’s desire,
And You have not withheld the request of his lips.

The Bible contains many examples of answered prayer. We are drawn to those passages, because obtaining our heart’s desire is pleasing to us.

But not getting what we want sometimes brings sorrow. The Bible also has examples of God not answering prayer.

Lamentations 3:44
You have covered Yourself with a cloud
So that no prayer can pass through.

So, the Bible has examples of answered and unanswered prayers, which is consistent with everyone’s prayer life. If we always received our requests, it seems to me that we would be tempted to come to the conclusion that we are in charge, that we are in fact God. They would soon change from requests to demands.  It would not draw us closer to God. As children, if we always get what we want from our parents, we become spoiled. And so it is with God and our prayer requests.

There have been a few times (very few, in fact) when I have prayed asking God for a request and feeling at the end of the prayer that God was going to answer that prayer. It’s probably a combination of asking and knowing that what I requested was the will of God and believing without doubts that it would come to pass.

There are other times when the asking is combined with lingering doubts. Not that God couldn’t do what I have asked, but just not being sure that it is His will. If He grants the request, what is He teaching me? If not, is He teaching me that it is not His will or is He teaching me that I need to persevere in confidence of the request?

Making our requests known to God is a learning experience for us, isn’t it? Our requests don’t change God. It changes us.

Father, thank you that you don’t grant my every request. You are in charge and You know what is best for me, even if I do not. Thank you that prayer is Your way of changing me into the person that You want me to be. Holy Spirit, bring me in sync with the will of God, so that as I pray, it changes me closer each day into the likeness of Jesus. Amen.

Philippians 4:6-7 (NASB)
Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

“We must not be too high minded. I fancy we may sometimes be deterred from small prayers by a sense of our own dignity rather than of God’s.”
C.S. Lewis – Letters to Malcolm: Chiefly on Prayer

There was a time when I thought that it was not appropriate to bring, what I considered to be, small prayers before God. Then when major things happened in my life, I was ashamed to bring them before the Father. I think it was because of what C.S. Lewis wrote. It was my own dignity and pride that kept me from bringing my needs before Him.

I suspect that many people struggle with what is the “appropriate” supplication. Is it really big enough? Is it worth God’s time to bring it to Him? Paul in Philippians seemed to think differently. I also suspect that it is often our desire to be independent that causes us to withhold requests. We can handle it, we tell ourselves. God doesn’t need to get involved.

But God is already involved. Our very existence depends on God’s constant desire to keep the universe in place. If He lost interest in His creation, even for a microsecond, it would cease to exist.

Father, forgive me for not bringing to You all requests. I trust that You will meet all my needs and filter out desires that are not in my best interest. Only in the answers can I understand Your plan for me. Amen.

Always praying for the glory of God,

1 Kings 8:38-40 (NASB)
whatever prayer or supplication is made by any man or by all Your people Israel, each knowing the affliction of his own heart, and spreading his hands toward this house; then hear in heaven Your dwelling place, and forgive and act and render to each according to all his ways, whose heart You know, for You alone know the hearts of all the sons of men, that they may fear You all the days that they live in the land which You have given to our fathers.

There has been much debate whether ready-made prayers are appropriate to use when in private prayer. C.S. Lewis discussed this with his friend Malcom in a letter to him. Neither Lewis nor Malcom thought that only ready made prayers were to be used in our private prayer life, save the Lord’s Prayer. However, Lewis was not as strict as Malcom in this respect.

Lewis’s view of ready made prayers was as a conductor leading the orchestra. The ready made prayers were used as the motion of the conductor, but not the music itself. They can provide a framework to lead us into our communion with God.

Solomon rightly noted in his dedication of the temple prayer that all people know the affliction of their own hearts. Using someone else’s words cannot express our thoughts and worship as well as our own.

Lewis cautioned though, that even our own words can become repetitious and rote and that the use of prayers written by others can help to break that natural tendency.

Our ability to pray one way or another is not something that is always present. Lewis, for several years following his conversion, attempted to pray without words at all. He didn’t use the name of people he was praying for, but rather brought into his mind the mental image of the person. This type of prayer was not something that he could do on demand. His ability to pray this way seemed to come and go. So, it must be with our prayers. Sometimes we need the encouragement of other’s written prayers to focus us in our communion with God. Other times, our words flow without restriction.

Father, I pray that my prayers would come from the heart, regardless of whether they are my words or those of another. Keep my thoughts only on You and allow my worship to be fresh each time I lift my prayers to Jesus. Amen.

Always praying for the glory of God,

Luke 9:28-29 (NASB)
Some eight days after these sayings, He took along Peter and John and James, and went up on the mountain to pray. And while He was praying, the appearance of His face became different, and His clothing became white and gleaming.

Our mood when praying can be different depending on the situation. There are times when we are praying for others in a prayer meeting, that it can bring about a serious state of mind. Others are hurting and our minds turn towards petitioning God earnestly for them. But that shouldn’t be the only emotion that we have when we are praying.

When Jesus took the three disciples up on the mountain to pray, His joy changed His entire appearance. This prayer of Jesus was an experience for the disciples as further proof to them that Jesus is God. But it also gives us an example of the joy that we can have when we pray.

I’m afraid that I have often thought of prayer as only a solemn, serious time in communion with God. There may be a feeling that to speak to the Creator is serious and not a time for what we might consider frivolous emotions.

But Jesus proved that not to be the case. Maybe He was showing us that to pray also meant that it could bring us great joy. Expressing this emotion, at least as a part of our prayer time might really change our prayer life.

Heavenly Father, I pray for joy to fill me when I am in communion with You. May my expressions of thanksgiving for your love fill my heart. Amen.

Always praying for the glory of God,

Luke 11:1 (NASB)
It happened that while Jesus was praying in a certain place, after He had finished, one of His disciples said to Him, “Lord, teach us to pray just as John also taught his disciples.”

When we read this verse we may be tempted to assume that the disciples had no idea what prayer was or how to pray. That was not likely the case. They were Jews, attended synagogue, had memorized scripture, many of which were prayers and they probably prayed daily. But Jesus prayed differently. His prayers were a personal conversation with God, whom he knew intimately. The prayers of the Jews were repetitious, prayers that they recited over and over. There was no relationship, in fact they wouldn’t even say the name of God out loud.

Jesus prayed to God, focusing on God. The Jews prayed asking for protection from their enemies, relief from their hard life, food, and shelter.

The prayers of Jesus must have startled the disciples. Their prayers were not an attempt to know God, but only to change their situation. Jesus knew that to pray was to receive God. Tolstoy, the great writer, once said after seeking God, “To know God is to live”.

So, Jesus provided a model prayer to help them on their journey to know God. The disciples would have been used to that from their synagogue, but this prayer was different. It was personal, it was focused on God. Even the petitions were focused on giving them only what they need for today, so they could focus on the Creator.

Our Father, who is in heaven, Holy is your name! May your Kingdom come and may your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give me this day only my daily needs, and forgive me of my sins, but only as I am willing to forgive those that sin against me. Protect me from temptations and save me from the attacks of the evil one. For everything is your Kingdom, all power is Yours, and You deserve all glory forever. Amen.

Always praying for the glory of God,