Tag Archives: Prayer Journal

Divine Goodness

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Deuteronomy 10:12 (MSG)
12 So now Israel, what do you think God expects from you? Just this: Live in his presence in holy reverence, follow the road he sets out for you, love him, serve God, your God, with everything you have in you,

In the book, “The Problem of Pain” by C.S. Lewis and the chapter on Divine Goodness, Lewis makes the following statement. “To be God – to be like God and to share in His goodness in creaturely response – to be miserable – these are the only three alternatives.”

God is perfect and without needs, even from His creation. Even so, He demands our worship and obedience, yet neither of these acts adds to or diminishes His glory. He has always loved us perfectly – nothing we do can add to or subtract from that love.

So, our response to that love by worship and obedience brings us closer to Him. It changes us, it doesn’t change God. To become like His Son Jesus is our purpose. To share in His glory and goodness, that is why we were created.

If we think about it in those terms, it only causes us to prostrate ourself before Him with love. Love that grows each day as we become more like Him.

Heavenly Father, Your divine goodness is perfect. You have created us to share in Your goodness. I pray that my worship will draw me closer to You each day. As I repent and turn away from the sin in my life, I pray that I will be sanctified by the Holy Spirit. Help me to follow the road that You have set out for me. Amen.

Always praying for the glory of God,

The Author and Perfecter of Faith

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Hebrews 11:1 (NASB)
1 Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.

Hebrews 12:1-2 (NASB)
1 Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, 2 fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.

We were not eyewitnesses to the incarnation. I wonder sometimes what that might have been like. The apostles were with Jesus during His ministry and then after He ascended, they were given a visible anointing of the Holy Spirit. The apostles saw and were convicted. The author of Hebrews tells us that we are given a faith created by Jesus and this faith we now have is just as powerful as the faith of the witnesses that were with Jesus.

This good news transcends time, for throughout eternity it has always been God’s plan. We should marvel at the free gift of salvation through faith that God created. For without faith, we doubt or completely reject the very existence of God.

Faith reveals the beauty of the general revelation of His creation and opens our eyes to the special revelation of the Scriptures. Without faith we are lost. Even understanding the resurrection of Jesus is not enough without faith. With faith we can live for His glory and enjoy Him forever.

Heavenly Father, thank you for the assurance of Your promises – that we can be convicted of things which we cannot see. Thank You for the way you have revealed Yourself to us. It is a marvelous plan that brings us close to You in a way that is indescribable. I look forward each day as You sanctify us into your image. Amen.

Always praying for the glory of God.

My Sin

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Luke 11:42 (NASB)
42 “But woe to you Pharisees! For you pay tithe of mint and rue and every kind of garden herb, and yet disregard justice and the love of God; but these are the things you should have done without neglecting the others.

I really am a Pharisee and I hate it. It is so much easier to see the sin in others rather than to see the sin within. It is especially easier to focus on sins for which I have not been burdened. I should simply focus on my sin, repent of the many that I live with, and just love other people. That is exactly what Jesus asks us to do. He said, love your neighbor as yourself. Jesus didn’t say love only neighbors that don’t have sins that offend you.

The Bible is very clear about what offends God. It is troubling that many today believe that sins declared in the Bible are really not sin. Take my sin of pride. In the world we are taught that self pride is actually good. Yet it generates a self love that pushes out love for others, especially those that we don’t like for some reason or another. And pride even pushes love for God out of first place.

It is sad to see when a sin to God is celebrated as a virtue. This “virtue” then even creates a belief that no one can really love them unless others accept that it is not sinful behavior at all. Wrongly accepting sins as acceptable is a trap that many Christians have fallen into today.

When I sin by not loving others, I only confirm in their minds that I am a hypocrite. And they are right. I have sinned before Holy God and must repent, turn away from those thoughts and follow Jesus.

If I focus on repenting of my sin and loving others, there will be no time left to think about their sin at all. Let alone being offended by that sin. I only need to follow the One that made my salvation possible.

Father, I pray for humility and for a genuine love for others. Strip pride from me. Do not allow me to follow the world and begin believing that some sins are really not sin at all. Keep my eyes on Jesus and my heart in love with Him. I pray this in His name. Amen.

Always praying for the glory of God,

The Beauty of Opposites

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Psalm 23:4 (NASB)
4 Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
I fear no evil, for You are with me;

Psalm 18:28 (NASB)
28 For You light my lamp; The Lord my God illumines my darkness.

John 8:12 (NASB)
12 Then Jesus again spoke to them, saying, “I am the Light of the world; he who follows Me will not walk in the darkness, but will have the Light of life.”

God, in His infinite wisdom created a universe that contains a spectrum of opposing experiences, so that we could sense and understand the differences. For without a valley, we could not see the mountain; without sorrow, we could not feel love; without silence, we could not hear music; without the bitter, we would not taste the sweet; without the sense of pain, we could not feel a tender touch.

The 23rd psalm is probably the most well known passage in scripture. The fourth verse talks about walking through a valley and the word death is the one word we focus on. Yet, it is not the valley of death, rather it is the valley of the shadow of death. And shadows cannot exist without light. The comfort of walking through a valley is that He is walking with us. His light illumines our way. Jesus is the light of the world, whether we are on a mountain or in the deepest valley. Praise God for the beauty of opposites.

Heavenly Father, I confess that I do not like the valleys of life. I’d rather be on the mountain top. I’d rather feel the tender touch rather than the pain. We live in a broken world, but because of the sacrifice of Your Son, we do not walk it alone. Thank You for Jesus, the light of the world that shines on us each day. Amen.

Always praying for the glory of God,

What a Friend

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What a friend we have in Jesus all our sins and grieves to bear
What a privilege to carry everything to God in prayer
Oh what peace we often forfeit of what needless pain we bear
All because we do not carry everything to God in prayer
Have we trials and temptations is there trouble anywhere
If we have don’t be discouraged take it to the Lord in prayer
Hymn – What a friend we have in Jesus

Revelation 21:4 (NASB) 
4 and He will wipe away every tear from their eyes; and there will no longer be any death; there will no longer be any mourning, or crying, or pain; the first things have passed away.”

Isaiah 53:3a (NASB) 
3 He was despised and forsaken of men,
A man of sorrows and acquainted with grief;

Last Friday, we lost a wonderful friend and member of our family – our dog Riley.  He came to us as a rescue when he was 10 months old and was 12 years old when he died.  It was sudden and unexpected.  Many tears have been shed and I know many more will follow.  A sadness has fallen on me that I didn’t expect.

Since sleep doesn’t come easy, my wife and I spent the wee hours of the night last night talking about him.  I recalled the verse in Isaiah above.  Jesus knew sorrow and he knew grief.  The pain we feel is just a shadow of the grief that Jesus endured for us.

There is so much pain and sorrow in this world, even with all the joys that we have in our lives.  But we have a Savior that will one day take away all of those tears.  Death will no longer exist and there will no longer be any pain.

What a friend we have in Jesus!

Heavenly Father, I bring our sorrow to you in prayer.  I praise You for creating the pets that we can enjoy.  I thank you for the joy we have had.  I even thank you for the grief that we are going through because it gives us a taste of what Jesus went through for us.  Holy Spirit, I ask for comfort.  I pray this in the name of Jesus.  Amen.

Always praying for the glory of God,

Christ’s Gift

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Romans 3:23-24 (NASB) 
23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 
24 being justified as a gift by His grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus;

Christianity is unique in all of the world’s religions, in that our salvation is not dependent on anything we do, but salvation is only possible by the sacrifice of Jesus and the grace that God has ordained for us.

I was meditating on the verse above.  Only Christianity has the doctrine of justification.  When we repent and accept Christ as Lord and Savior, we are declared right with God, even though our sin nature is still present.  Salvation with all other religions depend on what we do, never knowing if what we do is enough.    Salvation as a Christian depends only on what Christ has already done for us, giving us confidence in our relationship with God.

What an amazing gift from Jesus!  Rather than using the gift as an excuse to sin more knowing we are saved, the gift draws us into worship and repentance.  

Heavenly Father, praises to you for the gift of the gospel, the justification that you have provided to us through the sacrifice of Jesus.  Your plan is perfect and always better than anything that we can imagine.  This gift makes me want to worship you more each day.  I pray that your Holy Spirit will help me do that.  I pray this in the name of Jesus.  Amen. 

Always praying fort the glory of God,

The Mercy of God

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Luke 6:27-28 (NASB) 
27 “But I say to you who hear, love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, 28 bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you.

Job 31:29-30(NASB) 
29 “Have I rejoiced at the extinction of my enemy,
Or exulted when evil befell him?
30 “No, I have not allowed my mouth to sin
By asking for his life in a curse.

Jesus calls us to do things that seem to be really tough.  Love your enemy, bless those that curse you, pray for those that mistreat you.  Yet, He is not asking us to do anything that He hasn’t already done for us.  We were once His enemy, we behaved badly, we mistreated God.  Yet He loved us first; gave us mercy and grace through the life and work of Jesus.  

Job reflected on how to behave with his enemies as he defended himself against his accusers.  And yet, Job was just a man; imperfect and in desperate need of God’s mercy and grace too.

The world is so divisive these days.  It is easy to find that if you don’t agree with another, then you become the enemy.  Can you imagine what would happen if all Christians followed Jesus’ command in Luke, while at the same time holding firmly to our beliefs?

Heavenly Father, You have commanded us to follow You, hold firm to Your ways, and love those that hate, curse and mistreat us.  Forgive me when I fall short.  Help me to keep in mind how you treated me when I was your enemy and treat others that same way.  I pray in the name of Jesus, who loved me first.  Amen.

Always praying for the glory of God,

Ceasing to Pray

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1 Samuel 12:23 (NASB) 
23 Moreover, as for me, far be it from me that I should sin against the Lord by ceasing to pray for you; but I will instruct you in the good and right way.

We all know that prayer shouldn’t just be used for petitioning God for the things that we need or want.  But to refrain from prayer, except during those times, takes away the glory that God is due.  And Samuel said that ceasing to pray is in fact a sin against God.  

As I read that verse this morning, I thought about how Paul declared in 1 Thessalonians 5:17 to pray without ceasing.  Prayer is our way of giving glory to God.  And when we are distracted by the things of this life and cease to pray, it robs God of the glory He deserves.

I know I am guilty of not praying as I should.  We all are.  And it is easy to forgive ourselves knowing that it is something that everyone does.  But we are without excuse.  

Prayer not only gives glory to God, but it has amazing benefits for us as well.  It draws us closer to the Creator.  It reveals just how much we need that relationship and when we express our love for Him, it brings us joy.  

Father, forgive me for failing to pray as I should.  Give me a heart that longs to worship You in prayer throughout each day, no matter what I am doing.  May it bring You glory, as You fill me with inexpressible joy.  Praying this in the name of Jesus.  Amen.

May I always pray for the glory of God,

My Hope

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“My hope is built on nothing less than Jesus’ blood and righteousness.”
Solid Rock, lyrics by Edward Mote (1797-1874)

Psalm 71:14-15 (NASB) 
14 But as for me, I will hope continually, And will praise You yet more and more.
15 My mouth shall tell of Your righteousness And of Your salvation all day long; For I do not know the sum of them.

During the night a week or so ago, I woke thinking about “my hope”.  It wasn’t that I was feeling hopeless.  Instead, maybe my hope was misplaced until I was reminded by God.  This world has a way of saying to us that we need to depend on ourselves and what we do as the basis for our hope.  But as I thought about my hope, the first line of the old hymn “Solid Rock” began to repeat though my thoughts.  I laid there for some time with that first line echoing in my head.  As God got me back on track, I drifted back off to sleep.  What a comfort the Holy Spirit is even when we don’t even know we need it.

We can also be truly comforted, knowing that we can’t comprehend the infinite breadth of the hope that has been given to us as a gift.

Heavenly Father, my hope is truly built on You.  Jesus made that sacrifice, so that I could know the beauty of Your love and salvation.  I pray for the least and the lost that You would touch them, even today, so that they would repent and call on Your name.  I praise You all day long.  Amen.

Always praying for the glory of God,

The Most Important Prayer

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Ephesians 1: 15-17 (NASB)
15 For this reason I too, having heard of the faith in the Lord Jesus which exists among you and your love for all the saints, 16 do not cease giving thanks for you, while making mention of you in my prayers; 17 that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you a spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of Him.

Philippians 1:9 (NASB) 
9 And this I pray, that your love may abound still more and more in real knowledge and all discernment,

Colossians 1:9-12 (NASB) 
9 For this reason also, since the day we heard of it, we have not ceased to pray for you and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, 10 so that you will walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, to please Him in all respects, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God; 11 strengthened with all power, according to His glorious might, for the attaining of all steadfastness and patience; joyously 12 giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified us to share in the inheritance of the saints in Light.

Paul was consistent with the petitions in his prayers for the churches.  I often forget just how desperately poor, how much physical danger, and how persecuted these people were.  Paul doesn’t mention these things in his prayers.  Rather than focusing on the things that they needed, he focused on praying for them to get more of and to know God in a more personal way.

It is humbling to realize that my prayers of help from God is not what Paul prayed for the early church.  There is nothing wrong with praying for our situations, our needs, and our desires.  But  those things pale in comparison with knowing God.

Anything great comes with great effort.  So, we shouldn’t think that prayer is easy either.  If we struggle with prayer, as I do, we are not alone.  It is an encouragement knowing that, giving me the desire to persevere.  

Heavenly Father, I pray that You would fill me with the knowledge of Your will.  I pray for wisdom, so that Your Holy Spirit can reveal more of You in me.  I pray the same for others.  May we know You better each and every day.  Praying all in the name of Jesus.  Amen.

Always praying for the glory of God,