Praying through Scripture


Praying through Scripture

II Peter 1:5-9

For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; and to godliness, brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness, love. For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. But if anyone does not have them, he is nearsighted and blind, and has forgotten that he has been cleansed from his past sins.

Father, I ask You for these good gifts: faith, goodness, knowledge, self-control, perseverance, godliness, kindness, and love. Thank you for cleansing me from sin and help me to know and serve you better.

Choices

Every morning as I prepare for my day, I decide what to wear.  Looking in my closet, I have choices.  Do I wear a skirt today?  Slacks?  Jeans?  What top coordinates with the skirt or pants?  Both must match in color and appropriateness for the weather and occasion.  Next, I decide on appropriate accessories.  Which shoes?  Belt?  Scarf?  Jewelry?  All these choices match one another to create a unified whole.  Once I make my decisions and dress, I’m ready for the day.

Just as I choose daily what clothes I’ll wear, I have choices in what to don from my spiritual closet.   What shall I wear?  Shall it be a spirit of complaining or gratefulness?  If I choose complaining, I accessorize with sorrow and bitterness, to create a coordinated ensemble.  I wonder: Is this what a child of God would wear?  Is this appropriate attire for the daughter of the King?  Instead, I choose to wear gratefulness.  To match gratefulness, I choose compassion and humility, which naturally complement one another.  To accessorize, I choose good deeds for my feet.  The sparkling gem of God’s love unifies the ensemble.  Now I’m ready for the day. 

  Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience.  

                                                                                                –Colossians 3:12                                       

Father, help me choose wisely from my closet of spiritual clothing.

Friday Prayer Challenge

Friday Prayer Challenge

Pray the following scripture over others, and yourself, this week.

Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—this is your spiritual act of worship. Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.

Question: How can you offer your body as a living sacrifice?

As the Deer Pants for Water

As the Deer Pants for Water

In August the hot sun scorches the earth.  The brittle grass browns and breaks.  Moisture-starved leaves yellow and flutter to the ground.  The baked earth, cracked in every direction, cries for rain.  Insects buzz in erratic dances—nothing else moves.  The stifling heat rises in nearly invisible waves.

Safe in her thicket, the deer stirs.  Hot and parched, she must drink.  Gingerly, she ventures to the brook to quench her thirst.  Frequently, she pauses to sniff the air, sensing wolves and other predators lurking nearby, eager to taste her flesh.  They too must drink, so her danger heightens as she nears the life-giving water.  In spite of the danger, her extreme thirst drives her to the stream, for she pants for water.  She mustdrink.

On a hot summer’s day, we guzzle glass after glass of cold, refreshing water, attempting to slake our thirst. If our souls truly pant for God the way the deer pants for water, what would we do?

O God, give me a thirst for you.  Make the thirst in me so strong I must satisfy it. Give me the discipline to drink deeply at your never-ending stream.

Psalms 42:1&2 “As the deer pants for the water brooks, so pants my soul for You, O God.

My soul thirsts for God, for the living God.”

Faithfulness

“As for His failing you, never dream of it — hate the thought of it. The God who has been sufficient until now, should be trusted to the end.”

― Charles H. Spurgeon

Thank you, Lord, for your faithfulness. Even when the world seems out of control, keeping me trusting in You, for You are as faithful as the rising and setting of the sun. You are in control.