Monthly Archives: January 2020

January 3, 2020 · 7:16 AM

Pressure And Praise

One day as I was in deep thought as I was walking. I wasn’t paying attention to what was in front of me until I stepped on a ketchup packet. When I did, ketchup shot out of the package and went all over the glass of a shop. While wiping it off, I began to think how when pressure is applied to something, what’s inside comes out. I began to wonder what would come out of my mouth and actions, from the inside of me, if serious pressure was applied.

In Acts 16, Paul and Silas were beaten and thrown into prison because they were preaching the Gospel and had delivered a girl from demon possession. Verse 16 says, “About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening to them” (NLT). When pressure was applied, prayer and praise is what came out of them. The goal for each of us is to be so full of God that when pressure is applied, prayer and praise would come out of us.

Here are some verses on prayer and praise.

1. Proclaim with me the Lord ‘s greatness; let us praise his name together! I prayed to the Lord, and he answered me; he freed me from all my fears.

Psalm 34:3-4 GNT

2. In my distress I prayed to the Lord, and the Lord answered me and set me free. The Lord is for me, so I will have no fear. What can mere people do to me?

Psalms 118:5-6 NLT

3. In this you rejoice greatly, even though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been distressed by various trials, so that the genuineness of your faith, which is much more precious than gold which is perishable, even though tested and purified by fire, may be found to result in [your] praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.

1 PETER 1:6-7 AMP

4. There’s more to come: We continue to shout our praise even when we’re hemmed in with troubles, because we know how troubles can develop passionate patience in us, and how that patience in turn forges the tempered steel of virtue, keeping us alert for whatever God will do next. In alert expectancy such as this, we’re never left feeling shortchanged. Quite the contrary—we can’t round up enough containers to hold everything God generously pours into our lives through the Holy Spirit!

Romans 5:3-5 MSG

5. Don’t fret or worry. Instead of worrying, pray. Let petitions and praises shape your worries into prayers, letting God know your concerns. Before you know it, a sense of God’s wholeness, everything coming together for good, will come and settle you down. It’s wonderful what happens when Christ displaces worry at the center of your life.

Philippians 4:6-7 MSG

Photo by Joshua Earle on Unsplash

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January 2, 2020 · 5:30 AM

Patient Endurance

Patience. It’s not a word we like very much. We like to have results quickly without having to put in the time and effort. We want answers given to us without us having to dig for them. We want growth without risk, and we want fruit without tending the garden. We’ve heard the saying, “Good things come to those who wait,” but who really wants to wait? We live in a now society where everything is given to us quickly. The temptation is to let our societal speed carry over into our spiritual growth.

Endurance. It’s not something you get in good times. It requires pushing yourself beyond what you think you’re capable of. It takes mental toughness to get it. You have to withstand pressure repeatedly in order to attain it. Giving up can’t be an option if you’re going to increase your endurance. You have to keep your mind on the prize to keep your mind off the struggle if you’re going to build your endurance. It isn’t given to you, it’s earned.

Both of these things are required of us as Christians. The more of God you want to know, the more patience and endurance you’re going to have to have. If we are willing to give up in the struggle, we will miss the blessings God is preparing us for. Hebrews 10:36 says, “Patient endurance is what you need now, so that you will continue to do God’s will. Then you will receive all that He has promised” (NLT). When things appear to be going wrong in our life, God is preparing us to receive all He has for us.

We can’t be like Jacob and fight it. In Genesis 42, there was a famine in the land. Jacob sent 10 of his sons to get food in Egypt. Joseph wanted them all there so he pretended to not know them, sent them home with their food, and held one brother captive until they returned with their other brother. Jacob felt like he was being punished when God was just trying to get him to the land of plenty. In verse 36, he cried out, “You are robbing me of my children! Joseph is gone! Simeon is gone! And now you want to take Benjamin, too. Everything is going against me!”

If everything is going against you, it’s quite possible that God is actually trying to bless you. Jacob waited a long time before he sent his sons back to get more food and their brother. He could have been living without fear of starvation. He could have had the relationship with his son restored had he not delayed. God was trying to use what appeared to be negative circumstances to move him into a place of blessing. Imagine what God could be trying to do for you in your situation. Work on having patient endurance instead of complaining, and see what God does.

Photo by Francisco Moreno on Unsplash

Throwback Thursday is a feature I’m using to help build some margin into my schedule to pursue other writing ventures. Each Thursday I’ll be bringing you a previously written devotional that still speaks encouragement to us from God’s Word.

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January 1, 2020 · 5:59 AM

New Year’s Prayer 2020

Each hear I start off with a prayer you can pray and personalize.

Heavenly Father,

Thank you for all you did for me and through me in the last year. You were my strength when I couldn’t stand, my hope when I felt like I had none and my way maker when I couldn’t see the path forward. Thank you for providing for all of my needs. You continue to prove yourself faithful even when I fall short. Forgive me for the times I’ve tried to make you fit inside my box of who I think you should be. Help me to trust you more in the coming year and decade so that I can live the life you’ve called me too. I want to walk in the paths you’ve laid out for me instead of the ones I think are best.

I pray that you would fill me with inspiration and a fountain of hope. Holy Spirit, I invite you to live through me so I can live through you. Open my eyes so I can see the things you need me to see. Show me people through your lens so I can love them the way you want me to. Open my heart so I can love others the way you’ve called me to love them. Open my mouth so I can speak life into the people you will put in my path. Help me to fulfill the potential you see in me. Give me the courage to follow you where you’re leading me and the faith to trust what you say more than what I see. Fill me with your joy so I will have the strength to endure anything that comes my way. Help me to remain steadfast trusting in you and the promises found in your Word.

I ask that you bless the 2020’s of my life. Let your hand of favor rest on me and my family in the coming years. Open the windows of Heaven and pour out the blessings you see fit for us so that we can be a blessing to others and point them to you. Give me wisdom in my decisions, and place people in my life who can help me accomplish all you need me to. Put me in the lives of others whom I can help as well. Continue to pour out your grace on my life and help me to be a fountain of your grace to others. Speak to me and through me so I can be a conduit of your peace on earth. Use me any way you see fit. I recognize my life is not my own. It was bought with the price of your Son’s death. So I ask that you help me to do exceedingly and abundantly more than I can even imagine so that you will be glorified through my life. I give the next year and decade to you and place it in your capable hands so you can lead me farther than I thought I could go. Thank you once again for all you’ve done and are going to do in and through me.

In Jesus’ name,

Amen.

Photo by Milada Vigerova on Unsplash

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