Day 40 – Strength in the Spirit

Pastor Kyle Wall

 that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being. Ephesians 3:16 (ESV)

For twenty-six years I have had the privilege of serving in churches as a pastor/shepherd. In every setting, I have known that I was in over my head. Every situation was beyond my ability and skill set. Without a doubt, God knew that I needed it to be that way in order to force me to be dependent upon Him.  And in every situation, God has been faithful to strengthen me with power “according to the riches of his glory.” Today, I may come across as a confident leader to you. Just know, that is the result of the Holy Spirit strengthening my inner being with power.  Will you ask the Holy Spirit to strengthen your inner being according to the riches of God’s glory? He desires to do that for you today!

{Father, I need you! Life can be overwhelming, stretching and difficult. And yet, the riches of Your glory are unending. According to Your riches, strengthen me through Your Spirit! Whatever I am facing today, I turn to You for strength. Thank You that You never fail. In the name of Jesus, amen!}

 

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Day 39 – Sweet Scent of Prayer

Pastor Roger Hammond

…and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb.  Each one had a harp and they were holding golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints.
Revelation 5:8 (NIV)

Another angel, who had a golden censer, came and stood at the altar.  He was given much incense to offer, with the prayers of all saints, on the golden altar before the throne (of God). The smoke of the incense, together with the prayers of the saints, went up before God from the angel’s hand.      Revelation 8:3-4 (NIV)

Are you ever tempted to wonder if your prayers really matter?  Does God really hear your prayers and does He care?  Today’s scripture gives us a brief snapshot of a time in Heaven when the angels will hold special bowls that contains the prayers of all the saints.  Wow, our prayers are being stored up and contained in Heaven.

Not only does God value our prayers enough to store them in a special container in Heaven, but he also finds great pleasure in our prayers.  Our prayers are offered before God as a sweet, pleasing fragrance, incense before the very throne of God.  Don’t you just love to walk into a candle store and enjoy all the beautiful fragrances or the scent of your own favorite scented candle? That is how God views your prayers: they are very special and pleasing to him.

{Father, let me bring joy to you today by offering my prayers to you.  I resist the lie that prayer really does not matter.  Forgive me for not praying as I should. Thank You for the privilege to offer my prayers before Your throne this day.  I boldly come before Your throne of grace for my help and strength for today.}

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Day 38 – Personal Holiness

October 29
Pastor Ira Towns

May he strengthen your hearts so that you will be blameless and holy in the presence of our God and Father when our Lord Jesus comes with all his holy ones.
1 Thessalonians 3:13  (NIV1984)

Holiness isn’t for wimps!  Wouldn’t you rather have the same attitude as the next driver on Interstate 64 at 4:00 on Friday?  Wouldn’t you rather just NOT care?  Wouldn’t you rather say what you want, when you want?  Wouldn’t you rather set your own priorities about all of life’s major areas like finances, and futures, and discipline?  I would!

Doesn’t it encourage you just a little bit to know that Paul was praying that his friends would be strengthened from the inside in order to make it through life the correct way?  I know that is a sobering thought for me.  Other people need to help carry me through this life and I need to help other people through as well.

It’s an even more sobering perspective to remember that at the end of it all I will stand in front of the Perfectly Holy Father who has watched every decision, attitude, and direction I chose!

{Perfect Father, help me to help others through prayer and faithful living as you strengthen each of us in our hearts.  Here are my faults……forgive me.  Here are my friends……give them strength.  Thank you for giving me YOUR righteousness instead of making me stand in my own. Amen.}

 

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Day 37 – Emptying Ourselves

Crystal Tuxhorn

Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.  Hebrews 4:16 (ESV)

Prayer centers your mind. Verbalizing our needs, desires, and praise focuses our thoughts and allows us to think through and analyze ourselves more clearly than we would when left to our own devices. But essentially, prayer is communication, and is another way we can hear from God. Prayer is as much about the Holy Spirit pouring into us as it is about us pouring ourselves out to God. By opening ourselves up to Him, we open ourselves up for Him to flood us with Himself. Today, let’s pause the catalogue of requests to listen so that we may receive. 

{Holy Spirit, clear my mind. Empty me of myself so that you can fill me up. You promised to help me understand You, so do that. Speak to me and give me what I need to honor You today. I love You. Amen.}

 

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Day 36 – How Can They Spend That Much Time Talking Together?

Pastor Rick Leineweber

And they said to Him, “The disciples of John often fast and offer prayers, the disciples of the Pharisees also do the same, but Yours eat and drink.”  And Jesus said to them, “You cannot make the attendants of the bridegroom fast while the bridegroom is with them, can you? But the days will come; and when the bridegroom is taken away from them, then they will fast in those days.” Luke 5:33-35  (NASB)

“How can they spend that much time talking together?” Those were the words that I overheard my parents say after I finished a two hour phone call to my fiancé who is now my wife. Back in the “old days,” before cell phones, long distance calls were expensive. The summer before our wedding we would write each other. I’d read her hand written letter over and over. Then I would call her and we would talk through what we had said to each other.  I loved our long conversations.

The reason that Jesus didn’t teach his disciples to pray early in His ministry was because when they talked with Him, they were talking with God. But Jesus said “… the days will come; and when the bridegroom is taken away from them” and then they will fast and pray. Don’t ever forget that prayer is how the bride of Christ communicates to the bridegroom.  The way He communicates with us is through the Bible, God’s Holy Word. When we forget the relational component it becomes academic, routine, and mere ritual.

{Father, Thank you for inviting me into a personal relationship with you! Help me to never take it for granted. Help me nurture my relationship with You through times alone listening to You and sharing what is going on in my life with You. In Jesus’ name I pray, amen!}
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Day 35 – Bringing Joy

Pastor Ira Towns

 To him who is able to keep you from falling and to present you before his glorious presence without fault and with great joy—to the only God our Savior be glory, majesty, power and authority, through Jesus Christ our Lord, before all ages, now and forevermore! Amen.  Jude 1:24-25 (NIV1984)

Have you ever watched a toddler beginning to walk?  A dad or mom will stand over the child and gently hold onto their hands and help them shift the weight from one foot to the next.  EVERY child is awkward and kind of wobbly, and yet the child is learning, and is safe all at the same time.  That is what I picture when I read these verses.  Our incredible, loving father is able to do so much for us.  He can keep us from falling as we grasp his hands and learn to walk.  He can guide us through all of the hazards of life IF we will let him.  Like the proud parent who is showing off his child to anyone who would care to look, God will present us as perfect or without fault WITH GREAT JOY!  How awesome is that?  No wonder he deserves the glory and majesty and power and authority.  You, my dear friends, are God’s dearest treasures—in all of your gawkiness and awkwardness.  You bring him great joy.  Now, go make him proud!

{Dear Daddy, thank you for loving me so much.  Help me today!  I am awkward and wobbly but I do want to make you proud.  I trust you to lead me where you need me to go today, even if it seems scary and unsafe to me.  Help me to relax into your strong and safe hands.}

 

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Day 34 – Sincere & Few

October 25
Marilyn Clark

And when you are praying do not use meaningless repetition as the Gentiles do, for they suppose that they will be heard for their many words.   Matthew 5:7 (NASB)

I love my grandchildren!  They are filled with an innocence and honesty that constantly stretches and humbles me.

One night while tucking my granddaughter into bed, I began her nightly bedtime prayers.  “Thank you Jesus for the day.  God bless Mommy and Daddy and…” I began.

“Granny!” her little voice interrupted, “I want to say the prayers.”  Boldly and joyfully she began.  “Thank you, Jesus, for everything.  Help me to be good.  I love You so much!! Amen.”

Later that night as I visited with God, I asked that He continues to grow her in her prayer life and teach her how to pray.  Suddenly it hit me.  He had taught her.  Night after night we had led her through the mindless repetitions: “God bless Mommy and Daddy.  God bless etc., etc…”  However, in her innocence, she had prayed what really mattered.  THANK YOU GOD! TEACH ME GOD! I LOVE YOU GOD!  Few words.  Heartfelt communication.

{Lord, teach me to pray honestly and sincerely.  May my words be few but birthed from my heart.  Thank you, LORD.}

 

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Day 33 – Prayer Buster

Pastor Rick Leineweber

You husbands likewise, live with your wives in an understanding way, as with a weaker vessel, since she is a woman; and grant her honor as a fellow heir of the grace of life, so that your prayers may not be hindered. 1 Peter 3:7 (NASB)

This verse says that if a husband doesn’t live with his wife in an understanding way and show her honor as a fellow heir of the grace of life his prayers will be hindered. Dwelling with your wife in an understanding way involves knowing what turns her into a crackpot. The verse says women are weaker vessels, so that makes men weak vessels. It’s the difference between Tupperware and fine china. It’s the husband’s responsibility to know his wife well enough to avoid those situations that push her over the edge. The husband’s second responsibility is to respect the opinion of his wife as a spiritual equal. The final decision remains with the husband as the head of the home, but he must genuinely value what God may be communicating to him through his wife. If the husband doesn’t fulfill these two responsibilities Peter says his prayers will be hindered. Men avoid this prayer buster!

{Father, help the husbands in our church live with their wives according to knowledge and to value their opinions so our prayers won’t be hindered!  In Jesus’ name we pray, amen!}

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Day 32 – Counted Worthy

Pastor Ira Towns

With this in mind, we constantly pray for you, that our God may count you worthy of his calling, and that by his power he may fulfill every good purpose of yours and every act prompted by your faith. 2 Thessalonians 1:11 (NIV1984)

On the surface, this looks like one of those “golden prayers” that we all long to have fulfilled in our lives.  Who doesn’t want to be “counted worthy” or have “EVERY good purpose fulfilled?”  This is especially true when we know it is coming from the all-powerful, all-knowing, love-filled God!

But…what if the manner in which all of this is brought about in our lives takes us through a path of intense pain or ridicule?  What if God’s way of producing these wonderful things in our lives is at the end of a long and difficult road?  If we look at the entire passage for this prayer we find this to be the case.  Good, purposeful acts of faith are pushed along by the trials we endure.  What are faith acts without a setting that forces us to walk and act only by faith?  How can we be “counted worthy” when all we have ever known is peace and safety?

So what do you think?  Are you ready to be counted worthy?

{Almighty, loving Father,  I really want to be a worthy follower.  Help my faith to grow, whether the season I am in is a calm and peaceful one or a season of pain and struggling.  As I purpose to live out in faith a life that you would be proud of, send me some of your incredible power to be able to walk correctly―all the way through.}

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Day 31 – Passionate Prayer from the Heart

Pastor Rick Leineweber

 Epaphras, who is one of your number, a bondslave of Jesus Christ, sends you his greetings, always laboring earnestly for you in his prayers, that you may stand perfect and fully assured in all the will of God. Colossians 4:12 (NASB)

I love verses that describe how the early church prayed “fervently” (Acts 12:5) and “earnestly” (Col. 4:2). These adjectives describe the passionate prayer that the church in the first century practiced.

In the 1980’s I visited a church that was experiencing explosive growth. People were getting saved, baptized and growing in their new found faith. I heard that there were about 700 hundred teenagers that gathered in a warehouse every Saturday night. When I visited, I arrived early. There were already about 100 cars in the parking lot. It seemed strange that people arrived that early. As I walked down one hallway, I heard quiet talking behind a closed door. I opened the door and saw 300 young adults on their knees crying out to God, begging Him to manifest His presence during the service and transform the lives of the friends that they had invited. They passionately cried out to God for 45 minutes. I wasn’t surprised by the results that they were experiencing in their meetings. God was showing up! They prayed with earnestness! Martin Luther once said, “Grant that I may not pray alone with the mouth; help me that I may pray from the depths of my heart.” May that be our wish as well!

{Father, help me pray from the depths of my heart with passion for those things that concern you in this world. I am desperate for Heaven to hear my prayers. I am spiritually helpless without you! In Jesus’ name I pray, amen!}