Month: January 2014

A Double Portion of Fervor

Acts 9:4
He fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to him, “Saul! Saul! Why are you persecuting me?”

Just like Paul, as Christians we have all faced the day when the Lord challenged us.  Just like Paul, Our Lord had grounds to accuse us.  Perhaps not of persecution, but He certainly had grounds to rebuke us for the obstinacy and self-will of our sinful nature.  

Just like Paul, we all decided to denounce our old lives and accept our calling as disciples of Jesus Christ.  Unfortunately, unlike Paul, most of us have not taken our calling with the same fervency that Paul did.  We have allowed our own plans to overshadow God’s plans for our lives.

Prayer
Heavenly Father, we pray that we will not be directed by our own ambitions, but be led by Your Holy Spirit.  May Your strength be perfected in our weakness.  May you grant us a double portion of Paul’s fervor for proclaiming Your Good News to the world.

Your Throne Alone

Isaiah 45:22

Let all the world look to me for salvation! For I am God; there is no other.

Just as small children rush to their parents’ laps to find joy, they rush to them with the same fervor for all of their needs.  They would not think of going anywhere else to satisfy what they are seeking.  They go without an ounce of hesitation whether they are seeking comfort, seeking a basic need or seeking the fantasy of their dreams.  They approach their parents with absolute faith that their every need will be met.  No wonder Jesus taught that we need to be like the little children.  

Prayer,
Heavenly Father, we pray that you show us how to come to you at all times…not just our times of need.  Show us how to come to you in the fullness of our blessings to seek to go deeper in our relationship with you.  Show us how to find the fullness of who we are in Christ through our visits to Your throne.  Release all that You are in us to the world around us.  Help us to understand that it is Your throne alone that holds all that we will ever need.

The Zeal of Children for Their Father

Jeremiah 2:2

Go and shout this message to Jerusalem. This is what the LORD says: “I remember how eager you were to please me as a young bride long ago, how you loved me and followed me even through the barren wilderness.

God remembers each day that we delight in His presence in our lives.  He remembers how hungry we were to know Him when we first received His Son as Our Savior.  He feels sorrow when He sees our knowledge of Him increasing while our zeal for Him is becoming stale.  He longs for us to return to the energy and enthusiasm that we showed Him when we were first born again in Christ.

Prayer
Heavenly Father, we pray that you will fill us with the zeal of young children who run to their earthly Father to express their love and their joy in being in his presence.  May the fire of Your Holy Spirit rekindle our devotion and fervency for You.   

Returning to the Light

Luke 15:8

Or suppose a woman has ten silver coins and loses one. Won’t she light a lamp and sweep the entire house and search carefully until she finds it?

Where will the woman look first.  She will go back to the places where she thinks that she lost the coin.

So it is with us when we have lost our zeal for Christ.  We should go back to the place where we lost it.  Did we lose it because we cut back on our prayer time?  We need to return to our most robust prayer habits.  Did we lose it because we stopped studying the Word of God?  We should return to our diligent studies.  Did we lose it because of our habitual sin?  We need to repent and surrender to Christ.

Prayer
Heavenly Father, I have drifted away from my zeal for Your Son.  Help me return to the place where I lost Him.  Show me how to invigorate the good discipline in my life and give me the strength to walk away from the torments of my flesh. Bring me back to the Light of the World, Jesus Christ.  

The Source of Comfort and Provision

Isaiah 41:14

So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.

Why is it that we ever doubt for a second that the Lord has a plan already set in place to relieve us of whatever burden that troubles us?  Did He not set aside His own glory to become man to have a plan for our salvation?  Did He not shed His own blood so that the plan could be executed on our behalf?  Does He not hold all power and wisdom in His hand?  When He has done so much already, why would He withhold any good thing from us now?

Prayer
Heavenly Father, we pray that you forgive us for being so weak in our faith.  Strengthen our spiritual nature so that we are seeking our comfort and provision from You and not from this world.  Let us always be mindful that all things are possible through You.