Promise for Today - Not Your Job

Since he did not spare even his own Son but gave him up for us all, won’t he also give us everything else? 

Romans 8:32 NLT

Anytime I needed something when I was a kid, I’d talk to my dad. Sometimes what I needed was expensive, but not once did I worry about where my father was going to get the money for it. That wasn’t my job! It was my dad’s job to figure out where the money would come from. It was my job as a kid to simply ask.

In the same way, it’s not your job to figure out how God’s going to provide. It’s your job to ask.

When you worry instead of asking, you’re acting like an atheist, like someone who believes they don’t have a heavenly Father. Worry is practical atheism. It’s living your life like God doesn’t exist or can’t be trusted.

The Bible is clear: God wants you to come to him in prayer about everything. James 4:2 says, “You do not have because you do not ask God” (NIV).

Worry less and ask more. Instead of worrying, pray about everything.

As Philippians 4:6 says, “Never worry about anything. But in every situation let God know what you need in prayers and requests”.

Did you catch that? God wants you to come to him in every situation. You can talk to him about everything—no matter how big or small it seems to you.

Romans 8:32 says, “Since he did not spare even his own Son but gave him up for us all, won’t he also give us everything else?”

God has solved your biggest problem—your sin—and everything else is small by comparison.

If God loved you enough to send Jesus to die for your sins, don’t you think he loves you enough to help you with your finances? Don’t you think he loves you enough to help you with your health? With your relationships? With career decisions? With your deadline?

God is interested in every single area of your life. In fact, he already knows what you need. But he still wants you to ask him for it.

Are you ready to reduce the stress in your life? God is waiting for you to come to him with your needs. Choose to worry about nothing—and pray about everything.

Talk It Over

If God already knows all your needs, why do you think he wants you to ask him to meet those needs?

What keeps you from asking God for the things that you need?

Think of a time that God clearly answered one of your prayers. How does that answered prayer encourage you to keep praying about other needs and others' needs?

 - by Pastor Rick

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Prayer:

Father,

         We know that the trials and stresses we're facing now are not meant to defeat us but will instead be used by You to strengthen and equip me. We have faith in Your plan above our own. So Lord, help us to consider it joy when things come our way. Let us not lose hope, but be encouraged that You’re working something out for us! 'We're sorry for carrying the stressors of life when we don't have to. We know Your Word says to lay all our worries and cares at Your feet. We acknowledge that it's not our job to worry. So we now surrender all of that to You in prayer. Holy Spirit, help us distinguish between what is urgent and what is not. In Jesus' Name we pray. Amen

Reminder - The Big Ask

Later, as Jesus left the town, he saw a tax collector named Levi sitting at his tax collector’s booth. “Follow me and be my disciple,” Jesus said to him. So Levi got up, left everything, and followed him.

Luke 5:27-28 NLT

Levi (also called Matthew - see Matthew 9) was a tax collector; despised by those from whom he collected money. Jesus knew this, yet called him anyway... To me, the wild thing is Matthew just got up, left everything (the Word says) and followed Him.

Think about that for a moment. We hate to see the tax man coming. And I think tax collectors may be as unpopular today as they were in Jesus' time.

What was Matthew's next recorded act? He threw a party (held a banquet) and invited Jesus to meet all his former co-workers and friends. This from a man who had become instantly unemployed the moment he made the choice to follow Jesus.

You know Peter and Andrew, James and John were all fishermen. If they bombed as disciples, they could always go back to the fishing industry. When Matthew made the choice, there was no going back. AND he was immediately unemployed. We tend to panic when we even think our job may be on the chopping block.

What I find most fascinating about this story are the gifts God had given Matthew when He created him in his mother's womb. Record-keeping, organization, the mighty pen. And Matthew had used them in a way that was not pleasing to God. However, when God called Levi, all that changed.

The mighty pen wrote the gospel of Matthew. His organizational skill was able by God's grace to keep it all straight. What a testimony!! Want to take a guess at how many people have been ministered to by Matthew's Gospel?

Even when we start out bad, when we make the decision to follow Christ, our gifts are washed white as snow, too. Levi left everything and followed Him. Would you if He asked? He's asking.

Prayer:

Father,
           Thank You for Your Word that gives us the comfort of knowing You have a plan for us, that You have gifted us to fulfill Your purpose and plan for each of us. Give us Your perspective on our lives. In Jesus' Name we pray. Amen

Dare We Ask?

So, my dear brothers and sisters, be strong and immovable. Always work enthusiastically for the Lord, for you know that nothing you do for the Lord is ever useless.
1st Corinthians 15:58 NLT

Do we believe God is who He IS and not who we think He is? Do we even begin to understand who and what He is? We have to ask ourselves, do we trust God?

Can you look at an apple seed and see an orchard?

Do we BELIEVE death and life are in the power of the tongue? That what we speak - words out of our own mouth - can bring forth life or death?

Do we understand what God can - and will - do with water offered to a thirsty soul? Or as residents in the 'civilized' world, living in a country full of excess - where we toss out more half-drunk bottles of water than we know what to do with - are we completely ignorant of the miraculous?

I am always amazed at how God takes the very least, increases it, and brings a harvest of blessings from it - when whatever IT is - is done in His Name or with Him in mind.

Do we dare ask ourselves what we truly believe? Yes, we should! We must! Because the Truth is we live according to what we believe.

Prayer:

Father,
           Forgive us for having tunnel vision when it comes to who You are. Give us wisdom, O God, to see You in Your fullness and in Your majesty and to live accordingly - in service to You and all that belongs to You. In Jesus' Name we pray. Amen

Promise for Today - Even More So

Then, teaching them more about prayer, he used this story: “Suppose you went to a friend’s house at midnight, wanting to borrow three loaves of bread. You say to him, ‘A friend of mine has just arrived for a visit, and I have nothing for him to eat.’ And suppose he calls out from his bedroom, ‘Don’t bother me. The door is locked for the night, and my family and I are all in bed. I can’t help you.’ But I tell you this—though he won’t do it for friendship’s sake, if you keep knocking long enough, he will get up and give you whatever you need because of your shameless persistence.
“And so I tell you, keep on asking, and you will receive what you ask for. Keep on seeking, and you will find. Keep on knocking, and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks, receives. Everyone who seeks, finds. And to everyone who knocks, the door will be opened.
Luke 11:5-10 NLT

If we want something badly enough, we are determined and insistent. Persistent. Downright tenacious in our pursuit. Or as the NLT states, we pursue with shameless persistence - what a great phrase! Shouldn't we be even more so when going after the things of God? Max Lucado expounds on this beautifully.

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From the NKJV Lucado Encouraging Word Bible:

Jesus used a parable to show them they should be persistent in prayer. He said that everyone who asks would receive.

I like the King James translation of Hebrews 11:6: “He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him”

Diligently—what a great word. Be diligent in your search. Be hungry in your quest, relentless in your pilgrimage. Let this book be but one of dozens you read about Jesus and this hour be but one of hundreds in which you seek Him. Step away from the puny pursuits of possessions and positions and seek your King.

Don’t be satisfied with angels. Don’t be content with stars in the sky. Seek Him out as the shepherds did. Long for Him as Simeon did. Worship Him as the wise men did. Do as John and Andrew did: Ask for His address. Do as Matthew: Invite Jesus into your house. Imitate Zacchaeus: Risk whatever it takes to see Christ.

God rewards those who seek Him. Not those who seek doctrine or religion or systems or creeds. Many settle for these lesser passions, but the reward goes to those who settle for nothing less than Jesus Himself. And what is the reward? What awaits those who seek Jesus? Nothing short of the heart of Jesus. “We all, who with unveiled faces contemplate the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit” (2 Corinthians 3:18).

Can you think of a greater gift than to be like Jesus? Christ felt no guilt; God wants to banish yours. Jesus had no bad habits; God wants to remove yours. Jesus had no fear of death; God wants you to be fearless. Jesus had kindness for the diseased and mercy for the rebellious and courage for the challenges. God wants you to have the same.

He loves you just the way you are, but He refuses to leave you that way. He wants you to be just like Jesus.

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Prayer:

Father, 

           We, too, want to be just like Jesus! Give us Your strength so we have the ability to diligently pursue Him. Give us the Holy Spirit so that we are focused and purposeful in our pursuit of all things Godly. Give us clean hands and pure hearts, Father, that we may fulfill Your plan for our lives in service to those You have placed within our sphere of influence. In Jesus' Name we pray. Amen

Have You Asked?

When Acsah married Othniel, she urged him to ask her father for a field. As she got down off her donkey, Caleb asked her, “What’s the matter?”

She said, “Give me another gift. You have already given me land in the Negev; now please give me springs of water, too.” So Caleb gave her the upper and lower springs.
Joshua 15:18-19 NLT

Stuck in the middle of all the land grants for the children of Israel is this exchange between Caleb and his daughter. And to me, it is the Old Testament illustration of James 4:2, ye have not because ye ask not.

Caleb, an earthy father, knew how to give his daughter gifts that she needed and desired when she asked. Matthew 7:11 NLT tells us, if WE know how, then how much more will your heavenly Father give good gifts to those who ask Him?

Have you asked according to His will?

Prayer:

Father,

           We embrace Your Truth to be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, we will let our requests be made known to You. We thank You for Your peace, which surpasses all understanding, that it will guard our hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. And we pray it all in Jesus' Name. Amen