Promise for Today - The Power of Prayer

And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ—to the glory and praise of God. Philippians 1:9-11 (NIV)

Paul didn’t just pray for the people in his life. He prayed for them with joy!

There are probably things in other people’s lives you’d like to change. You don’t want to change yourself; you want them to change. You can’t make them change—but you can, however, pray and let God do his work in other people.

Positive praying is more effective than positive thinking. All the positive thinking in the world isn’t going to change your spouse, child, friend, or situation. Positive thinking might change you, but it won’t change somebody else. But positive prayer can make a difference in both you and others.

What’s the quickest way to change a bad relationship into a good one? Start praying! It will change you, and it may change them, too.

From our text for today, we can learn to pray for the people in our lives in four ways:

Pray that they will grow in love: “And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight ...”

Pray that they will make wise choices: “...so that you may be able to discern what is best ...”

Pray that they will live with integrity: “...and may be pure and blameless for the day of Christ ...”

Pray that they will become like Jesus: “...filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ—to the glory and praise of God.”

Pray this for yourself and for other people in your life. Then watch how God turns around even those relationships that have seemed hopeless.

Talk It Over

Think of a strained relationship in your life. Take time now to pray that the other person will grow in love, make wise choices, live with integrity, and become like Jesus.

How does positive prayer change you, and not just the person you are praying for?

Take a moment and read Galatians 5:22-23. "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law."

How are you seeing more of this “fruit” in your life as you follow Jesus?

 - by Pastor Rick

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Prayer:

Father,

           We pray as Paul prayed, that our love will abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, so that we will be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ—to the glory and praise of You, O God! Give us clean hands and pure hearts, we pray in Jesus' Name. Amen

Promise for Today - (Guest author) Waiting Well

But let endurance and steadfastness and patience have full play and do a thorough work, so that you may be [people] perfectly and fully developed [with no defects], lacking in nothing.
James 1:4 Amplified Bible, Classic Edition

Patience is extremely important for people who want to glorify God and enjoy their lives. If we are impatient, the situations we encounter in life will certainly cause us to react emotionally.

The next time you have to wait on something or someone, instead of just reacting, try reminding yourself, "Getting upset will not make this go any faster, so I might as well enjoy the wait." Then perhaps say out loud, "I am developing patienceas I wait, so I am thankful in this situation." If you do that, you will be acting on the Word of God rather than reacting to the unpleasant circumstance.

Remember, patience is a fruit of the Spirit that God wants to develop in your life [note: see Galatians 5:22-23 ESV]. Don't merely think about how hard and frustrating it is, but think about how blessed you can be as you learn the art of waiting well.

Prayer:

Father,
          I am grateful that You have planted patience in my spirit and that through You, I can react properly to any situation. Help me today and every day to exercise patience in all things. *************In Jesus' Name we pray. Amen

Devotion from Joyce Meyer's "The Power of Being Thankful"

Wide Open

A person without self-control is like a city with broken-down walls.
Proverbs 25:28 NLT

What do you think of when you read about cities with walls? Do you think of Jericho with walls so thick you could drive a chariot on the top of them? Do you picture castle fortresses? Maybe you think of the Army forts in the Wild West or places like the Alamo Mission. One thing for sure, if you saw it in a movie, you knew when the walls were breached, defeat was imminent.

In The Message, this same verse reads, "A person without self-control is like a house with its doors and windows knocked out."  Does that make more sense? Does it give you a better visual in your mind's eye? How much protection from the elements is a house with no doors or windows? We can have the best HVAC system in the world but how effective will it be if we have no doors or windows? How good is it for keeping out unwanted critters or trespassers?

We are left wide open - defenseless - and delusional if we think otherwise. If we have not nurtured the fruit of the Spirit found in Galatians 5:22-23, that's how we are if we do not walk in self-control. Wide open to the onslaught of the enemy, defenseless and delusional.

Prayer:

Father,
Help us to walk by Your Spirit so that we don't gratify the desires of our flesh. "Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying each other." Give us clean hands and pure hearts so that we may inherit Your Kingdom. We want to walk fully in "the fruit of the Holy Spirit - love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control for against such things there is no law." In Jesus' Name we pray. Amen