2021-08-27
1 Thessalonians 5:17 KJV
Two things about prayer are truly amazing: 1) God listens when we pray. ‘You can pray for anything, and if you believe that you have received it, it will be yours’ (Mark 11:24 NLT). He hears every prayer, and when we pray in alignment with His will, He’ll move to meet our requests.
2) We don’t pray enough. We have the greatest privilege imaginable – access to the control centre of the Universe – but we rarely use it. And our lack of prayer surprises God. Through the prophet Ezekiel He lamented: ‘I sought for a man among them who would…stand in the gap before Me on behalf of the land, that I should not destroy it; but I found no one’ (Ezekiel 22:30 NKJV).
When Abraham learned that Sodom and Gomorrah were going to be destroyed, he didn’t rush to warn the cities. Instead he chose to’ … [remain] standing before the Lord’ (Genesis 18:22 NIV). When God said Israel deserved a nationwide death penalty for the golden calf, Moses interceded and saved them. One paraphrase of Exodus 32:11 says, ‘Moses tried to calm his GOD down’ (MSG). An obscure priest called Phinehas begged God not to send the plague, and it was checked (see Psalm 106:30).
Prayer is so important and valuable because when we work, we work, but when we pray, God works. Scripture attaches breathtaking power to prayer. The Message paraphrases Matthew 18:19 like this: ‘When two of you get together on anything…and make a prayer of it, My Father in heaven goes into action’ (MSG). Does any other activity promise such results? Did God call us to preach without ceasing? Or have meetings without ceasing? No, but He did call us to ‘pray without ceasing’.
Eze 1-4; Luke 18:1-17; Ps 119:161-168; Prov 19:3-8
2021-08-26
Isaiah 54:3 NIV
God told His people: ‘Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing!’ (Isaiah 43:18-19 NIV). If we’re asking God for a vision, or to enlarge the one He’s already given us, we need to make room mentally. ‘Enlarge the place of your tent, stretch your tent curtains wide, do not hold back; lengthen your cords, strengthen your stakes. For you will spread out to the right and to the left’ (Isaiah 54:2-3 NIV). Somebody once said that dreams always come a size too big so we can grow to fit them.
We shouldn’t settle for second best in our work, our relationships, or our walk with God. Mark Twain said: ‘Twenty years from now you’ll be more disappointed by the things you didn’t do than by the ones you did. So throw off the bow lines. Sail away from the safe harbour. Catch the wind. Explore. Dream. Discover.’ Whatever we feel is holding us back – whether it’s our background, education, skills, self-esteem, confidence, or something else – God can enable us to rise above it and put an end to our old ways of thinking and feeling we’re defeated before we’ve even started.
In biblical times, animal skins were made into wine containers. At first they were flexible and easy to work with, but over time they grew rigid and lost their ability to expand. That’s why Jesus said, ‘No one pours new wine into old wineskins. [It] would…burst the old skins…New wine must be put into new wineskins’ (Matthew 9:17 CEV).
God won’t infuse an inflexible mind with fresh ideas, but He will change our lives when we line up our thinking with His.
Amos 5:18-9:15; Luke 17:20-37; Ps 119:145-160; Prov 19:1-2
2021-08-25
Acts 13:2 NCV
The Bible says: ‘In the church at Antioch…they were all worshipping the Lord and fasting for a certain time. During this time the Holy Spirit said to them, “Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul to do a special work for which I have chosen them.” So after they fasted and prayed, they laid their hands on Barnabas and Saul and sent them out’ (Acts 13:1-3 NCV).
Notice three things: 1) Barnabas and Saul were worshipping when God called them. And the Holy Spirit still speaks to us when we gather to pray, worship, and hear God’s Word. One reason we don’t have clear direction for our lives is because we aren’t in a place where God can speak to us objectively through His Word, and subjectively through His Spirit.
2) Their calling was confirmed by God-focused leaders. Those who laid hands on Paul and Barnabas and confirmed their calling were leaders who took time to pray, fast, and seek God’s will. People like that are a gift. They won’t necessarily tell us what we want to hear, but they’ll tell us what we need to hear. They’ll counsel, correct, and comfort us when we need it, and confirm God’s will for us.
3) God doesn’t make us go searching for His will for your life. God called Paul and Barnabas by name when the time was right for Him to reveal their calling. He knows our names, where we live, and the circumstances we’re in. Gideon was threshing wheat in a winepress (to hide it from the Midianites) and Peter was out fishing when God called them. Our lack of experience doesn’t limit God. That’s because He doesn’t call the qualified, He qualifies the called. So wait for God, and when the time is right, He will call you.
Amos 1:1-5:17; Luke 17:11-19; Ps 119:137-144; Prov 18:22-24
2021-08-24
Philippians 1:10 NKJV
Excellence needs two things: extra time and extra effort. It calls for going ‘above and beyond’ what others require of us. We should think of it as a matter of character and integrity. Now we’re not talking about striving for perfection. Perfectionism sets impossible standards and often seeks approval and applause. Our goal should be to perform every task as if God Himself had asked us to do it and will be evaluating and rewarding our work. He knows and sees every activity. ‘In all the work you are doing, work the best you can. Work as if you were doing it for the lord, not for people. Remember that you will receive your reward from the Lord, which he promised to his people. You are serving the Lord Christ (Colossians 3:23-24 NCV). That means doing the best possible job, even when no one’s around to see the effort we’re putting in.
We should also try to avoid being around people with poor work habits, or who belittle our efforts to be excellent. Even if we don’t realise it, we’re influenced by the people we spend time with, and that means we can pick up their bad habits and attitudes without really being conscious of it at the time.
Here’s a prayer to help us keep focused on excellence: ‘Father, help me to approach everything I do with a spirit of excellence. Help me to live with a constant awareness of Your evaluating and loving eye, so that I’m inspired to do everything as if You had asked me to do it. Thank You that You don’t require perfection from me, but simply ask me to do the best I possibly can. In Jesus’ name I pray, amen.’
Lam 3:40-5:22; Luke 17:1-10; Ps 119:129-136; Prov 18:21
2021-08-23
Daniel 5:14 NKJV
The Bible says, ‘Do you see any truly competent workers? They will serve kings rather than working for ordinary people’ (Proverbs 22:29 NLT). This proved true for Daniel. Even though he lived in captivity, he refused to settle for mediocrity. This brought him to the attention of the king of Babylon, who said, ‘I have heard of you, that the Spirit of God is in you, and that light and understanding and excellent wisdom are found in you.’ Eventually, he was promoted to the role of a supervisor over the governors in Babylon, where he ‘showed that he could do the work better than the other supervisors and governors, so the king planned to put Daniel in charge of the whole kingdom’ (Daniel 6:3 NLT).
Ultimately, Daniel knew he served God, not man, and that meant he would try his best in everything he did. Although Colossians hadn’t been written at that time, Daniel really demonstrates this verse in action: ‘Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters’ (3:23 NIV).
Aristotle said, ‘We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act but a habit.’ And when we constantly strive for excellence, we’ll often find that, little by little, our skills will grow and sharpen. Striving for excellence doesn’t necessarily mean we have to be the best at something, it just means that we try to do our best. When we think of excellence in that way, it can take a lot of the pressure off because, even if we don’t always get rewards or praise from others, it’s rewarding to know that we’ve done our best and that God is pleased with our efforts. And when we’ve done our best, we can trust God to do the rest.
Lam 1:1-3:39; Luke 16:19-31; Ps 119:121-128; Prov 18:13-20
2021-08-22
Psalm 19:8 NLT
How do you approach Bible reading? Your attitude and the way you approach it are very important. If we want to get the most out of God’s Word, there are two things we must do each time we read the Bible:
1) Approach it with integrity. When there are parts of the Bible we don’t understand or struggle to believe, we should be honest about our doubts and uncertainty. God isn’t upset or angry with us when we tell Him what we’re finding difficult, because we can’t begin to resolve our doubts until we’re willing to bring them into the open and talk about them. When Thomas questioned the resurrection, Jesus helped him come to a place of belief. And He’ll do the same for us. It’s a mistake to try to force ourselves to believe something or to avoid reading part of the Bible so our faith isn’t challenged. Jesus said, ‘When he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all the truth…He will glorify me because it is from me that he will receive what he will make known to you’ (John 16:13-14 NIV).
2) Read it with expectancy. When we read the Bible with expectant hearts, the Author shows up. As we read His words, we’ll begin to sense His presence and realise He is speaking to each of us personally. Jesus said, ‘The Spirit gives life; the flesh counts for nothing. The words I have spoken to you – they are full of the Spirit and life’ (John 6:63 NIV). When we come to the Scriptures with a hunger and an expectancy, we never go away disappointed.
Josh 2:1-24; Acts 9:20-30
