Christian Daily Devotionals

by Marilyn Ehle
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“Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.� 1 Thessalonians 5:16-17

While we want to be people of prayer, many of us find it difficult to keep our oft-repeated promise: “I’ll be praying for you.� The more disciplined among us maintain a prayer list or notebook and faithfully record both requests and answers. Unfortunately, the practice of prayer is one that frequently slips through the cracks of our busy lives.

Recently a friend wrote that every time she breaks an egg into a frying pan, she recalls a bit of egg-cooking advice I gave her over 50 years ago…and she prays for me! That simple prayer reminder spurred me to creative thinking about my own prayer life. While I take time daily to be quiet with God, pray for friends and family and urgent needs that have come to my attention, perhaps it is also time to use my friend’s “egg method.�

When I fold clothes fresh from the dryer, I often think about my elderly friend, June, who meticulously folded every item of clothing and linen when we stayed in her home. Ah, a perfect time to bring her now frail body before the Great Physician. Many years ago another friend gave me a timesaving hint about ironing shirts—now I pray for this friend as my iron glides over my husband’s shirts. The newspaper becomes another prayer journal. As I read of rebel attacks, over-populated refugee camps, natural disasters in far off countries, I bring these people to the only true peacemaker.

I am making it a habit to slowly and carefully look at the pictures of a woman living under a ragged canvas tarp or a child listlessly leaning on his mother’s shoulder. Bob Pierce, the founder of World Vision, wrote these words inside the cover of his Bible: “Let my heart be broken by the things that break the heart of God.�

Whether everyday acts that remind us of friends, or news reports of needs far too vast for me to imagine their solutions, God has called me to be a person of prayer.

Jesus, I imagine you not only getting away to mountainsides for private conversations with the God of the universe, but also maintaining a daily dialogue with the One you loved. Help me do the same.

You can comment on this devotional online at:
http://thoughts-about-god.com/blog/2009/07/05/me_prayer/

by Dr. Bill Bright
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"Admit your faults to one another and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The earnest prayer of a righteous man has great power and wonderful results" (James 5:16).

"I can take my telescope and look millions and millions of miles into space," said the great scientist Sir Isaac Newton , "but I can lay it aside and go into my room, shut the door, get down on my knees in earnest prayer, and see more of heaven and get closer to God than I can assisted by all the telescopes and material agencies on earth."

Among many other things, the carnal Christian is characterized by a poor prayer life. The spiritual Christian, on the other hand, is characterized by an effective fruitful prayer life.

Prayer is simply communicating with God by listening as well as talking. The acrostic ACTS is helpful in recalling the various components of effective prayer, though the order is not necessarily rigid.

"A" is for adoration - worship of God, first for who He is; and second for all of His benefits. He alone is worthy of our adoration and praise.

"C" stands for confession. "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." Sometimes this component should take priority, especially for the unbeliever and the disobedient believer, because God does not hear the prayers of the disobedient until they confess. "If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me" (Psalms 66:18, KJV).

"T" is for thanksgiving - gratitude to God for His blessings.

"S" represents supplication - expressing our petitions to God for individuals and specific things and events.

Bible Reading: James 5:13-18

Today’s Action Point:  I will claim great power and wonderful results for supernatural living by a righteous life and by giving priority to prayer. I will remember to bring my adoration, confession, thanksgiving and supplication to God throughout the day.

You can comment on this devotional online at:
http://thoughts-about-god.com/blog/2009/05/15/bb_power/

by Idelette McVicker
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“Lord, Teach Us to Pray …� Luke 11: 1

Leonard Sweet recently wrote on Twitter: “When my mother died, I set her Bible on a table and let it open itself. Psalm 91, to my surprise. Where does your Bible open itself?�

I decided to take the fun challenge and let my Bible open by itself. It’s a small Bible because I like to carry it in my purse, so honestly it kept falling over. Finally it opened to Luke 11—Jesus’ teaching on prayer. I read it with fresh eyes. I was struck by verse 8: “I tell you, though he will not get up and give him the bread because he is his friend, yet because of the man’s boldness he will get up and give him as much as he needs.� Jesus prescribes boldness in our asking. How do I approach God. Am I asking for the world? Am I stepping out in faith, asking for the miraculous? Once I have aligned my heart with God’s purposes, God wants to work through His children as we pray. God wants us to ask for brokenness to be restored, slavery to end, abuse to stop, mountains to move … Today, let us align our hearts with His and be bold in our asking.

Prayer:
Father, we want Your Kingdom to come on earth as it is in heaven. Today, help me direct my prayers in such a way that Your Kingdom will come through me.

You can comment on this devotional online at:
http://thoughts-about-god.com/blog/2009/05/15/im_pray/

By Rick Warren
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"Don't worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done." Philippians 4:6 (NLT)

1. Don't worry about anything. Worrying doesn't change anything. It's stewing without doing. There's no such thing as born worriers; worry is a learned response. You learned it from your parents. You learned it from your peers. You learned it from experience. That's good news. The fact that worry is learned means it can also be unlearned. Jesus says, "So don't worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring its own worries. Today's trouble is enough for today" (Matthew 6:34, NLT).

2. Pray about everything. Use the time you've spent worrying for praying. If you prayed as much as you worried, you'd have a whole lot less to worry about. Some people think God only cares about religious things, such as how many people I invite to church or my tithing. Is God interested in car payments? Yes. He's interested in every detail of your life. That means you can take any problem you face to God.

3. Thank God in all things. Whenever you pray, you should always pray with thanksgiving. The healthiest human emotion is not love, but gratitude. It actually increases your immunities; it makes you more resistant to stress and less susceptible to illness. People who are grateful are happy. But people who are ungrateful are miserable because nothing makes them happy. They're never satisfied; it's never good enough. So if you cultivate the attitude of gratitude, of being thankful in everything, it reduces stress in your life.

4. Think about the right things. If you want to reduce the level of stress in your life, you must change the way you think. The way you think determines how you feel, and the way you feel determines how you act. So if you want to change your life, you need to change what you're thinking about.

This involves a deliberate, conscious choice where you change the channels. You choose to think about the right things: focus on the positive and on God's Word. Why? Because the root cause of stress is the way you choose to think.

When we no longer worry, when we pray about everything, when we give thanks, when we focus on the right things, the apostle Paul tells us the result is, "The peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus" (Philippians 4:7, NLT).

What a guarantee! He is guaranteeing peace of mind.

Question: What tough times have you been facing lately, and how can these steps help you to refocus your thoughts and energy?

You can comment on this devotional online at:
http://thoughts-about-god.com/blog/2009/03/23/rw_thankful/
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