DEVOTION - SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 3, 2011

SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 3, 2011

“In Touch with God”

BY

GREG LAURIE

Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need. —Hebrews 4:16

I love praying with kids. They do their kid things that are so cute. Sometimes their prayers are heartfelt and so sincere, while at other times, they will be cheating or not praying at all.

We adults tend to attach a lot of emphasis to the verbiage that we use in prayer or to the length of our prayers, but God doesn’t care about those things so much. He is not really interested in the eloquence of our prayers. And He certainly is not impressed by long prayers. In fact, the great prayers of the Bible are brief. I believe that our prayers in private should be long, while our prayers in public should be short. But the main thing is that we need to be praying.

So what is the objective of prayer? Is it to tell God something He doesn’t know? Or is it to convince God to do something that He doesn’t necessarily want to do? The answer is no. God knows all things, and God will do what He will do.

Then why pray? The value of prayer is that it keeps us in touch with God. Prayer should be thought of as a relationship between a father and child. We may think that God will give us everything that we need, for every situation, all at once. But if God were to give us all of His glorious gifts in one lump sum, there would be the danger of enjoying the gifts and forgetting the Giver.

God gives us what we need as we need it. This also keeps us dependent on Him, not unlike a child who receives an allowance from a parent.

In the same way, we need to come back to God each day, finding “grace to help in time of need.”

Summary sentence: The value of prayer is that it keeps us in touch with our Father!

Tags: prayer, grace

Copyright © 2011 by Harvest Ministries. All rights reserved.

Scripture taken from the New King James Version. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

DEVOTION - FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 2. 2011

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 2, 2011

“When things go from bad to worse”

BY

PETER BRISCO

“I can’t sleep.” –J. M. Barrie, author of Peter Pan

He could see it in their eyes. They were starting to get scared. This was not some sort of parable or illustration… this was for real. Jesus was telling them of His impending death and departure, and Judas had already left the group, destined to set in motion the events that would climax in His innocent blood being shed.

“Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God; believe also in me. My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am.” —John 14:1-3

Jesus knew that over the next hours, days, months, and years His disciples would have to learn how to trust and believe Him. He knew that in centuries to come, we would need to learn the same. In His final discourse to the disciples, and His future encouragement to us, His teachings were twofold: the Spirit will be in you on earth, and I will come back for you one day. Trust Me—I have it all figured out.

Jesus, What can I do but praise You for Your provision? You have given me everything and the only thing I truly need on earth: Your Spirit in me. I trust and believe in You. Even when circumstances on earth go from bad to worse, I trust and believe in You. And on the other side? I trust and believe that You will be coming back to take me to a place prepared for me. I trust and believe. Amen.

Listen to Pete, Jill & Stuart Briscoe on the Telling the Truth broadcast at OnePlace.com

DEVOTION - THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 1. 2011

THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 1, 2011

“The Consequences of Sin”

By

Charles R. Swindoll

Read 2 Samuel 11:1–12:13

Nathan didn't come on his own; he was sent by God: "Then the LORD sent Nathan to David." I think the most important word in that sentence is the first one, "then." God's timing is absolutely incredible.

When was he sent? Right after the act of adultery? No. Right after Bathsheba said, "I am pregnant"? No. Right after he murdered Uriah? No. Right after he married Uriah's pregnant widow? No. Right after the birth of the baby? No. It's believed by some Old Testament scholars that there was at least a twelve-month interval that passed before Nathan paid the visit. God waited until just the right time. He let the grinding wheels of sin do their full work, and then He stepped in.

To be totally honest with you, there are times when I really question the timing of God. Times when I just don't know why He's so slow to carry out what I think He ought to do. But every time I have looked back in retrospect, I have seen how beautifully He worked out His plan, how perfectly it had come to pass. God not only does the right thing; He does the right thing at the right time.

In confronting someone in his sin, the timing is as important as the wording. Most importantly, you need to be sure that you're sent by God. Nathan was.

In his sin, David had despised the God he served. Now, as a result of that sin, in days and years to come, David would experience grief within his own household.

Thus says the LORD, "Behold, I will raise up evil against you from your own household; I will even take your wives before your eyes and give them to your companion, and he shall lie with your wives in broad daylight. Indeed you did it secretly, but I will do this thing before all Israel, and under the sun." (2 Samuel 12:11–12)

Whew! Talk about the consequences of sin. David sits there with his mouth still open, leaning back, perhaps staring at the ceiling, listening to the voice of God from Nathan.

David, realizing he was absolutely guilty, admitted without hesitation, "I have sinned. I've sinned against the Lord." With that admission, restoration began.

Reprinted by permission. Day by Day, Charles Swindoll, July 2005, Thomas Nelson, inc., Nashville, Tennessee

DEVOTION - WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 31, 2011

WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 31, 2011

“THE PRAYER OF INTERCESSION”

BY

BAYLESS CONLEY

Today I want to help you understand the prayer of intercession--

1 Timothy 2:1 points us to this type of prayer,

Therefore I exhort first of all that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks be made for all men.

Intercession, as we find it here, is a technical term for approaching a king on behalf of another. In a general sense, related to prayer, intercession is seeking God on the behalf of others. But, more specifically, it is coming to God for one who has no standing with Him.

A number of years ago, I was ministering in Nigeria, speaking at a large conference in the city of Onitsha. While there, we were invited to go meet the king of Onitsha.

It was pretty exciting driving in a motorcade with little flags on all the cars. I felt like a big shot! But when we got to the palace, we had to have someone go on our behalf in order to meet with the king. I had no standing with the king, and neither did anyone else in our party.

The person who brought us to the king of Onitsha was an intercessor. And that is the idea of this word intercession. You are coming to the King of kings on the behalf of someone who presently has no standing with Him.

Do you remember when Abraham went before God for the city of Sodom—desiring that God would spare Sodom? What was Abraham doing? He was acting as an intercessor. He was coming between God and someone who had no standing with God.

We all should be praying prayers of intercession. You and I are to make intercession for the lost.

DEVOTION - TUESDAY, AUGUST 30, 2011

TUESDAY, AUGUST 30, 2011

BY TONY EVANS

“Do You Need to Change Your Expectations?”

In His Presence: Acts 3:1-9; 16

As a pastor, I witness people accepting their circumstances with a "crippling" mindset rather than believing God for something better in life.

They are like the lame man in Acts 3 who sat by the gate, Beautiful, begging for money. His only expectation was that a passerby will take pity on him and toss a coin his way. He never expected anything better. He was crippled in his body and his mind.

That's the mindset of those who don't expect things can change in their lives. We all face bad days, but we don't have to let them turn into a bad life.

Do you know anyone like that? Is that you? Jesus' disciples offered the lame man miraculous healing in both his body and his mind. You too can move forward no matter what you face in life.

DEVOTION - MONDAY, AUGUST 29, 2011

MONDAY, AUGUST 29, 2011

“THE PRAYER OF AGREEMENT”

BY

BAYLESS CONLEY

Today I want to help you understand the prayer of agreement.

This prayer is found in Matthew 18:19, where Jesus says,

, it will be done for them by My Father in heaven."

When I pray with other people, nine times out of ten this is the prayer that I pray with them. And most of the time I will quote this verse to them.

I remember working for a ministry years ago and praying with the folks who called on the phone. When I prayed with someone, I would walk them through this verse before we prayed.

The steps I pointed out were simple:

• There needs to be at least two of us praying.

• We need to agree.

• We need to be on earth (I usually got a laugh out of this one).

• What we are asking God for needs to come under the category of "anything" (which their request always did).

• God will do it.

The only part people ever got hung up on was the agreement. "What does it mean to agree?" they would ask. I would say, "Simple, to agree means to agree." Don't over-spiritualize it. If we decide to get lunch together at a certain time at a certain place, and you say, "Ok, see you there," we have just agreed.

To agree in prayer is no different.

Read this verse again. Look at it step by step, and follow it—in all its simplicity. If we do our part, God will do His.

DEVOTION - SUNDAY, AUGUST 28, 2011

SUNDAY, AUGUST 28, 2011

“We All Have Expectations”

BY TONY EVANS

In His Presence: Psalm 40:1-17

Life is filled with expectations. Look at our everyday lives. Some of us wake up expecting the best in our work day or with our family or in our health or in our finances. Others dread the day, or at best, never expect anything to change for the better.

Childhood dreams and hopes might be crushed by comments that discourage rather than encourage. Disillusionments or disappointments can stop any positive expectations.

What are you expecting in life? Whatever your expectations, there's a good chance you're going to get it. In other words, you get whatever you expect out of life.

Please know that God is still ABLE to deliver you from low expectations. Start believing for something better in your life. The Word tells us that God is able to do exceedingly, abundantly above all that we can ask or think, according to the power that works in us. Expect it!