Daily Prayer: June 12, 2017

Reading: Ecclesiastes 1-4; Psalm 8

Father, how majestic is your name in all the earth! Your glorious throne is above the heavens, far above all rule and authority on earth. When I consider the vastness of space it is hard to believe how much you care for your people, let alone just me. But you do. You made me and every other person your crowning achievement, then set us above all creation to rule it and and care for it. What a great mystery. That mystery stretches into throughout life as we seek to grasp that which can’t be grasped. We seek glory and honor, fame and riches, but none of these will last. We put our hope and identity in things we cannot take with us. O Lord, let me see that there is nothing better than to be joyful and enjoy the good gifts you have given me. Everything else in life will fade away except that which you have established. You have implanted eternity in the hearts of man. Let me strive after that eternal calling in Christ Jesus, pressing on to win the prize which you have stored up for me in the heavenly realms.

[Podcast] The Most Important Thing You Can Do for Your Group Members

As a group leader, does it feel like you give the same advice to the same people and nothing ever changes? Maybe you’re doing a lot of good things, but not the most important thing. Listen to this week’s episode to find out what that is.

(Episode length: 17 mins)

Show Notes

Main idea: The most important thing you can do for your group members is pray for them.

Only God has the power to change the human heart

  • Ezekiel 37: Ezekiel’s vision of the valley of bones

Paul’s prayer for the Ephesian church

  1. Difference between knowing and tasting
    1. You can read about a relationship with Jesus in a book without actually tasting what that relationship is like
    2. Lives are not changed when people know about a relationship with Jesus; lives are changed when people taste a relationship with Jesus
  2. Paul prays for the Ephesians to have the eyes of their hearts enlightened to the taste of three flavors of a relationship with Christ…
    1. The hope to which God has called them. If people get that they will spend eternity with Jesus and that he came not only to redeem their future but to redeem their present, they will live differently.
    2. The riches of God’s inheritance in the saints. Paul prayed that the believers would know the riches of God’s glorious inheritance in the saints. God’s inheritance is the people who believe in Him (the “saints”).
    3. Knowing that God is giddy to spend eternity with you changes how you live and think.
  3. The immeasurable greatness of God’s power towards those who believe
    1. The power God gives to each believer is the same power that raised Christ from the dead, and the same power that ascended Christ into heaven and seated him at the right hand of God

Download a full transcript of this episode.

This is part of a podcast I do for group leaders at my church. Browse the archives for more.

Daily Prayer: June 11, 2017

Reading: Proverbs 28-31; Psalm 7

Father, make known to me those sins I overlook. Let my eyes be open to them that I may repent. Judge me according to my righteousness, according to my integrity. I do not turn away from hearing your law, so I know you hear my prayers. Awaken your people to know the rights of the poor, that they may stand up for those who cannot stand for themselves. Please give Maggie and I wisdom for disciplining our children, so that peace is instilled in our home. God, thank you for revealing yourself in Jesus, the one who came down from heaven and ascended again. The one who gathers the wind in his fists. The one who wraps up the waters in a garment. The one who established all the ends of the earth. Every word of yours proves true. Let me never distort that truth. Father, do not make me poor or rich, but give me enough for my family to have what it needs daily. O Lord, an excellent wife is hard to find, yet somehow you have blessed me with her. Thank you for Maggie, a blessing I truly don’t deserve. She deserves praise for many things, all of which you know. But I will praise for this above all else – that she fears and loves you, Lord. 

Daily Prayer: June 10, 2017

Reading: Proverbs 25-27; Psalm 6

Father, please do not discipline me in your anger, but show me mercy and be gracious to me. Send the thoughts that accuse and the attacks of the evil one far away, for you have power and dominion over all. O Lord, help me to love my enemies, for this has been your heart from the beginning. There is no reward for loving those who love me, but you reward those who love their enemies. Open my eyes to any way I seek my own glory that I may turn and seeks yours instead. Make me into a man of self-control, lest I be vulnerable to attack. Only you are wise, Father, and I am a fool for those times I think I am. I will not boast about tomorrow since I don’t know what it brings, but I will be glad and rejoice in this, the day that you have made. Let me not hide my love from those for whom I have it. Continue to use me as iron to sharpen other iron. Keep a close eye on my heart, God. Search it often, for it reflects who I truly am. 

Daily Prayer: June 9, 2017

Reading: Proverbs 22-24; Psalm 5

Father, in the morning you hear my voice. I call out to you and you turn your ear to me. Oh, how wonderful it is to know you listen! Keep me from evil and do not lead me into temptation, for evil cannot stand with you. It is only through your love that is fixed on me and through your mercy in Christ that I am able to come into your presence. My heart rejoices in you, my Refuge. The rich and the poor are all made in your image. May your church not be guilty of oppressing the poor or needlessly giving to the rich, for you are on the side of the poor. Keep me from making friends with those who are quick to anger, lest I become like them. Thank you for your grace in showing me how to live within my means and stay out of debt. May your grace continue. Father, soften my heart to be more generous and hospitable. Let me not keep tabs on what I give to others, but give freely instead. Protect my spirit from being enticed by alcohol. Let me approach it with wisdom so I do not become its slave. Lord, continue to give Maggie and I wisdom and understanding for establishing a loving and thriving home filled with beauty. Break my heart for those careening towards death in sin, knowing that you are aware of whether  or not I have reached out to then in love.