Nov 21 Your Word is treasure

Father, thank You for warning me not to trust in earthly riches.  Wealth, possessions, gold and silver are not the treasure I seek.  They can lead to greed and the sins that greed temps a person to commit.

Rather, I treasure Your Word.  It gives me a wealth of knowledge and wisdom about how to receive Your blessing: something of far greater value.

You Word says I will be blessed when I “walk according to the law of the Lord…keep Your statutes and seek You with all [my] heart.”  I can keep my way pure “by living according to Your Word.”   So Father, “I seek You with all my heart: do not let me stray from Your commands.”  I desire to be blessed; show me how to walk in Your path.

Lord, I will “hide Your Word in my heart.”  I will read it, honor it, study to understand it, memorize it, and do what it says.  When I do not understand it, I will pray for clarity of meaning and how to apply it to my life. 

When people around me say one thing and Your Word says another, give me the conviction to be obedient to Your truth.  Help me see through the misleading lies and the deceiving values of society and not be tripped up by them.  Give me the strength I need to be true to You.

Because You tell me how powerful prayer is, I will pray

for the wisdom to stay on Your path
giving thanks when I am happy
for healing when I am sick
for help when I am in trouble
for forgiveness when I have sinned.

Father, help my prayers be powerful and effective.

Besides me, so many people need Your help in so many ways. I believe praying for them is one way I can help; even the best way I can help them.

So, like Elijah, I pray earnestly and in faith, knowing that You are the One who can answer.  You have the power, Lord.  And You have the desire to answer.

We are all Your creations, Lord.  Thank You that You love and care for us.  Amen

James 5:1-6; 13-20; Psalm 119:1-16

Nov 21 Your Word is Treasure

Father thank You for warning me not to trust in earthly riches.  Wealth, possessions, gold and silver are not the treasure I seek.  They can lead to greed and the sins that greed temps a person to commit.

Rather, I treasure Your Word.  It gives me a wealth of knowledge and wisdom about how to receive Your blessing: something of far greater value.

You Word says I will be blessed when I “walk according to the law of the Lord…keep Your statutes and seek You with all [my] heart.”  I can keep my way pure “by living according to Your Word.”   So Father, “I seek You with all my heart: do not let me stray from Your commands.”  I desire to be blessed; show me how to walk in Your path.

Lord, I will “hide Your Word in my heart.”  I will read it, honor it, study to understand it, memorize it, and do what it says.  When I do not understand it, I will pray for clarity of meaning and how to apply it to my life. 

When people around me say one thing and Your Word says another, give me the conviction to be obedient to Your truth.  Help me see through the misleading lies and the deceiving values of society and not be tripped up by them.  Give me the strength I need to be true to You.

Because You tell me how powerful prayer is, I will pray

for the wisdom to stay on Your path

giving thanks when I am happy

for healing when I am sick

for help when I am in trouble

for forgiveness when I have sinned.

Father, help my prayers be powerful and effective.

Besides me, so many people need Your help in so many ways. I believe praying for them is one way I can help; even the best way I can help them.

So, like Elijah, I pray earnestly and in faith, knowing that You are the One who can answer.  You have the power, Lord.  And You have the desire to answer.

We are all Your creations, Lord.  Thank You that You love and care for us.  Amen

James 5:1-6; 13-20; Psalm 119:1-16

Oct 12 Rejoice and Pray

Father, two of today’s verses have saved me when I needed to recite Bible verses as a child.  As far as I know, they are two of only three verses that contain only two words.  I Thessalonians 5:16 “Rejoice always” and 5:17 “Pray continually”.  Because they contain only two words, making them easy to memorize and remember, and are so straightforward and to the point; I’ve always considered them important.

I loved English in school, and learned that when no subject is present, like these verses, the subject “you” is understood.  So whomever the speaker is speaking to is commanded to do the verb that follows.

A command is stronger than a simple statement.  When given by someone with authority it means to obey immediately, without further thought or discussion.  In these cases, I am to “rejoice” and “pray”.

Rejoice means to feel or show great joy or delight.  It is the opposite of showing sadness.   It is not whining or complaining.  It is not arguing or showing anger.  It doesn’t mean I can never have a negative emotion or express my feelings. But I should be watching for things to be joyful about, and then let others see why I am joyful.

Pray, very simply, means to talk to You.

The adverbs that follow each verb tell me how to do the action the verb specifies.  So when it comes to “rejoice”, the word is “always”.  In other words, or in the same words, in “all ways”, in all things, in all circumstances, look for the joy.

And the adverb for “pray” is “continually”, meaning “all the time, repeated frequently, constantly, without interruption.”

So, at all times, in all situations, in all things, I should strive to show my joy and be in communication with You.  Along with “give thanks in all circumstances”, “this is God’s will for you”, these directives tell me it is Your desire to hear from me.  And to hear my gratefulness.

Paul said these words to believers who were enduring hardship and persecution.  How much more should I be able to find things in my easy, twenty-first century life of freedom to be thankful and joyful about?

These are convicting Words, Father.  Words of instruction and encouragement!  Thank You for making them so easy to remember!  Amen

I Thessalonians 5:16-17