All in Daily Devotional
Have we prayed in solitude during our own daily lives? Have we dedicated a comfortable chair in a quiet place, where we go to pray, study the Word of God, and be with Him? This is the kind of place where believers build a deep trust in God, and it is a quiet and intimate place of prayer where their relationship with Him takes root and grows.
From the moment I began to read Bounds' words this morning I was grasped and carried off into thought. The bold statement that "Trust brings eternity into the history and happenings of time" is a powerful statement that demands much thought and contemplation. This morning's devotional brings us once again into the spiritual realm of faith and our trust in God. The gist of Bounds' offering to us is that trust increases faith and faith increases trust. This seems to be a paradox until we remember that trust is perpetuated by those things that God has already accomplished and faith is holding to those things as yet unseen.
When we read scripture that tells us to rejoice always, pray without ceasing, or to give thanks in every situation, do we worry about being able to do these things? Are we concerned about becoming distracted, losing interest, or eventually becoming tired as we stand chanting, worshipping, and praying in the presence of God? Do we find ourselves failing at these things now after short periods of time and grow concerned about disappointing God, not making it to heaven, or failing miserably once we do get there? Do we worry about how long eternity lasts, and our ability to do these things faithfully forevermore? Well you are not alone, but do not fear.
Trust is a wonderful word on which to begin our month of March devotional studies. I will dwell today on the observations of E.M. Bounds who wrote that faith and trust were feelings of the soul. I find it appropriate to discuss this topic in March because this is the month when we trust that spring is imminent and anticipate the coming renewal of life. This is also the time of the year in which our faith and hope are elevated to sheer joy as we realize that this is the season in which the Messiah fulfilled God's planned salvation of mankind. This is the culmination of Lent and the celebration of Easter. Easter is the one event which is truly the accomplishment of faith that prompted Bounds to say: "Trust is faith accomplished.... It is the feeling of the soul - the spiritual sight hearing and taste."
Has some act of mercy ever led you into unexpected prayer? Have we ever performed something spontaneous and good for someone, then found that while doing so you found that you had been led into a place spiritually that you hadn’t anticipated, and yet it blessed you immensely? The things we do for those in need can have legs and sometimes they travel far into our spirituality. A simple act, a meal, a drink, an article of clothing, or any other act of mercy we perform, can drop us into some very deep waters of faith. When this happens we might be thrilled by the blessing, but sometimes we can be forced to look beyond our mercy at who we really are, or to see a deeper sin in the situation, and it will scare us.
We can find ourselves waiting on the answer to a prayer that doesn’t seem to be coming, or at least coming anytime soon. We are suffering, or waiting to be rescued, and yet all we hear is the silence of God. But friends, we can rest assured of two things today; the first is that someone is experiencing this right now (possibly you) as they read these words, and the second is that help is on the way. We might lose hope as we suffer through the pain and fear in our lives, but God is ever faithful and true. When we feel lost or abandoned do we continue to pray? Or maybe we hear ourselves shouting out to the Lord in our frustration rather than finding strength in our anticipation and trust in Him.
This morning in my devotional reading E.M. Bounds made the general statement that "God's promises are dependent on our prayers." Although I believe that prayer is powerful, important, and allows us to communicate our needs to God, I don’t think that He is limited to them, and only acts when we ask Him to. We should pray without ceasing, and within the will of God, and we should ask to receive His promises, but I don't feel that God's promises are necessarily dependent upon our prayers. To say this limits God.
This morning I was studying one of the foundational elements of answered prayer, the will of God. As I read scripture and a devotional regarding this subject, my belief that it was truth was confirmed once more. The will of God is indeed a foundation of prayer. Unless we are praying in conformance with His will, and not asking Him to do something that is contrary to His character, desire, and in our faith and the name of Jesus, then our prayer will be answered.
Today let’s study James 4 and see if we are living our lives according to what is written there. Are our lives aligned with God’s Word, and the lessons that Jesus taught us? Are we submitting our will, and lives, totally to the Lord? Are we yielding ourselves to Him in every way? Let’s dig further into this through a brief study of God’s Word on the subject.
In the Bible story about Elijah and the seven times he prayed for rain to return to Israel we are reminded to pray and continue to pray for those things we desire of God... But most of all, we learn to pray for the things that are within the will of God, and to live out our lives as scripture teaches us to. Every story teaches us something about how we should live, but how often are we applying those lessons in our daily lives? Do we carry them with us when we close our bibles, and set them on our nightstands, or when we leave our secret places of prayer?
We begin our prayers focused on certain desires, and thoughts, but as we continue on in our conversation with the Lord our minds often begin to wander, and we lose sight of the real reason we were praying in the first place. Sometimes we stop our prayer altogether, but many times we have heard something like a child coughing elsewhere in our house, the urgency of a passing siren on the street, or the sound of thunder off in the distance, and they take us into a different prayer and we seek another of God’s promises. Our prayers should include a request that our hearts and minds be guarded in Christ so that we will remain focused on the prayer at hand, and we will not be distracted.
This morning I would like to stress further the importance of humility in respect to our ability to pray. I especially enjoyed an observation I read that was written by Pastor E.M. Bounds when he said that "To be clothed with humility is to be clothed with a prayer garment." I have often toyed with the idea of using a prayer shawl to prepare myself, and set the mood of prayer, before I enter into my place of prayer each morning, but I never really felt it necessary. Perhaps we are already being clothed, not by cloth, but in a meek and humble spirit, and by reading scripture or a devotional message. It is so important that we prepare ourselves for prayer, but do we do so?
Have you ever thought of prayer as a way of channeling spiritual energy? E.M. Bounds gave us this remarkable thought to contemplate when he wrote these words “Prayer as spiritual energy makes way for, and brings into practical realization, the promises of God.” So far this year we have been studying the power of prayer, but until now we have been thinking of it simply as a tool, or means of communicating with God. Today however, we are seeing it in a new light… it carries a form of spiritual energy all unto itself, and not only delivers our thoughts to God, but changes who we are inside, and brings us into conformance with God’s will. Prayer is not just a means of asking God to deliver on His promises, but it makes us firm in our belief in them. Prayer is a fuel that strengthens our faith.
Have you prayed for someone who is in mourning? Have you lifted them up before the throne of God and asked Him to comfort them, and mend their broken hearts? Let’s talk about this kind of prayer today by using something which occurred in my life several years ago, and occurs somewhere around the world each and every day.
There are so many things in our everyday world that can distract us from prayer, and this is nothing that is new to us today. In the earliest days of the church they struggled with distractions as well. We like to think that we live in a busy modern world, and that finding time for prayer today is something new, or at least occurs more often than it did in the time of Jesus, but that simply isn’t true. There are two ways that we can be distracted, the first is in finding time for prayer, and the second is having our thoughts interrupted so that we can’t concentrate on them. Do either of these things sound familiar, and what can we do about them.