Daily Devotional - 10/12

Prayer Focus - Family

Day 5
Pray for:
One family member that you feel close to
One family member that you are not close to
One family member that lives far away from you
One family member that lives near to you

One family member that you are concerned about

Pray about:
Their physical needs
Their mental needs
Their emotional needs
Their spiritual needs

Dear Lord - Help me to listen to You each and every day and please grant me the strength to obey.




Psalms 42

"My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When can I go and meet with God?" (vs. 2)

We need to be hungry and thirty for God. Man does not live by bread alone but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God (Matt 4:4). Our priorities need to be realigned to God's will and also be in conjunction with spending time with Him. We need to fall in love with God. Think of all the dreams we have had about that "special person" we wouls find someday. The excitement and thrill to just be with them or think about them. As young people, we are filled with the hope of this love of our life, who will be our everything. Obviously, at first, a person may meet many of these expectations but in time we all fail. We can not be the ultimate love for anyone nor can anyone meet these expectations for us either. But God can.

As we get older, the desire for this all encompassing love often fades away with the discouragement and disillusionment that comes with reality. We accept what we have and go on taking care of business and making ends meet. Sometimes, we become roomates with our spouses. Sometimes we give up and leave them. While it is important to keep working on our marriages and to keep trying to rekindle a lost or fading love, what we ultimately need to do is turn to God and allow Him to fulfill those deep love needs that still exist. He is our ultimate and perfect groom and He longs for us with the deep affection of a perfect love. If we can cultivate our longing and relationship with God, all the other relationships will improve as well. We will be able to truly love our spouses in a greater way than we did even as newlyweds. Our relationships will be all the better for the ups and downs we have been through together and for how we have grown to know each other so well. It all comes back to God, however, and letting Him fill us up so that we can in turn fill up others, including our spouses.

"Why are you downcast, O my soul? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise Him, my Savior and my God." (vs. 5-6)

This is not always easy to do however. When we have times of sadness, this is especially the case. This psalm and other places in the Bible make it clear that there will be down times. It is how we deal with them that makes the difference. We can turn inward, or we can turn to God. We need to put our hope in God and praise Him despite our emotions. Our feelings do not dictate truth. Only God's word can do that. We need to remember God and turn to Him for the love and security that we need to get us through the troubled times. We need to remember the victories He has brought us in the past (vs. 6a). We need to figure out why this is a down time as well. If we are being refined, we need to turn to God for comfort. If we have done wrong or sinned, we need to repent. If we are just tired or sick and so are more emotional, we need to sleep and strengthen our physical body. If there is really no reason for how we are feeling, we need to just move on and continue to do what is right. Our emotions will soon follow. God has not forgotten us. It will be alright. We need to let Him comfort us and lift us out of our fog. It will happen as we deal with what we need to. God is here. God is always with us.

We cannot let our enemies whisper in our ears, "Where is your God? Where is your God?" God is right here. Put your hope in God! God is the answer. He will do it.

Prayer of the Day

Dear Lord,

You know that we are often lonely and downcast. We pray that You will help us to put our hope in You, today and always. Help us to remember the victories that You have brought about in the past in our lives. We are grateful that You are bigger than our emotions and that You do hold the truth. We are glad that truth is not relative or subject to our shifting emotions. We can be so unstable. Thank You for Your stability and unchanging nature. You are truly our Rock and our Refuge. We ask to fall in love with You with all of our heart, soul, mind, and strength. We want to cling to You and be consumed with You. We know that in falling in love with You all over again, there is hope for all of our other relationships to be rekindled as well. You are love and if we have You, we will be able to love so much more. We are so incomplete and longing without You. Surely we do pant and long for You as a deer pants for water. We will come to meet You. Please wait for us to be there.

In Jesus name,

Amen

QFT

1. Am I hungry and thirty for God? Am I longing for Him or fitting Him into my schedule when I have time?

2. What are my dreams for the perfect spouse? Do I see God in this manner? Am I letting Him love me as He desires? Am I in love with Him as I would be a mate?

3. How can I cultivate this type of relationship with God? How do I think this will help my other relationships?

4. How do I deal with my down times? Am I able to discern why I feel down most of the time? Do I turn inward or to God when I feel this way? How can I turn to God next time?