Day 7
Pray for:
One thing that you want to see improved in your relationship with God - (Love God)
One thing that you want to see improved in the way you relate to others - (with all your heart)
One past hurt that you want to see healed and overcome - (with all your soul)
One skill or topic you want to learn - (with all your mind)
One thing that you want to see improved about your health - (with all your strength)
One thing you want to do to help others around you - (Love your neighbor)
One thing you need to accept and be grateful for about yourself or your life - (as yourself)
Dear Lord - Please open my ears to Your ever present voice and grant me the strength to obey.
Psalms 85
"I will listen to what God the Lord will say; He promises peace to His people, His saints - but let them not return to folly. Surely His salvation is near those who fear Him, that His glory may dwell in our land." ( vs. 8-9)
"I will listen to God." Can I truly say that? Will I stop and hear. Will I stop listening to the world. So many messages bombard us day in and day out. We can even be sitting down to read our Bibles; trying to listen to God, but still walk away unchanged. I love the verse - "Be still and know that I am God." (Psalm 46:10). Sometimes we just need to still everything. Sit and just be quiet for awhile. God does not speak in all the noise. He is the still small voice, the whisper. One story that always impacts me is the story of Elijah when he went to meet God. He had been fighting battles for God and then he became exhausted and depressed. God told him to go to a certain place, Mount Horeb, and there he would meet with God. When he was there, there was a great wind, and then an earthquake, and then a fire, but God was not in any of those things. After, the fire, there came a gentle whisper, and then Elijah knew it was God so he went out to speak with Him (I Kings 19). God is all around us but He is not loud. He speaks in whispers, it is up to us to hear and listen.
So when we finally hear God, what is He saying? He has blessings and commands. He promises peace yet He expects change. He has salvation and glory but He expects respect and honor. God has so much for us, but we must not go back to our old ways. This would be foolish but it is so tempting. We forget how miserable we were once we have cleaned up for awhile. We think things always must have been good for us and we think maybe it was better when we didn't have to worry about pleasing God, when we just did what we wanted to. We have to remember where we have come from. We must not put our hand to the plow and look back. God has salvation and everything else waiting for us. But it is up to us to respond and to do so correctly and consistently. This is when we will have peace. A Christian who is not in submission to God and His will and who has one foot in and one foot out of the kingdom of God will never experience peace. It is perhaps more frustrating than leaving God altogether. When we are finally all in, then we will see the glory of God.
"The Lord will indeed give what is good, and our land will yield its harvest. Righteousness goes before Him and prepares the way for His steps." (vs. 12-13)
This is a bold statement. God will give what is good. There is no doubt about it in this psalm. Will we be able to receive it? That is the true question. God is faithful, we are not. The land will yield a harvest, but will we? Once again, it is not a question of God's ability or desire but of our obedience. Righteousness is necessary to prepare the way for God. Just as we read in an earlier psalm that praise helps bring about God's blessings, so it appears does righteousness. If I want to see my life yield a harvest, I must get myself ready to receive it by being righteous. God will only give what will be beneficial to me. He needs to see my desire to do and be right with Him. This is what God needs to see in order to bestow the blessings He wants to. By doing this, I am showing Him that I am ready to use His gifts appropriately and to use His blessings to give back to Him. He is always thinking long term and so must we. Let us prepare our lives for service and then see what happens. I believe it will astound us.
"Start by doing what's necessary; then do what's possible; and suddenly you are doing the impossible"
St. Francis of Assisi
Prayer for the Day
Dear Lord,
We need to listen to You. We will listen to You. Help us not to return to our folly. We have lived in it long enough. It does not produce the life we so desire. We long for peace. We do not want to look back. There is so much ahead to look to. Although the world often looks so dark, there is Your bright and shining light guiding us on. Help us to sow righteousness so that we may reap a harvest. We want our land, our lives, to yield a harvest. We know that is up to You but we need to do our part. Help us to work hard. We wait to see the good that You will give. You are great and we praise You.
In Jesus' Name,
Amen
QFT
1. Am I still before God? Am I listening to Him? When is it hard for me to be still and listen? When is it easy? Do I obey what I hear?
2. Do I primarily have peace or frustration in my life? Am I looking back in any way to my old life? What areas seemed better then? Why? Is this the truth? What can I do to get my eyes focused forward and on God in a greater way?
3. Am I completely devoted to God or are there any parts of my life that I hold back from Him? What can I do about these areas if there are any? Am I devoted to His kingdom? How can I be more devoted?
4. Is my life yielding a harvest? Why or why not? What can I do to change or do better to be more fruitful?
5. Am I living a life that God can bless? In what ways am I being righteous? In what ways am I not? How can I improve? What is the necessary that I need to start doing? What is the possible in my life? What is holding me back from doing my all?
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