Posts with the category “advancing-the-kingdom-daily-devotionals”

In the model prayer Jesus gave us in Matthew chapter 6, after asking for daily bread and forgiveness, He teaches us to pray, Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.This is a prayer for protection and guidance in the spiritual battles we face every day. Jesus isn't suggesting that God tempts us—James 1:13 makes it clear that God does not tempt anyone. Temptation comes from ou...  Read More

In the model prayer Jesus gave us in Matthew chapter 6, after asking for daily provision, He teaches us to pray, Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.This is one of the most challenging parts of the prayer because it directly ties God's forgiveness of our sins to our willingness to forgive those who have sinned against us. Jesus isn't saying that we earn God's forgiveness by ...  Read More

In the model prayer that Jesus gave us in Matthew chapter 6, after we've prayed for God's name to be glorified, for His kingdom to come, and for His will to be done on earth as it is in heaven, Jesus then teaches us to pray, Give us this day our daily bread.This is a prayer of simple, humble dependence on God for our basic needs. Jesus is telling us to ask our Father for the provision we need toda...  Read More

In Matthew chapter 6, in what is often referred to as the Lord's Prayer, Jesus gave us a model—a model prayer to guide us in how to pray in almost any and every situation. One of the phrases He told us to pray was “Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.” In that phrase we find one of the great purposes of prayer.One of the purposes of prayer is for me to bring my will into submission to G...  Read More

One of the big mistakes people often make in prayer is viewing prayer as a means to get God to do what we want Him to do. Many of us want God to use His power to build our kingdom, our bank accounts, our fame, our comfort etc. But Jesus taught us to pray in the model prayer, “Your kingdom come...” One of the main purposes of prayer is for God to use our prayers to bring about the expansion of His ...  Read More

In Matthew chapter 6 we see that God does not answer our prayers because we pray fancy, eloquent, or beautiful prayers. God doesn't answer our prayers because we pray long or wordy prayers. He doesn’t answer prayers because we pray the same thing over and over again. So why does God answer prayer? Jesus gave us a model prayer in Matthew chapter 6. This prayer was not really intended to be recited ...  Read More

When God revealed Himself to Abraham, the father of our faith, He revealed Himself as El Shaddai—God Almighty. So when Abraham prayed to God, and so did his son Isaac and his son Jacob, they all called God the Lord Almighty, our God Almighty.When God revealed Himself to Moses at the burning bush, and Moses asked, “What is your name?” God said, “My name is Yahweh. It is by the name Yahweh that you ...  Read More

If God knows everything, has all power, and has a good will that He wants to accomplish in your life and through your life, then won't He just do it whether you ask Him or not? Why does He want you and me to pray about something if He's going to do what He wants to do anyway? Have you ever had thoughts like that?Part of the answer is that God has not only a good, perfect, and acceptable will that ...  Read More

After teaching us what prayer is not—showy public displays or endless repetition—Jesus then gives us a positive example. He says in Matthew 6:9-13, “This, then, is how you should pray.” He then gives us what we call the Lord's Prayer:  Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us today our daily bread. And forgive us our de...  Read More

Many of us feel like we're not very good at prayer because we often have a hard time praying for a long time about something. We will try to tell God about a need, or about something we desire, or we're burdened about, but we feel like we didn't pray about it long enough. So we repeat ourselves, and then we turn around and maybe say the same thing again and again. We feel like somehow for our pray...  Read More

God invites us to pray for great things—things far beyond small, routine requests—because He is able to do immeasurably more than we ask or imagine. But why does God want us to ask for such big things? The ultimate reason is tied to His glory.In John 14:13, Jesus said, And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son.  Notice the purpose clause: so that the...  Read More

One day I was babysitting my grandsons. When I got there that morning, the youngest one—the three-year-old—was still asleep. A little bit later he woke up, I went in and got him, and after I held him for a little bit, he told me he was hungry. So I took him downstairs, put him in his highchair, and asked him what he wanted for breakfast. He told me he wanted a muffin.So you know what I did? I went...  Read More

In John 15:7, Jesus said,  If you abide in me and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. Ask whatever you desire. How in the world could Jesus say such a thing? It's because Jesus knows that if you are right with Him, spending time with Him, and spending time in His Word, then He works in your life to create in you the desires He wants you to have.I remember on...  Read More

When my children were young, my parents—who lived in Louisiana—would come over as often as they could to spend time with them. They didn't get to be as involved in their grandkids' lives as they would have liked. So one time, when my son Brett was about four years old, my mom and dad drove over from Louisiana. My dad wanted to buy Brett a special toy. He wanted to spend some money on him and give ...  Read More

We've been talking about praying for great things—asking God for more than small, safe requests because He invites us to come boldly to His throne. Many of us hold back because we think we're asking too much or that God might say no to big prayers. But God doesn't rebuke us for asking big when it's in line with who He is and what He's promised.Look at the pattern in Scripture: God often points bac...  Read More

Many of us hesitate to ask God for big things. We think we should be content, not greedy, or that we're bothering Him with too much. But Scripture shows God repeatedly inviting us to ask boldly for greater things—things that match His limitless power and character.In Ephesians 3:20–21, Paul prays this powerful benediction: Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, ...  Read More

Do you ever have thoughts that kind of go like this: “Maybe you shouldn't ask God for so much. Maybe you should just be content with what you've got, be thankful, and stop asking God for so many things.” Many of us had parents who, when we were younger, said things like, “You need to stop asking for so much and be thankful for what you have.” And so we sort of think that our Heavenly Father probab...  Read More

For the last six days we have been looking at James 5:16-18, where Scripture declares that the prayers of a righteous person are powerful and effective. God uses Elijah as the example—a man just like you and me—whose prayers stopped rain for three and a half years and then brought it back. We've examined three key characteristics of his prayers: praying according to God's will, for God's glory, an...  Read More

We've been examining James 5:16-18, where God declares that the prayers of a righteous person are powerful and effective. He points to Elijah as proof: a man just like us whose prayers stopped and started the rain. We've seen two characteristics of Elijah's prayers so far: he prayed according to God's will and for God's glory. Today we look at a third characteristic of powerful and effective praye...  Read More

This week we've been exploring James chapter 5 verses 16 to 18, where we're told that the prayers of a righteous person are powerful and effective. God illustrates this with the prayer life of Elijah: he prayed, and it didn't rain for three and a half years; he prayed again, and the rains came. Elijah was just like you and me—God answered him not because he was special, but because of how he praye...  Read More

This week we've been looking at James chapter 5 verses 16 to 18, where God says the prayers of a righteous person are powerful and effective. He then gives an illustration with Elijah the prophet: when Elijah prayed, it did not rain on the land for three and a half years; he prayed again, and the rains came.God didn't answer Elijah's prayers because he was special or because he was a prophet. Rath...  Read More

This week we've been talking about how the prayers of a righteous person really make a difference. James 5:16 says the prayers of a righteous person are powerful and effective. Yesterday we saw that a righteous person is the term God uses to describe His children—those who have come into relationship with Him by faith in His Son Jesus. So if you're a child of God, James 5:16 is talking about you: ...  Read More

Does it really make a difference when you pray? Does it really matter whether you pray about something or not? We started talking about that yesterday in this devotional on prayer that makes a difference. The truth is, God says in His Word that it does make a difference.In James chapter 5 verse 16, the Scripture says, The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective. God says when a righ...  Read More

Do you believe that it really makes a difference whether or not you pray? Do you believe that if you pray, God does things that He will not do if you do not pray? After all, isn't God sovereign? Isn't He just going to do it whether you pray or not?This is an issue you and I have to settle in our hearts and minds if we're ever going to have a consistent prayer life. You see, if you don't believe th...  Read More