by One Church | Jan 20, 2020 | 21 Days of Prayer - January 2020
This chapter was written before Jesus ever came to earth and brought with him the new age of grace. At that time, you had to follow the law. You had to do everything right if you wanted to come into the presence of God, but Jesus brought us grace. Now the bible says, “Come boldly into the throne room of grace to find help in times of need”. We’ve all missed the mark. We’ve all come up short. We have all sinned, but because Jesus died on the cross and was raised from the dead, and because He is seated at the right hand of the Father:
What Jesus has done shines way brighter than what you have done.
That doesn’t mean we get to sin because grace covers us. Grace isn’t a license to sin, it means knowing that you are better than that. It makes you want to stop doing the things you are doing that are wrong. Jesus invites you to come as you are – but He loves you too much to leave you that way! Slowly but surely He begins to change us and each of us are a work in progress.
Prayer: God, thank you for your grace and your mercy. Thank you for sending your son, Jesus, to pay for all of my sins. Thank you that even when I miss the mark I can confess my sin and you are faithful and just to forgive me.
by One Church | Jan 19, 2020 | 21 Days of Prayer - January 2020
Have you ever known someone that had something negative to say about everything? I’ll admit that there are times in my life that I have been more pessimistic than optimistic about certain situations. It’s one thing to be negative occasionally but some people seem to make negativity a sport! It’s almost as if they try and think of a negative way to spin any possible situation. I overheard someone talking about how much the lottery was up to one time and then said “if I won that $120 million, the government would take almost half of it in taxes!” I wanted to grab the guy and say, “But you would still have 60 million dollars!” We catch the psalmist in a “woe is me moment” in today’s chapter. The truth is: we all have those moments.
It’s really easy to allow the few negative things to overshadow the positives in life.
Today make a decision to focus on the positive instead of giving all of your attention to the negative. Make a list of some things that you are thankful for today, and whenever negative thoughts start creeping in, pull out your list and remind yourself of the blessings you do have. Don’t go through life being a negative millionaire.
Prayer: God help me to see all of my blessings and to give my attention to those things instead of the things that are wrong. Thank you for breath in my lungs, people that love me, and a roof over my head. (Take a moment to thank God for the little things you take for granted every day)
by One Church | Jan 18, 2020 | 21 Days of Prayer - January 2020
I hate waiting! I know, I know, patience is a virtue, but I still hate waiting. One place I really hate waiting is in a doctors office. We’ve all been there. You call the doctors office, they give you an appointment time, you get there and wait. And wait. And wait some more! They finally call you to the back and they put you in a tiny room to wait again! I always think “You are the ones that told me what time to be here! Why am I having to wait?” The older I get the more I realize that all of life is a waiting room. When you’re little you can’t wait to get to school, then you can’t wait to graduate, then you can’t wait for college, then work, and so on it goes. All of our lives we find ourselves waiting on something, and like the psalmist, we find ourselves asking the question, “how long O’ Lord?” Life is made up seasons, though.
There’s something to learn and something to gain from every season in life.
You can spend each season just waiting for the next, but why not just enjoy the room you’re in now?
Prayer: God, give me patience in every season of life. Help me to always remember that your timing is perfect. Let me be someone that enjoys every season I am in.
by One Church | Jan 17, 2020 | 21 Days of Prayer - January 2020
“Help” is a simple word, but at times, it can seem like one of the hardest things to ask for. Sometimes, when we finally do ask God for help, we reject the way he sends help because it doesn’t look the way we think it should. There’s a story I heard once about a man that was trapped in his house during a flood. He prayed and asked God to deliver him and shortly after, a boat came along to take the man to safety. The man refused and told the people in the boat that God would deliver him from the flood. The water continued to rise and finally the man had to retreat to his roof to avoid the water. A helicopter saw him on the roof so they sent a man on a rope down to rescue him. Yet again he refused and said “God will deliver me from the flood”. The water continued to rise and the man was swept away. When he got to heaven he asked God why He didn’t rescue him from the flood. God said, “I sent a boat and a helicopter, dumby!” Obviously God doesn’t call us dumb, but the story makes a valid point. God often sends people into our lives to serve as the answer to our prayers.
You weren’t created to do life alone.
We all need help. We all need encouragement and we all need love. Maybe you need help and it’s time to reach out and talk to someone you can trust. That’s why we have community groups because the chances are, the answer to your prayer, is in a house near you.
Prayer: Thank you for giving me people to do life with. Thank you for putting people in my life to encourage me and to help me in every season of my life. I refuse to isolate myself because I may be the answer to someone else’s prayer.
by One Church | Jan 16, 2020 | 21 Days of Prayer - January 2020
I grew up in church so I’ve seen all kinds of trends come and go. When I was a teenager in youth group, one trend that swept across the nation was “The Trust Fall”. I’m not sure who came up with this or why every youth pastor felt like they had to work it into a message but they did! It was all fun and games until my youth pastor chose someone with the upper body strength of a toddler to catch me! It was disastrous! If the goal was to teach me that no one can be trusted, my youth pastor succeeded! Maybe the day you lost trust wasn’t as funny, though. There are lots of experiences that can break our trust in people, in leaders, or in our family. And when trust is broken in one area of our lives, it often creates mistrust in other areas of our lives. Have you had your trust broken? And is that causing you to keep others in your life, including God, at a distance?
Friend, you can trust God.
I’m not sure who or what may have caused you to stop trusting, but it’s time to let it go! Life is too short to not have someone close enough to catch you when you fall.
Prayer: Man may have failed me, but God, I know I can trust you with everything! I give you every area of my life, I trust and rely on you.
by One Church | Jan 15, 2020 | 21 Days of Prayer - January 2020
One time, when my son was a toddler, my wife put him down to nap and left me at home with him while she ran a few errands. I sat in my bedroom reading for about 30 minutes, when all of a sudden I heard my son crying. I went to his room, but he wasn’t in there. I started searching for him, and when I found him, he was standing at the front door sobbing. I realized he thought we had left him. I picked him up and I assured him that his fears weren’t true. I said, “I’m right here, son” over and over. I repeated those words until the crying stopped. I don’t know why my son thought we would ever leave him at home alone. I’m not sure where his fear came from, but it was there nonetheless. In this Psalm we see the writer ask God a question: “Why are you afar off?” Have you ever felt like that? Like God has left you?
The bible assures us that He will never leave you
nor forsake you.
Maybe people have left you. Maybe you’ve had a father abandon you. I can’t imagine how painful that is, but I can tell you this: God will never abandon you. He is always there.
Prayer: God, thank you for never leaving me. Thank you that you will never abandon me.
