What do you pray for your kids? Beth Scholes has some excellent prayers from a parent’s heart.

“Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable if anything is excellent or praiseworthy think about such things.” (Philippians 4:4-8)

There’s a picture on my windowsill of my three children, smiling back at the camera. Taken years ago, they’re so little in this picture.  Our daughter looks so much like me. God has made an extension, a likeness of myself. She is her own person and she lets us know it. She was created for her time, for such a time as this. However, she bears my image.

In that family image captured three years earlier I see our happiness and the closeness that we share, a closeness that is still growing today. I pray our children will have been blessed with an upbringing that will undergird their lives for the purposes the Lord has for them. May their childhoods adorn the testimony of their lives for the glory of the Lord.

We have a quiver of children. What are we aiming them at for the trajectory of their lives? What path are we setting for them in childhood? When we let the arrow go and they move out of our home, which target will they fly toward?

The child, unlike the arrow, has a mind of its own. That thought could make me anxious. So I bring this as well to the Lord in prayer.

Lord, I praise you for your never ending, never forsaking, always hoping, love for us. Thank you for the blessings you have bestowed on my family. Thank you for our love. Have your way in our family. Help us to serve you as you desire. Remove anything from our lives, from our relationships, that would be contrary to your will. May we be found at the end of our short time on earth faithful to you, and having fulfilled your purpose for our lives. I pray that in all things, we will display your image. May you be glorified. In the strong name of Jesus Christ I pray.

 Question: How can you help direct a child to Jesus in your life?

“…he came to a cave and lodged in it; and behold, the word of the Lord came to him, and He said to him, “What are you doing here, Elijah?’” (1 Kings 18:9, Amplified version)

Elijah had seen God do miraculous things- things that validated his ministry – but he was now exhausted.  After hearing of threats on his life, Elijah ran over 100 miles into the desert where he sat under a tree asking God to take his life. He had had enough. But God was not finished living in and through Elijah and so he was revived with rest and food from the hand of an angel. Then, “Strengthened by that food, he traveled forty days and forty nights until he reached Horeb.”

Surely now after this very personal ministration by an angel, Elijah would be ready for a new ministry beginning. Instead we find him in a cave where God asks the haunting question, “What are you doing here, Elijah?” Wasn’t the presence of an angel enough to assure Elijah that God had been—and would continue to be—faithful?

Elijah was human just like we are. He was too tired, too afraid, too spent to go on. Perhaps he wondered if that angel was just a dream. Perhaps he wondered if his ministry was over. Perhaps he had forgotten the promises of God. And so he finds a cave.

God reveals Himself to Elijah in the gentlest of whispers, but then He begins His new message with these simple words: “Go back the way you came…” Get out of the cave, retrace your steps, do the job I have called you to do.

While caves can be dark and forbidding, they can also seem safe – away from the elements, far from the people who threaten (or merely disturb) us, distant from the unending call of responsibilities. But eventually we will hear God’s question: “What are you doing here?” And often the answer is the same as the one spoken to Elijah: “Go back the way you came.”

Question: Is God calling you to leave a cave in your life? Have you been running into safe caves and not into the arms of our loving Father?

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“For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.” (Hebrews 4:12)

Have you experienced a prod from God while reading the Bible?

“God loves a cheerful giver.” (2 Corinthians 9:7)

Tap, tap.

“If I had cherished sin in my heart, the Lord would not have listened.” (Psalm 66:18).

Poke.

“But if you do not forgive men their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.” (Matthew 6:15)

Nudge, nudge.

The Bible isn’t merely a classic ancient text that has stood the test of time; it is more than a masterpiece of literature and wisdom. God’s word is alive.

When I read the Bible in a spirit of readiness to hear God speak, He does. Words leap off the page as if they were written for me alone. Conviction burns through the fog of my denial and goes straight to my heart. God’s word is living and actively engages the one who reads it.

It comforts: “The LORD is close to the brokenhearted.” (Psalm 34:18)

It instructs: “Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.” (Romans 12:12)

It motivates: “Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature with its passions and desires. Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit.” (Galatians 5:24-25)

And it encourages: “Because of the LORD’s great love we are not consumed, for His compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness.” (Lamentations 3:23-24)

The God of the Universe is waiting to speak to you. Open the Bible today and listen to what He has to say.

Thank you Almighty God that You have given us the Bible – Your word – and that it is living and active. Help me to daily read and listen to what you say.  Amen.

Questions: When has God’s word come alive for you? How can we use the Bible to test the attitudes of our hearts?

“Today, if you hear His voice, do not harden your hearts as you did in the rebellion.” (Hebrews 3:15)

“Seize the day.”

“There’s no time like the present.”

“Today is the first day of the rest of your life.”

You’ve heard it before, from ancient philosophers to modern day motivational speakers, the call to make the most of the present is all around us. So also is the urge within us to procrastinate. The weakness of our will, the laziness of our flesh, the fickleness of our hearts all say, tomorrow.

Do you realize that every time we say, “tomorrow” when we hear God whisper to our hearts, we are actually hardening our hearts against Him?

·    Every time we fail to respond to God’s urging it gets harder to hear Him.

·    Every time we put off doing what He asks, our hearts get more resistant to doing His will.

·    Every time we choose to listen to the lie that there will always be time to follow God tomorrow, the fact that we’ll ever seek God becomes a little less likely.

When the writer of Hebrews uses the word “Today” repeatedly (3:7; 3:13; 3:15; 4:7) – capitalizing it where ever it appears –he is pointing out the urgency of responding to God when He speaks.

“See to it, brothers, that none of you has a sinful, unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God. But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called Today, so that none of you may be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness.” (Hebrews 3:12, 13)

Paul too, writes, “I tell you, now is the time of God’s favour, now is the day of salvation.” (2 Corinthians 6:2)

Let us heed God’s voice. Today.

Heavenly Father, thank you that You have called me to be Your child. Help me to listen for Your voice, to believe what You say and to follow Your commands, today and every day. Amen.

Questions: Why is it so important to follow God today? If resisting God hardens our hearts, how does responding to God affect our hearts? How have you experienced this?

“I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you with my loving eye on you.” (Psalms 32:8)

Have you ever tried to find a building in a town you have never  visited before? Asking for directions from a citizen of that town can be frustrating. “Turn right at the red barn which is just down the road from the white store with a purple sign out front.”

Maps are helpful but reading them in the dark can be difficult. Modern Global Positioning Systems (GPS) found on many telephones and in cars usually take us to the correct address but even this unique  technological device occasionally errs.

The best method for finding a sought destination is when a friend takes us by the hand—or sits in the car with us—and personally leads us to where we need to go.

The Israelites found themselves traveling into new territory. They had left the familiar and were about to set out for the land promised to them by God. There was no map or GPS, but God did give direction:

“When you see the ark of the covenant of the Lord your God carried by the priests, set out from where you are and follow it… that you may be able to know the way you must go, for you have not passed this way before.” (Joshua 3:3 & 4)

The ark of the covenant represented the presence of God to these people. Today Christians have God’s Holy Spirit within and the written Word, the Bible, to give guidance as we travel ways we have not passed before.

Our friends Tom and Sue are following God into new and exciting challenges of ministry. In recent years they have had opportunities to be living witnesses in unimaginable places in the world in response to God’s call. And then came a heart attack. Although doctors have said Tom is now well recovered, is it still possible to follow God? Had they misheard God’s call? What now?

When we find ourselves on paths new and challenging, the words to Tom and Sue, and to all of us, are found in God’s original instructions, paraphrased here, “Set out from where you are and follow Me.”

Question: What resources has God given us to provide reliable directions for our life?

“As Goliath moved closer to attack, David quickly ran out to meet him.” 1 Samuel 17:48

During training exercises, the green lieutenant was driving down a muddy back road. He encountered another car stuck in the mud with a red-faced colonel at the wheel. “Your jeep stuck, sir?” asked the lieutenant as he pulled alongside.”Nope,” replied the colonel, coming over and handing him the keys. “Yours is.”

Now that story might give you a chuckle, but isn’t that the way most people want to handle their problems, but handing the keys to someone else? By nature we neither want to admit that something was our fault nor do we want to take the imitative and responsibility to fix it. Our tendency is to run from it and hand it off to someone else to solve.

One of the fundamental principles of sailing is that when you get into a storm, head into the wind. If you run from it, you will be caught from behind. If you turn sideways, you will capsize. But, by meeting it head on, you have the best chance to ride out the storm and overcome it.

Life is that way. We will never conquer our fears, sins, problems, the giants in our lives by running away. Those giants will always be there just like Goliath was there every day taunting, challenging, badgering. The only way that we can overcome and conquer the giants in our lives is to do as little David the shepherd boy did. He quickly ran out and faced his giant. So we must face our problems. Face your giant. Acknowledge it and address it. Only by facing the giant can we overcome.

But there is more for you between facing your giants and personal victory. We have to turn from facing to focusing. Don’t focus on the giants … focus on God. The miracle of overcoming giants is to trust in the Lord … focus on Him!

Trust in the LORD with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding. Seek His will in all you do, and He will show you which path to take.

Face your giants, rather than running from them, but then focus not on your problem but rather focus on God. With that formula for dealing with life’s problems, we can overcome anything that we may face in life. Just remember to focus on God in all times, in all situations and in all ways.

Question: What “giants” are you facing right now?

“Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct thy paths” Proverbs 3:5-6, KJV

A young seminary graduate came to see me while he was investigating various possibilities of Christian service. In particular, he had come to discuss the ministry of Campus Crusade.

“In what way do you expect God to reveal His place of service for you?” I asked him.

“I’m following the ‘closed-door policy,’” he replied.” A few months ago I began to investigate several opportunities for Christian service. The Lord has now closed the door on all but two, one of which is Campus Crusade. If the door to accept a call to a particular church closes, I’ll know that God wants me in Campus Crusade.”

Many sincere Christians follow this method – often with most unsatisfactory and frustrating results. God does sometimes use closed doors in the life of a Spirit-controlled Christian, as the apostle Paul experienced on different occasions, but generally one does not discover God’s perfect will through a careless “hit-or-miss” attitude that ignores a careful evaluation of all the issues.

Such an approach is illogical because it allows elements of chance to influence a decision rather than a careful, intelligent, prayerful evaluation of all the factors involved. It is unscriptural in that it fails to employ the God-given faculties of reason that are controlled by the Holy Spirit.

Why not follow the “open-door policy” of Proverbs 3:5-6, trusting God for His clear direction? This is God’s provision for supernatural living.

Question: Do you need God’s guidance in a particular area of your life? Have you asked Him to guide you?

“Pilate wrote a sign and put it on the cross. It read: JESUS OF NAZARETH, THE KING OF THE JEWS.” John 19:19

The framer of our destiny is familiar with our denseness. God knows we sometimes miss the signs. Maybe that’s why he has given us so many. The rainbow after the flood signifies God’s covenant. Circumcision identifies God’s chosen, and the stars portray the size of his family. Even today, we see signs in the New Testament church. Communion is a sign of his death, and baptism is a sign of our spiritual birth. Each of these signs symbolizes a greater spiritual truth.

The most poignant sign, however, was found on the cross. A trilingual, hand-painted, Roman-commissioned sign.

Every passerby could read the sign, for every passerby could read Hebrew, Latin, or Greek—the three great languages of the ancient world. “Hebrew was the language of Israel, the language of religion; Latin the language of the Romans, the language of law and government; and Greek the language of Greece, the language of culture. Christ was declared king in them all.” God had a message for each. “Christ is king.” The message was the same, but the languages were different. Since Jesus was a king for all people, the message would be in the tongues of all people.

There is no language God will not speak. Which leads us to a delightful question. What language is he speaking to you? I’m not referring to an idiom or dialect but to the day-to-day drama of your life. God does speak, you know. He speaks to us in whatever language we will understand.

There are times he speaks the “language of abundance.” Is your tummy full? Are your bills paid? Got a little jingle in your pocket? Don’t be so proud of what you have that you miss what you need to hear.

Are you hearing the “language of need”? Or how about the “language of affliction”? Talk about an idiom we avoid. But you and I both know how clearly God speaks in hospital hallways and sickbeds.

God speaks all languages—including yours. Has he not said, “I will … teach you in the way you should go” (Psalm 32:8)? Are we not urged to “receive instruction from His mouth” (Job 22:22, NASB)? What language is God speaking to you?

And aren’t you glad he is speaking? Aren’t you grateful that he cares enough to talk? Isn’t it good to know that “the LORD tells his secrets to those who respect him” (Psalm 25:14, NCV)?

Think a word of thanks to him would be appropriate? And while you’re at it, ask him if you might be missing any signs he is sending your way.

From He Chose the Nails
Copyright W Publishing Group, 2001, Max Lucado
Used by permission

Question: What has God been speaking to you lately that you’ve been reluctant to hear or put into practice?

About the Author: Max Lucado