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“Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus” (1 Thessalonians 5:16-17).

While we want to be people of prayer, many of us find it difficult to keep our oft-repeated promise: “I’ll be praying for you.” The more disciplined among us maintain a prayer list or notebook and faithfully record both requests and answers. Unfortunately, the practice of prayer is one that frequently slips through the cracks of our busy lives.

Recently a friend wrote that every time she breaks an egg into a frying pan, she recalls a bit of egg-cooking advice I gave her over 50 years ago…and she prays for me! That simple prayer reminder spurred me to creative thinking about my own prayer life. While I take time daily to be quiet with God, pray for friends and family and urgent needs that have come to my attention, perhaps it is also time to use my friend’s “egg method.”

When I fold clothes fresh from the dryer, I often think about my elderly friend, June, who meticulously folded every item of clothing and linen when we stayed in her home. Ah, a perfect time to bring her now frail body before the Great Physician. Many years ago another friend gave me a time saving hint about ironing shirts—now I pray for this friend as my iron glides over my husband’s shirts. The newspaper becomes another prayer journal. As I read of rebel attacks, over-populated refugee camps, natural disasters in far off countries, I bring these people to the only true peacemaker.

I am making it a habit to slowly and carefully look at the pictures of a woman living under a ragged canvas tarp or a child listlessly leaning on his mother’s shoulder. Bob Pierce, the founder of World Vision, wrote these words inside the cover of his Bible: “Let my heart be broken by the things that break the heart of God.”

Whether everyday acts that remind us of friends, or news reports of needs far too vast for me to imagine their solutions, God has called me to be a person of prayer.

Jesus, I imagine You not only getting away to mountainsides for private conversations with the God of the universe, but also maintaining a daily “prayer” dialogue with the One you loved. Help me do the same.

Questions: What “prayer prompts” do you use?  How do these help you stay in relationship with God?

Feeling pressure to be perfect? Take this study.

“Then Samuel said speak for your servant is listening” (1Samuel 3:10).

Have you taken time today to do just that with God’s Word?

Or let me back up a bit and ask the first question that comes to mind.

As you meet with the Lord, do you pray and ask Him to speak to you through His Word, to teach you, to reveal to you what it is He wants you to understand?
Do you come with an open heart and listening ears?

You see, we often come bounding into our devotional time with the text or chapters at hand and read through them, check off that we’ve completed our “to do” list, and we’re done with our scripture reading and “quiet time” for the day.  Then we continue on our merry way without benefit of having that Word, that truth, poured into our beings.

So, may I offer these suggestions?

Open the Word and your journal. Read a portion of scripture, perchance it will be only a verse or two.  My greatest times of understanding have come in chewing over tiny morsels of God’s truth in my thinking time. Take some time to be still as you consider the Word, ponder its truth, mull over its meaning and reflect on its application in your life.  Ask God to reveal to you all He would have you understand. Use one of these as a heading to your journal:

God, what to you want me to know today?

What are You saying today?

What are You speaking to me?

What things have I learned?

Lord, what do you want to reveal to me today?

In what way should I apply this to my life today?

Then, write out the verses in your journal as you continue to inquire of God His help in your comprehension.

Consider, ponder, mull over, reflect….write back to Him what He shares with you.

May the gems of God’s truth shine in your hearts and reflect who the Lord is as you bring them to mind and apply them to your lives.

Lord, unstop our ears to hear You. Open our eyes to see You more clearly today.  Help our mind be keen and clear to drink in the Truth of who You are and what You would have us know and understand.  We give you our hearts today, open willing vessels to take in what You teach and use it for Your glory.

Questions: Tell us about how you spend your time with the Lord. What is a pre requisite for a successful quiet time?

About the Author Nancy O’Bosky

Are you struggling with anxiety? Facing loss and disappointment?

It’s a yoyo night. Up and down. Anxiety swallows my sleep. Hot milk, television, pacing. Where is Jesus? Back in bed I clench my eyelids shut, willing my mind to silence. Picturing my problem in my hand I ‘throw’ it out of bed. No good, my problem comes back glued to my hand, screaming, “Worry!”

Accusing voices begin. The enemy says, “You’ve failed, that child will never be whole.” I command Satan and demon powers to be silent in Jesus name only to hear the voice of self, blaming, “It’s your fault. You’re a lousy mother. There’s no remedy.”

Insomnia. What keeps your stomach churning, your eyes staring into midnight blackness? Is your teenager living on the streets? Is the stack of bills higher than the stack of money? Are you terrified over a cancer diagnosis? Is divorce the only solution to the fighting and heartache you live with daily?

Whatever the problem, we’ve got to find a way to leave anxiety with Jesus and go to sleep. The choice? Toss and turn or get up and pray. Giving Jesus the problem is the only way to peace and rest. When sleep eludes and distress overwhelms, these prayer methods work. Climb out of bed and apply these truths, they’ll help you too.

Midnight Methods to Defeat Worry

1.    Worship Jesus whether you feel like praising or not. Sing along with a praise tape. Watch worship videos on television. Meditate – think about – Jesus’ names. What do those names mean to you? For instance, Psalm 18:2: how is Jesus your ‘rock,’ your ‘fortress,’ or your ‘deliverer’? Praise him for the ways he’s rescued you in the past. Praise looks past circumstances and sees God. “I will praise you, O Lord, with all my heart; I will tell of all your wonders. I will be glad and rejoice in you; I will sing praise to your name, O Most High.” (Psalm 9:1-2, NIV)

2.    Can’t speak prayers? Write them. Writing helps us focus. Write the problem and your feelings then ‘give’ it to Jesus by placing it near his picture or burning it as an offering. Thank him. He hears you and will answer. “This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. And if we know that he hears us – whatever we ask – we know that we have what we asked of him.” (1 John 5:14 -15, NIV)

3.    Write down positive traits of the problem person. Thank God for their strengths and past answers to prayer. Praising positives refocuses your trust in God. “He has delivered us from such a deadly peril, and He will deliver us. On Him we have set our hope that He will continue to deliver us….” (2 Corinthians 1:10-11, NIV).

4.    Quote encouraging scripture. If you’ve journaled scripture promises speak them to God claiming them as yours. “You said, Lord, ‘He sent forth His word and healed them; He rescued them from the grave’ ” (Psalm 107:20, NIV). You don’t have a promise journal? Begin one tonight.

Worship, journal or pray and then go to bed. Faith trusts God’s character and his Word. As Pastor Ron Mehl says, “God works the night shift.”

Questions: What are some of the things that keep you awake at night? What has helped you when you are kept awake at night with troubled thoughts?

About the Author Petey Prater (La Von)

Join us for our Daily Devotional Chat today in our Women’s Chatroom at 10:30 am EDT.

“Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus”  (1 Thessalonians 5:16-17).

While we want to be people of prayer, many of us find it difficult to keep our oft-repeated promise: “I’ll be praying for you.” The more disciplined among us maintain a prayer list or notebook and faithfully record both requests and answers. Unfortunately, the practice of prayer is one that frequently slips through the cracks of our busy lives.

Recently a friend wrote that every time she breaks an egg into a frying pan, she recalls a bit of egg-cooking advice I gave her over 50 years ago…and she prays for me! That simple prayer reminder spurred me to creative thinking about my own prayer life. While I take time daily to be quiet with God, pray for friends and family and urgent needs that have come to my attention, perhaps it is also time to use my friend’s “egg method.”

When I fold clothes fresh from the dryer, I often think about my elderly friend, June, who meticulously folded every item of clothing and linen when we stayed in her home. Ah, a perfect time to bring her now frail body before the Great Physician. Many years ago another friend gave me a timesaving hint about ironing shirts—now I pray for this friend as my iron glides over my husband’s shirts. The newspaper becomes another prayer journal. As I read of rebel attacks, over-populated refugee camps, natural disasters in far off countries, I bring these people to the only true peacemaker.

I am making it a habit to slowly and carefully look at the pictures of a woman living under a ragged canvas tarp or a child listlessly leaning on his mother’s shoulder. Bob Pierce, the founder of World Vision, wrote these words inside the cover of his Bible: “Let my heart be broken by the things that break the heart of God.”

Whether everyday acts that remind us of friends, or news reports of needs far too vast for me to imagine their solutions, God has called me to be a person of prayer.

Jesus, I imagine You not only getting away to mountainsides for private conversations with the God of the universe, but also maintaining a daily “prayer” dialogue with the One you loved. Help me do the same.

Questions: What “prayer prompts” do you use?  How do these help you stay in relationship with God?

About the Author Marilyn Ehle

Daily audio podcast: A second daily devotional, What Will I Be Remembered For?, today on the Men’s Devotional Blog

Join us for our Daily Devotional Chat today in our Women’s Chatroom at 10:30 am EDT.

The LORD came and stood there, calling as at the other times, “Samuel! Samuel!”

“Then Samuel said speak for your servant is listening” (1Samuel 3:10).

Have you taken time today to do just that with God’s Word?

Or let me back up a bit and ask the first question that comes to mind.

As you meet with the Lord, do you pray and ask Him to speak to you through His Word, to teach you, to reveal to you what it is He wants you to understand?

Do you come with an open heart and listening ears?

You see, we often come bounding into our devotional time with the text or chapters at hand and read through them, check off that we’ve completed our “to do” list, and we’re done with our scripture reading and “quiet time” for the day.  Then we continue on our merry way without benefit of having that Word, that truth, poured into our beings.

So, may I offer these suggestions?

Open the Word and your journal.  Read a portion of scripture, perchance it will be only a verse or two.  My greatest times of understanding have come in chewing over tiny morsels of God’s truth in my thinking time. Take some time to be still as you consider the Word, ponder its truth, mull over its meaning and reflect on its application in your life.  Ask God to reveal to you all He would have you understand. Use one of these as a heading to your journal:

God, what to you want me to know today?

What are You saying today?

What are You speaking to me?

What things have I learned?

Lord, what do you want to reveal to me today?

In what way should I apply this to my life today?

Then, write out the verses in your journal as you continue to inquire of God His help in your comprehension.

Consider, ponder, mull over, reflect….write back to Him what He shares with you.

May the gems of God’s truth shine in your hearts and reflect who the Lord is as you bring them to mind and apply them to your lives.

Lord, unstop our ears to hear You. Open our eyes to see You more clearly today.  Help our mind be keen and clear to drink in the Truth of who You are and what You would have us know and understand.  We give you our hearts today, open willing vessels to take in what You teach and use it for Your glory.

Questions: How do you generally spend your quiet time? Do you come with an open heart and listening ears?

About the Author Nancy O’Bosky

Daily audio podcast: A second daily devotional, A Passion to Know Him, today on the Men’s Devotional Blog

Sometimes when I feel discouraged, I pull one of my journals from the small bookcase in my room, get comfy on my bed and take a trip to the past. I might read about the time I asked God to send me and a friend $5 for lunch, and He did. We worked as maids that summer and were totally broke. I was so young in my faith then; I hoped I had prayed correctly. I remember being astounded that God had heard my prayers and had answered so specifically. (Through a tip left in a room we cleaned just before lunch, God actually provided more than $5.)

Or I might pick the journal containing the account of my trip to Switzerland two years ago. Traveling to that country had been a dream of mine, and God had made it possible. It was a journalistic business trip, but one day during some free time a new Swiss friend took me to the top of an Alp. I remember standing atop Mount Rigi, looking at a snow-covered wooden cross erected long ago, and feeling so amazed that God had blessed me with this trip.

Journals remind us of God’s faithfulness

Although I’ve recorded many of God’s faithful acts to me, I haven’t captured every one. But I’ve penned enough to see a pattern: God loves me and He is always faithful. Seeing the proof on my pages encourages me and gives me hope when I’m feeling stuck.

God’s Word is His journal to us

There’s another book I turn to when I’m wondering if God is still working in my life: the Bible. Sometimes when I read God’s Word, I feel like I’m reading His journal. Time after time, God urges His people not to forget Him. “Remember Me,” His pages plead, “and remember I love you.” Frederick Buechner, in his book A Room Called Remember, describes remembering as “a searching and finding.” When we search the past, we find examples of God’s faithfulness to us, and this brings hope that He will continue to be loving and gracious in the future.

Our burdens tend to overwhelm

But it isn’t always easy to remember. I often walk bent over by the burdens I carry, unable to see the past or the future. I get hypnotized by my daily routine, and all I can see are present circumstances.

To help His children remember His love and past faithfulness, God often commanded them to set up memorials. When He stopped the flow of the flooded Jordan River so the Israelites could pass through into the promised land, God ordered them to gather stones from the river bed and place them near their camp. “These stones are to be a memorial to the people of Israel forever,” Joshua said. “For the Lord your God dried up the Jordan before you . . . . He did this so that all the peoples of the earth might know that the hand of the Lord is powerful and so that you might always fear the Lord your God” (Joshua 4:7,23,24).

God’s memorials

God’s “journal” recounts many more examples of His memorials. “The Lord Jesus, on the night He was betrayed, took bread,” the apostle Paul explained, “and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, “This is My body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of Me” (1 Corinthians 11:23,24; NIV). When we celebrate the Lord’s Supper, we are to remember Him and why He came: “For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son . . . .” (John 3:16).

And along with memorials from God’s Word, we can bolster our memories with material from our own lives. In Kindred Spirit Magazine, David Merkh, a seminary professor in Brazil, writes about one of his family’s memorials: an oil plug. “As I took the old, rusty plug from the knick-knack shelf, the memories returned. As rookie missionaries in Brazil, we had just completed a retreat. . . . Driving down a deserted road, our engine clunked, then ground to a halt. We discovered an oily trail snaking all the way back to the site of the retreat. . . . A mechanic had changed the oil but failed to secure the plug. It was gone.

“When we reached town,” he continues, “we needed to replace the plug. We found a store, where the manager told us, ‘Sorry, but I haven’t got that part.’ Back in the street, a voice called from behind. Reaching in the back of his car, a man pulled out a familiar, rusted old plug. ‘I live far out of town. I saw this plug on the road. I don’t know why, but I threw it in my car and forgot about it.’

“Not only had we found a replacement part, we found our missing plug. Once again, God reminded me of His faithfulness.”

Memorials don’t have to be tangible items. One family remembers God’s faithfulness to them by celebrating every year on the date their mom was healed of cancer. Some people commemorate the day they began their journey with Christ. A young woman I know loves to spend time with God in His great outdoors, and she keeps a distinctive rock from each especially meaningful encounter.

Biblical memorials

God knew we would need memorials, whatever the type, to remind us of His love for us, because His people have had memory troubles throughout history. A few hundred years after the Israelites entered the promised land, they began to forget God. Through a prophet named Micah, God sent them a message that could be summed up in one phrase: “My people, . . . remember your journey” (Micah 6:5).

The journey God mentioned took the Israelites from Shittim to Gilgal – across the Jordan into the promised land. But more than simply remembering the literal journey, God wanted His people to remember all that this journey symbolized.

The Hebrew word “Shittim” means “acacia,” a thorny tree, a painful place. The Hebrew word “Gilgal” means “rolling.” And concerning the Jordan River, according to The Zondervan Pictorial Bible Atlas, it is “the lowest depression on earth.”

God took His people from a painful place, through the lowest depression on earth, and led them into the land flowing with milk and honey. When they were in danger of forgetting His faithfulness, He tenderly called them, “My people,” and exhorted them to remember. And He did it all because He loved them.

God hasn’t changed, and neither has His message to His people. Remember your journey. Remember the times that God has worked in your life, intervened on your behalf or just met with you in a special way. Take a fresh look at the monuments of His love in your life. Whether you’re in a painful place or a promised land, remember that God has led you safe thus far, and He is with you now. And may your memories point you to His love and strengthen you to take the next step on your journey.

This article appeared originally in Worldwide Challenge, the award-winning magazine of Campus Crusade for Christ.

http://thelife.com/landing/experience.html

The verses recorded in my journal shouted a common theme.

“What do you have that you did not receive? And if you did receive it, why do you boast as though you did not?” (1 Corinthians 4:7)

“Your boasting is not good.” (1 Corinthians 5:6a)

“Knowledge puffs up, but love builds up.” (1 Corinthians 8:1b)

“[Love] does not boast” (1 Corinthians 13:4b)

Probably none of us would have a hard time explaining what boasting is, but the real question is: Why do I boast?

Is it an insecurity that makes it necessary to promote myself in order to convince others of my worth? Is it a belief that assumes credit for the things in my life – my hard work, my education and my sacrifice are the reasons for the good things I have?

Boasting is self-centered, promotes self and disregards others. Thus it prevents us from loving, because love is selfless.

Only when we admit that boasting is sin, identify its source and acknowledge that boasting is in fact diametrically opposed to love, will we be able to move beyond boasting and begin to truly love.

And Jesus is our greatest example of love. Although He was God Himself, He became a human being to serve us and ultimately die for us because of His love.

Therefore we don’t need to boast in order to boost our sense of worth. We are of great value to God; He loves us unconditionally!

Any boasting we do should be boasting in the Lord as He is at work in and through us and our acomplishments. (1 Cor. 1:31)
Nor should we be proud of our accomplishments. The Bible says that regardless of the good things I do, without love, I am nothing (1 Corinthians 13:2) and I gain nothing (1 Corinthians 13:3).

Therefore, let us leave boasting in the past and instead this year, focus on love.

~Gracious God, forgive my boasting and my pride. Help me instead to love, the way You love.

Why does true love not boast? What is the source of boasting in your life?