He Knows What We Need

At the same time, the Spirit also helps us in our weakness, because we don’t know how to pray for what we need. But the Spirit intercedes along with our groans that cannot be expressed in words. The one who searches our hearts knows what the Spirit has in mind. The Spirit intercedes for God’s people the way God wants him to. [Romans 8:26-27 (GW)]

Thank you, Lord, for hearing my prayers. Help me remember to pray the problem and not my version of the solution. Keep me mindful that not all difficulties will be resolved. May your Holy Spirit bring my prayers into harmony with your holy will, trusting that you alone know what is best.

 

For the Children

We ask God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through every kind of spiritual wisdom and insight. We ask this so that you will live the kind of lives that prove you belong to the Lord. Then you will want to please him in every way as you grow in producing every kind of good work by this knowledge about God. We ask him to strengthen you by his glorious might with all the power you need to patiently endure everything with joy. [Colossians 1:9-11 (GW)]

Let this be our prayer for the young people in our lives.

Asking Advice

Refuse good advice and watch your plans fail; take good counsel and watch them succeed. [Proverbs 15:22 (MSG)]

Usually, when I ask for advice, what I really want is someone to agree with me. Thank you, Lord, for reminding me that the purpose of advice is not to tell me that I’m right but to warn me when I might be wrong. Open my mind so that I seek advice not to reinforce my ideas but rather as a way to be introduced to new ideas and better solutions.

 

What a Friend We Have in Jesus

You are my friends if you obey my commandments. I don’t call you servants anymore, because a servant doesn’t know what his master is doing. But I’ve called you friends because I’ve made known to you everything that I’ve heard from my Father. [John 15:14-15 (GW)]

Friends share, friends confide, and friends listen to one another. Do I listen to Jesus? Do I want to know what is on His heart or do I only want to tell Him what is on mine? Am I so busy talking to him that He can’t get a word in edgewise? It’s time to let my best friend speak; prayer should be a dialogue and not a monologue!

 “What a Friend We Have in Jesus” [by Joseph M. Scriven]

What a friend we have in Jesus,
All our sins and griefs to bear!
What a privilege to carry
Everything to God in prayer!
Oh, what peace we often forfeit,
Oh, what needless pain we bear,
All because we do not carry
Everything to God in prayer!
Have we trials and temptations?
Is there trouble anywhere?
We should never be discouraged –
Take it to the Lord in prayer.
Can we find a friend so faithful,
Who will all our sorrows share?
Jesus knows our every weakness;
Take it to the Lord in prayer.

CONSOLE THE INCONSOLABLE

God blesses those who mourn, for they will be comforted. [Matthew 5:4 (NLT)]

We all prayed so hard but it wasn’t in your will. Why, O Lord, why? I know I have no right to question you, yet I can’t help but be distressed. It just doesn’t seem right; now a family is heartbroken! Help those who mourn to comprehend the incomprehensible and to accept the intolerable. Remind us all that suffering, sorrow and death go hand in hand with the joys of life. Please comfort those who grieve, ease the ache in their hearts, wipe the tears from their eyes and reassure them of your love.

Today, my friends, as you pray, please remember all those who mourn.

God’s riches, wisdom, and knowledge are so deep that it is impossible to explain his decisions or to understand his ways. [Romans 11:33 (GW)]

SUPPLEMENTS FOR OUR SOULS

Supplement your faith with a generous provision of moral excellence, and moral excellence with knowledge, and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with patient endurance, and patient endurance with godliness, and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love for everyone. [2 Peter 1:5b-7 (NLT)]

It’s certainly not enough to say we have faith; we must live our faith.

Faith and prayer are the vitamins of the soul; man cannot live in health without them. [Mahalia Jackson]