Are you discouraged because you have not received “anything from the Lord” as it relates to your prayer life? When Jesus’ disciples were discouraged by their inability to get answers to prayer and so were ineffective in helping others, He encouraged them by pointing out that even faith the size of a mustard seed could move mountains. The key to faith that works is the foundation on which it is placed.
Base your faith in prayer on God’s Word. Ask Him to give you a promise that applies specifically to your situation. Then claim it persistently in prayer until God keeps His Word.
O God, my heart is steadfast.
The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The Lord is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?
You will keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on You, because he trusts in You. § He will not be afraid of evil tidings; his heart is steadfast, trusting in the Lord. His heart is established; he will not be afraid, until he sees his desire upon his enemies.
Whenever I am afraid, I will trust in You. § In the time of trouble He shall hide me in His pavilion; in the secret place of His tabernacle He shall hide me; He shall set me high upon a rock. And now my head shall be lifted up above my enemies all around me; therefore I will offer sacrifices of joy in His tabernacle; I will sing, yes, I will sing praises to the Lord.
May the God of all grace, who called us to His eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after you have suffered a while, perfect, establish, strengthen, and settle you. To Him be the glory and the dominion forever and ever.
Ps. 108:1; 27:1; Isa. 26:3; Ps. 112:7–8; 56:3; 27:5–6; 1 Peter 5:10–11
The Lord has established His throne in heaven,
and His kingdom rules over all.
The lot is cast into the lap, but its every decision is from the Lord. § If there is calamity in a city, will not the Lord have done it?
I am the Lord, and there is no other; there is no God besides Me. I will gird you, though you have not known Me, that they may know from the rising of the sun to its setting that there is none besides Me. I am the Lord, and there is no other; I form the light and create darkness, I make peace and create calamity; I, the Lord, do all these things.
He does according to His will in the army of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth. No one can restrain His hand or say to Him, “What have You done?” § If God is for us, who can be against us?
He must reign till He has put all enemies under His feet. § Do not fear, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.
Ps. 103:19; Prov. 16:33; Amos 3:6; Isa. 45:5–7;
Dan. 4:35; Rom. 8:31; 1 Cor. 15:25; Luke 12:32
Are you afraid of hard work? Often we tend to quit a job before it is finished because the job is too hard or we lose interest or we receive a better offer somewhere else. The Creator has built into each of us the capacity for tremendous satisfaction in work that is not only finished but well done. If we quit before we are finished, we miss out on the satisfaction that comes with completion.
Sometimes we think of not having to work as a luxury reserved for the lifestyles of the rich and famous. It is actually a deprivation! One reason unemployment is so devastating is because when a person is out of work, that person is outside the Creator’s design for living and therefore denied the satisfaction that comes from working and from completing a job.
So…pray for those who do not have jobs, and make sure you finish yours!
Of His fullness we have all received, and grace for grace.
This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. § Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of God!
His Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things. § If children, then heirs—heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified together.
I and My Father are one. § The Father is in Me, and I in Him. § My Father and your Father, and … My God and your God. § I in them, and You in Me; that they may be made perfect in one.
The church, which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all.
Having these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.
John 1:16; Matt. 17:5; 1 John 3:1; Heb. 1:2; Rom. 8:17;
John 10:30; 10:38; 20:17; 17:23; Eph. 1:22–23; 2 Cor. 7:1
A servant is not greater than his master;
nor is he who is sent greater than he who sent him.
If you know these things, blessed are you if you do them.
There was … a dispute among them, as to which of them should be considered the greatest. And He said to them, “The kings of the Gentiles exercise lordship over them, and those who exercise authority over them are called ‘benefactors.’ But not so among you; on the contrary, he who is greatest among you, let him be as the younger, and he who governs as he who serves. For who is greater, he who sits at the table, or he who serves? Is it not he who sits at the table? Yet I am among you as the One who serves.” § The Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.
Jesus … rose from supper and laid aside His garments, took a towel and girded Himself. After that, He poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples’ feet, and to wipe them with the towel with which He was girded.
John 13:16–17; Luke 22:24–27; Matt. 20:28; John 13:3–5
For God so loved you that He gave His Son, His only Son, the Son Whom He loved – He gave heaven’s most precious Treasure – He gave everything He had – in order to offer you eternal life.
Do you doubt the love of God? Why? Because of the bad things that He allows to happen to good people? Because of the unfairness and injustice and unkindness and misery and suffering and pain and cruelty of life? Some questions we won’t have answers for until we get to heaven. But one thing we can know for sure is that God loves you and me. How do we know that? We know it by just looking at the cross where He proved His love for the world that mocks Him and ignores Him and despises Him and scorns Him and rejects Him.
We look at the cross and see “I love you” written in red – the red of Christ’s blood.
