Praying a Confident Prayer

Pray With Confidence by Anne Graham Lotz, The Daniel Prayer

Editor's note: Exciting news! Beloved author Anne Graham Lotz, called the “best preacher in the family” by her father Reverand Billy Graham, was just named the new chairman of the National Day of Prayer Task Force and will lead the activities and planning for next year’s event. Lotz’s brand-new book, The Daniel Prayer is based off the prayer of Daniel, who prayed on behalf of his nation, Judah, which had come under God’s judgment. Today, Lotz continues to utilize the Daniel prayer model to encourage, equip and engage readers in effective, passionate prayer. “Nothing will turn our nation around except prayer. Heartfelt, desperate prayer. Prayer where the pray-ers rend their hearts, return to the Cross, and repent of personal and national sin. Only prayer that moves Heaven can change a nation. And that’s the Daniel Prayer,” said Lotz.    Enjoy this exclusive excerpt from The Daniel Prayer and come pray with us this bold prayer today!

A Prayer That Is Confident Did I not tell you that if you believed, you would see the glory of God? — John 11:40 Great God of Creation, Lord of the Universe, the God who parted the Red Sea, You are the God of the impossible who makes a way when there is no way. We worship You as our God. We exalt You as One whose Name is above every name. You have no equal. You stand in the solitude of Yourself. Your righteous right hand hung the stars in space, shattered Your enemies, and holds us, Your children by covenant, safe and secure. Who is like You — majestic in holiness, awesome in glory, working wonders?  By Your word everything was made that is in heaven or on earth or under the earth. You formed us from the dust of the ground, breathed Your breath into us, and gave us life. When we disobeyed, rebelled against You, and lived in bondage to sin, You sent the Deliverer to give His life to set us free. By Your great power, You raised Him from the dead so that through faith in Him we are rescued from the dominion of darkness and brought into the kingdom of Your light and life and love.  We worship You as One who maintains Your faithfulness to all generations. Just as You were faithful to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; to Moses, Jeremiah, and Daniel; to Peter, Paul, and John; You will be faithful to us and to our children and to our grandchildren. You can’t be less than Yourself, and You are faithful. You keep Your “covenant of love to a thousand generations of those who love [You] and keep [Your] commandments.”  And we praise You as One who is never wrong. You are always right. As we witness unspeakable disasters, atrocities and evil, we are confident that the Judge of all the earth does right. And will do right.  All the time. We know Your timing is perfect. If we see no outward evidence that You are intervening in the affairs of men, we trust You. If we see no sparks of revival in the church, we trust You. If we see no cessation in hostilities and persecutions against those who are called by Your Name, we trust You. If we do not receive an answer to our prayers when we want it, the way we want it, how we want it, we trust You. We are confident that Your greatness and power are the same yesterday in Creation, in the Exodus, in Daniel’s day, as it is in our day, as it will be at the end of time. Your greatness has not been diluted or depleted over the ages. You cannot be more great than You are. You are the All-Mighty God. And we worship You. Thank You, loving Lord, for being a covenant-making, covenant-keeping God. Thank You that through the broken body and shed blood of Your Son and our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, we can enter into a covenant with You that will never be broken. Thank You that we are Yours, and You are ours... forever. Thank You for the confidence that our covenant relationship with You gives us as we approach You in prayer. You have said that You are holy, high and lifted up, but that You are moved to come down — to dwell — with those who are contrite and lowly in spirit. We believe You! You have said that You will revive the heart of the contrite. We believe You! You have said that if we repent of our sin, times of refreshing will come. We believe You!  So now we want to honestly confess that in our previous prayers we have not been focused on You. We have focused on our circumstances and have therefore been defeated. We have focused on others and have therefore been deluded. We have focused on ourselves and have therefore been deceived. We compare ourselves with others so that our perception of who we really are therefore is distorted. We are so sorry. We turn to You now and ask that You shine the light of Your truth into our hearts and what we feel and into our minds and what we think so that we see ourselves as You see us, and truly repent of our sin. Strip us, most Holy Lord, of any pride or self-righteousness or judgment as we pray for others. Teach us to first take the plank out of our own eye before trying to remove the splinter in someone else’s eye. We long for You to send revival to the hearts of Your people. Let it begin with us. Teach us to pray in such a way that Heaven is moved and hearts are changed. We pray in the name of the One who was so confident in Your Word that when facing the threats of His accusers, He issued a solemn warning that in the future, their roles would be reversed. He would be their Judge. They would see Him sitting at Your right hand and coming back on the clouds of glory...  We pray in the name of the One who was so confident in You that He placed His very life in Your hands, and then refused to draw the next breath.  We pray in the name of JESUS. For the glory of Your Name. Amen. Scripture References Isaiah 41:10. Exodus 15:11. Psalm 33:6. Genesis 2:7. Colossians 1:13. Psalm 89:1. Deuteronomy 7:9. Genesis 18:25. Isaiah 57:15. Isaiah 57:15. Acts 3:19. Matthew 7:1–5. Matthew 26:64. Luke 23:46. Excerpted with permission from The Daniel Prayer by Anne Graham Lotz, copyright Anne Graham Lotz. Published by Zondervan.

How To Finish Well

How to Finish Well NICKI KOZIARZ

“And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you.” 1 Peter 5:10 (ESV)

Do you finish things well? 

Me? Well, I start things off really strong but when things get hard, don’t go according to plan or become seemingly impossible, I tend to want to give up! 

A few years ago my husband trained for months for his second marathon. His goal was to qualify for the Boston Marathon — an elite goal for runners. But in order to qualify, he needed to maintain a very specific pace during the entire racecourse.

On race morning, my three girls and I headed to the finish line to show our support. We had posters, cowbells and pom-poms ready to cheer!

Throughout the morning I was anxiously looking at my watch, knowing his needed pace time and hoping he would make his goal. 

But the qualifying pace time for Boston appeared on the clock and there was no sign of him. I was so worried about his feelings of disappointment; he had trained so hard. 

About five minutes later we saw him turn the corner, wearing his bright orange shirt and an exhausted smile.

My girls and I became the loudest cheering squad at the marathon finish line. The last few yards of the race, we all got behind him and cheered him on as he crossed under the finish line banner. 

Even though my husband didn't win or even meet his goal, he had accomplished something great. It was a powerful moment in his life.

He finished well.

In everything we do, whether we choose it or not, there is a finish point: 

The day the last baby leaves the nest.
The moment we pack up our desk from a job.
The time we put a completed check mark next to a goal or a to-do.

But how we finish our seasons is important. 

If we quit before it’s finished or run defeated to the finish line, we might miss the strength that awaits us. 

Beneath the layers of fear when a season is ending, or not going according to our plans, is this thread of courage from our God. God sees our efforts and hard work in each season as He prepares us to move to the next.

But how we finish this assignment might determine our next assignment.

Our key verse offers each of us a little hope, a little determination, a little strength to keep going: “And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you” (1 Peter 5:10).

You can overcome those temporary temptations to give in by the strength of God. Are you near a season of life that’s left you feeling discouraged? Do you want to just give up and move on? 

If so, I totally understand what that’s like.

While it’s tempting to quit before it’s finished, today I want to encourage you to lean into the faithfulness of God and … finish well.

Is there a hard conversation you need to have? 
God’s strength is with you.
Is there a physical weakness convincing you it’s over? 
God’s strength is with you.
Is there a financial limitation numbing your belief to press on? 
God’s strength is with you. 

Every assignment or season God calls us to offers an eternal perspective. And sometimes I have a hard time remembering this through my temporary thoughts. But as I’m holding onto our verse, I’m reminding my soul there is restoration, confirmation and strength coming my way … if I don’t give up.

About a year later my husband gave the marathon another go. And guess what? He did it. He qualified for and eventually ran his dream race, the Boston Marathon. Maybe there’s not a marathon ahead of us, but there is something great.

Lord, thank You for providing Your strength when I feel weak. Help me finish this assignment well, as You prepare me for the next. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

Verse for today

Love this

For God is working in you, giving you the desire and the power to do what pleases him.” (Philippians 2:13 NLT, second edition)

The Tame Lion

"Though your beginning was small, yet your latter end would increase abundantly" (Job 8:7 NKJV). One day I went to the zoo with my family, and as I walked past the lion cages, I realized something that fascinated me. The lions were extremely quiet. They were completely tame and domesticated. And when I noticed this, I received a revelation. I said to my husband, "This is what happens to many of us in the church. Jesus created us to be untamed, to be wild, to be undomesticated for the cause of the King and His Kingdom, but we get into the cage of religion and we start to assume this certain persona. We become safe, nice and domesticated." And then I heard Jesus tell me, "I did not give my life and rise again from the dead just so that you can live a nice, little, safe, comfortable, complacent, ordinary life. I called you to live a faith adventure. Your latter days can be greater than your former days, and the best is yet to come!" Jesus Christ is calling me and YOU onward to a faith-filled adventure!

The Battle Over Your prayers

We are not fighting against human beings but against the wicked spiritual forces in the heavenly world, the rulers, authorities, and cosmic powers of this dark age.” (Ephesians 6:12 TEV)

There is an unseen battle going on in a realm that we don’t even understand. We don’t see it. We don’t feel it. But there is a spiritual war in other dimensions between good and evil, between God and Satan, between angels and demons. 

And the fact is, you’re caught right in the middle. If you’re a child of God, Satan hates you. And he wants to mess you up.

The Bible tells us in Ephesians 6:12, “We are not fighting against human beings but against the wicked spiritual forces in the heavenly world, the rulers, authorities, and cosmic powers of this dark age” (TEV).

When you send up a prayer, there’s often a battle over how it’s going to be answered. While you’re in the waiting room, Satan starts throwing darts at you — the dart of doubt, the dart of discouragement, the dart of disappointment, the dart of delay, the dart of depression. The Bible says to be aware that he’s going to try to get you down.

The truth is, the Bible doesn’t tell us much about the spiritual warfare that’s going on behind your prayers. But we do get a glimpse of it in the book of Daniel. 

Daniel had a vision of an angel, who said, “Daniel, don’t be afraid. God has heard your prayers ever since the first day you decided to humble yourself in order to gain understanding. I have come in answer to your prayer. The [evil] angel prince of the kingdom of Persia opposed me for twenty-one days. Then Michael, one of the chief angels, came to help me, because I had been left there alone in Persia” (Daniel 10:12-13).

Are those the wildest verses you’ve ever seen? It says that Daniel had a prayer that wasn’t answered for a while, and he was starting to get discouraged. The angel showed up and said, “I’m here to give you the answer. We heard it from day one, but we’ve been in a battle over this, and it was such an intense battle that Michael the archangel had to come down and help me with this battle so I could come and tell you that the answer is on its way.”

The same thing is sometimes happening when you are waiting on your answer from God. You can’t know what kind of intense battle is going on over your prayer, but you can remember this: A delay is not a denial. When an answer to prayer is delayed, it doesn’t mean it’s not going to be answered. It just means God is fighting for you.

-Rick Warren

Perserverance

Trading Limits for Limitless by John Dickerson, from I Am Strong

So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal. — 2 Corinthians 4:18 The five Great Lakes hold 20 percent of the world’s fresh water. These are not ponds. They are oceanic in size — and the water they hold is cool, drinkable, and life-giving. While in high school, some friends and I took a day trip to one of these Great Lakes — Lake Michigan. We had heard about a sand dune, a small desert of soft beach sand that rolled on and on, eventually tumbling down to a scenic shore and remote stretch of waterfront. We decided to walk through the sand dune toward the lake. After a three-hour drive, we arrived at a park with a sign that mapped the way. We set off with a few coolers of food and a whole bunch of energy. Patches of grass poked through the sand when we began. Slowly the grass disappeared, giving way to the sand. If someone dropped you in that very spot, you might think you had landed in the vast Sahara or in Death Valley. But in fact, we stood less than one mile from the largest supply of fresh water in the world. The sand dunes were a spilling stack of hills and mounds, sculpted by wind and time. Each time we saw the top of a hill, we imagined Lake Michigan on the other side. And time after time, we would crest another hill, only to find more sand stretching out before us. Some hills were small, just ten or fifteen feet high. Others seemed like mountains, with little hills freckled across them. Carried along by a great hope that the lake lay over there some- where, we kept heading west. The soft sand slowed our steps, and our legs grew tired. But we trudged along. After ten or fifteen minutes, it started to get hot. We grew thirsty. And some from our little group began doubting that we were still heading in the right direction. Just when we all suspected this was indeed the Sahara — that we had been fooled, lied to, deceived in our faith — just then, a report echoed back from the front of the group. “Water!” the shout ricocheted back to us. We lifted our heavy feet and made a run for it. It’s quite a moment when you crest over the top of that final ridge. So many times, you have peaked over another sandy ledge, only to find more sand. But this time you rise over the edge to find a vast sea of cool, refreshing water. It laps against the sand in constant waves, small frothy whitecaps dancing on the midnight blue. Fresh water. And more of it than anywhere else in the world. In many ways, that journey through the dunes parallels our journey through this life on earth. It sometimes seems like we’ll never arrive in God’s Promised Land, where He will reunite us with lost loved ones, where He will heal our pains and illnesses once and for all, where every thirst will find satisfaction in His life-giving presence. Our journey sometimes seems so dry and hopeless. We wrestle with the temptation to give up on our faith that something greater awaits us over the hills. Our legs strain under the weight. We crest yet another hill to find, once again, more sand on the other side. And we wonder if the promises of Jesus are true. One of the great forgotten themes of Scripture is that God calls His believers “strangers,” “pilgrims,” “foreigners,” and “travelers.” Peter the apostle got this. He wrote a book to struggling and hurting believers. He did not encourage them that everything in their life circumstances would improve — if only they had enough faith. Instead, he encouraged them that everything here is temporary. He wrote, Set your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation [appearing] of Jesus Christ. — 1 Peter 1:13 My friends and I kept trudging through those dunes, not because we thought the burning sand was beautiful or comfortable, but because we had set our hope fully on Lake Michigan. Peter says that you can choose to “set your hope” — and not only to set it but to set it “fully.” We can choose to place our hope in Christ rather than in the shifting sands of circumstance. We are “foreigners here” in a world where Satan has control over many of the earth’s strategic resources (1 Peter 1:17). We are making our way to a better land, with “an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade” (1 Peter 1:4) And while we make our way through the dunes of this life, we are “shielded by God’s power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time” (1 Peter 1:5). We can find joy in the midst of our difficulty by fixing our hope and our eyes on the future deliverance we have in Christ: “In all this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials” (1 Peter 1:6). We continue clinging to our faith. We cling all the tighter as the suffering increases. We continue choosing God in the burning desert sands of life, trusting that He is leading us to the water. When we do that, our perseverance refines our eternal inner being, just as gold is refined by being melted down and then cooled (See 1 Peter 1:7). From Genesis to Revelation, God’s people in Scripture acknowledged that this world was not their home. Somehow many of us have lost that way of seeing reality. Maybe because we live in a wealthy society. Maybe because the people around tell us and assume that this world is it, the best it will get, home and heaven. But God encourages us to live like we’re headed to a better place. This world is not our heaven, our hope, or our home. We are making our way through the dunes of earth toward a better land with God. The life-giving waters of Lake Michigan offer us another lesson. My lakeward trudge led to a place where the dunes ended and the water began. It’s a lot like the place where our own limits end and God’s limitlessness begins. If my friends and I had given up in the sand, we never would have experienced Lake Michigan. Many Christians live their entire lives in the sand of their own limitations, getting as much pleasure, comfort, and security as they can find within the boundaries of their limited human capacity and comfort. God is teaching us that our thorns, our pains, and our disappointments can prod us past the edges of our own capability. Horrendous as our thorns in the flesh are, they have potential to become the agents that drive us out of the dunes of self-dependence. This is why Paul, as he looked back, could call his thorn a “gift.” If we will continue seeking God, our pains can drive us, hill after hill, ridge after ridge, toward the great, unlimited supply of God’s strength, refreshment, and living water for our lives. I pray that in your inner being, the place accessible only to you and God, you keep choosing to move beyond your limits toward the Limitless One. I pray that in your inner being, you keep stepping toward the refreshing, life-giving water. God knows your pain. And He does have plans, as you trust in Him, to fully heal you of your pain, to fully restore you and redeem whatever you have lost. Until then, you can journey toward His strength with great hope. With each step forward, we trade our limits for His limitless; we trade our inability for His capability; we exchange our pain for His healing, our weakness for heaven’s strength. Day by day, we clear hill after hill on our way to that place where our limits and sufferings end. And ahead, a great cloud of witnesses has gone before (See Hebrews 12:1). Sometimes, if I listen closely, I think I hear their shouts of joy echoing back this way. “Water!” Excerpted with permission from I Am Strong by John Dickerson, copyright Zondervan.

Life

God] brought me out into a spacious place; he rescued me because he delighted in me. Psalm 18:19

Edifying vs. Contentious Speech

Edifying vs. Contentious Speech by Dr. O.S. Hawkins, from The James Code

Editor’s Note —The James Code is dedicated to “those special and sacrificial pastors, their wives, and in most cases, their widows in Mission:Dignity who have given their lives to serving others so often in “out of the way places,” and who are now in their declining years. While in ministry they lived in church-owned homes and received smaller salaries, and now, in their retirement years, are in financial need. We are on a mission to bring them dignity, and it is an honor being Christ’s hand extended to them. All royalties from Dr. O.S. Hawkins' books The James Code, The Jesus Code, and The Joshua Code go to support these servants through Mission:Dignity.” (Learn more about Mission:Dignity at www.guidestone.org/missiondignity.) * * * Even so the tongue is a little member and boasts great things. See how great a forest a little fire kindles! And the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity. The tongue is so set among our members that it defiles the whole body, and sets on fire the course of nature; and it is set on fire by hell. For every kind of beast and bird, of reptile and creature of the sea, is tamed and has been tamed by mankind. But no man can tame the tongue. It is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison. — James 3:5-8 An Explanation Having spoken about the potential of the tongue to direct speech for the good, James then warned that the same tongue also has potential for evil. Words controlled by our Master can be directed in a positive way, but uncontrolled speech can be contentious and destructive like fire and poison. I distinctly remember two teachers during my formative school days. My English teacher was a strict disciplinarian. She was up in years, she had never been married, and she had devoted her whole life to instructing young people on the finer points of English grammar and literature. On one occasion, she asked me to stay a moment after class. Assuming I was in some sort of trouble, I did so with apprehension. I approached her desk after all the others had left the room. I could not believe what she said: “Son, you have character, and if you applied yourself in this class, you could be an A student.” She believed in me! In fact, that day she changed the way I thought about myself with her simple words of affirmation. The other teacher I well remember was one of my coaches. He sought to motivate by intimidation, ridicule, and vile words. His goal was to break us down. It didn’t work for many of us. More than one kid walked away from that team, head hanging, never to return. Our words can be controlled or contentious, can be directed in a positive manner or utterly destructive. An Illustration People living in Southern California who know the danger of ravaging brush fires driven by desert winds can readily identify with James’s words here: See how great a forest a little fire kindles! And the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity. The tongue is so set among our members that it defiles the whole body, and sets on fire the course of nature; and it is set on fire by hell. A little spark from a match has started more than one massive fire. Spreading faster and farther than we might ever imagine, that kind of fire destroys millions of dollars of timber and homes, leaving in its wake a scorched landscape. The tongue, James said, is like a fire. How many reputations have been ruined by a carelessly spoken word? The impact of our words spreads far and fast, especially in our digital age. A word tweeted in Dallas can be retweeted all over the world in seconds. Like a fire, that word can get out of control with lightning speed and do irreparable damage. Contentious speech is always destructive. Like a fire, our words can increase the burning and too often destroy relationships and reputations. James continued: For every kind of beast and bird, of reptile and creature of the sea, is tamed and has been tamed by mankind. But no man can tame the tongue. A few years ago while in the East African country of Kenya, I visited the African bush country. I will never forget seeing those proud lions in their natural habitat. It’s amazing to think that we have captured these great beasts and trained them to jump through rings of fire and sit on command. Seeing the giant elephants in their natural setting makes it even more difficult to believe that man has trained them to grab each other’s tails, march in unison, and stand up on their hind legs on a small box. We can train just about anything there is — except the tongue. No man can tame his own tongue — but Jesus can! Men can tame and train animals, but it takes a supernatural act of God to tame the sinful human’s tongue. God can take a tongue of gossip and turn it into a tongue for glory. He can take a tongue that spews bitterness and turn it into one that speaks blessing. James had another word to illustrate the destructive potential of the tongue. He said it is “full of deadly poison.” Poison usually works secretly and sometimes slowly until it eventually kills. The tongue can be like that. A few poisonous words inserted into a conversation and spoken in venomous antagonism can destroy relationships that were decades in the making and cripple the poisoned person for life. Contentious speech can indeed be immeasurably destructive. An Application James reminded us that the tongue is destructive like fire or poison and “is set on fire in hell.” Behind every spoken word of divisiveness or filth or rumor or anger is Satan himself. This enemy delights in using uncontrolled tongues as a tool as he goes about his business of destroying hearts, homes, and hopes. Uncontrolled fire can destroy, but fire itself isn’t bad. When controlled, it is beneficial. We can heat our homes with it. We can sterilize surgical instruments with it. We can cook our meals with it. In the same way, we can use our words to bless or to blast, to direct or to destroy. Just Do It! We’ve all had times when we wished we hadn’t said what we said and then watched the little spark result in a raging fire we couldn’t control. No wonder King David prayed, Set a guard, O Lord, over my mouth; keep watch over the door of my lips. — Psalm 141:3 All of us need a guard over our mouth! As I mentioned earlier, for instance, we may find ourselves gossiping (saying behind someone’s back what you would never say to his or her face) or flattering (saying to someone’s face what you would never say behind his or her back). And both are wrong. So let’s join David in asking God to “set a guard over [our] mouth [and] to keep watch over the door of [our] lips.” * * * Forward to a Friend Excerpted with permission The James Code by Dr. O.S. Hawkins, copyright Thomas Nelson.

Embracing the Inconvenient

MAY 11, 2015 Embracing the Inconvenient Leslie Ludy

"Whatever you did for one of the least of these … you did for me." Matthew 25:40b (NIV)

I will never forget the day my son Hudson learned what an orphan was. A close family friend had just returned from Haiti where she visited an orphanage and had taken heartbreaking photos of destitute children in desperate need of loving homes.

As a wide-eyed 3-year-old, Hudson stared at the pictures and asked, "Who dose kids? Why dey sad?"

I explained that the children in the photos were orphans, children without a mommy or daddy. As Hudson pondered this, his heart was gripped with compassion. He suggested we go to Haiti and bring home 20 orphans to live with us.

I smiled at his childish enthusiasm and then informed him I didn’t think we’d have room in our house for 20 more children. A few days later, Hudson led me upstairs to see several "orphan beds" he’d created. Each bed consisted of a blanket, a pillow and one of his favorite stuffed animals.

There were two orphan beds in Mommy and Daddy’s room, two in his sister’s room, and five in Hudson’s bedroom. (He’d taken the greatest burden of caring for these orphans upon himself!)

"See?" he exclaimed. "We do have room!"

I was speechless.

God was using my 3-year-old to remind me of His simple solution for the orphaned, the destitute and the starving: sacrificially sharing what we have with those in need.

That day, God challenged my heart with some poignant questions: Was I willing to serve the weak, even if it required personal sacrifice? If Hudson was willing to share his mommy, daddy, bedroom and favorite stuffed animals with children in need — then what was I willing to share?

Those questions changed the course of my life. While we didn’t bring home 20 orphans, God has led us to adopt four children in need of a loving home. The journey has not been easy, but through it we have seen God’s amazing faithfulness.

In our noisy, busy world, it’s easy to become consumed with self-focused pursuits and remain indifferent toward the needs of the lost and dying around us. I have been guilty of this attitude many times.

Whenever I’m struggling with a self-focused mindset, I’m reminded of a sobering story I once heard about the Jewish Holocaust.

In the story, a German church sat next to the railroad tracks where cars of Jews rattled by the church, on their way to the concentration camps. The prisoners would scream as loudly as they could, begging the churchgoers to help. But the Christians didn’t want to get involved. Instead, as the cars rolled past, they sang their hymns loudly to drown out the cries of the suffering.

Astounding, isn’t it?

Still today, there are cries of anguish resounding all over the world — from the starving child to the persecuted Christian. Yet how often do we drown them out with entertainment, busyness, materialism or selfish ambitions? God asks each of us to turn down the noise in our lives and learn to love and give the way He does, embracing the inconvenient and holding nothing back.

Naturally, this will look different for each of us.

Some of us might be called to minister to the homeless, others to adopt, others to fight for the unborn, others to help orphans, others to encourage the persecuted — and countless other possibilities.

Cultivating a sacrificial lifestyle often starts with one simple step, such as ministering to someone in our community. I encourage you to let God stretch you beyond what is comfortable and easy. He will open your eyes to the ways in which He desires you to become His hands and feet to those in need.

Throughout history, the Christians who’ve made the most impact for God’s kingdom rarely lived comfortable or convenient lives. Their mighty acts for God required enormous personal sacrifice and a willingness to venture far beyond the realm of the easy and convenient. If today’s Christians are too busy, who will take up the torch of Gospel-centered rescue work in this generation?

Lord, help me learn to look past myself and see the needs of others. Teach me to love others the way You love them, sacrificially. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

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TRUTH FOR TODAY:
John 20:21, "So Jesus said to them again, ‘Peace to you! As the Father has sent Me, I also send you.’" (NKJV)

Perserverance

There is ONE word on my heart for you today . . . Perseverance If God spoke a promise over your business, your ministry, your life, and if it looks in the natural like that promise has expired, there is no way that your ministry can go forward, or no way you’ll see the breakthrough in that business—I’m here to say . . . continue to stand in faith because God is faithful!!! Galatians 6:9 (ESV) tells us, And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up.