Thanks for joining us for day 5 of our week of prayer.  This week we are joining with the Assemblies of God and the theme, “Leveling the Praying Field”.

Thursday Prayer Focus

Help me, O Lord, to understand that prayer is my personal responsibility, not something someone else can do for me.

Thursday Prayer Activity

At the beginning of a new year, many people think about health and wellness. Countless individuals embark on a new diet and exercise plan. It would be crazy to think that someone else could eat healthy or do our exercise for us. We understand that if we want results, we have to bear the responsibility.

Why would we think that if want to embark on a new devotional life centered on prayer and the study of the Word that someone could do that for us? “Prayer is a choice, a discipline, a decision to talk to God and hear from God, and no one can do your praying for you anymore than someone else can praise or worship for you.”¹

Jesus demonstrated this for us. There are many times in Scripture where we read about Jesus’ prayer life. This is just one example from Matthew 14:23, “ After sending them home, he went up into the hills by himself to pray. Night fell while he was there alone.”

Once you begin having daily time of communion with the Lord, you will find that you just can’t live without them. The interesting thing about spiritual hunger is that it can never really be satisfied. The more you get the more you want!

I hope that by day 5 you are settling into your new routine of committing dedicated time every day to spend communicating with your heavenly Father.

Thursday Scripture Focus

Matthew 6:6 NLT

But when you pray, go away by yourself, shut the door behind you, and pray to your Father in private. Then your Father, who sees everything, will reward you.

Ephesians 3:14-19 NLT – Paul’s Prayer for Spiritual Growth

When I think of all this, I fall to my knees and pray to the Father, the Creator of everything in heaven and on earth. I pray that from his glorious, unlimited resources he will empower you with inner strength through his Spirit. Then Christ will make his home in your hearts as you trust in him. Your roots will grow down into God’s love and keep you strong. And may you have the power to understand, as all God’s people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep his love is.  May you experience the love of Christ, though it is too great to understand fully. Then you will be made complete with all the fullness of life and power that comes from God.

 

References:

1. Barrett, Donna L. Leveling The Praying Field: Helping Every Person Talk To God And Hear from God. Gospel Publishing House. 2019. 112