Daily Devotions On Prayer

1 Timothy 2:1-4 – A Call To Prayer

Daily Devotional Bible Verse

First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people, for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way. This is good, and it is pleasing in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. (1 Timothy 2:1-4 ESV)

Living in America can be similar to living in a bubble.  We see all the hurt and problems happening around us, but we are safe in this American bubble. You might not even live in America, but don’t have the problems or war or poverty as many third world countries do.  This can also affect the church as we focus on praying just for ourselves here in America and the problems facing our fellow citizens.  From the perspective of the bubble, we have been seeing turmoil in the Middle East and parts of Africa, and we can’t forget that God doesn’t call us only to pray for those in our culture or nation, but for “all people” and those in “high positions”.

These prayers have a two fold purpose.  The first purpose is to Continue Reading →

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Psalm 139:23-24 – Search Me

Daily Devotional Bible Verse

Search me, O God, and know my heart!
Try me and know my thoughts!
And see if there be any grievous way in me,
and lead me in the way everlasting!
(Psalm 139:23-24 ESV)

Relationships take time. And as time passes we can decide whether we want to go to the next level with a person and eventually open up to them. This doesn’t have to be a boyfriend or girlfriend thing, but can be with almost anyone. We all have someone we can tell our deepest and darkest secrets to, knowing they can keep our confidence. These friends know when there is something wrong with us even when others don’t. They have been our friends for so long they can sense our mood without even talking to us. Those who are outside of this circle don’t really know us, at least not like our closest friends. We might tell them what is going on in our life, but we usually let them know all of the good. We almost wear a mask for them. This is fine, we don’t want to know what every one’s baggage is. Just our good friends.

Ironically, sometimes we try to wear this mask for Jesus. Continue Reading →

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Luke 11:4b – The Lord’s Prayer: Lead Us Not Into Temptation

The Lord's Prayer Devotions

Daily Devotional Bible Verse

Now Jesus was praying in a certain place, and when he finished, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray, as John taught his disciples.” And he said to them, “When you pray, say:

“Father, hallowed be your name.
Your kingdom come.
Give us each day our daily bread,
and forgive us our sins,
for we ourselves forgive everyone who is indebted to us.
And lead us not into temptation.”
(Luke 11:1-4 ESV)

Notice that Jesus’ instruction on prayer does not end with “lead us not into sin” but instead “lead us not into temptation.”  You may wonder, what’s the difference?

Many times we like to approach sin as an imaginary line.  As long as we stay on the right side of the line we’re OK.  But, as soon as we cross to the wrong side of the line we’re sinning.  The result of this mentality is that we often attempt to get as close to this imaginary line as possible without crossing or sinning. Most of us eventually learn that if we keep walking up to the edge of this line, we’ll eventually cross it. Continue Reading →

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Luke 11:4a – The Lord’s Prayer: Forgive Our Sins

The Lord's Prayer Devotions

Daily Devotional Bible Verse

Now Jesus was praying in a certain place, and when he finished, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray, as John taught his disciples.” And he said to them, “When you pray, say:

“Father, hallowed be your name.
Your kingdom come.
Give us each day our daily bread,
and forgive us our sins,
for we ourselves forgive everyone who is indebted to us.
And lead us not into temptation.”
(Luke 11:1-4 ESV)

As we pray for our needs we can often forget that our greatest need is forgiveness.  God wants us to experience the freedom of forgiveness: the freedom of being forgiven by God and the freedom that comes from extending forgiveness to others.  Scripture is clear that if we confess our sins to God, He will forgive us and cleanse us (1 John 1:9).  Confession literally means to agree with God.   We are agreeing with Him that we’ve sinned greatly against Him.  We are agreeing that Jesus was a sufficient sacrifice for our sins.  We are agreeing that His mercy and grace are much greater than our sins. Continue Reading →

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Luke 11:3 – The Lord’s Prayer: Our Daily Bread

The Lord's Prayer Devotions

Daily Devotional Bible Verse

Now Jesus was praying in a certain place, and when he finished, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray, as John taught his disciples.” And he said to them, “When you pray, say:

“Father, hallowed be your name.
Your kingdom come.
Give us each day our daily bread,
and forgive us our sins,
for we ourselves forgive everyone who is indebted to us.
And lead us not into temptation.”
(Luke 11:1-4 ESV)

Just in case we think He forgot, Jesus reminds us here that God wants us to present our needs to Him.  There’s something about praying “Father, hallowed by your name… Your kingdom come…” that puts us in the right mindset to pray about our needs.  Although God already knows our needs, presenting our needs verbally to Him brings us to a point of greater vulnerability and dependence. Just a few verses later in Luke 11:5-13, Jesus gives some thoughts on how we approach God with our needs.  Here are three very practical implications:

Continue Reading →

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Luke 11:2b – The Lord’s Prayer: Your Kingdom Come

The Lord's Prayer Devotions

Daily Devotional Bible Verse

Now Jesus was praying in a certain place, and when he finished, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray, as John taught his disciples.” And he said to them, “When you pray, say:

“Father, hallowed be your name.
Your kingdom come.
Give us each day our daily bread,
and forgive us our sins,
for we ourselves forgive everyone who is indebted to us.
And lead us not into temptation.”
(Luke 11:1-4 ESV)

As Jesus continues His instruction on prayer, His second point is also interestingly not about us, our needs, and our struggles.  It’s all about praying for God’s Kingdom to come.  What does this mean?  Matthew’s description of the Lord’s Prayer includes this statement: “your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.”  Jesus’ point is that God’s Kingdom is not simply about where we go when we die. Continue Reading →

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